Cronky

Sometimes words fail me. Every other f***ing post tbh. His post is exactly what's wrong with a lot on here you included. It's always Ashley's fault, you can't see the wood for the trees and always see the pessimism in any transfer situation regarding Newcastle. What a f***ing dimwit you are. Whose fault is it then that we wouldn't pay a ridiculously low fee for a young French international? It's nothing to do with paying fee's. Marseille said to him, go and find a new club. He didn't say I want to leave, they told him to go, so he did everything became agreed, then some other clubs came sniffing around and they got greedy and decided to start moving the goalposts so to speak. The interested parties such as Benfica decided against it when they found out his wage demands, all the while we were still under the idea of a loan for 800k. They started demanding more money claiming more interest when there really wasn't. Rightly or wrongly, I believe rightly we said no because we had a deal in place, and the player was doing it all on his own by refusing to train. I think we were right to hold our position, they wanted an outright purchase, we didn't, and with good reason. He's a fantastic talent no doubt about that I'd love to have him here, but he has undeniable attitude problems, there's nothing stopping him pulling this with us when a bigger club comes in. If come September 1st , we have no one of similar potential or in that position, then I will openly criticise the club for not having contingency plans should this deal collapse. But to make out like we've dithered and made excuses is daft. They've tried to be greedy and we've not budged. Trying to get him on loan to me showed we weren't totally confident in him With good reason, too. Given his record of trouble at previous clubs, it would have been madness to try and buy him. Marseilles haven't exactly been stampeded with offers - most clubs were steering well clear. I've never been convinced that this move would work out, so I'm not too bothered. so would you prefer a team of kevin nolan's to players of quality that's right out of the gordon lee / graeme souness hand book of how not to manage Do you think all players fit into one of those two categories?

Sometimes words fail me. Every other f***ing post tbh. His post is exactly what's wrong with a lot on here you included. It's always Ashley's fault, you can't see the wood for the trees and always see the pessimism in any transfer situation regarding Newcastle. What a f***ing dimwit you are. Whose fault is it then that we wouldn't pay a ridiculously low fee for a young French international? It's nothing to do with paying fee's. Marseille said to him, go and find a new club. He didn't say I want to leave, they told him to go, so he did everything became agreed, then some other clubs came sniffing around and they got greedy and decided to start moving the goalposts so to speak. The interested parties such as Benfica decided against it when they found out his wage demands, all the while we were still under the idea of a loan for 800k. They started demanding more money claiming more interest when there really wasn't. Rightly or wrongly, I believe rightly we said no because we had a deal in place, and the player was doing it all on his own by refusing to train. I think we were right to hold our position, they wanted an outright purchase, we didn't, and with good reason. He's a fantastic talent no doubt about that I'd love to have him here, but he has undeniable attitude problems, there's nothing stopping him pulling this with us when a bigger club comes in. If come September 1st , we have no one of similar potential or in that position, then I will openly criticise the club for not having contingency plans should this deal collapse. But to make out like we've dithered and made excuses is daft. They've tried to be greedy and we've not budged. Trying to get him on loan to me showed we weren't totally confident in him With good reason, too. Given his record of trouble at previous clubs, it would have been madness to try and buy him. Marseilles haven't exactly been stampeded with offers - most clubs were steering well clear. I've never been convinced that this move would work out, so I'm not too bothered.

I don't actually think the Swiss are that good. Spurs ought to be far too strong for them, but there's not much sign of leadership in their defence. I think Young Boys will need a bigger lead than 3-1, because they're no great shakes in defence either. They'll be in for a pounding at Spurs. PS - I don't think I've ever seen Payvluchenko have a good game, and this is no exception.

Overall, there are reasons to be cheerful. Despite the fact that we were outclassed, we did look better than last season, and the season before. We also carried a goal threat against a top team, and if Carroll had been a bit more relaxed, he would have scored at least one of the three good heading chances that came his way. He is extremely good in the air at both ends of the pitch, and should be a great asset. The question of a striking partner for Carroll is now wide open. It's not conventional to play two big lads, but I thought Shola did much better than Nolan. He isn't any more mobile but at least he can hold defenders at bay and that way he can win us a few free kicks, and create things around the box. I don't think Lovenkrands has anything to trouble defenders at this level so although it's not ideal, in the absence of any other other signings I'd give Shola and Carroll another chance.

Well I wouldn't agree about Owen, but it's a big asset to have a player that can drop back and create in that area. Interestingly, Ferguson was asked after the match about how he liked to play his strikers. He said that, throughout his time in management, he had never believed in picking two up front, in the sense of playing side by side. He always wanted them to play in different roles.

Please try to be patient. Not everyone is blessed with your supreme levels of insight.

Thanks to Sewelly's abuse of Nolan in the match thread, I've learned a new word tonight - Trequartista! If I've understood right, it's an intermediate position between midfield and striker eg Beardsley, Bellamy, Gavin Peacock. It does sound like that's the role Hughton has in mind.

jonas is a liability against teams like man utd though, and cost us the 1st goal Losing the ball as you're running it out of defence looks bad, but I wouldn't blame him entirely. It wasn't a great pass from Nolan, because Jonas had to check his stride slightly, and that made all the difference.

Some good points there. After the first 30 minutes, our midfield just couldn't get near Scholes. We don't have much pace and mobility in the centre, but if the transfer rumours are to be believed, Hughton is trying to rectify that.

I'd agree he was very frustrating. His passing and crossing is poor. His only weapon is pace, but having said that, against lesser sides, that can be effective.

Well I thought it was going to be worse, both in terms of the result and the performance. Carroll did very well, particularly in helping the defence at set pieces. All he needs is that bit of composure. He had three very good chances to score with headers but tried to burst the net and put them wide. He wasn't our worst player by any means, but I was disappointed with Barton, because he can do better. He seemed to be carried away with the occasion, determined to show what he could do. He made some silly decisions in possession. Nolan was thoroughly exposed. He carries no threat to that level of opposition.

We certainly need to reserve judgement on Perch. The whole defence, bar Williamson, has looked rocky, and that's not a good environment for a new player.

Barton needs to play it simpler. trying daft passes too often when we desperately need to slow the pace down and keep hold of the ball. and what was he doing with that 'shot'?? That was his ego taking over.

There's a gap in quality, but there's also a gap in confidence. If we were going to get anything, we needed to take advantage of the opportunities that came our way, and that hasn't happened. We sometimes looked more under pressure when we, rather than they, had possession. We've relaxed a bit, but it's now too late. Nolan is doing his best, but in this league, and in that position, he's not mobile enough. There was one instance where they gave the ball away to Jonas, and we had the chance of a break. Nolan was ahead of Jonas, but didn't attempt to get forward and give him options. He just stood and watched, like he wanted to stay in position for when the move broke down.

What was Barton trying to do there? That should have been a cross. Bad play.

Free header falls to the best header of the ball on the pitch. That was nerves.

We're getting more possession than I was expecting. I wish we'd be a bit more confident in our use of the ball though.

The whole bench is an attacking line up. Tavernier - Attacking RB Taylor - Happiness Attacking Sad Person Vuckic Xisco Ranger Ameobi !! I suppose realistically, if the score stays 0-0, there's no point in changing the defence. If we go a goal down, we may as well bring on a player who they're not familiar with, and who might get us something. I don't see who we could bring on if we need to defend a lead. The starting eleven is as strong defensively as we can get.

So am I, but not for the same reason. The people saying we don't really know what's going on money wise are partly right of course, as are those who are doing some guesswork and concluding there must be money available. For me, the money side is largely irrelevant. From my point of view, the fans of this club should have a different interest than the owner. What good is it to us if we balance the books so Ashley can walk away with a tidy profit in a few years time? As far as I am concerned I think the fans should demand that the club aspires to be the best it possibly can. We pay out huge amounts of money on season tickets, drinks and food at the matches, fan shop articles etcetera. We do so (from a business point of view) because we enjoy the products that NUFC offers. This club has a huge following (read: turnover) because in recent past it offered a top notch product. In recent years, the quality of the product on offer has gone down substantially, but we have remained loyal. It is in NUFC's interest to make sure it remains so, and for that (like in every other company) investments are needed. I don't particularly care how they do it, or if a certain player cost the club 1 million or 20 million, as long as the club continues to offer quality in return for our personal investment. The internal balancing of the books is important, but ultimately largely irrelevant for the fans (bar going to the point of risking the very existence of the club). The bottom line is the people in charge of this club need to consider themselves "caretakers" of the club, and their success should be measured by how much they take us forward (or not), not how much profit they manage to squeeze out of us over the years of their tenure (which coincidentally I don't object to them doing; they should be rewarded if they take us forward. They shouldn't be when they fail to do so however imho). If Ashley didn't understand this when he bought us then he has no business being a Premiership football club owner. Football is a highly emotional "business" proposition, and managing a football club does not have much semblance to managing a sport article shop. Regardless of the money involved, Ashley has a moral duty to make sure we don't go backwards after he has just been bailed out by Hughton's excellent work last season. If he can't muster that, it will be another nail in his coffin in a growing chain of foolish decisions since he has taken us over. This off-season he had the opportunity to turn around the tide and get in a more favourable position with the fans than he has been for a while. I will be baffled if he doesn't take that chance purely for short term personal financial gain. That's just an elaborate way of saying that you want the owner to spend more money on players, which is what nearly every supporter at every club would like, barring Man City and Chelsea. Ashley is the first owner of this club to sink his own money in. And in reality, he's sunk in quite a lot, although most of it hasn't gone on players. The guy has made some costly blunders, but it's time to leave the witch hunt behind.

It's probably the best selection. Smith for Guthrie is a fair decision, because Guthrie and Barton would just get overwhelmed. Ah well. Pass me my brown corduroy trousers.

I was thinking similar, if we somehow scrape a result, would they think we dont need better than weve already got? No, to both of you. Nothing succeeds like success. The thought of winning is what hooks poor saps of owners in.

Yep. If the rumours are true it seems Hughton wants to make him the creative fulcrum of the team, very promising in this case that he sees exactly what we are lacking. In terms of the player's ability, he looks exactly what we need. In terms of his attitude, he looks exactly what we don't need. At the end of the day, I think the players will be prepared to put up with his arsiness, providing he delivers on the pitch, as with Bellamy. If he's lazy, only plays when he has possession, and doesn't release the ball until he's tried to do something flash, then there'll be trouble.

Still buzzing like Yeah. They've got far too much going forward for us to cope with. I think Carroll might nick something with a header though. So we'll get beaten n - 1, where n is > 2.

It does look like we've done our homework this time round. Hughton has a reputation as a hard worker and I think that's down to him. With Gosling, Campbell and now (it seems) Ben Afra, we got in early with players who had a problem with their current club. It also seems that we've spread our net fairly wide, which is a good sign.

I think we'll get one or two more players in, so the time to judge us would be Sep 1st. Even now, I think we'll survive. Campbell will prove an important signing, because last time round we really paid for a lack of composure and organisation in defence.