simonsays

Our policy does seem to be to hoover up players who have minimal time left on their contracts. I would be surprised to see us in for anyone who has longer than 12 months left on their current deal come the summer

Watch Messi's goals. 80% of them are defensive errors. I would, i don't think he'll ever be a starter for England he was brought through at a young age and got him noticed he doesn't look that good for me. I agree, and I think it happens a lot in England. Players potentials are often overrated if they break through at a younger age. He's got potential to be a good player, just not as good as some people are making out imo. Agreed - just because he has matured physically quicker than most other players his age, it doesn't make him worth £10m. He looks promising, but 10m quid is a joke considering you could get established (non-english) internationals for the same price

I agree. I'm not sure why everyone has to side with either Carroll or Ashley - can't we just say that they are all c**ts and should all take a portion of the blame and move on. As long as we re-invest in the summer I'll be reasonably happy.

if we hadn't been relegated would Carroll ever have got in our first team?

The rumour about chopra was on RTG at about 2 this afternoon. Hope to god It's not true

What was the name of that massive young African striker we were supposed to be interested in? Can't remember his name, but he was about 6 foot 7 and built like a brick s*it house

Im convinced we'll get sturridge in, at least on loan, as part of the transfer merry go round between us, Liverpool and chelsea

Exactly, dont see what they could offer that we shouldnt be able to at this point. We should have a clear advantage really. Bizarre. They think he is worth £35 million and apparently we don't

The reason he is so valuable to us is not just that he has the potential to be very good, but that he actually wants to stay at Newcastle. Having a player with a scrap of loyalty is very rare these days (Darren Bent). While I agree that Suarez is a very good player there is no gaurantee he will settle in England or adapt to the English style of play meaning he is much more of a gamble than Carrol would be fo an English club - it is this together with ability that determines the value of a player.

he's managed to be a squad player in a team which has been good, average and s*** for ten years. think about that

And yet you'll argue in favour of Bothroyd who has a significantly inferior goalscoring record. Weird. Perhaps Bothroyd is peaking now though, wheras Shola has been consistently average through his entire career.

Well considering he scored 10 in 11 starts last season I don't understand what this inference is based on. That division is dogshit. The likes of Ebanks-Blake and Jason Scotland have ripped it to shreds in the past. Chopra is the Drogba of that division and Kevin Nolan was it's Lampard. If Shola could keep himself fit for upwards of 40 games he'd hit 25 goals, absolutely no doubt. With Shola's fitness problems lies the difficulty in him ever achieving this, obviously. would he do it in a team that wasn't far superior to the rest of the league though? Put Shola in an average championship team and I thinki he would struggle to get more than 15 a season - even if he could stay fit.

If there were 4 or 5 players who were knackered why did he decide to play them all?

I agree that Tiote shouldn't have been brought on but surely some responsibility should lie with him. Everyone knows that when you make a tackle like that - whether it is made cleanly or not - you run the risk of getting sent off. Just because he has been one of our best players this season people seem willing to absolve him of any blame.

Read this mate and stop making yourself look stupid: http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/news/2011/01/02/fa-cup-preview-stevenage-out-to-avenge-1998-defeat-to-newcastle-102039-22820394/ No one will remember this in two years time. I guarantee the media will, meaning we will be reminded of it every time we play lower league opposition

Is this a joke? He dealt with it brilliantly. A throw in line with our penalty area is risky at 1-0 man Not as risky as a backpass when there is someone marking our keeper

Get Ranger on -we need someone who'll run the channels

should have scored

Ben Watson is even worse at set pieces than Guthrie!

if it was 6 months on his contract I could understand it, but 18 months? Surely it's bollox

Bale, no? I think Bale is having a good enough season to get the grown ups version. Can a player win both?

I assume Essien will get a 3 match ban for the potential leg breaker on Gareth Bale that the referee missed yesterday?

It was about £1250. Still pocket change to Ronny. Wish I had the balls to put that much money on a bet. Fair play to Ronald. I didn't put £4K on and i've no idea where the figure has come from. It's around half that. Are you not tempted just to lay it on betfair? Why? Because when I last looked you could lay at about 1.14 which means you'd still make a healthy profit without any risk.

It was about £1250. Still pocket change to Ronny. Wish I had the balls to put that much money on a bet. Fair play to Ronald. I didn't put £4K on and i've no idea where the figure has come from. It's around half that. Are you not tempted just to lay it on betfair?

How many players slot straight into a Premiership team after playing all their football in the lower leagues? Writing off a player who wasn't even brought in to be our first choice right back after he has only played a handful of games is laughable. Now that Simpson is back Perch can be given games in the cups, get to know his team mates better and gain a bit of confidence. I'm not saying he is going to set the world alight but he does at least give us a little depth of cover across the back four which is something we have been sorely missing over the last couple of seasons