TRon

"You have to make them favourites with two big players like Andy and Cheik out of our side..... “Newcastle caused Sunderland a lot of problems and produced a really first-class display. Andy (Carroll) was crucial to that. He affected the two centre-halves and was a big feature in that game." jesus, did he say this? if i'd been in that room i would've bummed him in the face. what an absolute fucking charlatan. It's in the Journal. Anyway he can talk as much shit as he wants as long as he puts out a side that can give a good account of itself.

"You have to make them favourites with two big players like Andy and Cheik out of our side..... “Newcastle caused Sunderland a lot of problems and produced a really first-class display. Andy (Carroll) was crucial to that. He affected the two centre-halves and was a big feature in that game."

Shola shouldn't be anywhere near the starting line up if he's carrying an injury. We've seen enough shit performances in the past when he's not fully fit.

O'neill and fancy football do not mix. Especially on West Ham's budget. If he's there for any length of time they will probably turn into O'Neill's Leicester MK II

Should be interesting to see what O'Neill makes of West Ham. He won't have much money yet they'll be expecting fancy football.

The only thing which will buy him a pass until summer is if he makes good decisions on a game to game basis. He had done quite well until the Stevenage fiasco. For me the jury's out until I've seen something a bit more convincing. The only thing the results so far have proved is you can't make a snap judgement based on a few games.

That won't happen,we very rarely "tonk" teams and despite having a good home record our biggest win this season has been 3-0 so hardly a tonking. I don't think their will be much in it personally,you need to remember both teams have big injury problems to key players. The Stevenage game frightens me though, we knew they'd be in our faces at a high tempo and we couldn't cope, if you do that for the entire game then the scoreline could be embarrassing. I hope i'm wrong, I hope were up for it and can compete but right now it feels that Pardew only has one gameplan and thats hoof it upfront which will result in conceded possession time and time again and allowing you to attack. I'd have a smile as wide as the Tyne if we could get a draw out of this, but can only see one winner and its not us. The Stevenage game only frightens me from the perspective of Pardew's crap team selection. Anyone with half a brain could pick a better balanced side.

Well no one forced him to open his big trap and talk shite. If he wants to persuade Ashley he doesn't need to do it on national tv only to back down like a tit when reality hits home.

I hate the implication that Pardew had to convince them not to sell our best players. Can see it being the case as well. Oh well, fingers crossed as usual. It was Pardew that was mouthing off about signing players like Beckham, Bentley and Keane. If that was never likely he should have done his homework, like he should have at Stevenage.

Sunderland have a couple of good forwards but their midfield is weak same as ours. They don't handle the big strikers well either so I don't think it's a foregone conclusion unless we start with Smith and Nolan in midfield. I can see us getting a draw there.

Exactly. He said he's happy at Cardiff - what else was he going to say in public? If we're after him it's very much still on more than likely.

A timely PR exercise with the mackem game round the corner.

Might be better than people are giving him credit for then.

The same Shola who's career track record is Played 297 Scored 67 which is a goal every 4.4 games Boothroyd's career record is Played 329 Scored 83 which is a goal every 3.9 game The same Bothroyd who has been playing in the Championship for years? f***, even Shola pissed on the Championship. Before Bothroyd's purple patch this season he was mediocre even by Championship standards. To be fair Shola was utter dog shit with Stoke. Regardless I would prefer Shola over Bothroyd. They are similar in respect to complete lack of motivation. He barely played with Stoke - 6 games wasnt it? with us he was just about scoring a goal for each start in the league before injuries cut his season short. before this season bothroyd was a worse than 1 in 4 striker at that level, which for the championship is quite frankly abysmal. his record in top flight football in england and italy is worse than 1 in 8 which speaks for itself. saying that it's not all about goals and bothroyd does bring some other elements to the table. as i say, i think he would be a good understudy for carroll. What are these other elements? I've never seen him play so I'm wondering why we are in for him other than he's coming to the end of his contract. Maybe Capello saw something that everyone here is missing? Mobile. Mobile like Best was reportedly mobile or genuinely mobile?

The same Shola who's career track record is Played 297 Scored 67 which is a goal every 4.4 games Boothroyd's career record is Played 329 Scored 83 which is a goal every 3.9 game The same Bothroyd who has been playing in the Championship for years? f***, even Shola pissed on the Championship. Before Bothroyd's purple patch this season he was mediocre even by Championship standards. To be fair Shola was utter dog shit with Stoke. Regardless I would prefer Shola over Bothroyd. They are similar in respect to complete lack of motivation. He barely played with Stoke - 6 games wasnt it? with us he was just about scoring a goal for each start in the league before injuries cut his season short. before this season bothroyd was a worse than 1 in 4 striker at that level, which for the championship is quite frankly abysmal. his record in top flight football in england and italy is worse than 1 in 8 which speaks for itself. saying that it's not all about goals and bothroyd does bring some other elements to the table. as i say, i think he would be a good understudy for carroll. What are these other elements? I've never seen him play so I'm wondering why we are in for him other than he's coming to the end of his contract. Maybe Capello saw something that everyone here is missing?

I don't think there'll be a queue of clubs ready to offer much more. You might get the odd desperate club like Birmingham or Blackburn but the well run ones aren't throwing money around unless they are in Europe.

let's be kind and say he was playing mind games - and not desperately trying to get a half-fit Carroll on the pitch to save his skin Souness-style.

Sorry I forgot we have £27m to go sign the likes of Dzeko. Missing the point. Bothroyd is barely better than what we have. Signing him in time to play in time for the derby would hardly be a game-saver. I'm not too fussed about this window for that reason. It might be better to hold off making any more mediocre signings and wait until the summer. Hopefully we'll stay up and be able to buy proper players with money from another season in the premier.

Taken from HERE He's said nowt wrong there tbf. It's his job to get them motivated and Shola needs to be motivated more than most.

Or second thoughts get a loan striker in instead of spunking money up on a signing who like any signing is a risk With the loan fees they aren't necessarily better than buying a player outright if his contract is up.

Probably just another red herring IMO. I remember Hughton describing Best as having pace when we signed him. Bothroyd probably has a similar turn of 'pace'.

I would never have dreamed I would be saying this a year ago but Barton epitomises what you need to be a successful Newcastle player. Big match temperament and talent. Shame he's not a yard quicker but then Gerrard wouldn't be an England player.

I wonder what sort of deal he will be offered? Probably worth giving him a few bob extra because he's a genuine leader on the pitch.

Why the hell do you feel the need to be fair?

this - im expecting catermole to be crying with anger in the warm up and his eyes out on stalks by the time the game starts. Me too. Without Tiote I thought this game was dead and buried but the more noise coming out of the Sunderland camp the less worried I feel. The pressure is all on them for this one, anything we get will be like a victory.