alpal78

Nolan would be almost useless that far back.

In the hole for me as well. If we don't get a decent second striker, then would not mind him playing as a second striker but more like a center forward that drops off the target man and links up with the midfield. I noticed when he did play left wing he tend to drift inside a lot which affects our balance, plus don't think crossing is his strongest attribute. He is the type that wants to dictate play and that can only happen when he is in the middle. Also think that Jonas will play better with him around as they can link up play with clever passes and create space for each other. Someone send this to Pardew please

Anything less and it is a no go for me.

Only when winning the ball in the air, he still has some work to do on ball control, dribbling and shooting. Right now he is the type of striker that will score when he gets decent crosses, and useful for knock ons but he is not able to create things on his own. His shooting consistency also can be improved, like I said very good potential, the best we've had in a long time but far from the finish product.

nobody knows but when we talk of potential it could go both ways. He could be England's next main striker or he could just be a one season wonder. That is why taking 30M and getting a player who has been proven at the highest level many seasons over plus 1-2 more players is a really good deal There's also the factor that while Ashley is always one crazy decision from the next, you also get the feeling Carroll's one night out away from his next incident that could end him in jail. Yup I'm gonna be flamed for saying this, but many are glossing over his weaknesses (ability and character) and overstating his strengths because he is a local boy.

nobody knows but when we talk of potential it could go both ways. He could be England's next main striker or he could just be a one season wonder. That is why taking 30M and getting a player who has been proven at the highest level many seasons over plus 1-2 more players is a really good deal

Of course it is. He's a very promising player, but 30 million pounds is a huge amount of money for a player with so little top flight experience. This isn't just about Ashley or Newcastle, every single chairman in the league - bar one or possibly two - would think very, very seriously about that sort of cash. Yup agree with this, I would not sell for less but 30M is serious money. For some perspective of how much 30M is, VDV cost 8M, Edin Dzeko the most sought after striker cost City 27M, Ozil the hottest property after the WC cost Madrid 16.6M...so if we put sentiments aside, 30M for Carroll is a lot of money. I take Ohmelads point that prices might be inflated if other clubs know that we have 30M to burn, but we can do the transfers simultaneously and only pull all the triggers at the same time when we got the deal we want, in other words don't sell till we got the deal for the 3-4 players we want sorted.

That would be absolutely insane. There's no price I would sell Carroll for right now - our main guarantee against relegation, local lad and future England star, unplayable on his day, etc etc. There's no profit to be had in selling Carroll at this point, and I still think he's not going anywhere. It's just the usual transfer window speculation. Well ya we would be relegated if we didn't replace him, that's why I said I agree only if the 30M will be reinvested to strengthen the team all over. Carrol has massive potential but he is far from the finish product. It is the Geordie hero part that is making us overestimate his ability. We can get a better non English striker for 20M. Disagree, I've heard many impartial commentators talk about him as a future star, people with nothing to do with NUFC and who usually spend their time criticising us. Yes, we could stay up if we bought £30m pounds-worth of average players, but to achieve anything approaching success or progress we need to retain players like Carroll. Actually, there are no players like Carroll, so we need to keep him specifically! 30M pounds of average players? How much do you think players like VDV cost Spurs? Even Dzeko the most sought striker in Europe only cost 27M and that is by City's inflated standard. No players like Carroll? What do you mean? He is the best striker in the world?

That would be absolutely insane. There's no price I would sell Carroll for right now - our main guarantee against relegation, local lad and future England star, unplayable on his day, etc etc. There's no profit to be had in selling Carroll at this point, and I still think he's not going anywhere. It's just the usual transfer window speculation. Well ya we would be relegated if we didn't replace him, that's why I said I agree only if the 30M will be reinvested to strengthen the team all over. Carrol has massive potential but he is far from the finish product. It is the Geordie hero part that is making us overestimate his ability. We can get a better non English striker for 20M.

I'm not feeling good about this. But I stand with what I said previously, 30M and reinvest them all back into the team and we have a deal.

Maybe a blessing in disguise...provided he comes back as good!

I'm getting one as well. I have not seen us sign a player like this since Robert and even then it took me a few games to realize how special he was. HBA was great from the word go! Well done to all involved, Mike, Derek, Pardew and Houghton (if he was the one who spotted him in the first place?). Hope this won't be our last. Will be happy with one more striker and a few backups.

is that good or bad? good. deal done. then why is it not announced yet? Or could be bad coz deal could not struck so agent gave up?

and the tapping up of Pienaar begins Disgusting!

is that good or bad?

I can see your concern, but can we please not panic until there is at least some substance to this

wait how do we know that this is the real Enrique account? Aren't there quite a few fake footballer accounts on facebook?

Now can't add him anymore, somehow facebook is disallowing it, maybe too many add in a short space of time

For some it was the end of the world such that they had difficulty celebrating our goal afterwards

I know you were trying to be sarcastic but that was awful!

semi assist? talk about sugar coating He shot (from right in front of goal), missed and hit the post. Any assist (semi or quarter for that matter) has to be at least deliberate.

Just wanna say that I'll be pissed if by one signing Pardew means HBA. As it is I think one signing is clearly insufficient, we need one striker, one left wing and one midfield to get through the season

'almost open goal'? Must have imagined the pressure from the goalkeeper and defender then. That wa an open goal, but Nolan's against City was a 'difficult chance' (as described by some)? Ah ok. The keeper was sprawling on the ground after saving Barton's shot hence the use of the word "almost"

Possibly but winning is all that matters. True, but i'm not getting involved in blowing Pardew for great tactics. Two poor sides for me. So when we win it's two poor sides, when we lose to the likes of City and Spurs, nothing to do with the superior quality of the opposition, just Pardew's fault. Right! Wrong. I didn't comment after those two games. And today there was a lack of quality, could have had 5 if not for that lack of quality. Sorry mate wasn't targeting you specifically, quite a few in the forum were guilty of what I just described though. If we are to give Pardew a fair chance, then he should be given credit when we he gets things right and we win just as much as criticized when he gets things wrong and we lose.

Anyone who thought that Loven had a role in the goal was bonkers (unless you include by accident). Faced with an almost open goal and et he managed to hit the post (no it wasn't deliberate) and he had a second chance when Barton squared to him and he could not even get a shot off...dallied till Watson cleared the ball. Let's face it he's not gonna score for us.