Rich

I think the difference is that the players have pulled their fingers out, more than anything, they have to take some major flak for their previous displays, mind: a lot have made bad errors that have cost us goals, something Allardyce can't really help. We've not seen effort like that from so many individuals for a long time, let alone just this season. The important thing is that it keeps going.

HELLO, SWEETHEART!

How many times does Rozehnal get skinned per game? Too many, is the short answer.

I think he's looked very busy, played some good passes and worked hard. Looks like he's got pretty decent vision in his passing. i'm not sure if we are watchin the same game??? good passes? 15 passes= 8 to a arsenal player 7 to us`? I agree with this, his passing has been abysmal.

How the fuck are we behind? Amazing goal, in fairness.

Me to! I was born in Wallsend, but not sure which hospital. How old are you? There was a maternity unit on willington quay but it shut down ages ago. Thats where i was spat out. Didn't realise you were from around my family's way, Chez, I think the vast majority of my nearest relatives were born in Willington. Think my Mam was born there, 40-odd years ago.

In some photos a player has a red bib on, in other photos he doesn't. They're onto James and have switched it up to make his life more difficult. Can he crack the new code? Stay tuned to find out!

Has he got a song yet? If we aren't supporting the gaffer/players we might as well support this bloke, surely?

I think everyone's been aware of the atmosphere problems mate in regards to the lack of singing, but it's got even worse now with more people coming along to slag off rather than support. That's the issue.

£23.8m. Interesting. And HTT. When comparing starts of a manager you don't just take the WDDWL as a guide as to how well they are doing. You have to compare the form of the team before the manager came in, their position in the league. The teams they've played etc. etc. Gary Megson has had DDDWL in his 5 Prem games. That's pretty shit when you think about it but it's miles better than what they were doing before. They've also faced 2 top 4 teams and beaten one of them. The team also looks a lot better than before he took over. That first bit sounds strangely familiar... And that second bit was probably true after Allardyce's first 5 Prem games 2W, 2D, 1L... which was the best start we'd had to a season for over 5 years. Sort it out, man.

Devon's fine by me, I think it's mainly Southerners of the London variety that aren't exactly popular - usually, at least. Am I wrong?

When did they take over Pompey and Blackburn? Hughes was appointed after the transfer window had closed. Blackburn were lying in the relegation zone when he took over. Harry had about half of his original team at Pompey and took over around Novemberish with his team also in a relegation battle. Sam had a summer to buy his own players, they didn't. Has Hughes spent £25million in his whole time at Blackburn? You're quick to forget just how fucking rotten this club was before Allardyce/Mort/Ashley, which is really disappointing. I'd bet that Allardyce has had to do a hell of a lot more in his brief time here than either Redknapp or Hughes at their respective clubs because of how far behind everything else we were when he took over.

Born at Rake Lane in North Shields, grew up in Wallsend. Now living in Hull. My life has been the definition of glamour.

Tell me about it.

Chez, have a look at this bloke's posts from July-September if you want a laugh. Not sure if he's a wind-up merchant or the most blatantly fickle bloke on the planet. Too many more to post, but you get the gist. What's your game Microbar?

Can't disagree with too much, but like Keef says, the Kluivert and Jenas stuff is a bit wide of the mark.

Where have all of O'Neill's knockers gone? He was getting it something rotten on here earlier in the season/last season. Silly people.

The latest developments on this are that Virgin have been named by Northern Rock as their preferred buyers and will keep the bank based in the North East if they're successful in the bid. Branson has been in the Chronicle yesterday talking about the potential takeover and he was asked directly about NUFC... Interesting.

Earlier today we received an e-mail from the good people at our fine club (above), asking some advice on what we should do about the ticket allocation for the game away to Chelsea on Saturday 29th December 2007, a 3pm kick-off. We have currently taken around 1,500 tickets for the game, with around 1,000 of these having already been snapped-up, the club want to know if we should apply for the extra 1,500 at a cost of £76,000 to NUFC, who basically have to pay for all the tickets that aren't taken. Please take into account all of the factors surrounding the game, be it the timing/pricing, Toon Travel's recent problems, the trains being off between Newcastle and Doncaster on the day, etc. and answer as sensibly as you possibly can. This is a rare opportunity for us to directly respond to a question set by the Chairman of Newcastle United, take it. CHELSEA v NEWCASTLE UNITED SATURDAY 29th December 2007, KICK OFF 3PM THIS IS AN ALL TICKET MATCH Ticket prices £48.00 Adults (Upper) £45.00 Adults (Lower) £20.00 Senior Citizens £20.00 Juniors (under 16)

I genuinely believe the "near misses" of the last decade or so have broken the camel's back, as it were, which is understandable for the older blokes who've been through years of torture. If anyone was going to do it for us it would have been Keegan or Robson, that would have been perfect, the onus of this now falls at the door of one man, in my eyes. Big Al. Plenty of other, younger, people don't really have an excuse though. People like myself, for instance, who've only supported properly in the Premiership years. The league in 95/96, the FA Cup finals of 98/99, the Champions' League Qualifier against Partizan/the UEFA Semi-Final loss to Marseille in the same season and the following year's escapades in the UEFA/FA Cup have all been major, major blows to the fanbase, consciously or subconsciously - people are simply becoming more and more desperate for success, which is making it harder and harder to attain. It is going to take a gargantuan effort and a lot of money to do the business here, and I don't see it happening in the immediate future. I'm not sure anyone could manage this club effectively and to their potential with majority backing these days - especially not a former Sunderland player who wasn't a popular choice to begin with - simply because of the pressure and the nature of our support. Getting a new chairman with a lot of cash in has been a big stride forward, but it won't be enough alone, we then need the right manager, the right backing and the right players. None of which I'm entirely confident we currently have - but is that so surprising 6 months in? The fans need to give things a chance, they need to take a step back and think about what they say/do - especially in St. James' on a matchday - people have to be aware that what they do and how they react has a big role to play in what happens on AND off the park. I'm not advocating blind loyalty to the cause, but displays like we saw on Saturday are bang out of order and won't do much good to anybody.

It's surely just indicitive of modern society? The only thing I take heart from is that we're not the only ones. I'd love to see what fans of other teams would be like after what we've been through since 1969 here. I do also think that a lot of our fans see success as some sort of "divine right" for us because we turn up and pay the admission fee in our droves, the media spin on the "passionate Geordie crowd" (really pretty much all that can be said about us for a long time now when compared to other clubs' recent success) has gone to some people's heads. We're becoming spoiled brats, by and large, which is odd considering the lack of success. I could understand that mentality if the team got awesome, unequivocal backing for the vast majority of proceedings... but when people come in, sit on their arse and demand "entertain me", they can fuck off in my book. That's not what being a football fan is... or was.

Stevie Wonder could have took over the team and made progress on the shite from last season, point still is that weve been crap this season, and getting worse by the game. Things look ok (nothing special) after the Everton and Spuds results (2 teams there for the beating) but now things look far from great. Aye, but that's blatantly obvious to all and sundry. Nobody is saying otherwise. It's just not as bad as the reaction on Saturday would have us believe. We're nowhere near the bottom three, for starters. I'm personally frustrated that Allardyce is taking this much stick at such an early stage when compared to Roeder and Souness, two managers who have proven themselves to be massively inferior to our current boss. He is paying the ongoing price for the problems brought about since Bobby Robson was sacked more than anything. Aye, it hasn't been a pretty start but there has been a hell of a lot of change flying around at St. James' since May - the whole club is undergoing an overhaul. Personally I'm willing to allow for bad performances and embarrassing losses far more than I was last season, because the progress is plain to see, if we were 17th again and if we'd been as bad as last season then I'd be a lot more worried than I am. People's expectations have, rightly or wrongly, been inflated by the takeover and by the end of Shepherd. Last season I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, the whole club was rotten from top to bottom, but these days I can, thanks in no small part to our new owner and manager. This is the important point.

A few lines are obviously right, but there is a hell of a lot of bollocks in that article: - Chris Mort, "absentee landlord"? Isn't that bloke behind his desk from 9-5 practically every day? - "Gives Freddy Shepherd a good name"? Anyone who thinks we're worse off now than we were just last year at this time wants their head checked. People are quick to forget Sheff Utd, Fulham, Bolton, BIRMINGHAM, et al. All of these far, far worse sides than Portsmouth and Liverpool - who I personally thought were outstanding against us. We might end up saying this some day, but we're not even 6 months into Ashley's ownership yet! Personally, I can see some of the problems (like the style of play, the signings not hitting it off right away, Michael Owen, etc.), but I'm getting more and more certain that some of our fans revel in our despair and love nothing better than a good knee-jerk. People need to garner some perspective, and fast. At this stage last season we were 17th in the table, having only won 3 of our opening 14 games. We had 13 points and had scored 6 goals at SJP in 7 games. This season we're 11th in the table, having won 5 of our opening 13 games, we have 18 points and have scored 11 goals at SJP in 7 games. There is progress being made, believe it or not. Nobody ever claimed it would be an instant rise.

I like how someone is only complaining about this now