Beren

Oh, Lukaku.

Cech is loving that right-hand post.

Lampard with the old John Smith 'have it'

Confidence from Lahm. Cech sticking to one side, but Lahm still fancied he'd put in the corner with enough power.

Good from Oscar. All technique.

Great pen from Luiz.

Wait, are you watching this on ITV? I hear saliva.

Were we better than West Ham at the weekend? Not sure there was a 'better' in that game! I don't mean to say that quality of chance would be exclusive determinative of who I thought played better/deserved a win, but what I've really liked about Aston Villa lately in their first three games, for example, is that their chances are actually a genuine threat on goal. I think Chelsea had twice as many chances as them in their match, but I thought it a very even game which Villa were unlucky to lose. Newcastle will have a few shots on goal against Fulham tomorrow (I hope), but I'd wager a fair few of them will be speculative efforts from unpromising positions that bobble off Shola's boot which your grandma could safely collect as it loses all momentum on its arduous journey to the goal (ie. shots which were never really going to be a goal, unless Cisse is feeling like providing us with another goal of the season contender). I think it's a valid consideration

Not seen the game, but does the quality of the chance not factor in all of this? Whose chances have been the more clear cut?

How many of them will be available for Arsenal?

You need to take a break man I don't disagree with you that we're in the brown, but you seem to be taking it quite hard. Concentrate on the cricket or something!

Sound logic. Midday kick-offs tend to be pretty drab affairs, but hopefully the Cardiff game will have lighted a fire up their backsides.

Mignolet Santon Zabaleta Vertonghen HBA © Walcott Ramsey Duff Soldado Sturridge Dzeko Considering swapping Duff for Townsend - surely that bastard can't score against us again?!

:lol:

Any Chelsea forward of reasonable quality (ie. not Torres) who is guaranteed a start is worth it - if Eto'o can nail that spot, I'll bring him in. Reckon Lukaku would be better mind you, but he's just not going to get ahead of bigger names on merit - which is quite sad, really.

Didn't realise Spurs' summer spending was going to top £90m! Mad.

Podolski out for ten weeks.

He's started off with a handicap in the eyes of some fans because of his last name I think. People are waiting for him to do something clumsy so they call roll out the classic "fucking Ameobi" line, but the truth is that he's a very skillful player IMO. He's not the finished product, his tracking back can be suspect and his decision-making/final ball can definitely be worked on - but he brings us pace and verve which we're lacking in the side, particularly down the left. I personally hope he gets a lot more first-team action as we don't have enough bodies running into the box from midfield and I think Sammy will do just that. I also like how willing he is to take on a player and make it to the byline. Sometimes the defender will put it out for a throw, but that won't stop him from trying again and pushing up the play towards the opposition box (encouraging our other players forward in the process) the next time. He adds creativity and unpredictability which we really need. Our attacking play is so easy to telegraph at the minute. Think he has a lot of potential and we're not spoilt for options right now, so think he should be a lot closer to the first team personally.

Agree with Yorkie's team, Marv looks to have a fair bit of ring-rust atm.

Don't think it was manifestly different from the vast majority of our excursions against lower league opposition for the last few years: Never especially convincing or dominant, but this time the lower league opposition didn't have the extra quality (or luck) to punish us when they were on top, so we didn't have to chase the game/become really desperate in the second half - which meant our subs came on and played with a bit more freedom, which got us some goals. Sammy, Dummett, Shola (fluffed chance aside) and HBA had noteworthy performances (against Morecambe, yes, but last night it was what they had in front of them).

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/8894482/morecambe-0-2-newcastle Pretty representative highlights IMO

Falls between the home fixture against Hull and a trip to Goodison which is on the following Monday - think we should be playing our first team.

'Kicking the can down the road' is not a problem for Ashley, I would think. He'd rather do that and give himself a couple more windows to get some unknown on the cheap. Or he can kick it further down the road with new loan signings next summer.

And if they get injured, we're back to having a good excuse to continue losing? No good manager is so heavily reliant on having their whole squad fit, because squads very rarely tend to have no injury problems. Scratch that, make that 'no acceptable manager'. He's had two-odd years to impose his footballing philosophy on the squad as a whole, to ensure changes to personnel (for whatever reason) don't disrupt our rhythm as a whole, and in this respect he's been successful - we're turgid no matter what!

Aye, fucking disgraceful the way they got us into the next round. Such a strange, angry little man. Ridiculous stick they get at times