merlin

Warnock - head of the 'Know-nowt-about-it' dept....he could cause a row in an empty house.Pity he is not in the market for Shola, we might have got some much-needed dosh for him.

The result at Wigan is HALF the New Year job done ; West Ham now looms and at least a point is required from them, preferably 3. Those crowing about '10th place' should get real - Dave is spot on with his comments. A few bad results combined with good ones for opposing sides can put you right back in trouble again - I would have thought that a few years watching football would have taught people that.Before the 3 points for a win came in, it was possible to regard mid-table as pretty safe ; not any more.....NUFC need to keep picking up points and Blackpool's results have illustrated that no team is a cert for relegation because they are not a 'Big Club'. Deserved win at Wigan - Barton ran the M/F, Harper was a far more reassuring presence in goal than Krul who always looks as if he is on hot bricks. Harps hardly had a save to make, but did make one really good one early in the game. Coloccini was excellent at the back, he is far better against less physical forwards than big bustling ones. Simpson has improved far more than anyone expected and Jonas never stopped taking the game to them, esp late in the game when they were leaving gaps. Our desperate need for striking power was evident in this game - it should have been out of sight by midway through second half but poor control/lack of pace in the middle of the forward line meant we hardly looked like getting a second until Taylor rattled the bar with a header - the only other near miss came courtesy of Coloccini's great header in the first half...note that both efforts from defenders..... Shola got the goal from a rebound - there wasn't much else to say about his play that hasn't been said already.Enough said.....Tiote did his usual mammoth stint and if we stay up much of this will have been down to his work breaking up opposition attacks in M/F. A win against the Hammers and the club has some breathing space until if and when some new faces appear....hopefully.

Wouldn't mind Charlie Adam at all. On a different note, GM could you change your avatar it's really offensive to my delicate eyes :-[ Adam is a good shout - probably available in Summer but doubt Blackpool would sell until they are def safe. Adam would probably do for our m/f what Tommy Craig did in 75-76. Great left peg.

ALL previous boards have sold our best players - even KK under SJH sold Andy Cole, admittedly so he could sign Ferdinand later but Man U wanted Cole amd away he went. We did OK after he went, but we finished lower than in the previous season. Then you have Gazza, Beardsley, Waddle, Supermac, Pop Robson etc etc...some of these players wanted to go, but only because they couldn't see the club winning honours - has that changed now ? If the right offer comes in, Carroll will be off although I would still be surprised if it was before the summer. cole left midseason. I am well aware of that - are you saying that because he went in Jan 95 it didn't affect out final placing in May ? Otherwise, i don't see the point you are making. The issue under discussion was whether NUFC have sold their best players or not and the answer to that has been, apart from a few years in the mid 90s, an unequivocal YES ; even Fergie mentioned it in his book when he talked about the Cole transfer - his words were that 'Newcastle have never been able to keep their best players'. It riled me at the time, but he was right and has been ever since.

Hard to believe Rooney is only 25 - looks(and now plays)as if he were 10 years older. If he doesn't pick up his form soon, and that means general play rather than just goals, he WILL be on a major decline. Not convinced we have heard the last of his personal/marriage issues yet either. Right now, I wouldn't put a tenner on him being the player he was a year or so ago - odds are on him ending up as the new Gazza rather than the new Shearer. Will lose his England place to Carroll within 2 years if he doesn't get his act together. Living testimony to overpaid and under-intelligent footballers.... if Bentley would benefit by a move away from London, Rooney would doubly-benefit by a move away from England - IF he has the intelligence to make the most of it.

This post is just... wrong on so many levels. Well the bit about Bentley emulating Routledge's career is bilge for a start, yeah. Both around same age(Bentley actually older) ; both wingers who have been allowed to move on to other clubs after 3 spells with Prem sides ; both regarded as great talents when young ; both have been at Spurs ; both look like ending up at NUFC....enough there ?

This post is just... wrong on so many levels. We'll see....IF he signs.

This - less than 4 points is a problem as it will spur of the sides we are playing and others genuinely in fear of relegation. If we lose both games, we are well and truly in the relegation scrap proper.

WBA desperately unlucky against Man U - they look a far better team than we do and if they had Carroll I reckon they'd finish mid-table without a problem. Even Fergie had to admit Man U had to battle to get a result and the missed penalty was probably the turning point of the game. You have to give credit to Di Matteo - he has made some shrewd signings and got them playing good controlled football. They might still go down, but with more money spent in Jan they would not be a relegation side in my view.

ALL previous boards have sold our best players - even KK under SJH sold Andy Cole, admittedly so he could sign Ferdinand later but Man U wanted Cole amd away he went. We did OK after he went, but we finished lower than in the previous season. Then you have Gazza, Beardsley, Waddle, Supermac, Pop Robson etc etc...some of these players wanted to go, but only because they couldn't see the club winning honours - has that changed now ? If the right offer comes in, Carroll will be off although I would still be surprised if it was before the summer.

In many ways, Bentley is a typical Newcastle player - not consistent, will probably love the quayside etc, and has had a number of Prem clubs who basically think he is surplus to requirements. Capable of producing a great cross or free kick but lacks genuine pace(in my view, a must for a proper winger in the PL). Probably more end product than Jonas and Routledge(whose career he has emulated to an eerie degree), but does not have the pace that SWP has. Phillips is better at beating full-backs on the outside, Bentley is a better crosser of the ball and better at dead balls. Overall, I agree with kingdawson(and he has seen more of the player than any Newcastle fan) - given the choice I would take Phillips but that is unlikely for several reasons.Bentley is also younger. Would be disappointed id the club paid more than 5m for him and I am surprised that they are prepared to match his wages - nevertheless, an improvement on what we have and may give Carroll some decent crosses - as long as Carroll is still there to aim for...!! If this boy is a makeweight in any deal for Carroll, I would not be at all happy ; we shouldn't be selling Carroll yet anyway, but if the club were determined to sell him to Spurs, the only player I would want as part of the deal would be Pavyluchenko...for obvious reasons and that is never going to happen.

Until I see Forster in action in PL games, I am not even convinced that Krul is the default No 2 Keeper, never mind first choice. He has made a few decent saves, but he has also had some very lucky escapes where goals could easily have been conceded due to his poor command of the area. He has no right to be considered first choice until he comes out on top in direct competition to BOTH Harper and Forster - and we won't know that until next season at least.

This - absolutely. Do we REALLY need another thread about Shola ? Proved himself a CCC striker(and no better) a long time ago. Odd flash of brilliance interspersed with long periods of shambolic mediocrity. If NUFC are relying on Shola and Ranger for goals over the next month, my Relegationometer rating will jump from 7.5 to 8.5.....

Yes, the rest of the PL will be trembling in their boots.....

The news about Carroll is the worst possible start to 2011 ; hope it isn't a serious or long term injury or things are going to get very sticky indeed. Just shows the folly of Ashley's policy re ; transfers in our first season back in the PL - this could cost him almost as dearly as his 'brilliant' punt on B&B during the Financial crisis.

Careful - you'll get accused of being 'negative' next.........! Reality is something many find difficult to face...

There is nothing positive about being in the club's position - as Big Geordie said, one win in 8 games...are you positive about that ? Also, it WILL be a long wait before the club can compete with Spurs...is THAT positive ? Was I wrong about many other clubs being in a similar position of requiring at least 3 players to be a decent side and that some of them will spend where NUFC won't....right or wrong ? The club has a first 11 that are OK - results over a season depend on more than just 11 decent players. Let's see if its still as funny after we play W.Ham and Wigan...and if Carroll is injured......

Woah.. I did agree with all of that however we are a long, long way from being top 5 side. This is still, for the most part, the team that had got us relegated after all. No this isn't the same team that got us relagated,the attitude has changed,they play as a team and for the shirt,more than could be said for Duff,Martins and Owen. But we are still 2-3 players away from being a top 5 side. So are the likes of Villa, Blackburn, Birmingham - even, dare we say it, our nearest and dearest neighbours....are we going to spend the money on those 3 players(and that's the MINIMUM we need, by the way), and will they come to SJP even if Ashley has a brainstorm and stumps up the cash...

You'll have a long wait........

They're playing Man U tbf. Yes, and look at the result....

Exactly, BG - a win in the next game is vital or problems will really start...

As I've said before, Carroll will go if he maintains his improvement - unless NUFC are taken over by a meg-rich owner, Carroll will NOT win honours at SJP OR receive the kind of wages he will command at the Top clubs so the player himself will want to go. However, I will be surprised if this happens before the summer although you can never rule anything on or out with Ashley in charge. It will be a major disappointment if he is sold for less than 30m frankly - there are very few players like him, esp with all their careers in front of them.

If he does it in this transfer window, relegation will be almost a certainty - nobody else will get goals and I cannot see Ashley allowing much of the fee to be spent.

How many errors has Krul got away with this season ? And how many times has Forster saved his respective teams during the past year or so ? I don't think Norwich fans - as one example - would agree with your view...incidentally, how many times have YOU seen Forster play ? That's why we need to assess him in the PL . I am unconvinced by Krul this season and hope Harper is soon back in goal.

Midds summary of the game was a good one, and I can add little to that. Main point is that the error by Krul is, for me, a culmination of some uncertain performances by him - I am not convinced that he is the worthy successor to Given/Harper that many think. I believe that Forster should be given a run of games once he returns from Celtic and I certainly wouldn't sell him before Krul without having a good look at him in the PL first. Tiote's was a bad mistake, but the guy has been very consistent before this, so we cannot blame him too much ; as Midds says, the team are not good enough to recover from a 2-0 deficit against a team like City. let alone Manu U etc. Although it was a much improved effort by Routledge I am still not convinced that he will do it regularly enough to warrant his place ; the lad has talent, but there is some sort of mental block which prevents him producing it at the top level consistently. There are too many players who have not(and will not)bridged the gap between CCC and PL. so where we go from here is anyone's guess. Carroll has been a huge bonus this season and his development will almost certainly result in his leaving the club unless some team-building - CREDIBLE team-building - takes place. If Carroll did leave, relegation would be a certainty unless all his fee were spent on rebuilding the side, so we must hope it doesn't happen this transfer window. As for protesting against Ashley, there seems little that can be done unless some multi-billionaire challenges him for the club. It is quite obvious that many fans will never boycott, so the club is probably in for a fairly long period of struggle. A tough game at Spurs offers little chance of an early boost and W Ham showed signs of recovery against Fulham so a win against them will be crucial. Nobody should get complacent - there are many twists and turns left in this season.......