Benwell Lad

Great words from a great captain. He's a player who fans of other clubs seem to rate very highly, not surprising really considering his goals tally from midfield. I hope Nolan has a long association with NUFC in whatever capacity, his honesty, mental strength and character will be a very positive asset.

If I was supplying into SAFC's stadium/conference/hospitality business I'd be asking for cash up front right now.

That's football fans for you and we're no different. Jose's stock here on an NUFC site is much higher than it is in general circles and those who think he's good enough to walk into any team in Europe are over rating him. I've said many times that he is an excellent player but he still has defensive weaknesses which he needs to work at. Bombing forward as he does at Newcastle suits his game, playing in a fast, slick passing team would not, as short passing is a weakness in his game. He's made some ambitious noises - good - ambition is to be applauded, but my bet is he'll be at SJP for a season or two yet, primarily because at the bottom of his heart he likes us a lot but also when it comes to the crunch he may not actually get any better offers than he'll get here.

He is. He does - very much. Any foreign defender would have struggled in a new country with what was going on around the club at the time. The fact he never hid during that season though says a lot about the man. Best since Moncur in my opinion, Woodgate was a class act (Partisan apart) but it means very little because he hasn't looked after himself and has hardly played for 5 years. Colo is a far better pro. Although Jose is also class, we mustn't underestimate the effect having a Spanish speaking defender as good as Colo playing alongside him will have. Potential legend - and if that volley had gone in on Saturday he'd be a step closer already.

Sadly the Adelphi has been RIP since last summer.

Normally shows loads of different matches in here: http://www.sportspubs.co.uk/new_detail.php?pubscode=161 Thanks mate seems like F3K is it.

Probably a daft question but on a Champions League night is there any boozer in London where the match would possibly be shown ?

If I was Jose and I was reading this thread I'd want to get away asap.

To be fair, take away the moodiness, the inconsistency, the injuries, and the fake injuries and he could be a fantastic player. He'd probably need a brain to be fitted as well. A great impulse player but if he had time to think a very poor one.

Next time you get upset by BA demand to speak to Willie Walsh and see if you get offered a meeting with Head of Customer Relations or just a recorded message. That article really was TF at it's wrist slitting best and comes across as arrogant and self important. Shame that they are so obsessively biased nowadays as it used to be a canny read. Anyway looks like all the players are gonna be sold, we're buying no one, the club are insulting us by sending out renewals ahead of the new season and all the money will be going straight to the FCB anyway. I don't know if any of these self-appointed spokespeople have any experience of successful business negotiations but judging by their manner I assume not. "We'd like a meeting to discuss our concerns and by the way we're actively trying to arrange a boycott of your bosses business interests, but don't try and fob us off with the senior manager who's job it is to deal with these things as we're far too important for him". Tossers. Fortunately Jordan who posts on here sems to be pretty savvy and resides in the real world, hopefully he will be able to get something done.

...... on his all too infrequent days maybe. I'd still rather have honest pros playing for us and Ranger has the potential to be a better player than Martins. That said I wouldn't bet against him notching tomorrow because we've just seen it so many times before. And if our fans boo every time he touches the ball it will double the likelihood of him scoring..... It's like a recurring bad dream sometimes.

If the club had no other desire than to appease those clamouring for significant "net spend" then it would be quite easy to big up "undisclosed" transfer fees and appear to have achieved their objective. Truth is , as many have already said, that the real test will be improving the squad and bringing in better players. That has to be the aim - not just appearing to be big spenders. However significant investment will be necessary. It's easy to fool people with big transfer fees and newspaper headlines, and historically we've been more gullible than most, but we can't be fooled by what we see on the pitch and that is where we must get it right.

...... on his all too infrequent days maybe. I'd still rather have honest pros playing for us and Ranger has the potential to be a better player than Martins. That said I wouldn't bet against him notching tomorrow because we've just seen it so many times before.

It's true though. Just because he doesn't come out with a stupid statement and put [email protected] on the website doesn't mean it's not for sale at present. I'd probably prefer it that way anyway, the surrounding disruption and speculation previously was terrible and we don't need it. I think if January told us anything, it is that in football today EVERYTHING and EVERYONE has a price and that public statements and pieces of paper mean very little when filthy lucre rears it's ugly head.

So..exactly the same as the season so far then.

He is simply thick as pig s***. Does he have a song lined up for after he breaks their transfer record ?

Another nice post in a very decent thread. In a nutshell I agree that if we win most of the "winnable" games we'll be safe. Agree that Pardew seems to have put a bit more steel into us, but could your reduced confidence in our ability to score goals under Pardew boil down to the fact that Hughton had Carroll in his team and Pardew doesn't ?

Are we better off being 5 points clear of relegation and having 7 teams between us and 18th than we would be, say for example, 8 points clear but with only 3 or 4 teams below us ?

You know, I had never even considered that. Good point, like many have pointed out that in welbeck,onouha,mensah,el mo (sic) it'll cost them best part of 20mill to stand still...throw in muntari ? After over achieving this season they could be quite generous odds for relegation next season. If it looks like value for money I might have a little flutter especially if Susan Boyle keeps faith with Henderson, Titus and that atrocious Scottish goalkeeper.

I agree but that is a hell of a difficult place to get a win. Keep it tight, scrape a winner and I'll be celebrating more than I did when the 4th went in against Arsenal.

Eh The last page has mostly consisted of people taking the piss out of your own knee jerk fans for suggesting relegation, and that's supposedly us being bitter and obsessed? Go to sleep silly mackem. CP40 is possibly the most bitterest man on any internet messageboard I have ever witnessed and I include Benwell Lad and the whole of RTG in this assessment. cheers Yer bastaad - what am I doing wrong ? P.S. The cretin claimed I was bitter because before the derby game down there I said :- a) If we had anything near a full strength team we could get something. - We played them off the park with half a team missing. b) Their manager was being unprofessional with his post match song rants and should have kept quiet and kept the pressure off his team. - Well we never got to hear it as it turned out. c) I predicted their levels of hatred would lead to predictable pitch invasions and possibly players being attacked again at their woefully managed stadium. - Guess what happened ? He's just a typical macum coming on here all superior but when he gets a bit back he resorts to petty name calling. P.P.S. FIVE - ONE.

Nice post, you really have got all the bases covered. I think we've got a scrap on our hands and I'm not sure whether dominating games but not winning them is a positive or negative thing. I only see the squad being stronger from here on in as players return and disagree with your lack of confidence in Harper - I still struggle to see a better English keeper. Guthrie and Williamson also make positive contributions. If we had a top quality striker we'd be safe already. I'll breathe easily when 6 teams in the league need to make up a point per remaining game on us, we may not see that level of comfort and still survive but there could be some nail biting to do yet. If we continue giving the level of support we do and they respond accordingly we'll make it.

Pre Ashley it may have been a goer.

Comes across as a very decent fella. Good squad player.

Seems like Jordan has already done an excellent job and is making positive progress, whereas you always seem very negative about everything almost like you prefer confrontation. Hopefully you wont antagonise them too much and jeopardise the good work already done.