TRon

I'm surprised he managed to get his hands round the Doncaster lad's throat, he's usually nowhere near the strikers.

This is totally correct - the 92/93 side would easily destroy this lot. I would be surprised if they failed to score at least 3 times without reply. Sellars created far more danger than Jonas EVER will, and as for scoring goals, Rob Lee would make him look like an amateur. Kelly, Peacock and Andy Cole would have had a field day against the current side's defence..... Nolan this season will outscore Lee from that season. Who played LW most of that season anyway? Didn't sign Sellars until later on. Can't think. IF Nolan outscores Lee from that season(and its a big if), it will be because of 2 things ; 1.The current league is crap compared to the 92/93 League 2. Nolan has been in the side since AUGUST - Lee didn't join the club until late October 92. You are surely not trying to put Nolan in the same category as Lee are you ? If so, then either your memory is very short, or you can tell the rest of us what it is you are drinking - must be a new brew and very strong....! As for the wing, we had Sheedy on the left and Franz Carr on the right for most of the early games and even Carr was more effective than Jonas.. Sheedy was at the end of his career, which is why KK signed Sellars. Course I'm not, just picking up on the goalscoring midfielder comment. And I completely disagree on the Championship being weaker than Division One back then. You are entitled to your opinion but I disagree - the last 15 years have led to the syndrome of the cream rising to the top even MORE than it did back then because the Prem has become more powerful and wealthy ; there are NO good teams in this years' Championship and that INCLUDES NUFC. If any of the CCC sides currently in the promotion positions go up, they will be relegated unless they have massive surgery to their sides and most can't afford it. Back in 93, KK added just a couple of players to his promotion side and finished 3rd ; I say again, they were STREETS ahead of this or any other CCC side today . That argument is nonsense, if the prem is more powerful, it becomes more attractive to be in because of the money, making the entry division even more competitive. Thats basic economics. There is sense in saying that the relative difference between the leagues has got wider because of the increased money to the top league. That relative difference has been caused by the influx of the best players in the world into the top clubs, this doesnt affect the standard of championship football. Further, newly promoted clubs are doing better at staying in the top flight, with last year this being the case particularly. Financial lessons have been learnt etc. Also, fitness has moved on to such an extent that time on the ball has reduced massively, the pace of the game has increased dramatically making any meaningful comparison of the abilities of players across nearly 20 years as utterly redundant. Most players look better when given space and time on the ball. For a few of our players back then, you could argue that if they were plying their trade in the modern game, they'd be better than the current squad members. Then again, we never saw them with less time on the ball, playing more organised teams, so in reality its hard to tell. Just an aside on that point about less time on the ball, the best sides in the Prem still seem able to keep possession despite having less time on the ball. Teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal knock the ball around quite nicely even under pressure. Obviously they've paid for the quality but the best teams still play football which is easy on the eye albeit at a quicker pace.

This is totally correct - the 92/93 side would easily destroy this lot. I would be surprised if they failed to score at least 3 times without reply. Sellars created far more danger than Jonas EVER will, and as for scoring goals, Rob Lee would make him look like an amateur. Kelly, Peacock and Andy Cole would have had a field day against the current side's defence..... Nolan this season will outscore Lee from that season. Who played LW most of that season anyway? Didn't sign Sellars until later on. Can't think. IF Nolan outscores Lee from that season(and its a big if), it will be because of 2 things ; 1.The current league is crap compared to the 92/93 League 2. Nolan has been in the side since AUGUST - Lee didn't join the club until late October 92. You are surely not trying to put Nolan in the same category as Lee are you ? If so, then either your memory is very short, or you can tell the rest of us what it is you are drinking - must be a new brew and very strong....! As for the wing, we had Sheedy on the left and Franz Carr on the right for most of the early games and even Carr was more effective than Jonas.. Sheedy was at the end of his career, which is why KK signed Sellars. Course I'm not, just picking up on the goalscoring midfielder comment. And I completely disagree on the Championship being weaker than Division One back then. You are entitled to your opinion but I disagree - the last 15 years have led to the syndrome of the cream rising to the top even MORE than it did back then because the Prem has become more powerful and wealthy ; there are NO good teams in this years' Championship and that INCLUDES NUFC. If any of the CCC sides currently in the promotion positions go up, they will be relegated unless they have massive surgery to their sides and most can't afford it. Back in 93, KK added just a couple of players to his promotion side and finished 3rd ; I say again, they were STREETS ahead of this or any other CCC side today . We've seen with our own eyes how poor the "Championship" is. We are leading at the moment and we are shite, that in itself tells you the quality of this division. Amen to that. We have wingers who can't cross a ball without falling over, midfielders who can't string two passes together and strikers who make Michael Chopra look like Gary Lineker. Apart from the actual football though we're ok.

What difference does it make, it's not like we've got a Stephen Glass sitting on the bench who can replace Jonas. the only alternative is Lovenkrands and he's worse. Of course you could always think outside the box and move Kadar to left back and push Enrique forward. Not sure it would achieve much different at the end of the day though, other than satisy the calls to dump Jonas.

I'm not sure what you're saying. Are you a) suggesting that he should abandon the attempt to sell the club, or b) not abandon the attempt to sell, but act as if he has? If he can't sell the club he has to do B. put the idea of selling on the back burner and try to turn the club into something attractive to potential buyers, in other words re-establish us in the premiership. Regardless of what is going on in the background he has to get serious and stop pissing about. If he doesn't that will be at least 2 years of the club being ran on an 'interim' basis. if someone comes in and wants to buy then great, but he can't continue to ignore the football club in the meantime. what he has done would be the equivalent of Hicks and Gillett running liverpool on the bare minimum for a few years until they can sell to the dubai consortium. Birmingham had some instability when Yueng wanted to buy two years ago but even they went out and got a proper manager signed up instead of making do with a caretaker. Unfortunately Ashley's philosophy since the day he came in has been to try and generate money by cutting costs but it's sadly had the knock on effect of damaging performances and making the business less efficient and less attractive to its consumers and potential investors. I'm not convinced that simply making the club more attractive to a buyer is in itself a viable longer-term strategy. If he's going to be in it for the long-term, then he has to mean it and present a convincing picture of his commitment to the players and manager who he's hoping to attract. If deep down, he's faking it, I'm not sure it'll work. Of course, he then has to face the problem of the large number of fans who want him out because of the Keegan issue and later the subsequent relegation. That was what drove him to sell in the first place. Whether things have quietened down enough I don't know. If he announces he's not selling, it may all erupt again. It's not worked so far has it? As for the fans erupting, there has been plenty of opportunities for Ashley to make a fresh start and he's consistently fucked up. Even after relegation there has been no attempt at re-building properly by appointing a proper manager like Steve Gibson has done at Middlesbrough. Constantly taking us on and off the market has served to do nothing but de-stabilise the club and a few decent results will only mask that for so long.

Got me The point still stands though, he's a decent player. Not in any way 'absolutely woeful' Looks to me like he's got all of Colo's weaknesses and none of his strengths. Coloccini might not be a beast in the air but he competes hard and is very good defensively on the deck. Zurab doesn't seem switched on half the time.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Manchester-United-starlet-Danny-Simpson-ready-to-quit-Old-Trafford-article201351.html Yeah Butt's made such a success of his move...he's managed to get two different sides relegated in the space of three years

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2009/10/26/steven-taylor-in-race-to-face-sheffield-united-72703-25016603/ Looks like Tozer and Kadar at the back, so I am prepared to write this one off. If we get anything at all it will be a great result. I reckon it's just scare-mongering. One of Taylor, Colocinni or Simpson will definitely make IMO, even if half-fit. If anything Hughton's tended to downplay injuries with Shola and Barton being prime examples. Simpson being fit won't really make much difference against a big side, we need Colo or Taylor fit ideally and I reckon this might be just too soon.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2009/10/26/steven-taylor-in-race-to-face-sheffield-united-72703-25016603/ Looks like Tozer and Kadar at the back, so I am prepared to write this one off. If we get anything at all it will be a great result.

Wouldn't surprise me if Ashley isn't threatening to make Hughton boss as a barganing tool to force Moat's hand into upping his offer. It's the sort of low tactic he's quite capable of pulling.

Younger players don't usually hide from the game and I think Guthrie has done that at times. He did it last season as well, and whatever faults Andy Carroll has, you could never accuse him of going missing. I don't think Guthrie hid at all last season, he was one of the few who actually wanted the ball and tried to make things happen. Everton and Wigan away spring to mind. Compare that with someone of Nolan's experience who hid for most of the time last season. Nolan just doesn't have the energy to get up and down the pitch, but he does get beyond the strikers regularly, something Guthrie doesn't do enough for me. I accept he's playing wide, but even when he's been given the central role, he's rarely got forward with intent. Shame as imo he's potentially a much better footballer than Nolan, but he hasn't really made it count for much yet.

Younger players don't usually hide from the game and I think Guthrie has done that at times. He did it last season as well, and whatever faults Andy Carroll has, you could never accuse him of going missing.

When Man U fail to defend their title he'll be getting booed by his own fans as well.

I read that and couldn't believe he'd said it. The idea is to keep the players positive and motivated. Its his job to make up random bs specifically so they keep self belief. If he came out constantly with.....ok you just got outplayed by scunthorpe..........ok forest just dominated you sacks of s***............ok..you should have lost to doncaster there ive no idea htf u lot are top of the league. You think that great amount of honest realism is going to turn them into match winners suddenly? I cant really remember any managers properly slating their players performances and that producing a miraculous turn of form. Normally it becomes a circle of consistant slating & consistantly crap performances. See Roy Keane. I didn't say at any point that Hughton should be slating the team's performances though. I just don't think it's necessary to over-hype the opposition with comments like Doncaster "will keep possession against any team". You boost the morale of your own team by lavishing admiration on them not the opposition.

Nothing like this then: Pretty much; but atleast i was actually engaging with the person in question. Not particularly petty... bit snide i guess but i was questioning his blatant agenda against Nolan, not plucking some random poster out of the air and spouting off. As if it matters. Blatant agenda? Questioning how much demand there'll be from Premier clubs hardly amounts to an agenda. I don't rate him because he's part of the problem with our midfield being too slow, but I did also say he should be playing at the moment because no one else is much cop either.

Who else is there to play on the left? Lovenkrands? Nicky Butt? Nolan? Jonas has been pretty crap but the alternatives are worse and that's the only reason he's still starting.

Any hope of a result from this one lies with the return of Coloccini and Taylor. Zurab's not going to be missed but Simpson and Kadar will be too lightweight to deal with an aerial battering.

We won the game because Doncaster failed to take their chance. If they'd scored the penalty they would have won, so we got the points through their failings as much as our efforts. Hopefully we'll gain some confidence from this but if Hughton thinks that mighty Doncaster are a better passing team than us then it's going to be a long hard season.

hes benched butt when others may have had him in every week He didn't bench him, Butt was unavailable through injury and then Smith won his position with a string of good performances. Only one of those two should ever start in the same team imo.

He wasn't doing too bad before he was left out tbf. Watching Marlon Harewood's efforts should make people appreciate Ranger's previous efforts all the more. The lad looks like a footballer rather than a clumsy mutant with two left feet.

His signings have been pretty shit other than Simpson. the two lads with experience, you can see why their clubs wanted them out the door.

Time to bench pin head methinks. The Ranger's hold up play is key to our performances.

Not sure how we won that but thank fuck we did.

Hughton might be a spastic but he can't force players to want the ball. Same old story.