TRon

Same here. I don't have many doubts on Ba's qualities, I even saw glimpses of them yesterday, I just want to see Pardew utilise him better. He's been played alongside Shola quite a bit even in pre-season games and I just don't see that working.

I wish I could say that it's ludicrous that Pardew wouldn't know what type of forward Ba is but that went through my mind as well.

No, he's powerful but more of a fast striker who gets down the channels from what I've seen.

I think Rodallega will come at a premium price which will be far more than he's worth. Whelan will screw us over big time so I think that's a no goer. I'm hopeful that we'll still strike Erdinc tbh. At least that's a player who Carr clearly rates and has been following.

I thought he criticised the play acting when Barton went down like he'd been shot, but maybe he didn't. He definitely thought it was a pen in any case.

This. I'm sure he was a lot more critical on the tv commentary yesterday.

Watched Shane Long today and he really put himself about as well as get the goal against top premier opposition. While one swallow doesn't make a summer, there's something to be said for buying players you've scouted and really want rather than run down a list of free transfers/clause releases etc. I hope we've done our homework on the next striker coming in because we definitely need a pacy forward who'll work the channels rather than another big lad to fight for the high balls without particularly holding the ball up well.

Long has looked lively tbf, although I think he was lucky to get a goal with that strike.

Yeah I saw that, he was definitely looking to be played in a few times but we didn't have the bodies in there and we never really got the ball far enough forward to put those passes through.

Hopefully. I think yesterday we reaped the rewards of a shambles of a pre season. What annoyed me was that one of the few positives of the pre season was Vuckic and he was nowhere to be seen. It annoys me that Vukic isn't more invloved tbh. Even in the Carling Cup game against Arsenal last year he looked one of our best players on the day yet he constantly gets overlooked despite being one of the few players in the current squad with a eye for goal.

That's what disappoints me the most, as I said yesterday all the attention is on joey, yet of the three players invol ed in unsavoury activiy yesterday, he was the one least in the wrong. A player who intentionally and cowardly stamped on another achielles, something that could easy have result in a seasn or career ending injury and a person who tried to cheat and raised his hands to the face of another player are forgotten about because joey grab the said cheater's shirt too vigorously and made the most of of slap. Sad that some of the most vocal profess to support this club. I don't think a single person across the country has ignored the stamp, it's been roundly condemned and there have been calls for the FA to look at the video for further punishment. That doesn't mean we keep our head in the sand wrt our own players and how they conduct themselves. I don't want to see them putting themselves in a position where they might get sent off, and Barton came perilously close to it yesterday. If the ref had been looking the right way he'd have gone IMO.

Seems like Pardew is keener on Premier based strikers while the club are still pushing for Erdinc. Seems they value Carr's opinion higher than Pardew's if that's the case. Can't say I blame them.

I can't say I thought that much of the subs either but then very few Newcastle managers ever seem to make changes that make sense to me. Ba and Shola together looks like a car crash of a plan. I hope we don't see it too many more times because it's never going to work for me.

Pretty confident we will score tbh. Although Wes Brown has made a difference to their defensive unit.

Definitely. Give him plenty of the ball, and let him run riot. so neither of you would persevere with shola up top and 50 yard hoofs upfield then? good to know 'cause apparently yesterday that should have been considered a managerial fucking masterclass ba and obertan up top, same midfield as today and hopefully a LB by then and we should do them I said the same as you but someone reckoned playing two big men and hoofing it 50 yds allowed us to sit deep and nullify Arsenal which we did mostly. Can't say I'm a fan of the tactic but we got a point and probably would have got picked apart if we'd tried to go at it. Plus some of the players still looked rusty. I'd be moaning if we continued to play that way though.

I would agree that Woodgate when he was fit is the best defender I've seen at the club. Colo's been superb but he still has the odd game where he makes a gaffe. Overall though Colo has been the better player for us by a mile simply in his consistency and monumental fitness record.

I'm pretty sure if an Arsenal player had grabbed Barton from the floor and manhandled him everyone here would have been screaming for a red. I don't see how you can lay your hands on an opposition player in an aggressive manner and not risk being sent off.

He's better because he plays more games. 100% correct

Pardew in the Sun... “I took Demba off because we weren’t holding the ball up enough. We couldn’t get enough assets from him,” he said. “For tactical reasons I brought on Gabby...." Did he mean Shola wasn't holding the ball up or Ba? I don't know that much about Ba but I never figured him as a forward whose asset was holding the ball up, at least not when the ball is being launched at him through the air.

Looked like he was instructed not to go so far past the half way line. Didn´t screw up once, and was accurate with his passes. Sounds like vintage Dalglish

There is also the flip side, where we sign a new LB before Enrique goes.... Liverpool then know we have two 'first choice' left backs... one of which desperately wants away, and they start throwing lower offers in for JE. Its just that fine balancing act of trying to get the best price for our player, but also trying not to pay over the odds for the next one. Liverpool know how it works because they've got football people running their club whereas we're run by people who have little experience. In January Liverpool had a similar situation with trying to offload Torres and buy Carroll. They made it clear they weren't prepared to sell Torres until they signed Carroll. They played it perfectly, getting exactly what they wanted whereas we were left short. They've just taken Enrique and Lo and behold we've been left short again. Anyone spotting any patterns here? At least we've not sold him on deadline day I suppose.... Looking at yesterday's game Liverpool seem to hae spent a fortune on going backwards. Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson are barely better than most run of the mill premier midfielders and they looked a lot less fluid as a team than the one which was starting last season. If that's what having proper football people at the club gets you then they are welcome to it.

Says more about you than Dyer, or any fans who could see what he brought to us at the time.

He showed goal hunger Ian. Constantly looking to get into goal scoring positions in the penalty area. Not the worst quality in a forward really.

I thought he was really lucky not to have got sent off after yanking Gervinho from the ground by his shirt. You shouldn't lay your hands on a player in such an aggressive manner and expect to get away with it. I find it amusing that anyone who sees it that way is accused of bias. The irony