Colos Short and Curlies

Of course he is. Anybody in a managerial position is under pressure to deliver from day one. We don't know what Mikes criteria would be for getting rid - final league position/style of play/general opinion of the club? but there is no doubt that Sam knows what he has to do and therefore is under pressure to deliver. Is he under pressure from the fans? I'd say form the majority no, from a sizable minority yes, and if we haven't improved by Christmas then January becomes vital for the longevity of Sams reign

who would you try to bring in if he got sacked? I'm going to get shot for this, but I'd seriously get Shearer in. Its more about the coaching set up for me, not just the man in charge and from what Shearer says on MOTD and said in his post match interviews he seems an intellegent man and would recognise his own limitations and get people in to balance them out. Shearer would be able to get players to join the Toon who Sam might not (bigger name across Europe/World etc) and if Shearer can't get someone to play for the Toon with passion then at the moment I don't see who else could. I know he is unproven, but so was Keegan, so was Keane, to a degree so was Wenger. Mourinho took to managing like a duck to water. You either have it or you don't, experience isn't the be all and end all

I agree with Ron and Barton, but you can't ignore the fact that Emre and Butt play well together, so for me it should either be Ron and Barton or Butt and Emre, depending on whether we need guile or a runner supporting the front 2

Mike easily. For one he seems to know his place in the hierarchy of the club - he is the owner and wants to enjoy it. He's employed Mort to run the club (very well so far imo) and he's simply there to spend his money on a hobby. At the end of the day the Irish boys are in it as a business move and at some point they will expect a monetary return. Mike just wants a succesful club for his pleasure. No brainer really

Personally I think Sam is trying to be too clever with his selctions/formations/tactics. Its like he is trying to prove he isn't just a 4-3-3 long ball man. Unfortunately, whatever 'formation' he plays our only 'tactic' seems to be long ball to the forwards.

Doesn't he play for Villereal?

Well a lot of my mates are Toffees - we've beaten them I work with a few spuds and my brother in law is a Spud - we've beaten them Mothers side of family are Mackems - No brainer really!

It's mind boggling that fans like yourself are only willing to give the manager 10 games to change his mindset! f***'s sake man, he's been in one mindset for about 15 years and you expect all that to change in what? 2 months? Give him some time. He's shown that he does realize the weaknesses we have in the team, and in time, I have faith that he'll show that he's very adaptive and will turn this club around. If we win the next couple of games what are the odds that you won't be concluding, already, after 10 games, that we won't be making it into Europe next season? Well Sam himself has said on more than one occaision that he cut his cloth accordingly at Bolton. If after 5 months in charge of the club he hasn't noticed that his resources and demands are somewhat greater than at the Reebok, and therefore the cloth needs cutting differently he never will. (not saying he should go btw)

Come on the Turks!

You're right 17 from 11 isn't bad, until you see that its come from: Wigan, West Ham, Pompey, Everton, Villa, Bolton, Reading, Boro, Spuds, Derby, Citeh 4 of those teams will be fighting relegation at the end of the season, everyone has beaten Spurs so far this season and Reading will be mid table. We've yet to play Blackburn, Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea - all of who will be challenging for the top 4-6 and Sunderland where anything could happen. So unfortunately we ain't going to continue to get 17 points from every 11 games!

Agreed. It's almost as if he is trying to prove that 'his' methods and tactics at Bolton would work at any club and the only thing stopping him from breaking into the top 4 was the money. Unfortunately the better the player you can afford the more sophisticated your tactics need to be, at the moment I doubt whether Sam can change his approach to bring the best out of the likes of Emre, Owen, Martins, N'Zogbia and even Viduka (who I reckon was Sams 'Davies' signing, only Dukes is a much better player than simply a battering ram like good old Kev)

A couple of people have already alluded to this but I don't see what benefit manging a lower league club would do Alan before he has a stab at a top Premier League club (or us for that matter ). It's a completely different ball game below the Premier League, the tranfer fees/process, wages, demands with internationals and European football, expectations of fans and pressure from the board. It would be more beneficial for him to go in as a number 2 at a top 6 club or even abroad then it would to be a number 1 at a smaller club

What a way to blow away an unbeaten home record

Take off the swear filter? The only thing I could think off

Boro 1-1 - Luke Young

Well it only took the Man Utd game for Boum to go the way of the ridicule, hopefully Cacapa has a bit more mental grapefruits than Jean Alain

Or even better if Ashley is there, just get him to go down 'Right Boys, I pay your wages. Win this or you get nothing this month'

My team talk? Simple Right boys, go out and win this game or......... I'm bringing Souness back as my assistant

2 minutes out on my sub!

at least the crowd is making some noise today

wish I'd stuck that tenner on now!

4-3 is 30-1 on paddy power right now. Worth a tenner?

So when is Rozenhal coming on then. I'll give it until 15 mins

Its Fulham all over again!!!!

Shit