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I've been kind of assuming he starts against Forest. But it depends on the attitude Howe takes to this cup, I guess. I'd be a bit annoyed if it's an almost unchanged 'first team'. We have to be able to use the squad through the season.

Never thought he would.

Not wanting to pick a fight on Barnes, especially today. But focusing on his goal numbers as being outright justification for playing him is the same argument for having Kevin Nolan in the team. There's more to it than that. And I say that as a fan of Nolan's back in the day. And as I say, credit it to him, he gave us a good deal more than just an assist today.

There really are no excuses for us to look badly prepared this season.

They do, he's just genuinely not very good at it. Not easy to improve upon him overall, though.

Credit to him. Came on and gave it a real go. Showed what we were missing with Gordon there.

Need a first rate right winger before we can ever feel comfortable about waving him goodbye.

As Groundhog says, yes, but maybe even worse was the fatigue that the players on the pitch had. It was the first time that season you saw their backs break mid-match. Might as well not have played the last twenty minutes or so.

Believe the polite term is now commentators of colour.

I think the answer was relatively straightforward, the question being if he was excited by the idea of having Sandro in the team. Something like second to last question. His face was a picture, though. I hadn't been aware of the context of Louise Taylor stirring shit with the deleted question at the time, probably came immediately after that which helped explain the vibes coming off him.

It was one of the few questions that cheered him up in the most recent press conference

Hmm. Wasn't aware of Palace's biggest shareholder also owning Lyon who bid an unexpected £40m for Minteh. Wonder what our relationship with him is like.

This one has totally passed me by. How did you hear this? Wondered why the video was shorter this week.

Which was so strange. Stranger to hear him comment about that, because I'd kind of thought the change had come through management decision - maybe due to the FA persecuting us for beating their favourites or something. Not that he'll ever say it, but I'd be interested to hear his analysis of why it went away, in that case. Because it was different right from the beginning of the season - nothing to do with injuries or fatigue on this occasion.

Yes, his end product is pretty decent. It's the beginning and middle which he struggles with. I like Murphy, but I don't think many people realise what a difference a really quality RW would make to us - in defence as much as anything, through retained possession, threat and turning periodic spells of dominance into actual leads without having to throw our kitchen sink.

On this occasion it looks like all the leaking is coming from the selling club though, who are dodgy by nature and very motivated to make the deal sound as big as possible - clearly hoping others would come in. The Newcastle journalists seem to keep getting fed messages from us about 'not recognising the public descriptions' of the deal. So I don't think we can stake our lives on those reports being true. There's definitely something weird going on, just not sure who the weirdos are.

I've got mixed views on this whole situation. I really think people should hold off on kicking off over what the board have done this summer until the window's closed - if for no other reason than it will make your argument a lot more persuasive. Too easy to be written off as a hothead at the minute. The fact is we genuinely don't know what's going on behind the scenes. There's a few plausible ideas, and some of them are pretty grim, and some of them are very reasonable. Mostly I think we're going to have to wait and see to get a clearer idea of the reality. If Eddie Howe stays at the club and appears happy, that's a big signal we shouldn't get too paranoid. Not a guarantee, but a very positive sign.

Well, strictly speaking our owners are cash rich, but whether they choose to put that money into the club is another matter. That's what he's getting at.

I think Bellamy was just hurt over the whole thing. He's a bit of a fucked up bloke, by his own admission.

God that's overstepping the mark.

And in spite of all of that, we should be looking to win. As I said before, a draw is a totally believable result, but it shouldn't be a cause for joy. It doesn't mean we should lose the plot if we draw either, but we shouldn't lower our standards if we want to do anything this season.

A draw will not be a good result, but it is a believable one.

Manages to sound faintly surprised at having to ask them every time.

We don't know we were offered that, though.

What does it say when this fucker getting sacked has put a spring in the step of the nation? Like, why was he employed and pushed so far in the first place? Surely there always were less disliked alternatives.