Exiled in Texas

There are too many unrealistic expectations from the Fanbase for the club to proceed. It seems that it's Top-6 or bust on here, with no middle ground. And yet the middle ground is where we desperately need to be in the next year or two. From our current league position and with our current worldwide reputation as a club in turmoil, what we really need is some stability, and some sign of progress - a slow and steady improvement over the next couple of years to undo our last few years of decline/stagnation. What we should be aiming for is a mid-table finish, with some general improvments in the playing staff. Nothing too dramatic, but progess in the right direction.And in this I mean, some good players, but not necessarily great players. We need to stop crashing back/forth between top-6 and relegation (even if only in the fans expectations). The fixing of NUFC is now a marathon, not a sprint and it won't be acheived overnight. There is no instant fix, or magic bullet. If it takes a couple of years under JFK to get us into Mid-table, and improve the overall quality and number of the playing staff, then so-be it. The problem is (in my mind) that we keep throwing out the bath-water and re-starting, and wonder why we never get anywhere. Let's be honest.....if NUFC had signed Palacios last year for 700K, N-O would have been on fire for lack of ambition.....player not good enough etc etc. The un glamourous clubs (with limited expectations) accept that they won't be signing top-drawer players, so they have to trawl through some trash to find some gems, and they accept that they won't be signing big names. Toon fans don't seem ready to accept that we need to go down the lesser know player route AND that it has as probably more misses as hits. We need to stop worrying about final piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and start working on getting the edges and corners (no pun intended) in place.

Played with his sister Who did? Fenton or you?

What I like most about Bassong is his attitude. He came here saying "i don't expect to play every game, but I'll do my best to play well and hopefully play well enough that the manager will pick me (or words to that effect)". None of this - I must be in the first team or I'm leaving/sulking etc. He just took his time, settled in, and started playing well. And more power to him. This is what you really want from a player....playing a good game, not talking a big game and then playing crap. I love his attitude to the team and how he knows what he needs to do to get into the team. Keep it up Seb.

Old Red Nose?? No more baby Mancs to shore up their pitiful squad?

Sorry....thought that was EPL only.

<Snip> Still not sure if they were trying to hide the kick, so the keeper couldn't see the strike of the ball past their legs. Or was it just a distraction to the Keeper. I'm sure the referee had no idea what was going on, didn;t see anything going on with their shorts and had no reason to rule the goal off. I expect a FIFA ruling on this very soon.

Would love to see BSA at Sunderland.....especially after "THAT" photoshop thread that ran to over 100 pages.

Even worse......other Lip Reading experts say "Barton wears Speedos"

Maybe it was...hadn't heard.

Cuban is after the Chicago Cubs......If he buys the Toon, then he must have been nixed by the Baseball Commish as to ever getting approval to buy the Cubs. Still wouldn't mind Cuban owning Newcastle though.

The referee is going to regret that one, big-time, when he watches the replay. Gerard went looking for contact so he could throw himself down on the ground. {photo shop challenge - someone take pic of gerard holding cup/penant and replace with oscar}

Even though we all know that Free Kicks are much more likely to be awarded outside of the Penalty area that inside, because referees don't want turn games unnecessarily.

TV Pundits who don't know the Laws of the Game, but still have an opinion that they espouse as fact even though they are completely wrong. ESPN's Tommy Smythe is a perfect example of someone who hasn't a clue but is always the expert - even when he is wrong. TV Commentators or the assistant "colour" commentators, who call for a Penalty to be awarded for the smallest/trifling infringement when in reality, there is no way that any Referee would "change a game" and award a penalty for that sort of infringement. Tommy Smythe is bad at this too - makes his game calls of ESPN UEFA Champions League games a bit of a joke. I think all commentators should have experienced at least one full season as a referee of local rec games just to understand the role of the referee and then they wouldn't talk so much crap. They might then know the LOTG better and have an idea of how an official referees a game.

Was thinking the same thing......it's OK to grab your opponent by the Crown Jewels, but not this. It's all about who did it .... and Barton's behaviour really is under the microscope, being held to much higher standards than other players because of his past. You only have to go back to the Arsenal game, when Barton had just come on as sub and made a hard but fair challenge on Samir Nasri winning the ball, only for Nasri to retaliate with a trip in open play. What did the TV heads focus on.....the Barton challenge that they thought was too aggressive even though replay showed he won the ball cleanly. Did the retaliatory trip by Nasri get any real focus? Nope, just Bartons challenge.

no it can't Actually it can.....two players coming in from opposite sides to challenge for a 50-50 ball. Player A slides in studs up, coming in over the top of the ball (making contact with the ball first) and then clattering into the opposition mid-shin with his studs. Got the ball first.....still no foul? The ball-first scenario is meant to differentiate where a player wins the ball (eg slide tack,e from the side) and the other player then falls over him due to their momentum. No foul there.

This is a good decision from FA/Styles. His one view during the game told him that it was a DOGSO foul and deserved a Red. He can then review the replay and determine that there was additional information (i.e. a clearer view) that he didn't have during the game. Fix what can be fixed, and don't compound a bad decision making it even worse. This is the sort of appeal that should be over turned unlike the John Terry rugby tackle (now that was a bad decision by the FA)

Maybe he is in Mauritius after putting £20 on Kinnear being the next manager

Ah, but the problem is that you do have to stop the game for reviews. You can't let play continue because what if something else happens during the period that the referee is reviewing the play. (And I am assuming that the review will be by a 4th official and not the guy in the middle). You can't go back and erase parts of the game based on a previous decision. What happens if Blue team creams a shot off the crossbar, ball shoots down onto/over the line and bounces back out. Blue team protest to referee, but meanwhile Red team breaks upfield and within 10 seconds of the ball hitting the crossbar at one end, the other team has scored. Now what does the referee do? Goal for Red or goal for blue. We already have the situation that once a re-start has taken place the decision cannot be reversed even if the referee admits/acknowledges a mistake.

Not a direct comment on Cahill (didn't see it), but I think all appeals should be based on a "Double or Nothing" approach. If you're banned for 3 game, and you want to appeal then you would risk loosing the appeal and sitting for six. It's too easy and an automatic reaction to appeal every red card. Go on a Double or Nothing approach, and you might not see so many appeals. Got to be a waste of the FA time. Would Cahill or Terry have risked sitting for 6 games, or would they just take their three game ban and get on with it. Obviously if the card was frivalous then the appeal would be worth it, but if not then perhaps the risk would be too great and they would stay away from possible red cards.

I'd like to see an automatic yellow for any defending player struck by the ball at a free kick when they were within the 10 yards. Primarily aimed at stopping the defenders standing over the ball to allow their team time to retreat and get organised. So many times you see the attackers wanting to take a wuick free kick with the defender standing over the ball preventing the quick kick...book 'em. I know this was tried, and then removed, but I'd like to see dissent at stopages of play (i.e free kicks) penalised with a further 10 yards towards goal (or at least the option of taking the free kick at the point of the original foul or the place 10 yards closer - whichever is more benefitial to the team).

US highschool Soccer, who have their own set of modified rules, have a great Injury rule. "If one team is clearly in possession of the ball when the game is stopped for an injury, then they restart from the position of the ball, when the game was stopped, with an indirect Free dick. (If no team in possession then drop ball)" This means that a team breaking up field or in on goal, when the game is stopped, gets the ball back in a similar position and with a similar advantage. It stops the meaningless act of a drop ball giving possession back to the goalie of the team on the break when they had advantage way up field.

I wonder if Ashley/Wide had expected to confirm Poyet or one of the spanish pair as manager, and has been suprised at the rejections. Is he now thinking "what have I done??" I'm sure that he wouldn't have been talking to KK if they were getting positive vibes from their spanish speaking coaches.

We'll just have to make do with Arturo Antunes Black and White Army

He resigned ffs Resigned/Forced Out - Same thing. Ashley didn't keep KK around so his asset just took a big hit. Just look at all the Happy Customers right now.... they can't wait to spend their money in his business now. The fact is that Ashley would be a terrible business man if he was looking to sell the club and then made such a short sighted decision to make the club less attractive. If he wanted to sell he would have polished up the club, put on it's best face - it's Sunday Best, hid Wise in the cellar and promoted the heck out of the "love" relationship between his team manager and his teams customers. Allowing the situation to fester to the point that Keegan walked, was not good for the short term value of his NUFC asset. All Ashley has done is reduce the value of the club to any future invester, so that's clearly not a run up to putting the club in the shop window. Of course he might feel forced to sell now that the city has a bounty on his head should he ever cross the Tyne, but what a stupid businessman he would be (which he isn't) to wreck the very thing your trying to sell for the highest price possible. That would make him more famous than Gerald Ratner in the competition for dumbest business move.

If Ambani was coming in then Ashley would have left Keegan in charge - which is more valuable....the club with it's Geordie Messia in charge or the club left headless and in shambles. Ashley is not selling out to Ambani.