TRon

Has he named him in the side tonight then?

As long as we can still proclaim players a success after half an hour's playing time though. Well done to Ashley for allowing us to splash out on an out of contract player for half a season though. The fact Pancrate scored a goal sure proved me wrong in my opinion of how much he's going to back the team. In the half an hr he's played he's been successful. If you want to proclaim him for a success for the season you'll have to wait until May, but best just to diss him now to be on the safe side.

UV must be pleasantly surprised that we are 4 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand considering he was fearing possible relegation from this division. Life sometimes has a brighter side after all

What is it about his game that you don't like in particular? I have a suspicion he's a bit gormless but it would take more than a few fleeting glimpses for me to actually pin that on him at the moment.

Even if he went with two out and out wingers, there's still little point in having two central midfielders who will sit back and allow the opposition to dictate.

There really wasn't anything to separate Smith, Nolan and Butt though last year. All absolutely woeful. And Barton was either injured or suspended. Smith looked better than the other two in the fleeting appearances he made in central midfield. Butt was awful for pretty much every single game bar about three, and Nolan just hid from the ball and took no responsibility. Did he? I can't say that he did to me. Butt looked more mobile than Smith, which says a hell of a lot. Despite Butt being finished, he was at least one of the few who tried to take responsibility last year, despite being nowhere near enough to do so. i was saying that all last season. butt at least looked around and mad an attempt to get forward, smith, supposedly more mobile made no attempt at all and created sod all. i still see little or no difference between smith and butt. Smith isn't more mobile. Butt is the better athlete. The big difference is that Smith, when in possession of the ball, is far more confident and can deliver the right pass. Butt just looks like he wants to get rid of it. Smith is a real leader and I think has played a big part in getting everyone together and focused on promotion - perhaps just as important as Hughton in that respect. Absolutely correct. Smith might not be any quicker than Butt but he has far more stamina, and keeps the passes quick, short and simple. Not to mention he's much better in the air so adds value there as well. The truth is we have a glut of midfielders who are happier playing in their own half rather than the opposition, even the so called creative midfielders like Guthrie and Barton sit back far too much when playing in the middle.

I would love to think your right but I have less faith than you tbh.

It will be interesting to see if Hughton penalises any player who was present. Carroll obviously should be dropped from the squad for Wednesday, and anyone else with him shouldn't be considered either if there's any suggestion they were on the piss. There's no way they can make an argument that they have been preparing correctly for a midweek game if they are out on the town a couple of days before the game.

Hear hear. Look GG I respect any fan from other clubs who takes time to come on these boards but you have to acknowledge two things: 1) Watford played well but in the end got battered senseless by a 10 man team with a deadly pancake. 2) The Chumpionshit is garbage. Why else would we be top of the league?

He'll still almost certainly be out of work this time next year. It's probably true, I doubt whether Hughton will have the clout to persuade Ashley to invest in the quality of player needed in the premier, but then there's not many people who could do that anyway. Keegan and Shearer both tried and look what happened to them. Hughton has got a great spirit going among this squad and he's sort of won me round. I think most managers are shit in England tbh, finding the right one is expensive and usually a waste of time. Look at the players like Milner and Duff who are performing well once they are under a manager who isn't a moron. Well done Chris and long may it continue.

Just fuck off now and save us the bother thanks.

Good performance over 90 mins tbf. His hard work is probably appreciated by his team mates even if he doesn't always deliver the end product.

As long as Butt and Smith don't line up together we should be ok.

Smith should be the first name on the sheet in the holding role, it's the attacking midfielder who is usually missing in our line up in generally controlling the game. If we are getting out-played in the midfield it's because Nolan can't keep up or dominate games with his running. He does score goals though.

At least Man U and Liverpool are genuine big clubs, not some two bit London outfit that has bought some success due to a rich sugar daddy who likes living in the capital.

If Hughton pairs Butt with Smith then he deserves all the flak he will get. Personally I reckon the lack of legs in central midfield is what got us relegated and it's the major reason why we don't play good flowing football even in this division. Not that Guthrie exactly drives forward himself mind. His best position is probably going to be in the holding role as well if he's going to have a future here.

Pretty poor other than that again I thought. Never seems to expect the ball to reach him and is on the back foot when it does. Reminds me a lot of the 'old' Shola in that respect. I've noticed that as well, his anticipation is poor otherwise he could have had at least two more easy goals to his tally. On the other hand he provides a bit of muscle, is relatively mobile and isn't bad with the ball at his feet. Not as bad as people are making out IMO.

Most of us on here at the time actually said we would have liked to have seen him play in the middle of the park due to his engine/work ethic, as he wasn't performing for us out wide at all. Like I said in the other thread, Milner is performing well, so is Duff and they were two wide players who got slated on here for their efforts, which leads to the question: "why didn't they do it for us?" My view is shit management. Inability to put together players to use them to their best effect basically. How many of our managers thought to play Milner down the middle despite the fact fans like yourself could see the potential? It's not like we've been over-loaded with gifted central midfielders in recent years.

While I don't always agree with Hughton's substitutions at least he doesn't wait until it's too late to make any difference to actually use his subs. Unlike many so called managers with more experience who have gone before him.

He looks strong as fuck as well. Held the Watford defender off with ease. Made him look like a complete pussy in fact (FAO: GG)

I made a similar thread looking at some reasons because I didn't see this thread....must have been on page 3 or something. http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcforum/index.php/topic,66060.0.html Mods are welcome to merge them.

I think we hae the potential to improve even further. With Nolan out next match it's a great opportunity to move Guthrie into the middle and start Pancake out wide. We might even get a performance to match the results.

....the quality to get past our hugely expensive back 4. They can get past it tbf, they just can't finish. Well, not seen the game today so i cant comment on the chances that Watford had but looking at other games, the chances other teams have had are usually quite limited chances. They dont get that many clear cut chances, missing sitters etc. Very good point. We get criticised for sitting back, but in the games I've seen we've done it with decent discipline. Pretty important when the midfield lacks legs.

It's a position which we have struggled with for a year now on the right wing. Could be the best bit of business in a long time.