TRon

phew...that's a relief then. Cheers.

Probably right. Not sure we have the personnel though. Routledge and Gutierrez have some pace but Lovenkrands isn't as sharp as he once was. Nor do we have the intelligence in midfield or at fullback to do it (although perhaps we could have on the left with Enrique/van Aanholt). Ranger's quite quick although he's not getting a look in. The goal he scored against Palace was on the break and he showed a fair turn I thought.

I remember one about Sven being interested in Shola. LOL.

Was it Vetere who recommended Xisco to sign? because if he's so highly rated he sure fucked up on that one.

Carroll just needs to get some consistency in his game. He looked very lively on Friday but there are times when he seems to spend most of the 90 mins falling over. For such a big lad he doesn't hold the ball up as well as he could. He does attack the ball well on crosses though.

I agree with this. At first Hughton's nothing interviews used to seriously piss me off but He's definitely grown into the role and for me he's handling them very well now, far more assured and he looks like an intelligent bloke. It's easy to win cheap points with soundbites like Kinnear but it doesn't generally work out long term. I think Shearer was guilty of this as well and it showed in that performance against Villa where we went down spinelessly.

Sad twat.

Where is all this patronising shit coming from? I've sat in all four stands (although it was standing in the Gallowgate at the time) and while it was great to have a good view in the East and West stands, the atmosphere in the Gallowgate and Leazes is what it's all about. So what if they sing "your support is fucking shite"? This is Newcastle not fucking Wimbledon.

I think that highlights the crux of the problem though - it's easy enough to get rid of managers who aren't up to it, it's another thing to actually get an improvement. Steve Bruce has been a very expensive replacement for Sbragia so far and they are still fighting relegation. I still think genuinely talented managers are few and far between and it's very easy to chuck good money in hope without any real idea if it is going to work.

I think last season's failures were more down to the players not being good enough to compete at that level and the turmoil off the pitch didn't help. Don't really think it was fair to judge either Hughton or Shearer on their short spells in charge, they were both working with problems created by other people.

Shola is never fit for any sustained length of time so I wouldn't put too much money on him being top scorer. I don't know if Carroll can keep getting goals regularly either so I'd probably go with Loven even though he's not going to get picked regularly.

Nicked for me phone and audio is now my text & email alert and also my wake up alarm Still prefer the Blaydon Races tbh. Far less elitist ironically.

Those two looked pretty awful together last time they started. Who would hold the ball up because when I've watched Carroll he seems particularly shit at it.

I just don't think because we thumped Cardiff at home we should take anything for granted. We aren't going to be three goals up inside 15 minutes in every game.

!00% agree with this. We tore Cardiff a new one with this team and its arguably the best we've played all season Having Routledge and Jonas down the flanks with Guthrie CM makes us much more balanced, dangerous, less predictable and creative. A force to be reckoned with in this league. If he drops Guthrie and plays two or all of the old cloggers Smith Butt and Nolan instead i will be hopping mad This could cost us dearly as they haven't got the legs. It's an away game at a ground that's not the easiest to get results though as Forest found out just last week. What worked at home against Cardiff isn't necessarily going to work away, although I agree we should definitely give it a go.

Definitely. The arrival of Best seems to have got Carroll and Lovenkrands fired up, if Best now has to sit out for a couple of games maybe he'll be hungry for goals as a result.

I used to sit in the West Stand until three years ago but I don't get to many games these days. The last game I watched live was in Level 7 and I thought it was great, a throwback to the days before all seating was brought in. Even though the view wasn't as good the atmosphere was much better. Love it.

I didn't think Nolan did much either, like I said somewhere else we can live with 1 passenger. Barton could make a massive difference to us if he comes back fit and focused on becoming a footballer once again. The thought of a Guthrie, Barton, Routledge and Jonas midfield is almost too lush to dare contemplate. It might not work in every game but I bet we'd win a lot more than we lost.

Hughton 1 N-O experts 0

His goals record isn't the best over his career so it's no real surprise. His hold up play might be more important than we are giving him credit for tbf, but there was always the worry that once we went down to our fourth choice for striker we weren't going to be getting the erm...best. Think in the long term pushing the boat out for Moses or Beckford would have proven more financially sound, but they were probably beyond our budget so can't complain really. Not when we've spent good money this window.

Spot on. Yeah...damn that positive result!

He won't though. Well maybe our board will pay the money to employ someone who will?

Normal service will be resumed on Tuesday evening. There were plenty of TT posters predicting a defeat tonight as well mind. 5-fucking-1 in your face Parky!

What the fuck? Back in the day there was a place called Skunkers

You'd hope so but Hughton comes out with bollocks about playing "A lot of games" and the need to "freshen it up" so he'll probably 'rest' rotate the strikers. It's funny how the likes on Enrique, Colo, Jonas, S.Taylor, etc don't get rested when fit. It should be, if you score you stay in the team until you don't score. Did it escape your notice that he took off his new signing after 60 mins to give Lovenkrands a good crack at it? A lot of managers might have been tempted to leave Best on to get a goal to prove their judgement right.