buzza

poor shola, relegated to his best position after some stunning displays: 4th choice striker (Best/Ba/Benarfa)

I watched the game on a live stream so don't take it as gospel, the things that stuck out: -Krul looks very calm and looks to pass through the defense before deciding to kick -Ryan taylor is becoming a better defender than Simpson, who is not improving at all. -Colo and Tayls have a great partnership going and cannot fault either of them -Our midfield options are looking great, when Marveaux is back that should give the kick up the backside that Jonas needs to improve his final pass... -When ben arfa is back our front options will be great and shola (lumbering one) + Lovenkrands will hopefully become history. Looks like 100% truth about Ba's fasting causing the low performances earlier this season ***just need santon to replace simpson/raylor (take pick), a striker and LB to be bought in Jan and we will be comoeting in Europe again soon****

If we get minus 5000 fans every home game that is about equal to 3 million quids worth of revenue down the drain... (30 quid ticket x 18 home games)

2-1 extra time 2-1 win pens

Was at game last night and Ryan Taylor was abominable. Need to get santon on the pitch asap!!! The other two dogs were shola nd simpson, shola just didn't do anything at all to create a bit of danger and simpson looked just bone idle.. Doesn't seem interested or is knackered? I think five in midfield would be a good idea for Villa. Ba looked good when he came on. ---------krul--------- Simps--tayls---colo---santon Obertan--9abaye---tiote--jonas ---------------Gosling or Marveuax -----------Demba---------

reckon it will be: --------------Krul--------------- Simpson--Tayls---C olo----Raylor Obertan---Cabay--Tiote--Jonas ---------------Demba----------- ----------------------Best-------

I would also go for replacing Simpson with Raylor, simpson has looked gash for the first few games and if it's true that he was nearly off to Villa he may well be unsettled and not 100% focused. Raylor doesn't deserve to be dropped tbf. I would love to see Sameobi upfront with shola or Best. Bring Marveaux on after 60 mins perhaps. Obertan hasn't done bad either and does get back to cover well...

Yeehaaa! Got my ticket for this one, first away in years...get in!! I think Pardew will stick with his team from the Fulham game, probably bring Santon on in second half if Taylor looks knackered... Would like to see Sameobi come on at some point...

Don't normally think much of the Mirror's Simon Bird but his article on our summer spen is quite well explained: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/simon-bird/How-Newcastle-chiefs-Derek-Llambias-and-Mike-Ashley-can-already-claim-they-ve-reinvested-the-Andy-Carroll-cash-in-the-squad-Simon-Bird-column-article789260.html There will be one big question Alan Pardew will have to answer at the end of the month following his first summer in charge. Is Newcastle’s squad stronger than in May? There are other questions looming in the background that managing director Derek Llambias will also be judged on, by his boss Mike Ashley. Is Newcastle’s balance sheet looking healthier than it was last May? Is the wage bill still under control? Are United breaking even, or even making a small profit yet? Will Ashley have to put in a few more million to keep the club running? (these sums have amounted to tens of millions in recent seasons and not surprisingly he doesn’t want to add to his £160 million of interest free loans) The conflicting questions do not sit happily together and are at the heart of most clubs’ transfer dealing, not just Newcastle. Pardew and his players will want investment, competition for places and fresh talent brought in. Llambias, while obviously wanting the team to improve, will try to keep a lid on spending. Pardew wants a left back (Erik Pieters is favourite, but Aly Cissokho the other option being scouted) and a striker (Modibo Maiga is the man and wants to join). If he gets those targets, and no other crucial first teamers leave – and that means Fabricio Coloccini and Joey Barton – Pardew may be able to answer “yes” to questions about whether the squad has been strengthened. With time running out now is the time for Newcastle to push through both deals and get their buying out of the way. Llambias and Ashley have proved tough operators screwing the maximum price out of rivals for the likes of Andy Carroll – £35 million, with £30 million immediately put in United’s bank. But with that kind of cash in the bank they may have to pay slightly over the odds for Pieters and Maiga to get the deals over the line. Winning the North East derby has raised the mood on Tyneside and created a positive momentum, and new arrivals would fuel that feel good factor, so it is in United’s interests to act quickly. What we don’t want to see is Newcastle scrambling on transfer deadline day for new bodies. The old trick of bidding big, but not quite big enough, for a star player (I’m thinking Charles N’Zogbia last January), losing out, then saying “oh, well, you see the money was there, we were ambitious, but we just couldn’t get the deals done,” simply won’t wash. The other big question United have to answer is whether they have spent the Andy Carroll money. Newcastle do not accept the old notion of “spent” when doing their sums. Spent for most clubs and fans means headline fees. Newcastle take a more accountancy led version, representing the sort of money that has been committed over the first year of a signing. They believe it gives a more rounded picture of the actual cost of a deal. Naturally it adds up, conveniently you might say, to a great deal more than “headline fees” which fans usually use as their benchmark. United’s sums include transfer fees (Newcastle pay it all up front unlike most clubs who pay in instalments), agent fees (which can be millions ie 10-14 per cent of the entire worth of a contract), signing on fees, and the first year pay of a new recruits. For instance Yohan Cabaye cost £5million. But add agent fees of, say £1million, and first year wages of say around £3million, Newcastle will have it down as a £9million deal for this season. Demba Ba may appear to be a “free” transfer. But agents fees, a signing on fee and first year of wages could, using Newcastle’s calculation method, make it a deal costing £6 million this season. When the cost of this summer’s deals are added up this way, assuming they spend on the new left back and striker (headline fees for £6 million and £7 million) mentioned, those sums, on my calculations, add up around £47 million. Take away the money banked from selling Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique (around £11 million) and the season wages saved for the pair (£4 million) and that total is around £15 million. Which leaves a commitment in wages and fees on this summer’s deals of slightly more than £30 million. These educated guesses will be fleshed out when club’s accounts are published in the coming months, but United might just, being charitable with the figures, be able to say they spent the Andy Carroll cash like they said “in wages and fees.” Of course the wheeling and dealing is far from over, and surprise deals may materialise. In the eyes of many fans, even with two more new signings in, the club could have spent more. But the only proof of whether United are stronger will ultimately come on the pitch, not through arguments over the minutae of accounting.

Aye, if he `pulls off the two necessary signings I will be less sceptical about his slaverings from now on...LOL

Thoght he was very calm yesterday and seemed a lot more confident on his kicks aswell which is a good thing, none of em went adrift. Looks far better than end of season harps....

man love developing here!! he was class today both offensively and defensively..

he was awful today... can't believe anyone thinks he could get anywhere near the england team???

Exited about the subs bench! Fair play, does seem better than last season, just a bit worried about the goals source....

I almost believed you up until there If we don't laugh we will almost certainly cry.... Boo Hoo!

Team for saturday (unless surprised): -----------Krul------------- Simps----Tayls---Colo---Ryan Barton---Tiote--Cabaye--Jonas --------Obertan--------- -------------Shola----------

Been told by a really reliable "ketchup" that our left back bids will be turned down or "underbidded" by other teams and we will soldier on with "new signing" Shane Ferguson, or even newer signing James Perch (we haven't seen him for about six months!). We will also be looking to spend 100 million in the Jan transfer window as our powder needs to dry out, this due to the summer showers and grey cloud permanently over St James Sports Direct Park.

I agree completely, Shola worked his socks off in the first half whereas Ba just seemed to jog ebverywhere, even the challenges for 50/50 balls. I was really unimpressed by him, which is probably what Pards thought aswell subbing him after 45 mins.... On the flip side he didn't get any service from the midfield, was this due to his slow movement or our crappy midfielders???

Agree, totally lost the plot, and I thought he was also going to get a red card, massive sigh when he didn't... He was very influential in the game and was probably MOM material with Colo. He will cost us a match or two this season due to his stupidity/red mist but he will also most probably influence more than his fair share in helping to win them...

LOL!!!

Do you think he will be in the middle with Cabaye today? Seems to merit a place after his games in US???

I thk that Nolan did a lot more than people are giving him credit for, he hardly ever put a pass astray (4th best passer of ball in Prem!), he covered passing angles and was very good positionally. Yes, his downfall for most of you was his size and lumbering appearance and the question of his fitness, which we now know he carried a knock for the latter part of the season. Jury's still out for me, but Cabaya could be great :)

To be fair we hammered them llast season without him, i'm sure we can do the same again Who scored a hat trick in that game again ? And is he still here ? You're right, I forgot the only way to beat a team was to put out exactly the same lineup from the last time you beat them and wait for the exact same match to happen again. It might be to hold on to one of your best goalscorers to give yourself a better chance in the next game. Nah, would rather not have to rely on a bloke that was blowing out his arse after 60 minutes of most games to be hoenst. Better off replacing him with proper athletes. Fair enough as far as it goes, but how many of these proper athletes(presumably the close season signings) have you seen play and what are their goalscoring record like ? Well Demba Ba's isnt too shabby to be fair is it? Lets not forget, Nolans goals dried up big time when Carroll left, what was it, 2 after he left? And when he didnt score he didnt contribute, or contributed very little at least. It might have been a good idea to make some attempt to hold onto Carroll as well. SILLY MONEY I would rather have Carroll than the money, which we know isn't going top be spent. You can't sit and watch a balance sheet. Best response I've seen in a while. Makes sense aswell, which is a bonus!!

class!!

He is as cool as... Nile take a leaf mate! P.S. Hate how Rio (aka Bernie's lips from Mo's tavern) has to be in the middle of everything....