TRon

Generally stuff which is crap is easy to dismiss because it is obviously bollocks such as the £8million fee for Routledge. I already said I thought this one might fall through before the twitter because I think he is waiting for a free move to Sunderland in the summer.

Birmingham gave permission because they want a fee. Obviously Larsson can walk away for free at the end of the season and join anyone he likes. Seems like he's the one who's turned us down not Brum.

Exactly, this is the first derby in ages I don't feel really nervous about. Unless they beat us heavily, which they don't do to anyone regularly, we hold the bragging rights for the season. I don't feel nervous about it because I've already come to terms with the fact we will probably lose, as I don't believe Nolan and Smith are capable of competing as a central midfield pairing. You are only as good as your last win so the bragging rights will be pretty worthless unless we get a point.

I still think he's a decent central defender, just going through a dip in form like most do at some stage.

I've a feeling this might not happen tbh. Sunderland haven't come in for him which means they must be pretty confident Larsson wants to join up with Bruce again. So he might sit out his contract and fuck off there.

Pardew keeping things close to his chest

I was going to say at least he looks a lot more fit than most of the pint swillers who lost against Stevenage but it might be construed the wrong way.

Which Newcastle right-sided midfielder are you comparing him to?

So the fans seem to think he's shit but the manager claims he's one of the top performers this season. Sour grapes from the fans methinks.

Barton's done well on the right but he's still a central midfielder by trade. I wouldn't want to rely on him being seen as the permanent solution for the right side.

If he's being compared to Guthrie then I wouldn't call that over-rated.

Agree with this but cant see Pardew playing nolan and Barton together in the middle away from home. Neither can I but the alternatives are Guthrie and Smith, both poor tacklers, so I don't really see what he's got to lose.

Worth remembering we were trying to buy him a couple of seasons ago for £4-5million and Brum wouldn't sell. If we get him for a fee of £1.5m that should be good business.

It isn't just about whether we think it was a legal tackle or not (technically it was), but about how the FA will see it. The fact is Tiote leapt two foot off the ground to make that tackle and when the FA look at the replay they will use that fact to back the referee's decision. It's not fair but that's what will happen.

I've only ever seen him in the one game against us but he seemed an intelligent player with a good right foot. Think he might turn out to be a good 'un once the dust has settled.

It bastard well should have something to do with football. Pardew is going to make himself out a disciplinary hero like Souness with Bellamy and end up fucking the morale at the club with his John Wayne act. It might not happen but this paranoid delusion just won't go away.

The last sentence wasn't real?

The most lucid and insghtful comment in the whole thread.

I'm not saying Pardew is wrong in this, just that based on his decision making so far I don't trust his judgement yet. If Ranger's a cock then there's enough evidence to suggest that Pardew is just as big a one but without the excuse of being a teenager.

There are so many problem players that no decent managers will touch. Cantona for example, or Roy Keane. Then there's Le Sulk Nicolas Anelka. The best managers like Howard Wilkinson bomb out these trouble makers like he did so sensibly with Cantona.

tiote who gets booked all the time, while we are chasing a game, on a shite pitch, against players whose shite touch constantly invites 50-50s (and which drew tiote's 'foul')? plenty of people on here were hoping he wouldn't get any pitch time and plenty thought itwas the wrong move to make. it was a risk and it backfired. had it came off he'd have received praise, it hasnt so he gets deserved stick. Exactly. Pardew made a monumental gaffe by including Tiote in this game after he limped off the pitch in the last one. Everyone and his dog wanted Tiote kept back for the derby except Pards. It reeks of Souness' habit of playing semi-crocked players in a pathetic attempts to save his own hide. I'm sorry but it was a fucking rank decision and it can't be stressed strongly enough.

The long ball was a direct result of pairing Smith with Nolan. Tiote is sometimes accused of holding the ball to long but it's called keeping possession in another language. Without him, Jonas and Enrique there was no one to bring the ball out.

That's what need....another 7ft target man. Nice.

The amount of mistakes Pardew made in this game is worth recounting: 1) Not using his squad players - a few younger legs in key positions would have made sense after such a heavy schedule 2) Putting Smith alongside Nolan, a long time recipe for disaster 3) Playing Barton on the left which meant not only did we lose our left side but we lost our right as well 4) Subbing Best for Ranger when it was obvious that the supply line was the problem not the forwards 5) Bringing on Tiote as an act of desperation when he shouldn't have been in the squad, effectively costing us next weeks game as well as this one. 6) Blaming the youngsters after the game, presumably for not being picked. That's a lot of gaffes in one game, and you don't have to hate Pardew to acknowledge it.

Not really. Tiote took off from the ground and landed hard to make the tackle. Yes he was away from the player, but if he missed the ball the player would have went down in the follow through. Therefore harsh though it seems, it could be considered reckless so it won't get overturned.