El Hozzo

just wondering, with Barton and Owen off, if we did get a pen, who would take it ... ?

have to hope other scores go our way ... until the end of the season ... need to rely on home form, against the Mackems, Fulham, Portsmouth, we need 9 points ... Good to see Portsmouth lose last night, Hull are losing, need 'Boro to lose tonight... we might not drop too many places ... and at one-nil, I'm still hopeful we can get something from this

are we better off than two hours ago, when we had nobody (well, Houghton) I think so ...

so, with this story semi-confirmed everywhere, only hope is that this is like the portsmouth incident when Keegan was first manager ... he's left, its official ... without official confirmation, time to cool down, re-discuss ... maybe in few days time, we find out its sorted out ... either way, if he goes or stays, its a black day for us...

and Defoe might be out, at his grandmothers funeral in the Caribbean ... missing tomorrows game, hopefully our one too ...

not bad results in the end ... would have liked 3 home wins in the Premier games, but two home wins and a draw is almost as good ... we are being given every chance to get out of our situation ... we just need to TAKE IT !!!

Good that Chelsea have got six ... we might not finish with the worse goal difference in the division now .... :-[

I have supported newcastle all my life ... but don't get to see them much, because I live in Milan. Went to both the Juve and Inter games thats season - the Juve was great (because it was the first) but of course, bit of a disappointing outcome etc - really thought we were heading for UEFA then. For the Inter game, well, I go to the San Siro a few times a year, and always dreamed of seeing Newcastle there. It was a magical night, great performance, was really proud ... hopefully, we can get back there... it might take another couple of years (and completely new set of players...)

the plan was deliberately low-key. of course, if we can get ahead of the plan, then great. but I remember Bobby's first couple of seasons - taking over and getting us 11th when relegation was a real threat, and following that up with a second season at 11th... I don't think we should be expecting top six next season - would be great, but we need to lower expectations a bit. All the people saying we need stability are right to some degree ... so, we should avoid too much frustration if we are not challenging for top 4 next season ... we are SO low at the moment, such a clear-out needed (bye-bye Carr, Geremi, Smith, Owen (? - I would swop for Defoe) etc) ... the new man, is going to need support AND time ...

I think this is good, very clear - this kind of communication is/was needed. I would go further. I would publish a 5 year plan, with 'goals' for each season, try to get the fans to buy into it - and then as long as we are meeting those goals, no more sackings, and everyone gets behind the team. This season - avoid relegation Next season - top ten finish Following season - UEFA cup qualification at end of season (via Intertoto is ok) Following season - Top 6 finish Final Year 5 - Top 4

Nobody mentions the impact that the 'lap of honour' to a stadium 25% full at the last league game (Wolves?) the end of the season before he was sacked... Fans had a part in this ... Might have been misread by Shepherd, but in a sense, I guess Shepherd was trying to do his job, in keeping season tickets up (not sure how the renewals were that summer) But the timing... 4 games in - that was unacceptable from Shepherd. So glad he's gone

thought Moore was ok (slow, but positionally), but not really committed (he wants to return to Australia, right?). Srnicek was nice for nostaligia reasons only ... prefer sucess to nostaligia myself... bramble - shame, in a way, at times he was superb ... but he had all the chances he needed... Bernard - again a shame, I was positive when he was (re)signed... but he never even made it to the bench (right?) so, waste of money... Onweyu - no great loss, not good enough... overall, good start, good days work.. now lets be as quick bringing in some (quality) replacements, and the positive vibe might remain ...

anybody else see any parellels between Zog and Jenas ? Both started their Castle careers brightly, then faded just as quickly... for me, then, the solution should be the same - flog Zog to Spurs for 7Million... !!!

First clean sheet in a VERY long time ...