afar

Based on his track record, he might not be a bad appointment for a team flirting with relegation. He always seems to start reasonably well, the one exception I think was Charlton. The trick for that team is to get rid before he can do too much damage.

For sure, I can see him taking it to the courts and easily getting it overturned, but he'll probably have served the ban already but at least his name will have been cleared.

We sold at the perfect time and maximised the value on a player, I think will only decline. For me Sissoko already peaked, even at just 27, his game is based on a youthful skillset of energy and exuberance rather than something that will get better as he matures. Although the decision making process should improve, his stamina and athletic ability will only decline. You can understand Spuds paying the price for him, Everton's interest and firm bid obviously pushed them into action but he had just made headlines at the Euros, was desperate to get away from his current team and remember his last game for us was against them in a 5-1 win where he was probably the man of the match. As much as we would like to think he's regretting his decision, he'll not be, he's laughing. Got a big pay cheque to move, he's not playing the likes of Rotherham and Burton Albion, like he would have had he stayed here. He's sitting on a long contract with the potential to be moved on again next summer, another signing bonus incoming. There really is little need for him to do anything other than coast right now, at least with us he was playing for a move away, Spuds don't even have that to motivate him because he'll know in his heart of hearts he's not going to play for a more competitive team than the one he's with right now.

It'll be a game we least expect us to lose that will break the streak, that's the way these things tend to work out. And they don't come much easier than a home game against a struggling Blackburn team, so for that reason alone we will need to be careful here. We should have one eye on the cup match too, I think a semi final appearance would be huge for this club.

In any other real life situation, I would totally agree with you, but this is the FA and the have a ridiculously successful record in turning accusations into convictions, he's getting banned for sure.

His availability I feel will be key in if we go through or not.

I understand the point being made here but don't relate to it. Newcastle United is my sporting love affair, I enjoy the NFL, College Football, Rugby, F1 and many other sports, but the teams I root for do not have the same pull on me that NUFC do. I, along with a few others were one of the first people to speak up on here about Ashley, in fact the few of us that saw worrying signs got a lot of stick in our posts. Having said that, the ownership of the club matters not a jot for me, the best and only job the owner needs to do is what Ashley is doing right now, employing the right person to steer the club in the direction it needs to go and providing the funds (obviously this is unproven since we are currently in the black but the next couple of windows will be a chance to show how much he values and backs Rafa). If he continues to stay out of things like this then he truly has learned from his mistakes and will get my backing, if that means anything. To me the important thing is what we do on the field of play, community spirit is important too, but what happens on matchdays are what matters most to me. I honestly don't care what name goes on our shirts, what we call the stadium or how many tacky signs we put up as long as they are all working towards the common goal of making a successful product on the field. Since KK left for the second time, I have wished I could divorce myself from this club, not be as emotionally invested. I hated when my weekends were ruined over and over by results of a team playing some 4,000 miles away from me. How they constantly self destructed and frustrated the hell out of me, something that was supposed to be an aspect of your life that you could take joy in proved anything but the above. But it's proved impossible, I have other priorities in life as I grow older, but NUFC will always be a important aspect in my mental well being. Having genuine reason to be cheerful and optimistic for the future is fantastic, long may it continue and I'm more than happy to be fully invested in it.

As long is it doesn't save Sundelrand. Sunderland going down > Pardew demise for me.

I think the last month or two has really hurt Norwich's chances, I think really they are just being found out, they are not that good and were a little fortuante early in the season to be where they were. Against us they rode their luck remarkably well, they should never have been 3-1 up in that game. The real threats I see are Brighton, Reading, Brum and Villa. Brighton have been very consistent and have a bit of quality to them, along with a manager who's done this thing before. Reading got off to a sluggish start but have started to turn that form around and put in some impressive performances of late, Staam looks to have something about him at least in the short term. Brum have been under the radar a little bit and we've not played them so hard to judge if they are a threat or not, but they have been quietly getting some good results. Villa since Bruce has come in have been in good form, look like a tough team to beat right now. Having said all, I firmly believe we have the best squad and manager in the division, if we play to our ability for the remainder of the season then we have nothing to fear from anyone. If I was a betting man right now, I would predict Newcastle, Reading as auto. Brighton to face Villa in the playoff final with Bruce's history, Villa probably sneak it. More stats, cos I love them, if we only win our home games (15 left) and lose every one of our away days then we would finish up on 85 points, quite likely enough to win automatic, certainly enough to make the playoffs. Winning half the remaining games, is the bear minimal we will achieve, and on current form that's extremely pessimistic.

Lol that one looks a bit silly right now, has he scored for Villa yet ? How much did they pay for him ? At least he still has youth on his side

I'm not sure what goes on in Pardew's head when he has a talented wide man. Townsend has to be looking at us now thinking what the fuck have I done. Where's the arrested development Michael gif ?

Obviously that's just the TV money, corporate, sponsorship etc will have been effected too. Having said that we will have saved a lot of money too, on salary of the dead wood we were able to purge plus of course some nice transfer fees. At the end of the day, I'm sure Ashley isn't going to go bust because of our relegation but surely this time he understands it does have a negative impact and only by employing a manager of Rafa's ability will allow us never again to be in this situation.

He's only played 13 games for the 13 goals ? That's just insane !

That's the strangest post I've read in a long while, why would we sell him unless someone came in with a 30 million bid or something and no one is going to do that ?

I would take him back in a heartbeat, but we would have the same issue as he has right now, we've got a Ritchie playing in the same position. What we really need is someone who actually wants to play on the left, Atsu and Aarons (if he can get and stay fit) are ideal.

I don't mind Rob Green when we are playing against him. Throughout his career the mental mistakes keep occurring, you would think at his age he would have grown out of them. I'm just glad he's not and has never been associated with our club.

If we didn't win another point this season we would match 22nd place Charlton from last season.Only need another 10 points to beat Rotherham's total of 49 in 21st spot. So almost guaranteed we won't get relegated again this year

Even I sm moving to a 9 now, 50 more points still needed but it would take an almighty turnaround in form for us not to go up now.

They really should have got a penalty, and Darlow's save early in the 2nd was key, made it look comfortable. No doubt though that had they gotten back into it from either of those incidents, we would have stepped it up again. Good away day once more. Thought the ref had a good game, despite the pen incident (and you can understand why he didn't give it), thought he handled the affair well, since the refs in this league have been getting a lot of stick, this guy today was excellent.

Wow that's terrible for the lad. There's real potential there, you can see it but just can't stay fit

Has this article been linked before ? http://mobile.efl.com//news/article/2016/fan-numbers-up-ticket-prices-down-in-record-breaking-efl-season-3416338.aspx Thought it was interesting, not because of the fact we were at the top (which is hardly a surprise) but the self styled "biggest club ever to be relegated from the PL" are way down in 6th spot !

Will he get a ban if found guilty ? One player we can't afford to lose, especially with a very tough game coming up.

It's interesting that Siem De Jong was seen as that number 10 player when he came here, Rafa took a look and was happy to send him out on loan. Not sure if he had much chance with Thauvin and maybe he was more of a right sided option than left. But that's 2 out of the 3 needs a lot have identified already still (I know Thauvin is as good as gone) in the squad. Personally whatever division we are playing in next season, I would like us to sign Atsu and also try to develop Aarons (including improving his fitness record). I think that's fine for the left side right now. De Jong would have to come back significantly improved from his loan spell for there to be confidence in him at the PL level, though he would do a job in the championship, should we not go up. So a number is a priority for me. Another area of need is the CM position, I like Hayden and Shelvey as a combo, and think they could do a good job at the higher level too, if Shelvey maintains his focus and Hayden continues to develop. But we need cover and someone to fill in for Shelvey when he gets injured/suspended or just needs a rest. So two CMs one more defensive and one more creative would be ideal. The LB spot too is another area I would look at. It no coincidence that the bulk of our attacking intent comes down the right with Ritchie and yedlin. We've looked solid on the left with Dummet and Gouf, but we are not creating much. Perhaps that's the way Rafa wants us set up, being creative on both sides may leave the door a little too ajar for him. Perhaps Lazaar is the answer already, but his lack of play time thus far is a little bit of a concern for me, maybe Rafa has taken a closer look and not really liked what he's seen, maybe he doesn't think he is suitable for this division and will wait till we go up. I'm not so sure we need to look to much at the attackers, Mitro and Gayle can play at the higher level and have scored goals there under some awful managers. With Rafa in charge of their development I'm confident in them to make the step up. Obviously if we don't go up, firstly I don't think Rafa will still be at the club, since it would be an almighty collapse and his pride alone may make him walk. They have already proved they are good enough at this level to get goals. Since we play with only one up front we don't need a whole bunch of strikers, Perez, Arma and Tony are waiting in the wings to fill out the squad.

It's not right to say he lost the job at Napoli. Though his second season was not as as successful as his first, the job was still his to keep and it's likely he would have stayed had Real not come in for him, though there were rumours he was looking to come back to England too. But the the choice to leave was his, not the club's. As for how he might cope in the modern Prem, that's an entirely justifiable question. I'm biased as a Liverpool fan obv, but he'll find a way. You have to remember that when he was at Liverpool that no one was better at shutting down and beating teams with better players. The whole of the 2005 CL run was based on that (and much of the 2007 run to the final too, which we should have won)- tactically snuffing out the likes of Juve and Chelsea. Interestingly, in that season he deployed a 4-1-4-1 system many times. He does cut cloth according to means. He 'stumbled' across 4-2-3-1 when he finally had the players to make it work, namely when we signed Torres, and as a way to get Gerrard involved higher up the pitch and more centrally. He never trusted Stevie as a CM, with very good reason. In fact some LFC fans argue Gerrard's best season came in 2007 (2006 maybe- the mind plays tricks) when he played on the right of midfield, scored loads of goals and was instrumental. But of course Stevie hated it and needed to be pacified, so that's how 4-2-3-1 became his favoured system. With better players we beat better teams, beat them well too, hence the 4-0v Real in 2009 and the 4-1 stuffing of Man Utd at OT. Incidentally that last match was another classic example of Rafa's ability to develop tactically. He basically showed the blueprint of how to beat Fergie's Utd. Other teams copied what we did and for a few matches they wobbled. We should have won the league that year but f***ing Macheda and Howard Webb gave them a couple of wins and they went and won every game (as did we) until the end of the season. Rafa will find a way, is what I'm saying. It might not be instantaneous, and it might always be pretty. But given time and resources, good results will come and it will end up being pretty enough. Appreciate the insight man, thanks for posting this.

Haha, that's a crazy stat, it's just turned November