AlanSkÃrare

They make it sound as if it's some sort of paradigm shift. Commes des fuck down.

Sky reckon Marv is on the right.

1-4 Marveaux Jelavic Ben Arfa Cissé Ben Arfa I have no idea why.

Or how Ben Arfa managed to score 46 goals in 45 minutes.

We'll be able to keep possession so much better with this formation. Anita in that link role behind the back four aswell. Really looking forward to this now.

Newcastle United FC ‏@NUFCOfficial #NUFC (4-2-3-1) So probably not. Don't know who'd be up front with Papiss in that line-up anyway.

Official says 4-2-3-1 so pretty much, yeah.

Actively excited about our lineup. Ba dropped is harsh, but that's a very good looking front 6

Newcastle United FC ‏@NUFCOfficial #NUFC (4-2-3-1) v #EFC: Harper; Perch, S.Taylor, Williamson, Santon; Anita, Gutierrez©; Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Marveaux; Cisse. #newcastle #epl

BRILLIANT TEAM

Mascots tonight. Nice gesture.

Would be typical if he became some sort of Sibierski-esque Europa League cult hero.

See no logical reason whatsoever as to why we should do well tonight. Still ridiculously up for it, absolutely buzzing. Can't fucking wait to see Hatem in action again

Sweden were playing Brazil twice in the 1994 WC. It was the first time I was really caught up with football in general. According to my dad, I was close to tears because of how frightened I was every time Romario was close to the ball, especially in the semi-final.

He wouldn't push Valdes out but i certainly rate Krul over Valdes, i've always thought Valdes is overrated and would get found out in a poor side, his distribution and his actual footballing ability are the reasons why he has stayed in goal for Barca as he does suit their style. That's pretty much it, really. Valdés' strengths are so tailored to our play style it's ridiculous. Apart from his distribution, his main virtue is one-to-ones, which is our main defensive weakness as we play with such a high defensive line. I reckon a class GK is a class GK anywhere. Barcelona should be in for someone like Neuer imo, and the confidence he would give the back line would be far superior to Valdes' skills. He has a habit of playing pretty far out as well which would help dealing with through balls and those trying to expose the space behind their defensive line. Plus he's fucking frightening in that typical German way.

We beat West Ham away (2006) in a suprising 2-0 win where Damien Duff and Oba Martins scored their first goals for the club. Marlon Harewood tried to kill Shay Given and Alan Pardew failed to get anything out of Javier Mascherano.

Shame if that's their fans' view of NUFC and us supporters. Really like Everton, think they're a genuine club with very likeable supporters. Them and Fulham are the two clubs I like the most in the Premiership apart from us.

Sir Bobby Patrick Kluivert Shola, always scores when we play them at Camp Nou.

Pardew seems to really like him and Streete. Must say Tavernier looks a bit raw to me, positionally suspect but with good physical abilities. Probably needs more games at a higher level than his previous loan spells. Real shame with Streets injuries. Reckon he would have been involved a lot this year had he not been injured. Seems as if his injury hasn't healed properly and that he'll be out for a couple of more months, making it a 9-month lay-off. Not good at this stage of his career.

Don't know if it's just my opinion, but Williamson seems to give a weak appearance when he comes up against certain players. Gets outmuscled far too easy and is beaten in 50-50's on way too many occasions. At least Perch go smashing into people all over the pitch. Taylor is our best aerial player in my opinion. I reckon he'll be the one dealing with Fellaini.

Aye, that and try to keep the ball. If we go 4-4-2, we'll sit deep and try to counter them with HBA the only one capable of constructing things. I also think we'll struggle a lot if we try to defend against all their muscle and power for 90 minutes. They will probably be persistent enough to break us down. I think Pienaar and Osman are players capable of breaking us down, whereas the sheer power of Fellaini and Jelavic will be much to handle for our CB's, especially with Tioté missing. If we try to hold on the ball and bring the sort of game we're capable of, with Cabaye pushing forward a bit and HBA in a more free role, I think we'll be in with a chance. I'd still play Marveaux here and put Jonas in the middle. If we go 4-4-2 I'd like to see Anita - Willamson - Taylor - Santon Hatem - Cabaye - Jonas - Marveaux

That was definitely a start. It's a long, long road, though. Half the squad are either still imbued with O'Neill's approach to the game (big men at back in the middle, big man up front, wingers, nothing else matters), some are kids having to learn to change, and some are new arrivals who will need time to settle. As I said, definitely still be a few really poor performances and results over the course of the season, we've only just started, but Saturday was the first time I've enjoyed a match at Villa Park for a long time. What do you make of Barry Bannan? He seems as if he's got very much to his game and could really develop in a more passing environment to me. Is his movement, work rate and energy enough for him to reach another level?

I think he'll be a brilliant manager for you. Patience is the key, but he's forward thinking and very good at spotting where things don't work. His experience from playing abroad and building sides with a winning mentality is something I'd imagine serves him well. Norwich scored so many late winners during their march up to the Premiership. Seems as if you turned a corner at SJP.

He goes three league games without scoring and now he's Papiss Crises!?

Don't think Pardew will leave anytime soon, as long as results don't go horribly wrong. He knew the conditions, the policy etc when he took the job. He's happy working with it at a club that is of a size he could only dream of ever taking charge of before he came here. He's not going to quit because of disagreeing with the board if they don't back stab him or break too many promises. As for us, I think we should be happy for Pardew to stick around for as long as Ashley is in control. Not many managers would be happy working with this regime and the way they conduct business. Pardew is probably one of the better ones out there in terms of being willing to do the job. I can see him being a bit tired of it come the end of his contract if we are standing still and not progressing as a club. But the "long term project" might well be going very well, and FFP might have come into play a bit more, which will only mean a stronger position for us.