Exiled in Texas

Was just thinking that Martinez could be our Wenger. The question is though, is the todays Premier League the same as it was when Arsenal brought in Wenger. With all due respect to Swansea (and I went to Milford Haven Grammar school, and know Swansea quite well), they are not exactly one of the biggest Championship teams, and with them already over achieving on their expectations, the pressure is off. It wouldn't be like that at Newcastle. Not in todays EPL.

I like the sound of Martinez and the style of football he likes to play....BUT.... I'm not sure that he would command the same respect and freedom in the PL as he gets in Swansea. I'm sure that the Swansea players don't have the attitude of PL players. Swansea is a long way from PL football and PL lifestyle, and I wonder if they are more likely to buy into an unknown manager like Martinez, than know-it-all PL players who might consider themselves above him. I also think that the level of expectations at Swansea are only a drop in the ocean compared to Newcastle. It's easy to ride high when you're exceeding expectations, but when the bar is set so high in the PL and in Newcastle (unreasonable in many cases) good is not always good enough. Is Martinez strong enough to control a PL squad? It would be nice to think so, but I'm not convinced. Yet.

http://www.achievement.org/achievers/wal1/large/wal1-003.jpg

More than anything, I put Man Utd's sucess down to the one-in-a-million chance of having a Youth team produce a crop of amazing first teamers like they did - Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Nev1, Nev2, Butt. Fergie has been trying to catch lightning in a bottle ever since. Until these kids came along, Man U were just like any other team trying to break through as champions.

FA Couldn't act on Bosingwa because the AR saw it but did nothing - FA can take no action because the officials saw the incident but decided not to punish it. The FA Could act on SWP because the referee didn't see it but said he would have dismissed SWP if he had seen it.

Good shout Yes, but which one. Didn't Spurs just get a point and get out of the bottom 3 - cue re-emergence of the MJ we know and love.

We just seem to have more of them......and the Knee Jerk is in full effect. If we are going to have some change, then it needs to come from the inside as progress... and not from the outside as change. For example, if you're going to change managers, get the new guy lined up and agreed and then move out JFK - that's a progressive move. Don't fire the guy without a replacement lined up - or that's just more turmoil. Oh well. Here's hoping that the protests don't do too much more damage. So you're saying we should recruit to the position before we sack the incumbent manager? AKA constructive dismissal...aye, that would be a truly progressive move. Exactly...I'm sure that's what every company does (although probably not publically). They know they are going to pay off the incumbents contract anyway. But you have to know that your plan is taking you forward, rather than just hope that it turns out OK, once there is no turning back.

We just seem to have more of them......and the Knee Jerk is in full effect. If we are going to have some change, then it needs to come from the inside as progress... and not from the outside as change. For example, if you're going to change managers, get the new guy lined up and agreed and then move out JFK - that's a progressive move. Don't fire the guy without a replacement lined up - or that's just more turmoil. Oh well. Here's hoping that the protests don't do too much more damage.

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)