toontownman

It's a tough one, it does come with pressure and expectations rightly or not. On the other hand resting the jersey or leaving it vacant just fuels the legend and leaves a much bigger expectation on the person that finally does take it.

Don't believe Zog is one of the two Pardew is talking about bringing in. I think very much like Ireland he is a player we are registering interest in but sitting and waiting until the last day of the transfer window. Think we will pick them both up if the deal is right, otherwise we will sit tight. Alot is going to depend on how preseason goes too, I think we will be waiting to see if any players are going to step up and how the new players are going to fit into the squad. I think we are where we want to be to survive, minus another quality striker, but we will flesh out the squad if an attractive deal is in the offing.

Would be happy with Defoe, he is very hot and cold but still miles ahead of what we have. Wouldnt want to be paying more than 8m for him though. Sturridge for 20m seems about right in todays stupid market, 10m is reasonable if not still too much but looking around at the likes of Jones, Bent, Carroll and Henderson going for 3 times their actual worth I would be slapping the same price on Sturridge if I was Chelsea.

Absolutely, I wouldnt call Simpson International quality but he isn't far down the pecking order. Says more about the turd we are producing as of late tbh.

Tend to agree, although I wouldnt say the squad at present or including the Manure trio would be better than 9th. Building a much better squad but lacking flair, maybe Sessegnon will find his feet this season, can see them struggling next year if they get a couple of injuries.

As long as he stays this season I am happy. He can be replaced over time imo but it would be nice to keep the momentum of the team from last year and build on that, rather than gambling and gutting it and putting fresh replacements in.

Been happy with Simpson, good attitute and workrate and reasonably solid. When he has confidence he looks reasonable attacking too. I was seriously concerned that he would struggle this year but he started out better than an already impressive season before. He is still young and learning as mentioned by other posters. If he can continue his improvement like he did last year I would be delighted. Wasn't so long ago he was on the fringes of an England call up and to be fair to him he would have deserved it. Certainly has some flaws but he is worth nearly ten times what we paid for him we paid for him imo. Would certainly like to see a more experienced RB come in to give him competition, but a fully fit Ryan Taylor and an emerging Tavernier should keep him on his toes.

For 2m I would take a punt depending on where we get with other targets over the summer. Could see Ireland being Nolans replacement. Still rather see Matuidi, Barnetta/Zog and Erding in first. We have enough if to get us through the season if we get our current targets, however if Ireland is available at that price at the end of the window I think we will take him and I wouldnt be unhappy at all.

Been watching the U17 World Cup, they only really show the Canadian games here but England vs Canada was amusing. You could see the gulf in class between the teams strength and technique wise. Canada played some nice stuff though and deserved to draw. 2-2 Canada came from behind both times the last goal was a cracker 4 minutes from the end, England basically let the goalkeeper walk up to the half way line before launching a ball into the box, no-one dealt with it and it bounced in the box over the helpless keepers head, classic. Encouraging to see the Canadians holding there own and at times looking the better side, pity there is no system in place for them to advance past high school.

Genital wart from the years of F.A. arse licking tbh.

At that price I would be surprised if we don't bid for him. Not least if we peddled a couple of other players over the next week or two (Smith, Best, Guthrie, Ranger, Lua Lua etc)

This. Would take a straight swap for Roger Johnson though! Wouldn't even mind if we gave them a million or so on top, granted they would.

Why even wast a post posting about posting that?

Would be an absolutely immense signing. ...actually I don't have a clue, never seen him play, never heard of him before this summer. Excited by the change in the way we will be playing next year, I just hope all these changes don't cost us in the short term, there will have to be a large amount of gelling in a short amount of time. From what I have read about him, he is a decent passer and dominator in the midfield and breaking up plays, he can get forward but apparently doesn't score much. We definitely need someone to cover Tiote, certainly expensive cover but can also give Tiote a chance to roam forward which he has shown a capability to do, Tiote and Matuidi sitting deep with Cabaye roaming forward sounds good. Barnetta can also give us another option in the Center too if we sign him. Three man central midfield in a 4-5-1 looks very likely. Which I like the sound of.

My picks also, with a special mention to Raylor in the Accrington match, pure belter. Nothing can top Tiotes goal, out of context it is a fantastic strike but given the situation we were in makes it one of the greatest goals I have ever seen us score. Ben Arfa's goal oozes class all round, the power he gets in the shot is impressive too. Carroll's strike against Liverpool was a big one too and rounded up a great day and a well earned and long overdue win over the scousers. The context is the only reason I put it ahead of Raylors Accrington strike.

Ok, still not getting the point about him only being able to play in what is looking to be a redundant position. Agree to disagree. Yes apart from the fact you seem to think Jonas can only play Left Midfield and no other position which is slighly confusing because he is a fairly versatile midfielder in that regards. Agree with this - Jonas is right footed and was actually a right sided player when we signed him wasn't he? Sure he got shunted to the left as we already had Milner playing on the right at the time. However, over time he formed a decent link up with Jose and just remained on the left. But he almost always brings it back onto his right for crossing/shooting. Also, Argentina played him at Right Back in the world cup, didn't they? Yep, that is why I am confused as to why we might want to shift him, he is pretty versatile and like Marveaux can play just as happily on the Right or Left.

I think Pardews deafening silence over Jonas confirms a couple of things, a) He has learnt from his past mistakes about stating which players will be staying b) shows he has little control on who leaves the club and he knows it c) in contrast to b shows that everyone has a price at the club

You don't have to be a cock to post nonsense, I certainly don't see it as a prerequisite for signing up at Newcastle Online anways?

Interesting choice of club, should have some money to play with, wonder if he will move quickly to try and persuade Bowyer to return. Certainly a much tougher league to get out of this time. Will be interesting to see what staff he assembles around him, good luck to the guy, will be watching out for him.

Been linked to him for a while haven't we?

It's a long list; you're just getting started De Guzman and Junior Hoilett haven't suited up for another nation so I still have a small amount of hope that they'll suit up for the Men's National Team, though that's unlikely because the side is dreadful. Wouldn't mind either of them in a Newcastle shirt at this point in time and I recall we were rumoured to be in for De Guzman last summer when he was out of contract. I'm a little more understanding of Begovic given that his family had to leave Yugolavia when he was young. If he hadn't suited up for the Canadian youth sides and said he wanted to play for Canada at the senior level I wouldn't have begrudged him playing for Bosnia. If he had been played in the dead rubber World Cup Qualifier it would be moot, but that's how it goes for Canadian soccer. Hope De Guzman see's sense, he is old news for Holland, still think its unlikely as he has too much pride to backtrack. Hoilett will play in time, can't see him opting for Jamaica, his father said as much last year. Hopefully they can bring him into the fold. The Canadian side at the Gold Cup were a complete embarrassment, really shows how far the U.S. have advanced since 2007 in comparison to Canada possibly even going backwards. Getting De Guzman Jnr and Hoilett to commit would be massive and set a trend that Hargreaves should have done nearly ten years ago. De Guzman senior wasn't up to much to be fair, MLS is about his standard these days.

no offence, but you don't really have a chance at chamberlain. But Wickham and Sturridge are realistic? Can't see us getting near any of them tbh.

He is playing games, obviously waiting out to see who we bring in and who is interested in him. If he wasn't entertaining the thought of staying he would have made his intentions clear. If he goes anywhere in england I don't mind seeing him at arsenal, certainly better than the other scouse mackems.

Wouldn't turn my nose up at Taraabt if the club was willing to spend heavy. 10m is way to expensive though. Would be a great upgrade on Nolan. Would be happy with Barnetta, but he would surely be a Barton replacement? Think we will sit tight on N'Zog and have Wigan get more concerned about his contract winding down, think we will bid if the Mackems or anyone else does, but there is no rush right now. On today's evidence we probably have one or two suprises up our sleeves, think we will be waiting in the wings for Gervinho in case the same happens. Not convinced Erding is our main striker target either. Looks like we are still looking for another couple of midfielders and a couple of strikers, not to mention another LB if/when Enrique stops fannying us around and leaves. (Still hope he doesnt btw, but far from suicidal if he does)

He has some talent but his confidence infront of goal is shocking. Had he taken some of his chances I think this thread would be a completely different story, as it is he has become frustrated acted like a mong and put his career in jeapordy. 1m would be a potential bargain for a team that has a manager that can get him on the straight and narrow and focussed. I would rather see us loan him for a season to a championship club than outright sell him, he will get games and a different environment and manager. Could be gamble if he bombs, we risk getting nothing for him next summer but it seems mad to let him leave considering the large contract we gave to him just months ago. Think its entirely possible the club is trying to put the scarers on him. Hope to see him out on loan next year like he should have been this season, think there is more to gain doing that than selling him. That said the guys that work with him know a hell of a lot more than we do, so I trust their judgement.