merlin

Aye, if he walks it wont be now, he will see us back to the premier league then go if he does go, and sadly I can see it happening thanks to Ashley, I pray to god I'm wrong. This - don't think he'll walk until the end of the season but almost certainly will then unless he gets massive support in the summer window. Plenty of good clubs would grab him.....

Still extremely surprised at how many people were so quick to dismiss that story in the Mirror, even after everything that's happened under Ashley's tenure. Agree Dave....but not me - or you by the tone of your comment !

This - highly likely now, esp as P45Due is now available.... "Highly likely" You won't be LOL if Benitez walks at the end of the season.....you'll learn... Get yourself down to the bookies and enquire what price they'll give you on Rafa being manager at the start of next season and what price they'll give you on Pardew being manager. Then come back and tell us so we can discuss which one is "highly likely"..... ..and what odds would the bookies have given for JokeKinnear getting the manager's job for a second time..?? If you think the bookies can predict what Ashley would do in any situation, you are a lot more trusting of them than I am...these are the people who predicted that the UK would not vote for Brexit or the US elect Trump.. Incidentally, I am interested in what odds the bookies would give you on Rafa NOT being manager next season without including Pardew as his replacement..have you checked that one out yet..!??

This - highly likely now, esp as P45Due is now available.... "Highly likely" You won't be LOL if Benitez walks at the end of the season.....you'll learn...

Who does have the best squad in the Championship then? The side that wins it...and regardless of what anyone thinks a strong squad would not lose 3-0 at a Div 1 side. If NUFC have the strongest squad there must be some strong squads in Div 1 then.. Why must there be "some strong squads in Div 1"? On that basis there must be some strong squads in the Championship because Wolves have just beaten Liverpool reserves. To suggest our squad is anything other than very strong in comparison to the rest of the Championship is just utter stupidity. It is 'utter stupidity' to brag about our squad when we have already lost 7 games this season...

Brighton let ME down..? Who is desperate to say Brighton, Mr Liam..? A bit childish here, I think...

Who does have the best squad in the Championship then? The side that wins it...and regardless of what anyone thinks a strong squad would not lose 3-0 at a Div 1 side. If NUFC have the strongest squad there must be some strong squads in Div 1 then..

This - highly likely now, esp as P45Due is now available....

Well, its wake-up time for all those complacent enough to keep saying we have the best squad in the Champ....RUBBISH. If we did we could have handled this game better than a 3-0 defeat. I have been a Newcastle supporter long enough to know that since the 50s we have done NOWT in the domestic Cup competitions and we oldies have a well-worn but famous joke that a tea-bag is in the cup longer than Newcastle.. Although I am not losing any sleep over going out of the cup this season(because I don't want anything to put promotion in jeopardy and unlike many on here I do NOT think we are the world-beaters of the Championship so getting to the PL has to be a priority), I still think that this result is a disgrace and an insult to those who bothered travelling to Oxford. Losing narrowly after a well-fought game with a lower league side is fine and always possible...losing 3-0 after a bad performance is certainly not. I have not seen the game so will not comment on individual players but the comments by most fans and the result speak for themselves..... If anyone wanted to see how important the game with QPR now is, they should look at the fact that Reading(one of the sides everyone thinks will fall away)managed another win yesterday - every game is now a game where we need to keep winning or at least, not losing - we shall see soon just how much guts - and ability - this squad has...and the worry is that maybe all is not well behind the scenes, which would just about kill many fans' interest if it materialises.

So because Wolves etc beat us at SJP, does that mean they are certainties to beat us when we play them at home..? Not at all, everyone knows that a new game is a new game ; Leeds have improved since we played them, they have a manager who is relatively new to them and they appear to be responding to him...just as NUFC did when Rafa took over but it took a few weeks to get going. And just what is our 'worst'.? Losing at home to Blackburn or winning against the odds at Preston ? Too much viewing things through B&W specs and not enough cool thinking - if we lose to Brighton and Reading the bookies will soon change their tune so people have to remain practical - my view is that we are NOT certainties for automatic promotion IF we get injuries to key players and haven't signed anyone to cover. If Brighton suddenly lose Dunk, Knockaert and Murray to injuries/suspensions, do you think that they will also struggle to stay in the automatic promotion spots? Quite possibly, but again, this is down to an 'if'...we have to live with realities and much as many would like Brighton to suffer some key player suspensions/injuries, they haven't so far...and we have. Don't forget, whilst injuries are largely unavoidable, suspensions CAN be avoided - especially ones caused by opening your mouth carelessly when opposition players/officials are listening..! We are supposed to have the best squad in the league to cope with these things but it hasn't always been the case. We have had a bad spell in December and some other sides have not - it remains to be seen whether they will as the season goes on but results are what get you where you want to be and we have to keep on getting them if we want to be certain of automatic promotion.

Let's hope it works out that way...and not them finally catching up to us because we've seen it all happen before..!

So because Wolves etc beat us at SJP, does that mean they are certainties to beat us when we play them at home..? Not at all, everyone knows that a new game is a new game ; Leeds have improved since we played them, they have a manager who is relatively new to them and they appear to be responding to him...just as NUFC did when Rafa took over but it took a few weeks to get going. And just what is our 'worst'.? Losing at home to Blackburn or winning against the odds at Preston ? Too much viewing things through B&W specs and not enough cool thinking - if we lose to Brighton and Reading the bookies will soon change their tune so people have to remain practical - my view is that we are NOT certainties for automatic promotion IF we get injuries to key players and haven't signed anyone to cover.

Would be very disappointed if Darlow was sold - only 26, still young for a keeper and has made some brilliant saves this season. We would have lost 0-4 to Sheff Weds had Darlow not saved our bacon. Krul has deteriorated significantly over the past few years and I would sell him before Darlow.

Nnnnah now that we've opened up such a gap I don't think so. They won't beat us at SJP. Reading are probably the biggest threat but for them to have a hope they need to beat us at their place and capitalize on any mishaps we have like Brighton away potentially. I can't see anyone going on a long enough steak to catch us, I hope not away. Plus we'd need a steak of 4 or 5 games without a win for them to catch us too and surely we're not bad enough to let that happen. We'll see. 'they won't beat us at SJP'....did you say this about Wolves..? Or Huddersfield..? Or Sheff Weds..? Or Blackburn..? etc etc.. Would you put all of next year's earnings on Leeds not beating us at SJP...?

Glad to have made your day....we aim to please..!

A) Were a Championship club, who are you expecting us to sign? Townsend is probably the best we can hope for in terms of quality. B) You missed the part that were currently 9 points clear with a vastly superior goal difference towards the end of January? Chill. Have you been watching our games since December..?? And where did I complain about Townsend as a signing ??

It has EVERYTHING to do with it...it highlights just how a club with our massive potential and proven huge support has been so badly run that little clubs from Wales - a rugby stronghold - can hold us to ransom over bit-part players. You have accepted Ashley's propaganda that we have no right to be a big club - except that our ground, crowds and history prove him wrong. The only part I agree with is that there is no AUTOMATIC right to be a big club, you have to run things properly and that is the ONLY reason Swansea are in the PL and we are down among the dead men... Unless you are under 30, you have a short memory of what we were like 20 years ago...we had 20,000 on a waiting list for STs..

Based on what. We've been in the top 2 since about September, we're 9 points clear of 3rd we have players coming back from injury very soon and by the start of next month we'll have 3 players returning from the African cup of nations. I really do wonder what some of our supporters have been watching this season. Are you seriously trying to say that the side has looked convincing without Shelvey...? If so, its you who must have been watching something different to most of us. Just because we are second in the table - on the back of an unbeaten run which happened earlier in the season - in NO way means we are guaranteed to stay there - especially if we lose players like Shelvey or Gayle. Yes, we beat a Rotherham side without Gayle but they are certainties for relegation and we struggled for the first 45 minutes to create any meaningful chances and could have gone in a goal behind. Ever since Shelvey has been out of the side(and sometimes even with him in it)we have struggled and lost more games than most promotion sides ever do. Brighton show no signs of falling away and neither do Reading...both won earlier this week and teams like Leeds are going to keep plugging away because they know if we falter they have a chance. Until we start playing convincing, winning football at SJP - and against better teams than Rotherham - I will retain my opinion that the jury would be out on automatic promotion if we fail to strengthen the positions we need to and lose vital players.

It shows how completely Ashley & Co have lowered expectations among NUFC fans when a player who has not even been a SWANSEA regular(a team that were always in the lower leagues when I was younger)is exciting so much response and interest... I would be quite happy if NO signings were made in this window provided I was fairly confident that we could get promoted WITHOUT the need for the Play-offs with the current squad...I am NOT especially sure the squad can do this ; they will probably face a back-log of fixtures and a deficit to make up on other Champ sides after the Cup game..esp if it goes to a replay... Let us hope they have something concrete to work on by the time Feb 1 rolls around because any injury to Shelvey would knock us right off course.

If I was a betting man I would have a bit of that....still very likely at this point because we are not convincing despite yesterday's scoreline. Difficult games coming up and a couple of decent signings would make it less likely...

He doesn't make many mistakes but the one today could have been catastrophic had they scored because we would have then been facing another Bus Parked battle at which we are notably poor. Recovered well though and I still rate him our best keeper.

We were poor defensively and the attack stuttered until we got in front...Murphy has been well worth signing because he has made an impact with his presence when he has been in the side ; holds the ball up well and some if his headed flicks are very good. The best thing about this game is the 3 points plus the improvement to our goal-diff which could well become vital at the end of the season. Brighton have been far better at winning games after being behind but they don't often score many goals. We need an injection of more pace and a more effective No 10 although Perez took his goal well. As long as we get results all is well...I am happy with that(the end justifies the means)but we are not great to watch.

Exactly - compare that with our one effort against Norwich. Which side looks more likely to be Champions/promoted ? If we lose today, I'm dropping from 7.5 to 6.5...can anyone see us winning if its goal-less and Rotherham score in the 85th min..? Time for the players to get their collective digits out of their posteriors..

If we lose this we honestly don't deserve to be promoted...a home game against a really struggling side. Lose this and it really WILL be a wake-up call to al involved with the club...esp the players. They should be bl--dy well ashamed of themselves if they lose ANOTHER home game..esp to this team and quite a few players need to be playing elsewhere if they mess this up.

The club gambled quite heavily(by its standards)in 1979/80 in an effort to gain promotion...we brought Hibbitt back(he was still only 30)and had signed Peter Withe from Notts Forest among others...we failed to make it, falling away at the end of the season. This heralded a period of utter mediocrity until Arthur Cox came in on 1981 but we still failed to get promotion until 1984 in KKs second season as a player with us - we had signed Beardsley(1983) and Waddle(1980) but it still took KK and Terry Mac returning to get us out of the Second tier. If we fail to go up this time, there is every chance that this scenario could be repeated because we will start losing our best players. I hope everyone at the club realises this but I won't hold my breath....