Cronky

He's probably not going to want to uproot himself from Brazil to Newcastle just for half a season. I suspect we'll either have to offer him a longer deal or kiss goodbye.

Williamson tends to get scapegoated. He's a decent all-round centre back. Having said that, I have wondered whether his confidence is a bit more brittle since he was dropped for Taylor. His hesitation with the Van Persie header wasn't at all typical of the form that he showed last season and earlier this season. He looked a lot better second half and he needs to maintain that self-belief.

Dear me. Yes, that article would have more credibility if it wasn't written in the immediate aftermath of his team losing a 4-0 lead. It's also a bit distasteful. He draws comparisons between Barton's behaviour and other behaviours that he disapproves of, and then talks as though there was no difference between the two. Argument by analogy is dangerous. It's particularly wrong to drag the crimes of his brother and cousin into it.

I didn't forsee this one at all. Unless he's lost the dressing room, it makes no sense. It's the kind of decision that ends up looking more like a vote of no confidence in the players, than the manager.

The reality is that every player has his price, and anyone who takes literally the statement, 'The player is not for sale' is being naive. That only ever means, 'If you want the player, you are going to have to offer us really silly money' - which is what Liverpool did. There's really not much else that Pardew could have said in the circumstances. 'It depends on the size of the bid' just attracts interest, as Pardew said.

A very emotional occasion. This team has a habit of ripping up the script, but never more dramatically than that. Let's hope this rekindles that unity and positive outlook that seemed to be under threat this last week.

Dare I say, there were signs of maturity in his performance yesterday - ie getting to the right mix of aggression and composure.

I agree. His positioning still looks dodgy - I don't think he pressures his opponent enough. But yesterday he looked eager to make things happen going forward, whereas before he's always looked a bit inhibited.

Yep, 'mental' about sums it up. There have been so many highs and lows.

I thought the tackle was just the right side of okay. His foot was on the ground, he won the ball and it was just a natural follow through that caught the player. It was forceful all right, but it was a 50-50 ball between players facing one another from five yards apart. Those situations are always a bit dodgy.

He played with more confidence today than he did at Fulham, where he looked embarrassed to be on the pitch. He's never going to be a first choice Premiership striker, but if he at least goes out there with a positive attitude, he can do a job for us.

Fantastic support from the crowd. They really hauled them over the line. Best did a good job leading the line. That's given me hope that our attacking threat hasn't gone with Carroll and Shola.

Its the same midfield that beat them 1-0, but yeah its all Nolan ofc. It looks to me that Nolan is up front, with Loven wide and Barton in the middle. It's not Nolan's fault we're getting hammered in midfield.

It's like the defence is trying to play an offside line but loses confidence at the last second. We end up as crooked as a dog's leg. Other major problem is we have no answer to Walcott's pace. Oh dear.

Their midfield looks way too much for us. Hopefully they won't score too early and we can keep the score down.

If he doesn't make the squad, he only has himself to blame. There's long-standing concern about whether he'll affect team spirit, and all his talk about how no-one's playing better than him isn't helping. It's like he wants to remain the victim.

I'd say the club was lacking ambition if we hadn't accepted the deal, limiting ourselves to a stupidly overhyped, glorified battering ram of a striker who, if anything limited our style of play. We can get players a on a different level to AC with that cash. Seriously what is with the clamour for Carroll on here, he's not that good and never will be, he wasn't even the best player in our squad. What tools apart from heading does he really have to make it as a great player? His skill is average, as is his pace, intelligence and finishing. People need to give their heads a shake saying he was going to be a PL great (not specifically you Dave), after scoring 11 goals in one of the worst standard seasons in the league's history, a season where Leon Best has scored a hattrick and a newly promoted club has hit 5+ goals in 3 matches and lets not forget Kevin Nolan already has 10 goals as well. We now have a great chance to build a good footballing side with some higher level players, with this money we can get 6/7 Ben Afra/Tiote like signings ffs, If Andy Carroll had stayed we'd have been confined to alot of boring route 1 stuff and i wouldn't want a team to be built around him for long as he can only take you to a certain level as aplayer. Onwards and upwards i say. Good luck with that. Jesus H. Christ. I'm sure that post is all just in our heads, it can't really have happened, can it? Unbelievable. 6 or 7 Ben Arfa/Tiote-style signings? On this day I weep for the tragic passing of reality-based arguments. I think we're taking that particular statement a bit too literally, no? The general point is that we can strengthen the team in several areas with that money, and end up with a better side than if we'd kept Carroll. A perfectly reasonable opinion.

Shearer was fairly good with his head, wasn't he?

HBA has good pace, a change of pace and direction, allied to a good touch on the ball. Few are blessed with all three. I know his potential hasn't taken off yet, but if we're fortunate to be the ones who benefit, then we will have one of the best players in the world.

Ah, those crazy days when Freddie pissed away Sir Bob's legacy. The man was a fool.

I'd say the club was lacking ambition if we hadn't accepted the deal, limiting ourselves to a stupidly overhyped, glorified battering ram of a striker who, if anything limited our style of play. We can get players a on a different level to AC with that cash. Seriously what is with the clamour for Carroll on here, he's not that good and never will be, he wasn't even the best player in our squad. What tools apart from heading does he really have to make it as a great player? His skill is average, as is his pace, intelligence and finishing. People need to give their heads a shake saying he was going to be a PL great (not specifically you Dave), after scoring 11 goals in one of the worst standard seasons in the league's history, a season where Leon Best has scored a hattrick and a newly promoted club has hit 5+ goals in 3 matches and lets not forget Kevin Nolan already has 10 goals as well. We now have a great chance to build a good footballing side with some higher level players, with this money we can get 6/7 Ben Afra/Tiote like signings ffs, If Andy Carroll had stayed we'd have been confined to alot of boring route 1 stuff and i wouldn't want a team to be built around him for long as he can only take you to a certain level as aplayer. Onwards and upwards i say. An excellent rant, and I hope you're right. At the end of the day, we can all have our opinions about whether or not Ashley could have taken the £35 million, but it's not exactly a crazy decision, is it? We can disagree, but there's no need to condemn. If we use the money wisely, we could well end up with a better team than if Carroll had stayed.

In terms of talent and at this stage potential, HBA is in a different class from the other three. As for the other three, Ginola was the better all round footballer.

Thank Christ. Well yes, but I was relating it to goals. We'll still have Ameobi as our best striker up front. When he's back. Sorry like but with the strikers we have left no point having Joey wide right any more.. back in the middle for me in a 4-5-1 -----------------Harps Simo-----Willi-----------Colo--------Jose ------------------Tiote Jonas----Bart-----------Ireland-----HBA ---------------Best/Ranger That's an interesting midfield, and could well be our best option. I'd worry though that we'd miss Nolan's goals, in which case, I'd drop Jonas and have a three man midfield of Barton-Tiote-Nolan, with Ireland and HBA in free roles within a 4-3-2-1. Tough one.

He's no closer to getting his chance than he has been for the last few games, he's still behind Shola, Best and Lovenkrands. fucking hell, what a depressing realisation I was encouraged, from the way the subs were handled last night, that he seemed to have moved ahead of Lovenkrands. On performance, I think he's also moved ahead of Best who, despite his greater experience, didn't get as involved. I'm not sure if Pardew will see it the same way though. Even a short run of three or four games could improve Ranger quite considerably, if only by getting him more relaxed. Longer term, he needs to work on his reading of the game. It often looks like he's watching what's going on around him and then reacting, rather than anticipating. There were a few times last night where his marker was quicker to the ball simply because they read the play.

He said that he needs to adjust the system to suit the strikers that are now available. By which I think he meant keep the ball on the deck more and try and play more of possession game.