TRon

Was crucial in conceding both goals today. I don't want to see him in another starting line up.

When Keegan left, if feared for this fixture. We could have been embarrassed. We played well. I'm not ashamed of that performance. I am. I thought it was gutless.

Duff, Geremi and Guthrie haven't show enough for me in this one. I don't know if it's because they are being out-numbered but they have been subdued.

Maybe he's getting him mixed up with Taylor. Taylor definitely not having one of his better games. Nervy as hell. He actually said Tayloy and Coloccini look suspect at the back. I think the back four have done ok, the midfield haven't really shown enough.

Pascal Chimbonda in the Sun:

yes, well I suppose if beggars have to be choosers we'll just have to make do with that.

If the rumours of the club being bought are true, and the new owners show signs of being ambitious I think Owen will probably stay.

I don't even think he's found form particulalry, but this is probably the wrong game to throw Barton in at the deep end. At home against West Brom would have been a better time for Butt to get injured.

Doesn't add up to the earlier rumour from the Spunkers website which is indicating that the buyer is the brother of the City owner. It also seems strange that when a deal hasn't been announced Kharafi's interest is being leaked Nigerian consortium style.

No, I'm saying if it's true that he bought Luque and not Souness, then he acted as a DoF in that instance. He certainly didn't act as a DoF all the time, we know that. So you are saying that if Shepherd acted as a DoF it was only for a little bit, and once only...not when he bought Bowyer, Carr and Kluivert possibly during Sir Bobby Robson's reign, allegedly without his knowledge? Most people just thought he was a bit thick regarding football and should leave football matters to the experts he appointed.

That's incorrect. If they'd all been available we'd have been talking about what good business £12m was. The problem is, we didn't bring in enough players to pad out our squad, so we are missing him, no doubt. In order for us to "miss him", he must be a better player then what we currently have. On the fact that Geremi had more assists than he did last season, and has at least a semblance of understanding with Owen (in delivering free kicks and crossses), no we don't miss him at all. According to ESPN, in 3 seasons with 89 starts + 8 sub appearances, Gutiérrez had 5 goals and 8 assists with Mallorca, that's less than 2 goals and 3 assists per season. I guess we haven't been missing him either and should stick with Geremi? We should also be looking to sell him on in January if we can make a decent profit. That depends if you can get your head around what pace and movement brings to a team, something that Milner had neither of. Are still talking about how Geremi's better than Milner here? I'm talking about how stats are not everything when it comes to football, however Milner offered little more than Geremi over 90 minutes in terms of play to make up for the difference in stats, compare that to someone like Jonas who stats are not the best but he will offer far more to the team in terms of pace, movement, ability to stretch the game and making space for others that you would pick him time after time over someone like Geremi. Pretty much bang on that like. Yes it is.

Personally I think we should all wear black ties when logging onto this board. People in their jim-jams should have their access blocked.

you joined the scum because you are a bum living in a slum in Peterlee

Don't see what the fuss is about making a fuss tbh. My two arguments are: 1) Poll is a cunt 2) So is Styles

Sunderland should start making preperations for defeat IMO. Extra stewards should be on hand to restrain Roy Keane on the touchline and extra policeman should be drafted in around the city centre to deal with drunken Wearsiders causing mayhem and destruction due to the pain of defeat. In this day and age there's no excuse for lack of proper planning and preparation.

No big deal. By Owen's standards this injury is just a minor niggle. If he's back in 10 days time that's not bad, I never thought he'd recover for the derby in any case.

Poll has been too busy deep throating Styles, that can be the only explanation for his illegal support of a fellow ref.

Newcastle were probably the pioneering club when it came to our supporters wearing shirts as a show of allegiance during Keegan's first term as manager. I can remember Rob Lee saying Newcastle players often ended up misplacing passes because there were so many black and white shirts around the ground it was hard to make out the players. Where we once led, other clubs supporters have followed. We should never feel ashamed of that.

Precisely. A poor DoF is just as likely to buy badly as a poor manager is. All you do by putting an extra level of management in is increase the likelihood that the player will not be successful (the FTC may not rate the player, may not play him in the role bought for, the player knows the FTC is not in charge of buying/selling him so doesn't have his full respect/isn't sure the FTC wants him at all, etc, etc), increase the money spent on team management, and increase management staff turnover when it goes wrong and you need a scapegoat or when the large egos which go with the territory clash. If Souness was telling the truth then no, a DoF would have made no difference. If Souness was telling the truth then Shepherd was simply acting as a DoF. He has more relevant experience for the role than Dennis Wise after all. So is Luque's signing a for the DoF system? Souness' first major signing was an expensive experienced international central defender from a foreign league with weaknesses in his existing game which would be exposed in the Premiership if he couldn't adapt (so poor scouting / risky purchase for the money). The system's first major signing couldn't have been more similar in circumstances if you'd tried. So you are saying the old board operated with a DoF in everything but name only? So we can attribute good or bad signings to Freddie Shepherd during his term as Chairman is that correct?

Actions will speak louder than words. In a contact sport like football he'll have his work cut out keeping a lid on it but it really is his last chance for me. If he can't straighten himself out after this it's never going to happen. It would be nice to think we will be talking about Barton the football playmaker at Newcastle this season rather than Joey the thug.

The Dubai people were rumoured to be going for Everton instead, but with the current uncertainty over Liverpool I think they will be keeping their interest in them rather than bid for us.

I think Styles is bluffing and would have changed his mind if it wasn't for the Man U cock up, he probably knows this one will be the balls up which drops him out of the top flight and is trying to stop that from happening. leaves th FA in the position of possibly having to admit that one of their refs doesn't know the rules he is supposed to be applying......or if styles is right, all the others have been getting it wrong. I have the feeling that both the ref and the FA will take the coward's way out. Styles will stick with his desperate legal loophole argument, and the FA will just keep quiet and hope it all goes away.

Reading his interview in full he does seem to have finally realised that he has reached a crossroads in his career. Hopefully he'll match the words with his actions from now on as well. He also admitted coming back to Newcastle overweight when he got out on bail. I thought he looked slow last season and that probably explains it. It would be great if we are going to see a fully fit and focused Barton at Newcastle for the first time showing what he can bring to the table.

Spurs supporters realise now that the DOF thing they have is a camouflage for buying and selling on players at a profit, hence why the first team is suffering now. This is where it fucks up proper building of a side and it looks like Ramos had little say, cause it is clear they didn't get what they really needed. Which players have been bought and sold at a profit though? Keane was sold for a daft price which even Liverpool fans are questioning. Berbatov has been itching for a move for over a year now. Was it really such a bad deal to get £50m for the pair?

Feels like I've said this before (probably have...) but those are very sensible and honest comments from someone who appears to know and can acknowledge his own problems. Let's hope he comes back into some form on the pitch and keeps his head down off it. The words sound right but if he's been sober for 10 months his actions in his brief appearance against Aersenal still looked like the same old story. Heavy reckless challenge followed by a smirk of self-satisfaction. He needs to get his head down and provide some end product rather than be content to be a wrecking ball at Newcastle.