TRon

I think he's a canny player for the money we paid, probably a bit too lightweight for a good premier side. He'll do until we can get someone better in any case.

very much a victim of our s**** tactics in our latter prem years (he wasn't s*** under keegan when we had players moving and creating space so he could play his natural game of win it and give it simply). too many times he was caught holding on too long looking round wondering why all our players were stood still. i very much agree with that true faith article. It could be argued that Butt wasn't the problem in midfield but then who was? We had Milner and Duff on the wings and Butt was partnered by a succession of high profile central midfielders like Speed, Bowyer, Emre, Parker and Dyer. I don't recall either Owen or Martins being provided by a great service by this high value midfield. The truth is we suffered because we brought in tired has-beens whose best days were behind them...and Butt was one of those. even when he first came robert was going through a sulky spell, milner never stopped moving but his movement was that of a young kid who hadn't found his position. the problem was the whole team ethos, we went from pass and move to subbuteo in about 6 months. i can only guess too many players thought they had made it. since then can you remember our team having good movement ? not just the midfield, it has to come from all over or it just doesn't work. To some extent I agree. The problem hasn't always been the personnel, it has more often been the lack of a manager with a coherent team plan on how to build or get the best of his squad. Butt would be fine in a midfield which had plenty of movement around him, but we often had too many similar players in the same midfield or up front and for that you have to lay the blame with the manager. Butt and Nolan playing together is a prime example, just as playing Shola up front with Shearer didn't really work whereas Shearer and Bellamy was a massive success.

very much a victim of our shite tactics in our latter prem years (he wasn't shit under keegan when we had players moving and creating space so he could play his natural game of win it and give it simply). too many times he was caught holding on too long looking round wondering why all our players were stood still. i very much agree with that true faith article. It could be argued that Butt wasn't the problem in midfield but then who was? We had Milner and Duff on the wings and Butt was partnered by a succession of high profile central midfielders like Speed, Bowyer, Emre, Parker and Dyer. I don't recall either Owen or Martins being provided by a great service by this high value midfield. The truth is we suffered because we brought in tired has-beens whose best days were behind them...and Butt was one of those.

It's what we're all thinking really.

He's a good player but we already have a plethora of big powerful target men. It would make more sense to target an alternative to Lovenkrands I would have thought. Unless we are planning on getting two brand new top central midfielders I really don't think we should be looking to play 4-4-2 next season imo. Therefore we need a quality big man who is also fast and athletic and who can play alone up top for us. Carew is the sort we will need. Or we could buy those two central midfielders and build a proper side.

Carroll will get a few, Lovenkrands, Barton, Shola and Nolan have all scored goals at a higher level. We are only talking about enough goals to avoid relegation so we won't need to score shitloads..and we WILL strengthen the squad in any case.

He's a good player but we already have a plethora of big powerful target men. It would make more sense to target an alternative to Lovenkrands I would have thought.

I would think even without strengthening the squad significantly this bunch of players have shown enough mental strength to finish ahead of at least three other teams next season.

Effectively it would be the club hierarchy showing a lack of confidence in Hughton's credentials/experience at this level though...which just begs the question why didn't they appoint a senior manager to begin with?

He's put something like £25 to 30 million in this season and still level 7 sing "Get out of our club" today. He put in money in this division because let's face it you don't have to spend that much in this division. Next season will be a very different proposition and the sort of money it takes to become a a force in the Premier is beyond Ashley's generosity. That's not a criticism, it's his money and he can spend it how he likes. There are a lot worse owners as we are starting to see this season with clubs like Liverpool and Portsmouth. But the fact is he does have quite a wedge and he could use it to ensure Newcastle make a much bigger impact next season if he wanted.

Nice to see the lads having a day like this after last season. Well done everyone.

Would have liked to see West Ham relegated or Bolton would have been nice....but I'll take that. Fuck off Hull and continue to pay massive wages to Jimmy Bullard.

I think we are going to have to get used to the idea that Newcastle are going to have to generate their own money as a football club unless the club is sold which is unlikely. Ashley has plenty of money so if he wanted to pump some funds in to give us (and himself) a club to be really proud of, he can certainly do that but he's shown no signs previously that he wants to lavish money on Newcastle. He'll continue to run the club on the cheap because that's his mentality.

We used to have the 5th highest wage bill in England a year ago. I wonder if we will even be in the top half of the premier for wages by this time next year?

According to that Hughton will be looking to strengthen in defence and attack (again) come the summer. If Hughton doesn't deal with the lack of drive in central midfield I think it will be costly next season. Nolan for all his goals isn't going to provide it and Guthrie/Barton don't exactly motor either.

There's Mike Ashley's ambitions for next season. Can't say it's any big surprise tbh.

Something on Talksport this morning about Martin Jol being brought in to work with him which personally I would approve of 100% but I can't believe Hughton would be happy about it.

The fans today have a lot higher expectations than when Keegan last won this division, I am not sure they would turn out in the sort of numbers we did back then because many don't believe we should be down this low in the first place. I would love to be wrong like because I think the players and staff have earned it just as much in their own way.

This sort of arrogance would have been inconceivable during Keegan's promotion year. Maybe partly explains why he's not here now.

1 hour highlights on Football First SKY....let's never fight again

Of course he is, I figured that out some time ago. The absolute arrogance to expect constant success as a god given right is a dead give away. Hughton is an Ashley appointment (not FF) so any success probably has malE5 tearing his hair out.

It might be that Hughton struggles next season but I think it's just as well he's given a chance to pit his wits against the likes of Pulis, Allardyce, Mcarthy and other luminaries before we write him off. At least that way when we sack him we won't look daft if he resurfaces at another club and goes on to be successful manager.

So backroom turmoil means players picking up massive wages are excused for s*** performances? Someone should have told the Portsmouth squad, they could have not bothered to turn up instead of getting to the FA cup final. How many managers have Pompy had this season? That was the point was it not. You can’t have four managers in one season and expect the players to have a clue what it is they’re supposed to be doing. If Ashley had appointed a proper manager until the end of the season we’d have stayed up. TV wanted the gig but Ashley wouldn’t stump up a contract of sufficient length or remuneration. No, he had to go for the cheapest option available and brought in a clapped old banger with a dicky ticker. Owen and Viduka didn’t give a shit but they missed most the season. It was the team that went down, a demoralised and disorganised rabble. There’s a big difference between cause and effect. A lot of that is true and I've said as much myself at the time last season but the central point of this debate was about team spirit. I don't believe successful teams are built around players who have had their best days at other clubs like Owen and Viduka. Did they provide good value for their exorbitant pay? Maybe you think they did. Me I prefer to buy players who will have their best years ahead of them and who are eager to make their mark at Newcastle, not yearning forLiverpool or Australia. Owen was 26 and England's best striker when we signed him man. You're using massive amounts of hindsight of 2 major injuries when judging Owen as a signing. Ignoring fees and wages (it's a debate about hunger) and say we were somehow competing for Europe again would you turn your nose up at Rooney in a couple of years because his best years were obviously behind him at Man U? That wasn't hindsight actually, I voiced my concerns at the time about Owen's reluctance to come here, he basically came because he had no other available option. The answer to your question about Rooney is if his best years were behind him at Man U (which they would have to be otherwise he wouldn't be sold) then no I personally would prefer not to sign him. There are circumstances where an experienced player can be useful if you have a young squad overall though so it's not a rule written in stone.

Does that mean Ashley's cost cutting measures were unnecessary and the wage bill didn't need to be reduced then?