KaKa

I think 4-4-2 with just Owen and Xisco would have put a bit too much pressure on Xisco. I prefer it the way it is. Shola can do the dirty work as the target man and Xisco can have a bit more freedom, with Owen sneaking in from deep. I'm feeling quite confident.

Bassong at LB, N'Zogbia LM 4-4-2, no Ameobi? I think that would have put a bit too much pressure on Xisco. I prefer it the way it is. Shola can do the dirty work as the target man and Xisco can have a bit more freedom, with Owen sneaking in from deep. I'm feeling quite confident.

I love the team picked. Nicew job by Houghton. Shola is less of a liability as a front three. I think if he struggles it won't hurt us as much. Owen will be his most dangerous in that deep role, and Xisco can just utilize his pace and power to his best effect. The only change I would have made was maybe Bassong alongside Colo and Taylor at right back.

Remember the guy that tore up his platinum ticket!

This is pretty embarrassing, but it's the only thing that can return everyone's sanity, as people have been unbearable over this whole thing. How schizo is Keegan for goodness sake. If this is about him returning then whatever happened couldn't have been that bad surely. Goodness me.

It's like when you and your girl have a big fight and she stays at a friends house for a few days then you talk it over and everything's back the way it was. Oh and the make-up sex is fantastic. How crazy is this club? It couldn't happen surely.

Tomorrow will be very interesting. I think there will be an effort made to communicate with the fans tomorrow. We'll also just have to keep an eye out for Zico, Terim or Deschamps etc in the stands.

Embarrassing.

I'm not that convinced by Deschamps for some reason. Other than the fact he's French, what makes him the outstanding candidate? Hardly like he's had a long, successful career, he's fairly green just like the other two. How long was his spell in English football? He has managed two top clubs in Monaco and Juventus tbf. Champions league final too. Not a whole lot to go on, but it's still more experience than Poyet and Ince.

Deschamps not approached? Oh for goodness sake! Well at least that likely means Oliver's article is a bunch of crap, which is likely a good thing.

Well at least the three people in contention are people that are well known by the rest of our team. I think this is going to prove to be vitally important, as we cannot afford another breakdown like we have just had. Not only is Didier Deschamps the most highly qualified, and most experienced, he is also free and available, and showed interest last time around. Let's try and do the right thing here. No matter what though, I'm backing whoever is brought in regardless. I'm willing to give the manager a chance to at least prove himself no matter who it is.

Thanks for pointing that out. It seems people just prefer to convince themselves otherwise.

What the hell are you on about? I assume you CAN read, son ? The sentence is quite clear, as is the meaning ; Owen has received massive stick on this board because he has been injured playing for his country; can you manage to see the connection now, or do you need it spelling out in BIG letters...? So what the hell were YOU on about ? How stupid are you mate? Owen got stick because when he first joined all he ever harped on about was England, and whenever he was injured it only ever seemed like he got fit just in time to play for England and not necessarily Newcastle. Of course he would only then get injured again playing for England and then miss a ton of games for Newcastle. This continued to happen abd so he got stick for it. Now smarty pants ... you tell me how in the hell this compares to Jonas situation? Jonas has played brilliantly for us since he joined and has not only been our best player this season, but also our most committed. So again I ask. What the hell are you on about?

Right. So basically, it's looking like after selling Milner, we probably weren't able to tie up the deal for whoever his replacement was, probably Shweinstiger, and so we brought in Gonzalez on loan. As far as the left back thing goes. It appears the club weren't able to get Warnock in, and so it was probably the same thing there, with us trying for Atouba as an alternative, which Keegan probably wasn't happy with either. Who knows? If this is what has caused Keegan to resign then it's disgusting. I wouldn't be at all surprised tbh.

Right. So basically, it's looking like after selling Milner, we probably weren't able to tie up the deal for whoever his replacement was, probably Shweinstiger, and so we brought in Gonzalez on loan. As far as the left back thing goes. It appears the club weren't able to get Warnock in, and so it was probably the same thing there, with us trying for Atouba as an alternative, which Keegan probably wasn't happy with either. Who knows? If this is what has caused Keegan to resign then it's disgusting. I wouldn't be at all surprised tbh.

He showed interest last time around and no matter what anyone says we would be an attractive job for most managers. As far as the French jod goes, there are already whispers that Blanc would be considered, and he is interested. Now considering how well Blanc has done with Bordeaux, and considering Deschamps has been out of work for a little bit, Blanc is more likely to get the gig.

In all honesty we should try and tie up Didier before Domenech loses another game. Wise should be familiar enough with him, but at the same time he is a legitimate up and coming young manager.

I will say this for Ince. His MK Dons side played beaautiful football last year, and had success with this type of football in the lower leagues. In my opinion, when Ince was hired by Blackburn, I thought his biggest problem would not be what he does on the training ground, but rather what he did off it i.e. buying players, contracts etc. With our current setup this wouldn't be an issue, so it could be very interesting. I'm ready to back whoever comes in to be honest. Just looking forward to moving forward. I think we'll be just fine. I think it would also be good to see a young, up and coming British manager at the club also. He also has a strong enough character to get through these tough times. He will certainly have the players attention from day one too, as they will all be familiar with him. I'm forever optimistic.

Walcott was good last night, but I still think it's pretty shocking he gets in the team on the wing ahead of Ashley Young. Young has the pace, with a bit more guile about him. Young on the left and Walcott on the right would be interesting.

Back the sword! Crack the horde! Hack the cord! Smack the Nord! Jack the Ford! Praise the Lord!

I recall after Fat Sam was fired, and the board were looking for a manager, before Keegan made his interest known, there was quite an emphasis on experience being made. I know they came out and said they would not be looking to hire Shearer at the moment due to his inexperience. Therefore, I'm not sure the rumours of Poyet and Ince are true. It might very well be an experienced guy who has managed in the premiership before. Do we still have the thread speculating on who our next manager might be after Allardyce was sacked? Can't seem to locate it.

That's completely true, but what you can address (and therefore worth discussing) are economic and social factors like the ones we've mentioned - not genetics. Precisely.

Keep Beckham and Gerrard out and the team will be so much better for it. No one was playing those stupid crossfield long balls last night, veven with Heskey up there to aim for. It was patient passing and the ball was kept on the ground. Lampard and Barry especially set the tone for this type of game. You watch what happens as soon as Gerrard is re-introduced though. he'll start launching those ridiculous passes which are only succesful 1 out of 10 times. Always wants to do the more complicated thing Gerrard does. Always wants to be some sort of super hero.

It's not like they told the guy to kill anyone. Jimenex, Wise etc - "Kev, we don't really want to buy the sorts your after because they've been around for a while and they are a bit pricey, and so don't offer great value for money. We can get you some really good youngsters that can put in a decent performance right now, and still only get better. what do you say eh? Kev - "Hmmmm ... okay. The other players have done well so far, so I'll give it a go. However, if they struggle badly and things don't go so well on the pitch, then I will be asking for some prem experienced players to come in, okay? If you still don't want that, then I'd prefer you brought someone else in to manage" Jimenez, Wise etc - "Okay Kev, fair enough" That's what should have happened really. In actual fact though, Kev most likely went into a sulk and started threatening to quit.

This is my biggest issue with Keegan. The season had started very well, and the new boys who were brought in were all performing. Okay, so things weren't perfect, but he couldn't at least give it a chance till the summer, or even till January? He quit 3 games in? For someone who cares so much for the fans he sure did bail out mighty fast.