DJ_NUFC

Before anyone jumps on my back correcting me on "er, the board broke Keegan's dream, Kenny only worked with what he had" boll0cks, just to let you know, everyone is well aware of all that. Still never understood how people let Kenny off the hook when discussing the fall from grace post-1996. He had as much a part to play as the owners did. Horrible manager.

I hate to see our best players go to that horrible club in their despicable strips with their nasty red-faced Manager responsible in many ways for where we are now. Thanks for breaking up Keegan's dream, thanks for Andreas Anderson and Alessandro Pistone.

.com had it spot in. To quote, "at this point there is no point in him even talking anymore." I'm still willing to give him a chance (why do people say that? as if we have any choice in the matter) in terms of my opinion on him, which i'll keep in balance for now, as long as the team performs well on the pitch, as it has so far. However, behind the scenes, he's as big a lapdog as Kinnear was, probably worse as he doesn't even have the cajones that Kinnear had in owning up to his partisanship.

There you go, DJ. He's right though, anyone who doesn't hero worship Barton will surely see that. LOL @heroworship, #anymildopinionisturnedintoextremismonthisforum. (is that 140 characters?)

I wonder how Barton wishing to stay with us regardless of people trying to push him out is going over with the people on here who were trying very hard to convince the world that all this has been part of Joey's masterplan to... force a move? I'm sure you'll find more convoluted ways to lay the entire blame on him again. Anyways, for once we get a player who isn't shy of letting his passion for the club show and half of us are too cynical to even take it at face value. Not defending his actions thus far, btw, his tweeting has definitely harmed the club, but I just don't buy that it was all intentional and every single character was written out of malice.

We just lost someone who was instrumental last season. Who is going to be the replacement? Are we even going to have one? And is his passion replaceable? One of the best things SBR mentioned was the role of the manager in actively managing troubled personalities, and getting the best out of them. Just to highlight how far the club is from getting anyone remotely as intelligent as SBR at it's core again, they continue to act as childish and reactionary as possible.

Some people seem intent on finding creative ways to imagine the evil motivations of Mr. Barton (teasy), conveniently forgetting the absolute asshole behavior that was read out in court from the owners, who continue to revel in it year after year. The truth is that they have no idea how to run a football club successfully, and if people just take a step back from getting caught up in over-analysing individual discrepancies (Joey Barton was at fault for constantly tweeting his displeasure but it's an extremely myopic view which refuses to believe the issue was borne in a vacuum), they will surely realize these are just symptomns of a much larger affliction that is Ashley's misguided attempts at running a club.

I just spent a good 10 mins looking for a link to the article containing the quote which makes for the thread title. Mods, we need a more efficient system if you're gonna simple change titles of threads because it relates to one player. For people who don't frequent the forum every day it's annoying to keep going back looking for topics that kickstart a conversation. Anyone got a link?

Why hasn't the Gosling thread been bumped now that he's already out for another "six to eight weeks?"

Selling Harper is a weird one. He's been a hell of a servant to the club, and has earned the number 1 jersey. Selling Krul would also be ridiculous, as we can probably hang onto a future star or sell him later on for millions that Ashley can count as interest on the money he's pumped into the club. Keeping Forster is a weird one because... ah f--- it all. I can't make up my mind.

What a ridiculous statement. If football club owners think the same way then it's no wonder hacks like Allardyce and co. keep getting jobs. No vision, it seems, and no trust.

That's brill

By God has this thread deteriorated... Lock it and put us out of our misery. Personal abuse (directed at others) I can stand, lack of logic is just insufferable.

I don't think I saw him play last season, and haven't seem him play ever, what's an objective opinion on his talents, position and what he can bring to the club? Apologies if it's already been answered on here. I live in a different time zone, thus am too lazy to constantly go back when I load a thread

Barton: I want to stay at Newcastle. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/928477/joey-barton:-i-want-to-stay-at-newcastle?cc=5901 Joey Barton has expressed his desire to stay at Newcastle, following on from his initial disappointment at the imminent departure of Magpies skipper Kevin Nolan. Barton tweeted angrily on Wednesday that more departures may occur after news surfaced that Nolan had gone for a medical examination at West Ham, where he is expected to be named the club's new captain on Thursday. Later, Barton revealed that he has no plans of heading toward the exit door at St James' Park, if given the option. "I have got no ambitions to leave the football club, I don't want to leave the football club. I would love nothing more so than to win a trophy at Newcastle, the same way as a number of players. Whether I get the opportunity to do that is out of my hands," he told Sky Sports News. 28-year-old Barton has reportedly been told that his current deal, which expires in 12-months, will not be renewed at Newcastle. However, the midfielder pledged his loyalty to the club on Wednesday evening, and said he had faith that the team would come out of Nolan's likely transfer in a strong position. "Obviously, it would be a great disappointment to lose Kev. He's a great pal and I think he has done fantastically for the football club. But this is the game we are in, unfortunately. Sometimes it is a little bit like ships in the night. "Hopefully, the move breaks down, but if it doesn't, you have got to believe in the process of the football club, and no one player is bigger than the football club," he said.

Tom / ton = lol fucking iPhone autocorrect.

Ian you seem to either be predisposed to eternal optimism, a 'glass is always half filled with champagne' kinda guy, or have forgotten the myriad fuck ups of Ashley and Co. And are seemingly ignoring the continued fuck ups. I need to know where you buy your glasses. I'm not being doom and gloom for the sake of it, just previous track record and evidence doesn't instill a Tom of hope in me, but I do beg to be proven wrong.

Goodness me, Pissi. At least you do more research than many tabloid journalists.

Precisely the point most of us are making. He should've been kept around as a squad player at the very least, he could've even gone into a coaching role once he retires. But oh well, we have to get rid of him, Joey and Jose now and start building our nucleus all over again. We all know how easy that is, and, as Wullie mentioned, how easy it is to find cover for our lightning-fast-Messi-like replacements.

well said It's true. It's always the same group of people who try desperately to twist everything into negativity. Can be very tiresome. Maybe you should learn how to read. Most comments on here have been objective about the possible failure of finding an adequate replacement, the effect this had on team morale, wishing him all the best, thanking him for his services, and how hard it is to find a direct replacement who cares as much as Nolan did. But apparently one can only hold one extreme opinion on any given topic, either "he's sh1t," or "he's great, lyk." And no debate should ever take place.

Amen. Amazing how much flak he's getting from some in this thread. He should be, and I hope will be, warmly remembered forever for what he's given to the club. Not every player has to be Lionel Messi to his club. Some can be leaders, and foster a communal spirit which let others shine, whilst also chipping in with important and many, many goals. He has done what was asked of him. And always had a smile on his face, and genuinely cared for the club. How many players can we say that about? I wish him all the best.

Or sending Rob Lee to train with kids. Morale takes a huge dip, and we've seen that it can take years, and getting the right people in, to recover.

Craig Bellamy did the same last season, he would walk into most teams in the prem. Don't entertain heedless comments.

If he's so smart, how come he's dead?