merlin

Not good enough - needed a point as a minimum from this game and only briefly looked like getting anything for a spell in the first half ; once their strikers started getting at our defence there was only going to be one winner..... The clock is ticking and speeding up...be in the bottom 3 at the end of Feb and it will take a miracle to survive.

I share this view...money wasted from early impressions of him. We needed a decent winger and Phillips should have been the target when Levy started messing about with silly fees for Townsend.

Usual guff from McClaren.....harping on about commitment and attitude blah, blah, all with that stupid, vacant grin on his face - probably because he knows he is fireproof. Going nowhere with this guy and will be VERY fortunate to stay up under his management.

Have not changed my mind OR my rating - I said I would review it at the end of the window, and if we haven't signed a proven striker by then, my vote will be a further negative.

A decent striker is a MUST....messing about with a big fee for Townsend is a waste of money when we could be using it to get someone who can hit the net regularly....even a decent bid for Remy would be more productive in terms of keeping us up because we KNOW he can score goals and we need that more than anything else ; Townsend may or may not provide a better wing supply of crosses but its all wasted if they aren't converted and Remy is a much quicker forward than Mitrovic....don't think Berahino is really interested, or that WBA really want to sell him to us - can you imagine the stick they would get if they accepted a bid and then he scored the winner against them at SJP in the next home game...?

A draw is the bare minimum needed if the club are to start making a realistic attempt to escape the relegation zone, and it is hard to avoid saying that the same is needed at Everton although that is a much tougher ask. If these results are obtained a win against WBA would go a long way to putting pressure on the other relegation candidates because the psychological effect is as important as the points - lose at Watford and the pressure is well and truly back on the club again.

Probably Mickey Burns in season 75-76 when we got to Wembley in the LC and reached the FAC quarters. He played behind Gowling and Macdonald and got around 15 goals I think. He was directly responsible for us getting past Bolton in the FAC after 2 hard-fought draws, one at Burnden Park(3-3 with Supermac scoring twice)and 0-0 at SJP ; we had a second replay at Leeds and Burns had to do it all himself because Supermac and Gowling were out of action. He scored both goals in a 2-1 win. Burns was a smaller forward but skilful on the ball and quick to get a shot in - Berahino seems to be that type of player.

Beginning to wonder about this one...its starting to drag on, never a good sign and reminds me a bit of the Remy deal which was hijacked by QPR. Also, the fact that the club have worked out a special training schedule for him indicates a lack of fitness and we need players to hit the ground running in the next 3 games...no room for passengers.

He has been a very good CB, excellent when he really feels like he's up for a game, but he's past his best now. His pace, never a strong point, has deteriorated and he now relies on his reading of a game which admittedly is good but we need a long-term quality CB to partner Mbemba. Shelvey's arrival will take some pressure off him as he provides a good outlet in front of the back 4, but it cannot be a long term solution...or even a medium term one. Top managers always know when to replace top players - Shankly was ruthless that way and so was Clough.

Said I would review my vote at the end of the transfer window and I stick by that although there ARE signs of improvement. There is a tough battle ahead, even with the encouragement of the last 2 games and it will still be difficult to pull clear of the relegation - threatened sides. A result at Watford is essential in order to keep the pressure on the others and its all too easy to slip back into the mire with a bad result. Will review in 2 weeks...

Fully deserved win and a very good performance, esp in the first half. I have said since the start of the season that we needed a player of similar type to Cabaye, and Shelvey proved that beyond doubt - his passing was nearly always aimed to split their defence and NOT the sideways guff that has characterized our play for the last 2 years...the 2 goals were directly as a result of this and the second, with his 40 yard defence splitter to Janmaat was terrific. Mitrovic is starting to become a handful for defenders and was a bit unlucky not to score - we need a player like that as a target but he needs to start getting on the scoresheet more often ; Wijnaldum was excellent an must be a cert to fetch a top fee if we go down....getting as many goals as he has in his first PL season from m/f will is a great achievement in what has been a poor side and many top clubs will want him. Never really looked like losing, but there is an awful lot to still do in order to stay up ; we have some very difficult games and need results, esp away from home, in order to get away from the drop zone - it was never easy to escape in the past, but this year will be the hardest ever because of the financial rewards for PL places next season and ALL the clubs around the bottom third will be busting a gut to stay up. I just hope Ashley hasn't made one gamble too many this time - we shall see.

Never realized his early promise - too many off-field issues and clearly disenchanted during the past 2 years although nobody could blame him for that after seeing Cabaye and Ba depart for more ambitious clubs. Not enough goals scored for a m/f player and some silly bookings. Nevertheless, a better player during his early days than Colback will ever be.

The 'NEW' policy is all about desperation - nothing more, nothing less. Its not new either, we saw this a few years ago when there was a desperate rush - against declared policy earlier - to sign Sissoko, Gouffran etc in order to keep the club in the PL - it only JUST succeeded, with a fortunate result against QPR on the last day. This is just a repeat of that and if we had been around 12th position, it wouldn't be happening - and as yet, NO proven striker which is, in my view, now the most urgent position to fill. Compared to that, Townsend is a luxury. Ashley is DESPERATE to keep us in the PL because of the money available next season and that is the sole reason all this is happening.

When he first arrived he looked is if he was...

Wijnaldum would be the first closely followed by Perez or perhaps in reverse order ; the others depend on performances between now and the end of season. Cannot see anyone wanting Colback in the PL, Anita MAY be wanted back in Holland. Cannot see anyone apart from Wijnaldum fetching a really decent fee. Some mid-table PL sides may go for Janmaat but his defensive limitations mean the top guys may steer clear. Sissoko would go for a fee not exceeding 5m. Its anyone's guess about Mitrovic but he may be OK in the Championship.

This - we have never come close to replacing Cabaye and Shelvey won't do that either....if we had re-signed Cabaye we would not be in the position we are now, but the guy probably wouldn't have wanted to return even if we'd tried... What was the saying about a dog returning to its vomit...?

Hilarious - he is lucky to be employed by such a Mickey Mouse club, or he would have found out just how 'harsh' life is as a failed manager. Getting more like Pardew every day...

Can't compete with the likes of Crystal Palace Won't compete you mean. They'll chuck money at him and we'd only offer him what we think is reasonable, despite the fact we're in a position where we have to do whatever it takes to stay up. We 'won't compete' with ANY club that has ambition - end of.

So would I because the object is simply to avoid the drop and his goals would help enormously - he is the only forward we have had in the last 10 years who can play on the shoulder of defenders and beat them with his pace and timing to beat the O/S trap. Neither Cisse nor Ba(although he was better at it than Cisse)come close to matching Remy for this...his goal for us at Spurs, which gave us a totally undeserved win - is a good example of that. However, I think he is far more likely to go to Palace, simply because they are in London and have Cabaye playing for them.

That's not an unattractive prospect. Big teams, competitive, decent grounds, travel's not bad. Speak for yourself....there are many of us who believe the club is better than that...

You made a big mistake pointing THAT out...both Ashley and large sections of NUFC support will take the view that we should be satisfied at being among such formerly exalted company - maybe that is going to be the home for clubs whose glory days are well and truly behind them and ironically, most of the clubs shown were a success when England was an industrial powerhouse..most of the successful clubs today are in parts of the country where Finance and retail is the most successful industry(London/SE/Manchester). This reflects the UK's fall as an industrial power and its place mainly as a Finance hub....those areas are where the majority of the disposable income is and Football chiefs know that too. Many parts of the UK are now unemployment hot spots and will remain so for the foreseeable future leading to an exit of talented people which makes the problem worse.

Happy New Year to all - we hope for better things in 2016 but I reckon we'll need to wait until next year before we get rid of the main problem at the club. Hope I'm wrong and 2016 sees us on the path to a better future.

Agree with this too Me too...an excellent summary by HTT. I agree with almost all he has written, but I do think you could get away with Anita IF we had dominant m/f players around him - and we don't. I remember people thinking Geoff Nulty was a plank when Joe Harvey signed him from Burnley in the 70s, but when Gordon Lee took over, he used him as a 'fetch-and-carry' player in m/f and he got a fair few goals there too but he had Tommy Craig and Tommy Cassidy doing the clever stuff. Anita is technically decent but he lacks the physique to be a tackling midfielder and his play isn't clever or dominant enough to act in Cabaye's role. Other than that, HTT is spot on - Wijnaldum IS a talented player but he is not, in my view, a dominating CM. He is better arriving late in the box and getting on the end of passes or in time for headers at which he has been successful. IF we still had Cabaye, we wouldn't be as far down the table as we are and Wijnaldum would have even more goals. I am still to be convinced about the forwards, esp Mitrovic ; Perez has scored vital goals, but not enough of them and won't whilst he lacks support as he is slight in build - he is wasted at NUFC and would be better in a better squad. Mitrovic lacks pace - critical weakness in a forward these days - and is always liable to be booked. Experience MAY show an improvement but time is something NUFC haven't got if they are to survive. Cisse is a waste of space, he and Tiote should have been long gone, as should Colo - the very fact he was given a new contract sums up the club's lack of ambition and ability to find quality defenders. Janmaat, great going forward and technically decent, is a poor defender and Dummett IS a Champ player - no better. We are a club with an owner who is only interested in picking up TV cash, a CEO who shouldn't(and couldn't)run a whelk stall, a Chief Scout who spends most of his time in France, probably because he knows the club will only spend limited fees on players and just needs to keep recommending people he knows the club will either not bid for, or are cheap. In my view, only Cabaye of his French recommends has been a real success. I will not mention the mana - I mean, the Coach - because we all know about him..The remainder of the Board are former players who wouldn't get a similar job in a really ambitious club and quite happy to pick up their Danegeld whilst alienating their former fans by sucking up to an owner who despises them. Our Junior sides are NOT bringing through any local talent which is in any case, a diminishing resource. As you can see, we are in fine shape and know where we are going....the Championship, and this time any players wanted by other clubs - namely Wijnaldum - will be off and it will be a long haul to get back to the PL...if ever.

Very, very sad news for all who saw him play for us and knew how he loved the club, the city and the NE - far too soon for him to go and it makes old timers like me very grateful that we have been around comparatively for much longer. None of us know how much time we will have, but at 47 you should be looking at another 30-40 years....great guy and will be fondly remembered by all of us....part of a much loved era at the club and will always be associated with some great times under KK which are unlikely to return any time soon, if at all. RIP Pav - you will always be a Geordie !

Any 'manager' employed by Spor - I mean, NUFC - must toe the Party line, i.e.manage the expectations of the mu- I mean, fans, downwards. That is the ONLY way he will survive as any words out of line with Ashley's policies will result in him disappearing pronto, a la Hughton...and we were mid-table when he was fired. McClaren was heading for the managerial scrap heap when he was 'rescued' by Ashley's stooge, Charnley, who knows as much about football as I do about being an astronaut - and there is NO way I'd ever get into a space capsule, but McClaren is not going to turn down a last pay day before he fades from the scene for good and so he will hang on until either Ashley sells and the new owners fire him(not happening for a few years yet)or he fails in the Championship to and is fired then. We all know that no manager worth a light will work under Ashley's terms so suck it up....Pardew toed the line to keep his loot coming in until Palace - his former club - took the chance and only another season or so will show whether their gamble has paid off in the medium term and that is the type of manager who would take the job, or perhaps a young guy seeking a springboard to better things....much the same as is Ashley's buying policy with players.