captainhaircut

Exactly. Who cares if a players goes airborne at some point. Its when the contact is made that counts. Its like saying if someone goes in for a header with a swinging elbow but his arm is by his side by the time he comes to head it, that is a red card. I'll be taking a huge break from football if it isn't rescinded. Football just isn't the game I want to watch if that is a red card.

Smith just produced the worst 45 minutes I've ever seen from a Newcastle player. Some achievement. Not once has he shown for the centre halves so we keep punting it. Take him off and put Guthrie on, take Perch off and put Ferguson on and switch Routledge and Barton.

Perch and Smith not even good enough to shine against this lot. Embarrassing.

He knows his role and does it really well at the moment. We miss him loads when he doesn't play as no one links the midfield to the attack. Keeps the ball, picks up good positions in attack and defence and scores goals. Does all of them really well.

2 domestic and 2 overseas then? Just did a quick search and aye, I think that's it. Only one from one club though (i.e we couldn't get Tevez and Barry from City.) You can have as many loans from abroad as you want. 2 loans domestically, only 1 from a club.

I heard a rumour that the club are trying to block 3G in the ground as they're unhappy with the use of twitter and the like from inside the ground. Might be total bollocks and I can't remember where I heard it but if all networks are having problems, there might be something in it. It's not like the ground is in a poor area for signal!

I'm not sure I buy into this 'good owner' stuff. They spent exactly £0 last summer. They had to sell a promising youngster in Waghorn and pay part of Jones' wages at Stoke in order to afford Gyan. If they want Welbeck and Onouha next summer, how will they pay for them? Sell Bent or Henderson? Quinn seems to talk a good game but that last interview sounds like he's getting a bit sick of the fans not backing the club. Almost like he might be wasting his time. In the grand scheme, the club is limited by the city. It's a poor city and it doesn't help them attract top players. Most of their lot live in North of the Tyne and socialise/shop in Newcastle and the Bent incident might start to deter this. A quick look at the history of the Premier League shows that only large city clubs have experienced any tangible success. Boro and Pompey won cups but overstretched themselves while Blackburn were bankrolled by Jack Walker. Overall, the top half of the league is probably the best they can hope for unless someone seriously bankrolls them and as previously stated, it doesn't look like the American is going to do so!

McNally knows fuck all. He'll be in the Beacon in Monkseaton getting pissed as a fart as we speak.

Hope he's out for the season. We might be tempted to buy someone then. Or maybe the squad is good enough like Hughton tells us.

I heard he has tendonitis in his knee and has been having some serious treatment on it. Thought it was bollocks but his knee was heavily strapped yesterday and he certainly wasn't 100%.

Ignoring their second goal, he was abysmal tonight. Stood off his man all night (Kalinic and Roberts), lost almost every header, got turned easily and contributed massively to a unbelievably nervous defensive performance. If that's how he plays when he should be full of confidence, then how's he going to play when his confidence is shot?

Simpson gave the ball away there. To blame if this goes in.

Simpson back to to getting raped again I see.

Onouha should have been sent off. Poor refereeing.

They're targetting Colo in the air.

Ridiculously harsh on Gary Speed though.

I always love that. I just laugh whenever anyone tries it. I've NEVER seen it work in 3 years!

I thought Tiote was an excellent partner for him today. Nolan moved the ball well and picked some decent positions to receive it. Tiote more than made up for his lack of pace and energy. If we added a top right back, Barton on the right with those two in the middle could be ok. Barton can tuck in when needed, delivers the ball well and a decent right back could bomb on past him.

Red card. Tackle of excessive force. At least 6 months out with broken ankle. Have to pray for no ligament damage.

I was hoping that maybe Hughton said something about the player. Why he signed him. What his strengths are. How he sees him fitting in. The transfer has been confirmed by the club at half time so I assumed a reporter who wasn't a muppet might have asked about it.

Can anyone confirm what Hughton said about this post match, pleasE?

Mark Douglas from the Journal said on Twitter t'other day that Arevalo was being touted to us by his agents but we weren't interested.

I find it ludicrous that people want to take some kid from Man U on loan with no chance of a permanent deal over the permanent signing of Ben Arfa. I hate those sort of loans as it only really benefits the other club in the long term. We'd just need to buy a replacement for Cleverley next summer when he returned to them.

Vuckic on the bench with Ranger & Ferguson as well apparently.

Utter nonsense How is it utter nonsense? I can count on one hand the number of good games Barton's had for NUFC. He's still living off a decent season with Man City about five years ago, he even looked shit in the CCC. No player I've ever known has got away with being shit for so long - his reputation has actually been enhanced by being constantly injured or banged up ffs. I'm not looking to get into a big debate over Barton but to say he looked shit in the CCC is something I can't agree with. He was played well as a sub v WBA on the opening day, had a good game v Reading, played a few games with a broken foot and was then out for months. On his return, he played his way in a bit at first but finished really strongly v Peterborough, Plymouth and QPR despite playing wide left in a few games.