HawK

Their first XI is absolute class, I don't watch much of them but I would have thought they'd be pushing top 4 this season.

Yep our best player since Ben Arfa, probably better than him as he's more consistent. http://static.fjcdn.com/gifs/No_99d127_876791.gif

Chelsea not safe at all. Can you imagine Burton Albion visiting Stamford Bridge for a league match? It could happen next season

Stream froze at same time they scored as if the whole internet smashed their keyboards at the same time.

Same odds for Colback to get world player of the year by all accounts

Why 50%? Well, he'll either get one, or he won't.. I suppose..

Except I think Shelvey's touched the ball more in one half than Nolan did over the course of a season

get in the sea

I guess he's been watching Tim Howard's goal kicks.

Needs the Colo song.. Oh Jonjo Shelvey, You are the love of my life, Oh Jonjo Shelvey, I'll let you shag my wife, Oh Jonjo Shelvey, We all want Colo's hair too.

Usually that's us with the jesus-inspired luck-based defending when pinball happens in the area.

One with two of the best young (early twenties still) midfielders in the premiership. Colback and?

Fuck they're even passing to Dummett now, steady on chaps.

Needs to host the Crystal Maze reboot.

Those fucking Hollywood balls, you'll never get anywhere with those.

Tiote's served his time here, I don't think he's the player he was and he needs to move on.

Forward pass from midfield leads to a goal, who would have thought.

I don't disagree, my point was more along the lines of needing a couple of quality British players in our first 11. The few British players we have got are hardly the stand-up example of what I was trying to say

I do think there's something to be said for a core of a few experienced, British players who can get the non-British through tough games where things are going against them. It seems to be a characteristic more in line with our own than foreigners, generally. Of course there are notable exceptions, but when our team has gone missing for entire months on end this season, it seems of little consequence or consideration for the non-British. When Arsenal romped to the title undefeated, they had Martin Keown still there, Ray Parlour, Sol Campbell alongside some of the best foreign players the Premier League has ever seen and I think they often get forgotten. Case in point was when we went down and players like Smith, Harper, Nolan, Barton took the playing squad by the scruff of the next and got us up again, I'd imagine a sense of 'This is Newcastle United, we're a Premier League team and we need to get back'.. I don't recall any of the foreign-born players being attributed to that group at the time. Until Shelvey's arrival, there's been no British player in our squad worthy of a regular starting position in a long time and we just don't have the quality or arrogance in the rest of the team to compensate for the lack of British 'grit' and heart-on-the-sleeve play that most British players have. Does this mean I'd rather have Shelvey than Fabregas, or 11 Jack Colbacks, certeris parabus, of course not. But for this club in particular to be successful, one that is so tied to the city, the area and the fans, there needs to be some kind of connection and empathy there to channel that support to become a positive force for the team. Some of our foreigners had this - Dabizas, Solano, Hatem, Ginola, Sibierski. I don't think there is any foreign player in our squad that came here because they wanted to play for Newcastle long term, and they just don't get vested into the club and it shows when the going gets tough.

Aye I'm not singling out Wright, but surely as a healthcare and sports physio professional he could highlight issues and we would see an improvement over time. Perhaps a thread rename - Derek Wright and the NUFC Physi-nos

I don't really care what they do off the field to a large degree, and Gillespie with Solano are two of the best right wingers we've ever had.