Cronky

The re-naming of a football stadium isn't the sort of issue that the government should be getting involved in. They should have other things to think about.

We all like to keep our heritage but we also want to see a winning team out there on the pitch. If this genuinely helps to boost our income and that boosts our competitiveness then so be it. If keeping the stadium name is so important that it has priority over a successful team as far as you're concerned then that's fine. I can respect that position. But to pretend that there's no choice to be made here is a bit hypocritical.

Wouldn't go that far. If a reserve comes in and performs well it's great and obviously helps his cause, but I don't think it means he automatically should start. Especially since he only played in the first place due to injury. Guthrie has waited for his chance and when it came along, took it with flying colours. I think it's vital that every player gets the message that if they play well enough, they get their reward, and the team is picked on merit, not reputation. I always felt that the period where Shearer was getting picked regardless of performance was very corrosive of team spirit. Players have to be judged on the performance that we see, not the one we expect to see. Personally, I'd written Guthrie off as a long-term prospect for us, but he played with such calm authority against Stoke and Everton. Perhaps he's responding to a different atmosphere in the squad, but whatever the reason it does look like he's found a confidence and maturity that wasn't there before.

instead of who, one of the strikers and a five man midfield? I think we'll go for a five man midfield, so in a way, I think Pardew will be spared the tricky decision. But my point was that I don't see Guthrie as just a back-up any more. I would not drop him just to pitch either Tiote or Cabaye back in the side, unless his form dips.

I would pick him against Man City regardless of Tiote or Cabaye's availability. On the form he showed against Everton, he has to play.

Assuming Best is still injured, I think Pardew will start with Sammy, and bring Ben Arfa on later. Despite Sammy's youth, he looks a composed character who will put in a good stint, on the lines of his manager's instructions. He's also not short of the talent needed to open up a defence. I think he'll still see Ben Arfa as the more risky option as a starter. Against a tiring opposition though, or a team that's having to commit more and more men to attack, Ben Arfa can take advantage.

I think the poppy is something of an exception as a symbol, but I can also see the difficulty that FIFA would have in keeping it as an exception if they then get similar requests from other countries. There are other ways of commemorating Remembrance weekend at the match. Rather than make a fuss over a proposal which we've not put forward for the previous 90+ years, we should draw a line under this particular issue. We're in danger of wallowing in a sense of moral superiority, which is one of our least attractive features in the eyes of other nations.

I still think he's at his best when he's got a midfield "boss" next to him. I think big characters like Cabaye and Tiote give Danny the confidence to express himself without worrying about having to be the playmaker. i think a midfield of three, cabaye tiote and guthrie would be very good. or a midfield of five with them three in the middle. full of mad energy and technique. the only thing thats really missing from this combination of the three is possible someone that can really dribble past players, but we got our wingers and hatem, to do that stuff. I'd agree. I'd love to see that tried.

http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcforum/index.php/topic,90919.0.html Ah. I never was very good with irony.

Is this a plot to flush out the crinklies?

I don't remember either of them as world-beaters. I think I'd go for Leighton James as the more skilful of the two. He had this Chrissy Waddle trick of moving inside and shooting with his left foot. I'm not sure that he had much else but IIRC it was quite effective for a while. It's a strange question for an NUFC forum. What prompted it?

Man City find it so easy to score that it's difficult to imagine us getting anything out of this. Providing our heads don't go down at any stage, a defeat shouldn't matter that much. Mind you, there have been so many times this season when I've looked at the team line-ups and thought, no, we're going to get done this time. And the game kicks off and it doesn't happen.

ben arfa go on loan if not plays , pardew dreams top 6 in pl with obertan best jonas It's shame the treatment of chris and the fan is amnesic .Chris>Pardew The génius who is martins35 years nolan owen the usurper of the ballon d'or duffy the dog Nufc is good team in 80's gascoigne waddle ..90's shearer asprilla ginola solano but 2000's Thought I'd quote this for people to see it on this page. Aw, lay off. With a little bit of concentration, I understood it. There's room for every contributor. Mind you, Chris > Pardew?

Barring a run of really bad luck with injuries, once we've got the next two games out of the way I think we'll continue to pick up points at a similar rate. We've not been playing Champions League-style football, but at the same time we've not been fluking results. In the last two games, I've felt very confident right from the first few minutes that we were going to end up winners. What we've got is players who, for one reason or another, have the confidence and determination to play at their best. Guthrie on Saturday was unbelievable, but you could look at several others - Saylor, Best, Colo, Krul, Jonas etc - who are close to their peak. It's amazing what a team can achieve if you can keep enough players in that zone - particularly the ones of more modest talent. I think our back-up is also better than is being acknowledged - Sammy looks ready, HBA looks keen to seize his chance. My concern would be an injury to one of our CBs whilst Williamson is still out. So I don't think this team is going to politely step aside and let the likes of Arsenal, Spurs or Liverpool through. They're going to have to knock us out of the way.

On a different subject, I get irritated when I see our first goal described as lucky. There was a good interchange of passes in midfield, and a dart into space by Guthrie which left the Everton midfield out of position. Then a great pass to Simpson in acres of space and a quick, accurate cross into the danger area. Yes, it was an own goal, but we'd put the ball, under pressure, into own goal territory, and got the reward.

Boumsong was a major disappointment for £7 million.

He showed some moments of class, but like most I'll only feel reassured when I see him use his full pace again. I did think though that he was playing with a bit more aggression and determination yesterday. Like he wasn't afraid of getting hurt, which I think has been holding him back previously. Anyway, with the City game coming up, it looks like a date with destiny is coming. How he deals with it will tell us a lot. It might tell him a lot about himself as well.

I was also pleased that we kept trying to attack right till the end. I feel it's nearly always a mistake to completely surrender the initiative and funnel back into defence for the final 10 minutes.

The improvement in Guthrie's performances has been unreal. He exuded confidence every time he was on the ball, released the ball at the right time and kept it when under pressure. The change seems to be between his ears. Perhaps he's been under the shadow of the more vocal characters in Nolan and Barton.

How can anyone but Guthrie be man of the match? He was brilliant throughout. It looks like Marveaux's groin has gone again - hopefully just a tweak. Ben Arfa put in a decent effort. He didn't look worried about getting hurt, basically, which I think was holding him back. Quite impressed with young Sammy as well. He looks a player.

Ba seems to be struggling. I don't think he'll last more than an hour. But anyway, on the bright side, we deserve to be ahead. And what's happened to the miserable softie that was Guthrie? He's been superb again.

we need to pick up their runners from midfield a bit better.

History is bunk. It's up to this group of players to write their own future. Just occasionally, a team like us doesn't fall away like everyone's expecting, and just keeps going. We don't play like our rivals for our current spot - Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs. But you don't get bonus points for artistic impression, or for winning by more than a certain margin. You get the same points for beating Stoke as you'd get for beating Man City. We may well be in for a tonking in Manchester, but there are certain results which are very encouraging - brushing Stoke aside with ease away from home, playing shit at QPR and still getting a point, making Spurs look fairly ordinary and being unlucky not to get a win. Those games dictate your league position just as much as the games where we're up against the really top sides. The other encouraging thing is that we're improving and there's still some room for more improvement, with some good players still waiting for their chance.

I Yep, in a straight fight with Spurs we're almost bound to lose out. But I'd really, really like this player. The only way would be to offer big money in January. It might just appeal to Ashley's love of a gamble, and if we were still in the top four at the time he might just go for it. And if he wasn't in the last year of his contract, I think he probably would go for around £18m, and at that young age his value wouldn't decline.

Guthrie has been hopeless out wide, in the past. I wonder whether Pardew will change the formation to a 4-3-3, with Guthrie, Tiote and Cabaye in the middle, and Jonas, Best and Ba up front. Not sure how well that'd work, and the better alternative would probably be simply putting Marveaux in for Obertan in the usual formation.