Ashley17

Are we at the stage yet of beckoning back the Dave from above?

It's generated a lot of interest. As Edwards said, his paper wants to know what's going on. You can be the best journalist in the world but you've still got to report what is getting people talking. The Times or any other paper still need to sell subscriptions/advertisements.

Nobody can play it down because there's been no comment either way. They're all just quoting the same Sun article. Playing it down would purely be guesswork without official comment.

I'm not sure he is. Think Aguero will play both, Jesus the cup game and then Aguero back in for the CL

Rice is a centre half playing in midfield. Very good at breaking up the play, not much else to his game. It might develop but he will be more useful in games where we don't have so much of the ball.

Playoffs are based on the Nations League Yeah and Holland are guaranteed at least a playoff spot as a result even if they somehow finish outside of the top two in that group.

Thought it was interesting that Rafa said Sterry wasn't in the squad. Presumably that'll mean Manquillo at right back/wing back and Ritchie or Kenedy on the left. Either way, I'm expecting loads of changes. Personally I would play more or less full strength here. If we play Rondon against Man City he'll be up front on his own by about 40 yards, assuming he won't play all three games this week I'd say it makes more sense to play him tomorrow and then against Spurs. Besides, if we lose this we'll probably lose three games in a week. There's 7 non-Premier League teams guaranteed to be in the last 16 so nearly a 50/50 chance of playing a non-Premier League side for a quarter final spot. I know, I know. But it did Sunderland no harm under Poyet to go on a couple of cup runs and it ultimately spurred them on to safety. We can't possibly be tired after our one cup game in the first half of the season so I don't buy that as an excuse. The FA cup games are on a weekend as normal, last year we got so bored we went and played a friendly in Belgium and ended up playing Spurs on a Wednesday night anyway. If we get relegated it won't be because we play a couple of extra cup games. Besides, if Rafa's going at the end of the season it would be nice if his last game is at Wembley - and I don't mean Spurs away.

Have to say like my row was more or less empty at full time. That was in the Leazes end. The guy next to me even said "look at this lot fucking off early when we've won 3-0" which is the only reason I noticed. To say it half emptied would be an exaggeration though. Anyway, Cardiff are really quite shit. Once we got ahead I never really felt like we'd lose it, Cardiff created nothing other than the odd flurry from a set piece. Rondon was an absolute beast and ran them ragged all day, whether it be holding the ball up or fronting them up in the channels. The three centre halves though were all excellent. Obviously Schar's contribution was noted on Match of the Day but Lascelles barely lost a header and Lejeune was his usual self. Ritchie ran himself into the ground and I even thought Hayden did pretty well at doing the dirty work. Longstaff is an old head on young shoulders. Always wants the ball and most of the time already knows what he's going to do with it. I know he's only getting his chance out of circumstance but he's grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Yedlin's pace was useful on the counter but he has no end product. It's annoying but I guess he usually has so few options to aim for it's pinpoint or nothing. Perez and Atsu were quiet until the closing stages where they became useful on the counter. A well earned win. Personally I'd play a pretty strong side against Watford. We've got more chance of beating them than Man City and winning is a habit. I'd rather see Rondon give Mariappa a tough game next Saturday than see him lightly press John Stones for 70 minutes. Some good anti-Ashley songs today, not that it'll bother him. He'll probably use today as an argument for not spending but sadly we'll play better teams than Cardiff most weeks.

Yes but he won't sell at a loss and he doesn't seem the type to wipe out his own debt. If we go down he'll appoint some dickweed and actually make some money available for transfers. We'll come up and the process will begin again. At least if we stay in the league and he takes the money it might pay off what he is owed (for his own stupid mistakes) and then he might one day fuck off.

There's hardly anybody worth resting. Dubravka, Rondon, probably Lascelles and I can't imagine Lejeune playing twice in quick succession. We have only two centre midfielders though I think Diame will be back for Cardiff. He had a fitness test yesterday which presumably means he is somewhere near. Woodman Sterry Schar Fernandez Clark Manquillo Hayden Longstaff Murphy Kenedy Joselu He might remove a centre half in favour of Ritchie and a change in formation. We only have one "number 10" in the whole club it seems which limits the chances of playing 4 at the back. That side should have enough to beat a Championship club, whether it has the desire and application is another matter. They didn't in the first match that's for sure.

Considering this was drab it went over really quickly. That's a positive. Hayden, Murphy and Kenedy were abject. Sterry was only marginally better and Woodman didn't cover himself in glory trying to deal with their set pieces, which to be fair were very good. Joselu won quite a few flick ons but offered minimal goal threat as usual. Shelvey made a big difference when he came on, as you'd expect, but there's no confidence in the whole team. Atmosphere was actually quite good, a very loud "stand up if you hate Ashley" broke out at one stage. Other than that, nice to see Lejeune back and I for one can't wait for the replay (which I think will be televised).

Chalmers: “A letter from Peter Kenyon that shows his interest is genuine and wants the deal done as soon as possible, released at this time of year and seen by all the papers! May I see it?” Skinner: No

I don't think anything has changed. There is interest, they might have done all the due diligence in the world. Hell, the FA might have done their checks already. But until there is a fee agreed it's irrelevant

A back 5 with Dummett and Yedlin as wingbacks. Diame and Hayden in central midfield. Murphy, Kenedy and Muto as a front 3. Murphy because these are the only games he ever plays, Kenedy because he didn't start on Saturday. Could easily be Atsu or Perez in there but it barely matters. Similar set up to the Everton game where we used pacey forward players to exploit their overly zealous fullbacks. Think Rondon will get a rest here and Muto will get a run seeing as he's off soon. We'll essentially have a back 7 and Liverpool will have one eye on Arsenal 3 days later, so they might take it easy once it goes 2 or 3-0.

I'm leaning towards keeping him in until January just because he's less of a rotation risk. Same with Hazard. I don't have any Man City players at the moment which is asking for trouble but I'm relying on Salah and Hazard to outscore Sane and Sterling over the festive games. The worry with Auba is that Emery is playing one up front at the moment and that means he will probably rest him for a game in the coming game weeks. He played both him and Lacazette against Huddersfield and it just didn't work so Laca got pulled at half time. If he goes back to 4 at the back, which he might have to out of necessity due to injuries, that would mean Auba back out on the left potentially. My defenders keep getting sent off or injured so I've been having to manage that and don't want to risk -4 on an attacking player who might be a sub.

He's been an utter dick yet always so very respectful about us and Bobby in particular. For that reason I find it hard to hate him.

Arsenal are complaining because their 2nd leg has been moved to the Wednesday at 5pm so it doesn't clash with Chelsea on the Thursday. Both teams can't play at home at the same time and UEFA don't want it to clash with the Champions League games so it can't be a 7.45pm or whatever. Might be a very empty Emirates that night!

Craig Hope is the king of breaking bad news. Typically it's usually right though, unfortunately.

The subs were very odd today. I'd be against bringing on Manquillo at any time but to move Yedlin in to centre half was unusual. I guess Rafa wasn't worried about his opposite number beating him in the air and his pace to cover Traore would have been useful. Getting sent off there was senseless, even if they had scored there was loads of time left but there was a lot left to do between giving the ball away and sticking it away. Gah. I also didn't understand bringing Kenedy on when Ritchie is playing a left back. Surely you put Dummett on and push Ritchie to LW? Nobody would have complained at that I don't think with there being just a few minutes left. Atsu was good but like Rondon he was shagged by the end so I'm not surprised he was withdrawn. Diame was a total disaster on the ball as usual and Ki was ok but not as good as he has been. Rondon was excellent, unfortunately Perez is too used to playing with Joselu and doesn't get near enough to him for any flick ons. But generally, Rondon's hold up play gets us up the field and we're a better side with him in it. I don't think he's a particularly natural goal scorer but it doesn't matter who our striker is, we don't exactly make dozens of chances for them anyway. So if he's able to hold it up and not be an active hinderance he's well ahead of some of his colleagues. Lascelles was poor today, he's not comfortable in a three and certainly not on either side. I think him, Schar and Fernandez is probably our best bet in a three, though Clark is a reasonable option in certain games. I've rarely seen Lejeune in a three but I don't see it being a problem for him however it's not fair on the lad to throw him in just now having been out for so long. If Fernandez is out, I wouldn't be against Dummett coming in on the left side of the three and sticking with Ritchie as a left wing back next weekend. At least that way they can change during the game to a 4 without making a sub. I'm already dreading Manquillo, he just offers so little. At least he'll be on his natural side which, to be fair to him, we haven't really seen very much. Final word to the idiot Wolves fan who threw a bottle of beer down into the Newcastle fans during the celebrations on their first goal. It hit a kid of about 8 or 9 so I hope they're proud of themselves. Thankfully the bottle wasn't glass and it didn't hit him full on so he was fine but hopefully whoever threw it gets dealt with.

No Shelvey according to Hopey

Saiss and Shelvey on the same pitch might not end well.

Jimenez not starting for them. Not looking forward to Traore's pace against anybody.

Minhosa has confirmed on several occasions that the interest is legit and he's been saying it for months. I don't doubt there are potential bidders but the question is whether Ashley will really sell or if he's just stringing people along to get through January. Caulkin and co were adamant that if the bidder was named that was usually a sure sign it was bullshit, so I find it hard to believe all their current optimism about this. Supposed advisors contacting fans groups to call off the boycott also stinks of Bishop to be honest. It doesn't all add up to me and I think like the vast majority I won't believe anything until a new owner is stood on the pitch with a crane taking down the SD signs in the background.

Lee clearly furious he can't run a "not happening" tweet. Yet.

We were poor defending them against Bournemouth so we'll be in bother against Burnley's giants. It was the one thing we missed Lascelles for in my opinion.