Unbelievable

That would mean JFK as manager, I'd rather have Pardew I think. If it's as inevitable as some would have you believe, I'd rather it happened tomorrow, get it out of the way. I dunno can't see JFK's health holding out for long, just keep Pardew till Kinnear gets ill again. His lifestyle by the sounds of it is not exactly that of an Olympic athlete and with his previous issues and his age etc. I dont think JFK himself wants to be a manager but he will bring his own trusted man. Last year I think it was he was quoted as saying he would only take DoF role if it would lead to a management role. Exactly. It's pretty much nailed on.

You mention the squad is better by listing the new players, yet only mention the most important first team player we've lost, not the squad players. Look, the first team is strong on paper, shame the first team cannot play every minute together and the squad strength is often decisive for successful campaigns, and the game is not played on paper, as evidenced for example by Cisse's poor form last season, or Colo's disappearance for the best part of half a season for unknown reasons. As for whether our 'par' is better than midtable with this squad of players (note: squad, not team), I would say normally we have no chance of finishing above at least Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Everton. That leaves eight as a realistic, yet optimistic target. However, the same thing can be said for a significant number of other established Premiership clubs, who all have similar financial means and seem more willing to strengthen lately, bridging any gap that may have been there whilst we penny pinch our way through transfer window after transfer window. I would say realistically we could finish anywhere between 8th and 14th, with 5th huge overachievement, and 16th large underachievement relative to that 'par'. I appreciate it is easy to think of the best XI we can put out and look at the names of Ben Arfa, Cisse, Cabaye amongst others and think we've got a team of world beaters here, because they can sometimes be exactly that on their day, but really, how often does that day come by? Consistency is key to challenge for honours, and we couldn't be any less consistent if we tried. We can scapegoat managers and squad players till the cows come home, ultimately it is down to Ashley's willingness to invest into NUFC whether the future is bright or not. Carr can spot all the talent in the world before other people, and have the contacts to get us into pole position as much as he wants, if Ashley is unwilling to invest to a level similar to our competitors, we will fall behind eventually. Just imagine where we could be with Carr's eye for talent and an owner with genuine ambition, who would be able to spot a progressive manager when he saw one, and than was willing to back him to a good level, without endangering the future of the club. We'd be around where Spurs are now is where. Yet here we are: we have just appointed Joe Kinnear to be our DoF and we dread the thought of qualifying for Europe ever again. That's about the level of our ambition. Won't be long before our better players tweak onto it and will agitate for a move. The first signs are already there (Colo, Cabaye, Cisse?)...

The squad is certainly not as good as some would have you believe. People go on about that 5th place as if that was about par for us, or that squad. It wasn't, we massively overachieved and many things went for us that really were beyond our control. Blaming everything on the manager for last season is the easy option. We are not a top 6 side, even though we finished 5th only a year ago, and our squad is unbalanced, poor in depth and important (creative) players are more injury prone than you would like players to build your team around to be. These aspects are a direct consequence of our transfer policy, of going for the good deal before all else, especially the needs of the squad. People look at players' ability at their peak and assume they are capable of continuously producing it, or near enough to that level. Similarly, people remember blunders from other team players and underestimate these players, because they don't see enough to change their mind. Only if a player underperforms for a long time, or leaves/expresses a desire to leave, do the blinkers fall off and can we judge without the subjectivity of being a fan. I believe this is typical behaviour for any group of football fans mind, not just us. The irony is we can laugh at other club's fans' delusion, yet are oftentimes incapable psychologically to realise our own. The reality is we have some talented players in our squad, but there are also glaring weaknesses. Of course, our tactically weak, cowardice manager only compounds our problems. I would say midtable is about par for the course for this setup, which is exactly as Ashley wants it: good enough to usually be safe, yet not too costly as to actually cost him money on a structural basis. There is no ambition whatsoever to achieve anything other than Premiership survival for financial reasons. Until he leaves, I fear that's the way it will always be, alas...

Gouffran looks quite capable in a central role tbf and scored some vital goals last season to keep us up. Anyway i agree with Neil's post, my point was that the main reason everyone is so concerned is because of the moron in charge. With a better manager you could use the players we have to be well clear of relegation trouble. This isn't a squad that should be in relegation troubles despite the lack of forwards, Pardew has dragged us down to this level since we finished 5th we have only really lost Ba and gained many quality players yet some how gone backwards. Ultimately it was the players out on the pitch who underperformed as well you know? Pardew obviously deserves the majority of the flack, but our players need a long hard look in the mirror as well imho.

Just as the reasons for his refusal were irrelevant, so are the reasons for this turnaround. Even though it took far too long to be resolved, the most important part is he can now join the rest of the team for preseason and most of all I'm happy it's not affecting the upcoming season too much.

Not really. Cisse's form is crucial if we don't get at least one other first team striker in capable of hitting the net regularly.

Get in

That massive white patch on the back..

Affiche does not mean a place, but a tie. They're playing Real Madrid in a friendly today, just like a few years back in the CL presumably..

The lighter shade of blue is slightly better than previous leaked pictures. Still a horrible kit mind.

Are player values fixed before the season kicks off, or is it worthwhile getting in early to pick some of the bargains up and see their value increase when more players pick them?

I don't think he should be our captain going into the season after he left us in the lurch much of last season when the club desperately needed him to avoid relegation. The question is: who do we replace him with?

We were exactly the same. Don't see how Colo's behaviour can be excused, from our captain no less..

League one? Surely not.

PFA statement suggests his religion IS the reason for his refusal to wear the shirt..

Great work captain

What I don't understand from Cisse's perspective, assuming it is true that his objection to having Wonga as our shirt sponsor is religion related, is that he has less problems with passively promoting a company that performs usury (even ignoring last season's sponsor also did) than he has actively performing himself an act that is considered haram. I mean, if the club forced him to loan out his own money and charge interest on it, I could see that would be objectionable by religious terms, but we're merely asking him to wear our club gear, that happens to have a company name on it of a company that might be considered haram (again, as was last seasons'). That said, I have been in a casino once or twice before, and actually gambled a little bit of money on those occasions, but I wouldn't say that made me a gambler. I expect Cisse to fold on this point when the other lads return from Portugal. It is not in his interests to see this story continue into the new season, and I don't expect his self interest to make way for his principles.

Better second half, but clearly much work to be done..

Decent cross from Santon on his left. Hope he's worked on that aspect of his game.

Tiote looks a lot better without Cabaye never being more than five feet away from him..

Good tackle Tiote

Shola not moving at all for Gouffran

Great finish from the statue

Their bench are taking the piss...

Nevermind starting Sissoko wide right and Ben Arfa in the middle, why did he not instruct them to change it around when it became clear very quickly it's not working at all? Absolute waste of our two best attacking players available in that lineup.