TRon

He wasn't getting much of a look in here, I don't know why people are so outraged or surprised by this.

I think the new hard-working attitude and team spirit would soon go south if Mark 'Vacation' Viduka returned. No thanks.

The one striking feature of this exercise is that everyone is struggling with who plays wide right. I hope the rumour in the Journal that we are bringing a winger in on loan is true, playing central midfielders there isn't the solution long term.

I know people want us to appoint a proper manager, but looking at the options available, how many would actually provide results that would justify their proper manager salaries? Shearer is unproven one way or the other, O'Leary could easily turn out an expensive flop...the type of manager who would do a decent job here like Curbishley probably wouldn't have touched the job before our flying start. A big problem at Newcastle is that we always hand the job to big names who don't deliver what their reputations promise, such as Gullitt, Souness and Allardyce just to name a few recent examples. If Shearer or O'Leary had had the start Hughton has we'd have been hailing them from the rafters, but the fact that a coach has got these results puts things in perspective. Hiring the right manager is a big decision and Ashley doesn't have the knowledge to be making those sort of decisions. Hughton's probably as good as we are going to get while Ashley is still the owner.

Even though I've criticised Ryan Taylor a lot, without a proper right winger we aren't going to get much service from the right with that line up. Taylor is a pretty poor player but he does wing in a decent delivery now and then, so he might be worth considering at RB ahead of Simpson who looks purely a defender.

Sounds familiar doesn't it? Amazing how clubs such as ours have all summer to recruit and then just run out of time to conclude the deals at the last minute.

They've spent a lot of money to probably finish in the same position though.

Like i said, Shola, Harewood, Lovenkrands, Ranger and Carrol. No other team in the 2nd div could match those options up front. Given we already have a better midfield than most teams in this division, that just leaves the defence looking vulnerable to injuries. It's crucial Hughton gets in at least a centre back on loan otherwise it will come back to bite us on the arse. If we get Harewood in I'll be pretty confident we'll score goals, and I wasn't before this move and Lovenkrands signing, despite the results.

Summed up pretty well there.

Not ideal, but can Lovenkrands fill in there? I think it's going to be Ryan Taylor with Simpson dropping to RB. Guthrie and barton will probably also get stints out wide I reckon.

If Harewood, Lovenkrands and Cathcart ended up here in the next week, I would be fairly happy with our transfer dealings, considering that we didn't lose any more players. We are still lacking a right winger, but with Jonas still here it's possible to operate with one winger I guess.

Sports Direct shares were tipped as one fo the shares worth buying in the Daly Mail financial section yesterday for what that's worth. Ironic though it seems, if we get promoted on a shoestring we'll probably be in as healthy a financial position as we've been in years. If that happens I'm sure Ashley will be the first one to tell us how he was responsible for the situation.

Cheers.

Fair point. Their most dangerous player is Michael Chopra. Can you imagine us shaking in our shoes at the prospect of him lining up against us a season ago?

Mentioned that before about Carroll. For all his physical strength, he never really looks like threatening the goal much.

The only question mark I'd have over this is his lack of experience. Centre back's one of the positions I'd be wary of throwing in one of our youngsters so what makes Cathcart any different?

Three month loan? How can we go wrong? This will give us yet anothr option up front and if we have got goals in this team we will win the league comfortably.

What about the fact that he's older than he says he is? Don't want to keep harping on it but if Kevin Nolan can be 26 years old, why not Oba 24? If nolan was black he'd look like Oba's dad. Or at least the bloke who drinks in the same pub.

Shola's fitness record is pretty shocking really. He rarely manages to chirp how he's finally playing without any niggles and he's struck down with another long lay off. Should just keep his mouth shut tbh.

I don't believe Hughton is a long term answer, but while the club is officially up for sale he might as well continue the job if he's getting the results. What are the alternatvie options? He's fine for the Championship but the Roeder comparison is a good one. We're effectively the equivalent of the Real Madrid galacticos in this league and any old idiot would be expected to get us promoted. However, if we're back in the Premiership next season, we need an experienced and proven modern manager. Not Shearer. Not 90s men like Kinnear and Keegan and not coaches like Hughton but a proper manager. He's p*ssed on his chips now but Steve Bruce last season would have been a good choice and would have kept us up. Don't think that was Bruce's fault tbf. He would have come here if he'd been given the opportunity but he wasn't and now it's too late.

Who's to say he won't ask for an inflated sum when that happens? He's done that on both occasions he's put the club up for sale in the last 12 months, I have no reason to believe he won't do the same again if we do go up. He was asking £400m for it last year remember.

Burnley are in the Premier now and so should be able to offer a better deal. I bet our wage bill is still a lot higher than theirs. Thats a lot of obvious you posted. Not sure what your point is though. They were after him in January, deal was blocked at the time, he wanted a new contract in the region of what Burnley were prepared to give, we actually offered a minimal rise on his existing contract. Obviously he wanted to stay but.... It all boils down to whether he goes on to perform well for Burnley. If he does then it will have been a bad decision not to match those terms, whatever they were. Obviously he wasn't rated that highly here.

In the Daily Mail print version it had him down as signed for Newcastle. While they are probably jumping the gun, I reckon this one will probably go through officially as soon as he gets back.

I don't believe Hughton is a long term answer, but while the club is officially up for sale he might as well continue the job if he's getting the results. What are the alternatvie options?

Burnley are in the Premier now and so should be able to offer a better deal. I bet our wage bill is still a lot higher than theirs.