Mick

We could hardly move where I was and it was as weird as hell having 3 sets of fans in the same ground when only two teams were playing. I could see a big black & white union jack in the Roker to the right of centre. I would guess a few hundred of ours were in that end as they were singing Newcastle songs quite a bit.

Which end were you in against Gillingham? I was in the paddock.

It is the old first division trophy, I've no dea what happened to the old 4th division trophy.

Which trophy is that?

RIP Charlie, another winner gone.

To be fair to him he'll have been upset for the kid as he works with him every day, I can understand where he's coming from even if I think the tackle wasn't that bad.

That was horrific.

Alan Smith and kevin Nolan told Hughton that Best was quick.

I think Hughton is the nicest manager we've had since we sacked Bobby and we owe him a lot for what he has done. I'd love him to prove me wrong and do well and I'll be the first to say so. Promotion is a must but if we get it should we really gamble our Premiership status on giving a nice bloke his chance because of this season? In an ideal world the answer would be yes, in the real world the answer should be no. I'm not sure what he lacks is down to inexperience, I think he's naturally cautious and that could go either way. We could either benefit from that or suffer, I don’t think we have the personnel for us to benefit from it long term. I don't really want to dwell on this tonight, I'd rather enjoy where we are.

I know what you meant and agree with you mainly but think we could have done more this season.

I think any twisting this season will be minimal compared to next and I also think most of the twisting next season will be by those who are complaining about twisting this season. I enjoyed the game today because of one player who I think made the difference between us getting 3 points or not, I've no complaints about today.

I don't really have a prophecy, more a worry that we'll have too much to do and Williamson and Routledge both look capable of making it next season. My worry is the 4 players which I still think we'll need to have in our first 11. We could have brought in a loan player or two in either midfield or up front with the possibility of keeping them if they worked out. I can't work out the thinking behind the signing of Best unless he was on a free transfer. I think his fee and wages could have been better spent on loan players and the same goes for Hall who we could have done without for the 3 games he's played so far.

It's not just about money, other things have to be considered. We already need at least 4 first team players to come in without doing anything to bulk out the squad. What happens when Enrique gets injured next season and we have to bring in a kid who has 5 games less experience because we gave those 5 games to a kid from Chelsea who is no better in defence? Can Leon Best do a job for us next season or should we have kept the money until we were in a better position in the summer to bring in the two forwards we will need to start games next season? Why buy Best who should struggle to play for the reserves next season as we have better players in Lovenkrands, Shola, Carroll and a year older Ranger who shouldn't start a game if we're to have a team capable of staying up?

That's one massive "if." Of course I want us to play like Arsenal next season and I'm sure most others would feel the same, I have no expectations of that happening though. I would guess that would be the same answer 99 times if you asked a hundred Newcastle fans, I doubt anybody wants us to play shit. It seems like a daft question really.

Next season is next season you're right, and I'll put money on it that we'll regret not doing more this season to try and built a squad capable of playing in the Premiership.

You'll give a f*** how next season.

When the balls at his feet he's on his arse.

Give him time, he was good at Coventry, remember.

I don't think I've seen as good a defensive display from any of our players since we had Woodgate, Coloccini gets a 10 from me today as he was worth 12 out of 10 in the first half and 8 in the second.

He's been all over the pitch in the first half, he has been our defence, attack and midfield.

I don't think any player has had a better first half than Coloccini this season, the bloke has had me drooling. Harper could have taken a book out to read during the first half, he's had nothing to do. Smith, Nolan, Guthrie, Best and Carroll probably did take books out with them because they haven't been in the game.

Ccoloccini has been outstanding, a display like that in the Premiership would be world class. He's done everything at the back and his use of the ball has been brilliant today. To also score the goal just caps off what has been an excellent 49 minutes for him and possibly his best half while here.

If a lesson was learned against Swansea then we'll not have Smith and Nolan in the same central midfield, we'll see.