Rich

Nobby off jet-setting again at 32, I suppose this makes it less upsetting if he does end up moving south.

Still 9th in the table, having played 2 games less than half of the teams in the league and 1 game less than the other nine. What an atrocious start.

Same team again. If it happens, does anybody know the answer to this: when was the last time we had three consecutive matches with the same starting eleven in all of them!? I bet nobody can be arsed to answer that/knows the answer - and I'm not going looking myself either I'd pop Solano on the bench for Ramage, if he's in the "right mind" - if not, then why not slot Enrique in to give him a taste of being involved in a matchday squad pre-Barnsley? If I can be my usual positive self, it does bode well on the injury front and might be another pointer to this football club heading in the right direction after the mess of the previous few years. Cue another bout of pre-Riverside pinkeye overnight.

Me too, far more than Sunderland - who I'm fairly sympathetic to (or have been for the last 7/8 years). I see Spurs as our rivals more than them lot down the road in the current climate. Jenas doesn't help.

Fay as guck.

Absolute pleasure to hear from Oba, as usual. Here's hoping for a goal or two for him on Sunday.

Who says the spending is over with? Also, who isn't taking sign-on fees into account? Geremi's was £2M, I'd assume Viduka's was even more, Caçapa won't been strictly "free" either... £30M ploughed in to clear the debt, as well. People have very, very short memories.

(Surely no need to quote when you're the post directly after!? )

By the way, those sums are extremely optimistic. Let's say we get 3 home games in the domestic cups in each of the next two seasons as a more "realistic" benchmark. That's still going to be around £100 of football for nothing, which ain't half bad.

"Please note, as usual, your own seat or area is not guaranteed and the Club reserves the right to re-allocate you with a reasonable alternative should it wish to do so."

Very tempting, although it's come at a bad time for me personally. It would be around £50 a month from now until August for my seat and I do go to every cup game, but it's a gamble like others have said because home cup matches aren't always a given.

Don't tell me I've lost my Captain Pessimistic title!? Even I think this reaction is a bit overboard, but I don't think it's a wind-up and it certainly isn't complete nonsense, as BottledDog has argued very well. I have been impressed with Allardyce's strengthening of the squad on a small budget and with Mort's recent handling of the media and supporters (much better than before!). All in all the outlay that has been made (excluding the 30 million that has gone into debt reduction for the long term financial health of the club and of course the money that went into acquiring the club in the first place) hasn't been sufficient to narrow the gap to the top clubs in this country at the moment, some of which have significantly strengthened their squads. In the long run, very significant investments will need to be made to get us up to the level where I expect Ashley wants us to be, even moreso as a lot of other clubs have been taken over and their owners are spending like mad as well. Not all will get it right of course, but if we continue to spend below average on the playing side I'm not sure if we're giving Allardyce everythign he needs to succeed. I assumed it was a wind-up because of this post from BrazilianBob in July (less than a month ago): We look to be spending exactly the outlay that he suggested 4 weeks ago on this very forum if Faye comes in from Bolton for around the £2M mooted price, so either Bob's the most fickle fan I've (almost) ever come across or he's trying to wind people up. Hope that clears things up regarding my viewpoint on the opening post.

You said anything less than a win away to Middlesbrough is "abysmal", actually. I'd be satisfied with a point as it would equal the start we made in 01/02 in our first three games against similar level opposition (Chelsea away, Sunderland home, Middlesbrough away). 5 points from three games, two of which are away, would not be a bad start at all.

Best wind-up I've seen for a while, fair play.

Geremi stayed behind because he's applying for citizenship, not because he was injured. Yup, saw the story and have commented on it in other threads. Will edit.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/chroniclesport/tm_headline=geremi-to-become-british-citizen%26method=full%26objectid=19676834%26siteid=50081-name_page.html That's better than mine, in fairness.

That has got to be sarcasm...

Fully up-to-date now, with added Geremi conspiracy theory!

This is really the first time that Allardyce has had any decisions to make regarding the starting line-up because of a number of things: • Carr and Rozehnal both played entire games in Denmark and Austria, respectively, which might rule them out. • Owen got another fifty-five minutes under his belt and will probably be pushing for a start. • Geremi and Martins might not be fit to play after they couldn't feature for their countries yesterday (although Oliver says they both will be.) • Caçapa will be pushing for his first start after appearing from the bench on Saturday. The definite starters at the moment are Harper, Taylor, N'Zogbia, Milner, Smith, Butt and Viduka.

Has he got any pace though? If he's tall athletic and powerful i dont want him. If he has the capability to kick a football over 50 yards then I'm not interested, either.

Wouldn't surprise me. If we don't get a RB in before the deadline then I can't see Carr remaining first-choice there much longer, now that we might have 4 decent centre-halves to keep happy - all of whom can play there.

Any confirmation on what was the hold up? Gartside had locked Faye in the mascot's changing room at the Reebok, left him dressed as a lion.

So are we expecting this one to finally go through today/tomorrow now then? Thank fuck for that, if so.

Aye, we were far better off under Roeder. Its been one f****** nightmare after another this summer. shut the fuck up, you wanker! far better off under roeder??? I think some monitors don't come with 'irony-dispensing display' technology. I think the language barrier/new-ishness of the respondent probably had it's part to play as well. Lucas, he was being sarcastic

That is one fucking ugly strip... all white? Whoever has sanctioned these designs this summer wants shot of, IMO. Three chances to get it right, three times wide of the mark. To further bolster this opinion, I'm bringing the two God-awful 'keeper kits into the equation. Shepherd's revenge, surely?