TRon

When he's not scoring he holds the team back, I think Ireland can replace him goal wise and is a more mobile player as well as a much better passer and creator. Would have been nice to have him half a season to see how play changed, I think it would have been for the better. Ireland is better creatively and would get goals but Nolan does more defensively. This is the problem with including players who aren't fit or athletic enough to justify playing as genuine midfielders. They have to be given special roles because they are a liability in midfield.

We don't have many talented players who have pace and goal scoring ability though.

Warnock is a bit of a loudmouth bully. He'd probably be far happier working with someone like Routledge who won't cause any waves. Taraabt would probably be glad to to get away from his dinosaur approach to the game as well. Because Warnock hasn't given Taarabt the free role or the captaincy this season and rebuilt his career at all has he? Graeme Souness was nice to Dyer and Jenas but that didn't mean he stopped being a tosser.

Warnock is a bit of a loudmouth bully. He'd probably be far happier working with someone like Routledge who won't cause any waves. Taraabt would probably be glad to to get away from his dinosaur approach to the game as well.

Don't know anything about ITK's or twitter rumours, but the business with Routledge does make you wonder if a deal has been struck involving Taraabt.

If anyone is going to hate us I'm glad it's a horrible cunt like Jason Cundy.

Not really fussed at the end of the day. He's more suited to a smaller club IMO, and Ashley being a tightarse wouldn't give him away if there was any chance of getting money for him.

I'm surprised there wasn't a fee locked into the loan deal.

So you'd start Guthrie ahead of Nolan? Guthrie actually does a lot more midfield work than Nolan. I used to agree with this. Just isn't the case at all. I should rephrase it. When I say midfield work I mean passing and moving to receive passes and generally knitting the midfield together. Nolan's work is mostly done in the penalty areas whether defending or attacking. You don't see him dictating the centre so much. Not that Guthrie does either but that's where he attempts to play.

Zoggy's nailed on to score at least one. He can only be arsed in games where he's got a point to prove and the expected abuse he'll get from the mackems should wind him up nicely

He was praised for not sticking his leg out and giving Rooney the chance to go over He did stick his leg out. Who cares?

If he can hold down this form then I agree, but he seems to only turn up for the big matches and is thoroughly inconsistent. Although the same could be said for the whole team I guess. I'd say he's one of the most consistent wingers around. Even when he doesn't play great he usually puts in a fair shift.

If that's true I'm impressed. Can you imagine Graeme Souness even contemplating that level of preparation?

So you'd start Guthrie ahead of Nolan? Guthrie actually does a lot more midfield work than Nolan, but he doesn't attack the opposition penalty area enough which is where Nolan is so good. When you are playing next to Tiote I think you have a responsibility to try and get forward a bit more. Probably Guthrie's main failing for me.

He's supposed to be a defensive midfielder though. If we are going to talk about 20 yards space to go into, shouldn't that have been Guthrie's responsibility?

he wont, he's a slightly better than average championship striker who's had a decent run. He's had several games in which he's been in the right place at the right time. You can't teach that. I couldn't care less about his Championship record, we've seen in the last year just how much a striker can improve when their positional judgement appears to 'click'. Writing him off at this point is ridiculous - and typical recent Madras. But he's right in that Shola gets criticised too readily as a donkey, when in fact his first touch is pretty good. He's far better with the ball at his feet than most are willing to give credit for.

Add to that, even if he's paid well, at least he's on the pitch 90% of the time and earning it rather than resting on the treatment table. That's worth it's weight in gold surely.

One particular moment in the first half where he had to stretch a leg out but he stopped a Man U attack through on goal. A piece of superb defending. Always rated him and he's not disappointing. He isn't flash but he understands his own game and plays it very well for the team. That's probably why he's in the team ahead of other twats who like to wave their arms about and make spectacular goalkeeper saves on the penalty line. Get the basics right first.

That one handed save was unreal. Reminded me why I rated him so highly in his early days. Had a great game tonight for me. Cleaned everything up nicely in the penalty area and was distributing the ball with throws like he used to.

For those of our fans who like to pick faults that should be essential reading. Plus Jamie Redknapp having a wank on Sky Sports about him being like a younger Essien. Him, Enrique and Colo are a class above everyone else in the squad for me. Tbf, it shouldn't be. That Chelsea fan probably just read the rumours in the paper. 'OMG Tiote linked with us, must be awesome'. And Jamie Redknapp is just a spacker. Still awesome though. Redknapp might be a spacker but he was one of the first to recognise Carroll's value early this season and we have since sold him for £35m. He was putting a £15m price tag on Tiote tonight. I'd like to see any of our Newcastle fans who like to nitpick tell us which other player will fetch a higher price.

Some of them were absolutely sublime though. I saw a lot more bounce of Lovenkrands even though he usually has the ball played to his feet.

Gives the game away there tbh. He would love to "have left sooner" even though he was paid a fortune to take us down while sending out brochures to interested parties for his services.

he would definitely have made more runs into the penalty area than Guthrie. On the other hand, Man u might have found it easier to bypass him in midfield with their movement. You can make an argument both ways.

What do you consider as 'works hard'? Honest question, find it interesting how people approach the term. He seems a high-energy player to me. When he's on the ball, he bursts forward with and it tries to commit defenders, when we're defending he generally tracks back well. I think his physical presence is underrated and most defenders don't quite know how to handle him. If we had genuine attacking options elsewhere in the midfield I think he would perform even better without so much double marking. The only thing that seems to have dropped off a bit is his running along the line off the ball to receive a pass from Enrique. Not sure if I'm imagining that, but I'm sure he used to do it more. Agree with pretty much all of that. Jonas plays at a high tempo and covers a lot of ground. He makes a lot of runs into spaces which takes a lot out of a player. I'm sure he could just meander through games on the peripheral like Guthrie but he does a good job at giving us an outlet for me.

I'm just a bit wary of adding more midfielders who aren't so quick. We already have Nolan, Barton, Guthrie and Smith who are a bit pedestrian. That said, Barton and Ireland do make up for their lack of pace with some genuine quality work in the final third.