Benwell Lad

It wasn't actually, otherwise I'd have figured out why it wasn't there during the match. It was adjacent to the big tunnel type exit in that corner - maybe it was taken somewhere else. Someone on here (sorry can't remember who) uses it as their avatar.

That's nearly as funny as the one about Shearer not being fit to wear THEIR shirt !

Thought it was great to see the "PROUD TO BE A GEORDIE" banner which was at Villa Park last season in the Leazes/Milburn corner before the match kicked off. Why was it removed? I thought it was very appropriate and quite poignant.

When we were relegated one of the things that sickened me most was that I thought we'd lose players like Enrique, because he looked to have great potential even in that side. We kept him and he's proven what a big player he is. BUT I think he must resist believing the hype and continue to work very hard at his game to progress in the big league. His positioning for their goal last night was almost comical sloppiness and a reminder that he has to ignore the hype and keep totally focused on his game.

Huge credit to Hughton and his players for keeping any unrest and turmoil at bay because the media and many others were licking their lips waiting for it to kick off. I think this season's defining moment was Woods' penalty miss for Doncaster at SJP. We were playing awfully and were on a run of 4 games without a win, (QPR and Bristol home draws and Forest and Scunny away defeats) The mood inside SJP was critical and negative and had his penalty gone in I'm sure they would have beaten us. NUFC.com's match report said :- This wasn't a good day for the home crowd with as many moans and gripes as chants in support of the side - one stoppage in play accompanied by a loud rendition of the "get out of our club" ditty, which left home players looking at each other blankly. The booing of Harewood was shameful even if he had played poorly and fans still streamed out of their seats after Nolan's winner but before the final whistle. They went on to add :- Regardless of whether the paper (Chronicle) praises the team to the skies or rubbishes them, the opinion of a section of those watching won't alter: that we're an underachieving side in a very average league, starved of meaningful investment and with significant question marks over the direction and leadership of both the club and the first XI. As it turned out Kevin Nolan scored a 93rd minute winner, we went on a long unbeaten run and the rest as they say is history. Like the man says, LETS PARTY !

You have to be winding me up. Don't you ? Having seen Viduka's "goal" at the match and many times since, Webb's decision was so ludicrous it can't have been anything other than pre-meditated.

Howard Webb should never be forgiven or forgotten. Why? Disallowing The Dukes perfectly good goal from a corner for Nolan impeding Schwarzer even though he never touched him. Well aware of what he meant, how about the Taylor dive he awarded to save a point v sunderland? Nice selective memory to suit us Anybody (including a top level referee) can make a mistake and should be allowed that. Webb's decision was pre-meditated and therefore unforgiveable. When did he admit that it was pre-meditated? Straight after the match in a Sky interview ! FFS when do refs even admit mistakes never mind pre-meditated wrong decisions. You probably remember what happened in the home match prior to the Fulham game ?

Howard Webb should never be forgiven or forgotten. Why? Disallowing The Dukes perfectly good goal from a corner for Nolan impeding Schwarzer even though he never touched him. Well aware of what he meant, how about the Taylor dive he awarded to save a point v sunderland? Nice selective memory to suit us Anybody (including a top level referee) can make a mistake and should be allowed that. Webb's decision was pre-meditated and therefore unforgiveable.

Sorry, you are wrong. I am an auditor by the way. Oh so your talking about next years accounts now? The discussion is about the accounts that are due to be filed in 3 days, I made that perfectly clear tbh. Yes what I'm saying is, if we set off on a path of not filing the accounts for this year, chances are the auditors won't be very keen to sign off next years. There also would seem to be little point in not filing them if we've managed to convice the auditors to sign them off in the first place, would there? Still missing the point. Never said they won't file them just they are under no obligation to file on time, the auditors won't give 2 hoots if they are filed on time or not, just as long as they are. Anyway there's no way you are an auditor though, coming out with stuff like that. Right-o Says you who thinks the only issue there'll be is writing out the fine cheque if they don't file them. I've never heard such a lack of commercial common sense. Given that we're talking about a company which was loss making with a turnover of c. £100m, coupled with the fact that that turnover post balance sheet has reduced to about half that figure, the minute they are late, their customer base, debtors, creditors and football in general will be all over them chasing money & reducing trading terms given to the club. Promotion means a massive amount to whoever is signing the accounts off in terms of going concern & the later they are signed off (if it hasn't been done already) the less risk there is to the auditors. It's basic stuff tbh, you'll probably come across it in the next chapter of your text book. Beat me to the punch, was going to ask how his exams were going. I'm 37 man been doing this all my career. They can send them to whoever they like, the major creditors and other important stakeholders probably already have a set of accounts, for example the European money league people already have numbers from this years accounts. You don't think the important creditors etc have wait and have to pay the £1 to get a set of accounts from CH do you? As its a private company now I don't think Ashely will really give two hoots about what the auditors think. They certainly don't dictate to the club when the audit work is completed because it is less risky for them. If mike wants the accounts early that's when they are done, if he wants them late that's when they are done. If the numbers are as bad as we expect then maybe he wants promotion before they are made public to prevent the inevitable backlash. According to you though on Thursday the whole of football will be all over Newcastle like a rash due to late filing of accounts. Hardly likely. There's no external shareholders to appease anymore. They were filed in early January last year, I am only summising why they are later this year. You were the one going on saying the auditors won't allow them to be late. Which is pure nonsense. And you still go on as if I am saying they don't have to file them at all. Anyway they have today and tomorrow to see if you are right. Are you guys charging each other for every post you make. I hope so. Don't forget to charge for any extra research involved too.

Howard Webb should never be forgiven or forgotten.

Me too and quite a few others. No way were there 7,000 empty seats. I was gobsmacked when I found out there was apparently only 45k there. It looked on a par with the Boro game. cue stories that if the attendance is quoted at that level then the money from the others can be deposited in someones back pocket. Well that's been doing the rounds since the Lord Westwood era - and probably quite a long time before that too.

Me too and quite a few others. No way were there 7,000 empty seats.

As a veteran of 4 promotion seasons (assuming we'll finish the job) the first being 1965, I'd like to say to all those who say this league is shit, that it is the best 2nd tier league I have seen us play in. It may be the arrogance of looking down from a lofty position but I wonder how many of the other 23 teams involved think it's a shit league - not many I'd guess. Although it's extremely difficult to draw comparisons in sport over periods of time the reasons it's better are that fitness levels of players are much higher than before and previously the best British Isles players played at the top level but that is now filled by the world's best players so there is more quality playing in the leagues below. I'd agree that the gap between the 1st and 2nd tier is bigger than ever, but that is because the standards at the top have soared and not because the 2nd tier has got worse.

Rewind......in August this expensively assembled squad made up various managers signings was going drag the club down financially off the pitch & take us directly to L1 on it. Which CCC team started the season with a better squad of players than NUFC? We had a better squad than Hull but that counted for f*** all man. Take a refresher with SKYSPORTS.COM to see how they thought we were going to do this season http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_5463544,00.html Pre-season we had no manager & got trashed by Leyton Orient, fairplay to you for thinking we were going to piss this league Kind of sums up "experts" and "pundits" - they could hardly have got it more wrong. Truth is they know no more than the average punter.

Walk out when we didn't sign Victor Moses. Ouch. That's bitchy. True like.

Probably even more significant than the transfer fees paid out is that a lot of them would have been put on long and very expensive contracts. Agree pretty much with what most people say about him. He's an ok manager - possibly a lucky one - but nowt special.

We sometimes talk about Hughton as if he's some new kid on the block, which of course he is relatively speaking, in terms of being manager. But he's spent his entire working life involved with football at the highest level so being in the Premier League should in no way overawe him.

Because they're scabs? Do a search on nottingham scabs, just allow at least a week to read about it. Many miners from North Notts were totally commited to the strike action. Many from Northumberland and Durham were not. Anyway FFS what has this got to do with football 25 years on ?

The mackem minger's (that's you Louise) opinion of Chris Hughton "he now looks weak and it is not impossible that this affair could yet spark a chain of events that may lead to him being replaced by a manager such as Mark Hughes or Steve McClaren next season" Jose Enrique's opinion of Chris Hughton "He has had a long career as a coach but this is the first time he has had the opportunity to be the boss and I think he has proved what a good one he is. Before, he was always a number two or number three but now he is in charge 100 per cent and I don’t have to say how good he is because the league table tells you that. For me, my personal opinion is that this is my third season at Newcastle and he is the best manager I have had here. “I cannot believe how hard he works. He seems to spend 24 hours every day at the club. He is so dedicated to the job and gives his all. He is thinking about the games all the time, watches the videos and is so thorough in his preparations. The players respect him so much. The other managers were famous names, but it is not always about that. He is the man to take charge of us in the Premier League.” Take your pick - a leading member of the dressing room and arguably our best player, or a bitter Newcastle hating journalist.

At the time i thought he'd scuffed it and was lucky that it spun in off the post. Prior to him scoring he was rank mind. nufc.com described it as "deceptively languid" and like they said he causes all kinds of problems to opposition defenders even when not appearing to be doing much.

Jose Enrique's comments on our manager, from the excellemt nufc.com match report. "He has had a long career as a coach but this is the first time he has had the opportunity to be the boss and I think he has proved what a good one he is. Before, he was always a number two or number three but now he is in charge 100 per cent and I don’t have to say how good he is because the league table tells you that. For me, my personal opinion is that this is my third season at Newcastle and he is the best manager I have had here. “I cannot believe how hard he works. He seems to spend 24 hours every day at the club. He is so dedicated to the job and gives his all. He is thinking about the games all the time, watches the videos and is so thorough in his preparations. The players respect him so much. The other managers were famous names, but it is not always about that. He is the man to take charge of us in the Premier League.”

Aye, there's a slightly different slant on their Newcastle obsession to what it was in May/June last year when they revelled in our relegation and predicted our imminent demise. That from supporters who'd escaped relegation by a point, not qualified for Europe or anything. Once again their investment seems to have failed and they're only staying up this season due to the awful pisspoor teams at the bottom of the big league. Quite looking forward to next season actually.

Great post. After the agony of Hull, Fulham, Villa etc last season is just what the fans deserved. Total credit to Chris Hughton, Colin Calderwood and the rest of the backroom staff and senior players for their totally professional approach to this season's challenges. Thought Forest were lively last night and that the slick surface suited them early on with the pace they have. Once again it was a TEAM performance that got us there but thought Williamson, Nolan and Routledge deserve mentions although so do many others too. Like a few others I really wonder where the 6,000 supposedly empty seats were ? I hope this spirit and upward momentum can be carried on in the big league, we now have a lot going for us and some decent players too. It could, in time, be the right stage for top youngsters like Krul, Kadar and Ranger too. Summer's investment will have to be positive and sensible, let's hope for signings like Rob Lee, Phillipe Albert or even Routlegde and no more Owen, Luque or Boumsong type deals.

What ? - as third choice. Assuming Forster's still out on loan that is.

If that's accurate, then add on a few latecomers and pay on the gate and I'd reckon you're looking at a full house.