Rich

I was once like you, giving it the soopafan bollocks. However, I, like you, was, in the main, talking shit. Comma overload, dude!

Lads, if Martins scores a cracker tonight then get this song rolling: "Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Obafemi.... OOOH, AHHH! I wanna knowohhhhhohhhhhhohhhhhhohhhhhhhohhhhohhhh how you scored that goal." Seriously.

I can't see season ticket prices going up again this term after the bother the club had shifting them this season. If they do then I would expect some top-class signings in the summer to draw more punters in, because otherwise we'll be looking at another decrease in the uptake.

Free-kicks would be advantage enough if referees kept the wall back the full ten yards, it's absolutely ridiculous how they do not seem to follow this rule on some of the biggest stages. I know it's a bit rugby-esque but why can't they walk ten yards and drop some sort of marker so that they know exactly where to stand the wall and so that the members of the wall know that they can't go beyond it? Doesn't have to be anything huge, or obstrusive, there must be something that can be done. If free-kicks were set-up properly then there'd be no need to take them quickly.

Summary: ¤ Charles N'Zogbia back for 'Boro clash, hopefully. ¤ Peter Ramage could be looking at the same game to return to the squad, he's suffered a minor set-back. ¤ Stephen Carr returns to training next week (hooray!) ¤ Shola Ameobi should play before the end of the season. ¤ Michael Owen is looking top-notch in training and is "flying". ¤ Craig Moore is back in training. ¤ Shay Given is back at the weekend. ¤ Emre's "injury" is showing "no sign of healing" apparently... what a surprise. ¤ No mention of Tim Krul, like. ¤ Parker might play tomorrow, but if he doesn't then he will definitely start at Wigan. Disappointed about the farcical Emre situation and that Krul must still be struggling, not to mention that Carr isn't far from making his 34th return from injury since joining... but all-in-all I'd say that's the most positive piece of club propaganda that we've had for ages.

Home, definitely.

I enjoyed that, for the most part!

On ITV teletext now, as well... might as well sign up.

Has there been any news on N'Zogbia, Emre and Moore yet? NUFC.com reported last week that all three had returned to training, but I've heard nothing from any official sources. Hopefully Emre will resurface for Wigan, along with Given, and we'll pick up no more injuries before then - with Gooch coming back into contention as well the squad could look stronger than it has done for a long, long time come Sunday. The mighty Ramage was also saying that he should be back for around the Wigan game as well, so in a week or two we might finally be moved from the top of the Injury Table. Fingers crossed. PhysioRoom Injury Table

Auld bugger? I'd like to see Bellamy here but not Barton tbh. For football reasons only. Compared to me, aye! If the pair of them were robots, I'd have them simply because they'd improve our play on the pitch, but for all the disharmony they might cause off it the move could be seen as too much of a risk. I can't see Bellers coming back here as long as Big Shep is in charge, anyway - and if Shepherd wanted to peddle Bowyer because he was a bad lad, then I can't see him putting up with JB, either. With Roeder here I'd assume the days of us signing "bad lads" are over, but we'll see.

Very difficult to explain, but if you understood from that then I'm very impressed.

It would surely be better if we knocked them out though? Some of their posts on here prior/post group-stage meeting were legendary. "you no will underestimade fener, we will beat you" turned into... "scored a lucky sibioerski goal, we will get revenge later" then... "fener will crush AZ, turkey atmosphere is best in world!" etc. etc. etc. I would love it if we beat them... again.

It's an English phrase, a shortened version of the full saying - so people will know what I mean when I simply say "lightning never strikes twice..." It's why I put the "..." on, you bastard guy!

Who would you prefer? Has to be AZ for my money, a lot closer to home and I'd feel a lot more confident playing over in Holland ahead of going to Turkey. I literally know nowt about AZ mind, apart from a few of their players from the Dutch national team and that they had Co there last term. Fenerbahce looked shite at SJP and Turkish football is fairly poor, so I wouldn't exactly fear them. Get the feeling that they couldn't handle Martins and Dyer, either. Admittedly, the prospect of the Turkish board invasion (ala Olympiakos - some of the greatest days ever on here) and us beating them is a mouth-watering prospect. I actually hope Panathinaikos get past Lens and we draw them later in the cup, just to see if they'll be the same. Crazy Greeks. Crazy Turks. I know talking as though we've beaten Waregem is dangerous after we all did so for Birmingham, but lightning never strikes twice...

Completely agree mate. Give me the likes of those ahead of Bolton, Wigan, 'Boro etc. any day of the week.

How ye, post more often

Cannot believe they tear-gassed the Man Utd fans. Apparently van der Sar copped a load of it an' all... very sneaky way of putting the opposition keeper off like. Gas the bastard. Sometimes I shake my head at the dross that happens in the "biggest club competition in the world."

2 positions off the playoffs, only missing out on GD! Championship is looking exciting, but I do hope the Mackems come up.

I do agree that his body must be a knackers yard these days! It's amazing he's managed to play so much this season already. Might be due to cutting out night-time activities or certain habits out of his lifestyle and getting a specified training regime? By habits, I of course mean sleepwalking and nosepicking. He only trains a few days a week compared to the rest of the 'Boro squad, they seem to have him wrapped in cotton wool. Watch him pull a hammy against us! If he's gonna get injured it will be at SJP in a couple of weeks.

'Boro have got at least 12 games left this season, including the FA Cup, let's say that if he misses more than 3 of those through injury (25%) and not suspension/being rested/being dropped, then you win. Sound fair? We'll arrange the actual wager via PM!

You're judging him based on the past, while in the present he's staying fit and playing really well! I do agree that he's still a major risk, but he's not been a crock this season... yet! The bandwagon thing is just the preconception everyone has of Woody (and rightly so!), let's just see how he does for the rest of the season and over the coming years. If he gets crocked again before youknowwhatty, I'll sort you a pint or two for your victory. Come on Woody son, stay fit! We should actually wager on it, but I warn you, I'm a poor man.

I'll meet you in the Woodgate thread!

That's a shit argument, btw.

So aye, are we now agreed that we've had a bit of a miscommunication and that we've been arguing over absolutely nowt? That would be great, if we could. This Bellamy debate is a real crowd-puller, like, I'd love to know the wordcount on here that has come from the little bugger. I suppose until we reach the "heights" that we did when he was here the debate will rage on. We desperately need to win something, or start playing some cracking football again, just to take people's mind off him. Although, if those days ever come I bet we get a barrage of posts saying "I'm glad Bellamy isn't here anymore, Martins and Owen are mint, etc. etc." It's a vicious cycle, I tells ya, but at least if we were doing well we'd hopefully be bickering less as a result. Has there ever been a situation like this before with a Toon player? Being relatively young this is my first experience of an incident that has split the supporters so rigidly. Do we at least all agree that Souness is a wanker?