Mr Logic

That was him.

Is it my imagination or did this forum invent some player that later got mentioned in the press?

Might has well have kept the Gouff on current evidence, he could score thunderbastards and pop up in defence now and then too.

I think he 'looks' a damn sight more threatening than Dummett, who once in a blue moon produces a decent cross. Certainly seems better with close control and quick feet.

Perfect response to their "better the devil you know" pish. Well besides "fuck off". Jeff Stelling gave it the "better the devil you know" pish on Soccer Saturday about us having new owners if it happens. Ashley hasn't done that bad as we have Rafa, and are in the top ten he spewed. Thought better of him, not now the Hartlepool supporting moron. Someone should just reply to any such tweet with Jackie Broon's response. Unfortunately the panel is made of up Paul Merson who only cares about London clubs, Phil Thompson who only cares about Liverpool and their local rivals, Le Tissier who if its not Southampton its not worth thinking about and Charlie 'Situation' Nicholas who can only speak in cliches and state the bleeding obvious. Id say we'd need one of our own to take position to get any kind of level headed opinion of things up here, however after seeing recent players comments, i just don't think apart from Shearer any of them get it or us and cannot help themselves from repeating the same old tired bullshit which will appease the majority while they wait till their top six team is on. Never underestimate the power of social media, , a million likes changes the world these days.

I think, with Mbemba, it comes down to purely the struggle with English; not sure Rafa has confidence in his ability to communicate or understand pitch instructions. Dummett is no better than Manquillo, Manquillo offers more in the last third, Dummett on the defensive end.

Perfect response to their "better the devil you know" pish. Well besides "fuck off". Jeff Stelling gave it the "better the devil you know" pish on Soccer Saturday about us having new owners if it happens. Ashley hasn't done that bad as we have Rafa, and are in the top ten he spewed. Thought better of him, not now the Hartlepool supporting moron. Someone should just reply to any such tweet with Jackie Broon's response.

Woah guys, I'm not arguing for 'toe to toe' (Greg) or an 'open game' (TRon), I was trying to say maybe we could mix it up a bit rather than waiting for the last 10 minutes. Football matches tend to ebb and flow, could Rafa not give signals when to push and when to settle?

Compared to his normal aplomb from what we've seen so far he was misplacing passes. I don't think that constitutes jumping on his back. I agree we looked better once he came on despite the passing.

Winding Cabaye up.

Ummm, nope. Leicester looked pretty good as an attacking force from day one as I recall. (Caveat: Unless you're being funny).

We're 6th with a team that should be nowhere near the top half based on ability. I'm sure he would loosen the shackles a little if he thought he had the players capable of playing another way and winning. You don't think it puts us under sustained, potentially unnecessary, pressure sometimes? I just think we're better than backs to the wall every game despite the media's portrayal of us.

That was as poor as I've seen us this season I think, passing was the worst it has been - it seemed like nerves but how could it have been? Love Rafa but I do think he's too cautious, his gameplan seems to be all about shape and drilled movement. Which is fine until you come up against a team that get two goals in the first half and you have a mountain to climb. Every game you see we finish strongly, could we not lossen the shackles in waves - at unexpected moments. If we are so capable of pushing for a win why not surprise an opponent and do it more often that just the last 10 or 15 minutes of a game.

Worthy of a quote.

Just not true. We made more play in the final third in the last 10 minutes than the entire 80 before that. I watched the match Greg, that's how I saw it. We scored from a corner. The only alternative would have been a long shot, we didn't create anything at any point. Yes we were shit throughout but last 10/15 minutes we had more going forward than at any time in the game - Diame even managed a shot on target from the edge of the box! We still weren't great in that period but Diame on, Atsu and Ritchie swapped made a small different and give us a bit more going forward compared to the 80 minutes before it. From what I've been seeing we almost always finish strongly. That would appear to be more with Rafa's instructions - hold your shape and defend for 75-80 minutes and then attempt to finish off a tired opponent. Aside from the quote. Thought Merino was well off today, every other pass seemed to be going astray, he didn't know much about the goal but at least it is what he was attempting, ie. in the right attacking position. Diame certainly adds something different to Perez and I sometimes wonder if Rafa is a little bit stubborn, despite that fact I love him to bits. (Benitez, not Diame or Perez). (I mean how can you ignore an international who has 8 goals in 13 caps as almost not worthy of a place on the bench, that seems more stubborn than sense to me - I'm not sure I would be ready to trust Mitro with 90 minutes a week but he could get more than left off the bench or 8 minutes here and there, surely.)

Deluded, at a guess.

Thanks for all the first person info Wor Jackie (and Heron). I agree with others that the WH name doesn't work, from time to time the name surfaces in the media and anyone over a hundred miles away will have no clue what it means nor have a hope of pronouncing it. I would suggest a more generic name like St James' Flags, if nothing else it allows you to spread around the ground the way a desert blooms after a storm.

Don't know if this has been posted but there's a canny documentary from NBC watchable on the official site. https://www.nufc.co.uk/nufc-tv/latest-videos/watch-nbc-documentary-on-newcastle-united Posting here because its almost as much about Rafa as it is Newcastle. At one point the question is being asked of many, can Newcastle change there DNA, (their DNA being never quite succeeding). Loved Ritchie's answer, he said it wasn't about changing it, it was about getting it back, referencing the times we truly were a big club that won so much.

Clark looked pressured a few times today against better class opposition when he usually looks so composed and unflustered, might see Lejeune next time. Merino struggled a bit, first half especially, many badly placed balls and possesion lost. Hate seeing our keeper launch it long, more possesion lost as often as not. That said, Liverpool gave us more to think about than Spurs imo and we coped well for the most part. All down to Rafa really, which makes me so conflicted about that Brighton performance, we were just too defensive against them. Deserved the point, if Gayle had been on 10m earlier who knows. Joselu's face when he lost control of the ball, - then calmly claiming the goal when it went in anyway.

I'm not giving up on him yet, Rafa thinks there's something to work with so he gets an extension.

Got fuck all to do with Dave. That's possible the trigger right there though. Personally speaking I cannot fathom how a 'fan' can even think like that. I imagine others are the same. You might know they are tough games but you never write them off. Probably just a poor choice of words on your part though, so why not just forget it.

Yep, Sidwell was talking about his training performances.

chron

Going out on a limb here I know, love Rafa, but I think his foundation of caution and defence-first may have possibly cost us today. Just a little more adventurous from the off may have seen us home. The team certainly looked better with Shelvey and Gayle, but why leave it so late to go looking. In terms of relegation, we're not going back down as it is. 0.

Clealry lacking confidence in front of goal, or is this an ongoing story that has blighted his career. Todays miss wasn't as bad as the three chances against Stoke as he could have been disorientated - but following the 5m/20m argument that may be why. We certainly looked a lot more like I expect with Shelvey and Gayle on the pitch.