merlin

Much as I was pleased by Shola's performance last night, there is no denying that he is 28 and Carroll is 21. Shola has had 10 years to establish himself as a worthy replacement for the likes of Shearer and there is no denying that, for whatever reason, he's failed. Yes, he DOES get goals that Carroll wouldn't, but over 90 minutes over 38 games, Carroll will cause more trouble for opposition defences than Shola. Carroll needs a quick mobile partner to get the best out of him, whereas I don't think that it would make any difference to Shola's contribution to the side whether he had Pele or Messi alongside him ; he would still get the goals he was going to get because he is that sort of player - more an individual than a team player. To be fair, he has had more than his share of injuries but that is the way it has gone and his languid style will often result in his being dispossessed by quick PL defenders. He WOULD be a good CCC striker if he stayed fit and he WILL be an asset when he is brought into the side in the PL from time to time, which is why Hughton made the point that he still had a role to play. I like players who give you 100% effort as well as having talent, even if their skill level is not quite up to the top level because only the top sides can afford players with both and we need to stay in the PL so we need physical power and effort as well as skill. Players like HBA are the icing on the cake whereas players like Tiote will do the donkey work that enables the HBAs to play. Shola did a great job last night and maybe cup-fighting is his thing....

Every so often, there is a game which, for several reasons, sticks in the memories of both clubs' fans ; this was one of those and in some ways a bit like the Newcastle-Man City game at SJP in 1968 which finished with the same scoreline. This match had almost everything and was unbelievable entertainment - even the Chelsea fans must have taken something out of it having seen their team come back to 3-3 with 10 men, but the performance of the mostly reserve Newcastle team was excellent. Ferguson had a brilliant game at LB and if this is anything to go by, he has a great future in the game. Wasn't overawed by anything and created a great equalizer for Ranger who also played well. Campbell and Coloccini were generally good at the back once they sorted themselves out and it took two good efforts from Anelka to keep Chelsea in it. What can you say about Ameobi !? It must be a nightmare for defenders because 9 times out of 10 they know that they'll have him in their pocket, but on the 10th time....Oh Boy..! He was obviously up for this match and both of his goals were superb - he should have had another before the XT header as well...Lovenkrands should also have scored. Overall, a fully deserved victory made sweeter by the fact that although they played their second outfit too, we looked the better side until late in the game and most of their players cost much more than ours.. Impressed by McEachran though, looks a great talent and Anelka is still really dangerous...we could really do with him playing off Carroll..! Hughton made the right choices on the night - lets be honest, most of us would have taken a 4-3 DEFEAT in this match as a positive given the side we put out.. Well done - keep it going on Sunday.

I think Gordon Lee was interested in Hansen but either the board wouldn't come up with the dosh or Lee was poached by Everton before the deal went ahead....

Jonas' biggest plus is his ability to run with the ball and his work up and down the flanks which helps out the full back(usually Enrique). He has always been poor at putting in a DECENT cross or final ball and as for goals.... Good to have in the side mainly at home when there is a need to take some pressure off the midfield and defence, but I can see his appearances being restricted if Ben Arfa and Routledge keep their form. Routledge runs into blind alleys but his play is more varied than Jonas' because he will also come inside whereas Jonas sticks to the flank.

We need another GOOD striker as a priority ; if we lose Carroll(which is almost inevitable given his style of play)for any length of time we are stuffed - we will carry little threat up front and all the hard work of what is becoming a good MF will be wasted. Getting what we need is a major problem though - all clubs struggle to get good front men and it will be the supreme test of Hughton's(and the scouts) judgment to find what we need at an affordable price.

With the MF we had on Saturday, we are going to get lots of possession against all but the best teams. The big problem is that we will struggle to turn this into goals because Carroll is not getting supported quickly enough. If a system can be worked out where Ben Arfa and the likes of Barton and Tiote play closer to Carroll in home games, we might get enough to get 8 points from the 5 matches mentioned. I can see us losing games by 1-0/2-1 margins when we have given at least as good as we've got..

Both Turin and Milan have excellent shops and a relatively prosperous population compared to Southern Italy. In any case, not too many of their players want to come to England, do they..!?

This - all the beat teams defend from the front(note how Andy Carroll came back to tackle/help out when we were under pressure late in the game at Everton).

Biggest successes have been Zola and Di Canio(who seemed almost made for the madhouse that English football can be!). Both deservedly highly rated. Vialli was also very good,Ravanelli too but not here long. Little reason for then to play here, esp now - 50% Tax now limits PL earnings and most of the best ones now play for the top clubs in Milan or Turin ; both fashionable cities with better climate.

...as for Given, the only way I would want him back is if we were really struggling for GKs or if Soderberg proves not to be up for it. Nobody can say that GK has been a real weakness in the past 18 months and I doubt that any of our results so far would have been better had Given been in goal.

Yes - its particularly noticeable that all the Oba fanatics have gone really quiet about him now...he was always an erratic player who was never going to be top drawer and we did really well to get decent money back for him...compare his play to the likes of HBA and Tiote - different positions maybe, but both players contribute far more to the team and have better skills.

This has always been likely - if he has a good season with no dramas it will be interesting to see if he stays at NUFC. Not many French players have stayed long at the club...

He was more confident because the midfield was so much on top, thereby keeping much of the pressure off the CDs. Has the skills, now needs to show it against the best PL sides, but has improved since his first PL season.

This - quite true.

Agree with that Dave - the 74 Dutch team were praised for being the inventors of 'Total Football' but although they played a great passing game,they were renowned for pressuring the opposition and winning the ball ; you have to HAVE the ball before you can play with it... We did that yesterday and whilst I'm NOT saying we play as well as Cruyff, Neeskens and co, we were the better footballing side, certainly for at least half of the game. We were crap last week, good this one - mainly because of two new players and a wholehearted team performance.

Couldn't care less about the LC this season - as long as we don't get injuries for crucial players Hughton can pick whatever team he likes. Even with a full first team we are likely to lose so who cares - retaining PL status more important. If we are heading for safety when FAC comes round, I may have a different view....

We had a bonus V AV ; expected loss against Man U ; decent point at Wolves but disastrous defeat at home to Blackpool ; finally, redressed that by win at Everton. I was hoping for 5 points from the 5 games and we have 7, which is a bonus. Win next week and the pressure is off a little bit. Need to win all home games V sides like Stoke & Wigan etc. then we should be safe by March. In general, we have played better away from home than I expected.

Thought he was excellent, as important as Ben Arfa in getting the win yesterday ; tough tackling combined with excellent movement and decent passing make the ideal MF player in today's game. If he keeps this up, he will be a huge asset to the side, esp in games against the top sides.

Wasn't his debut(that was last week), but good as it was, it wasn't as good as Supermac's second in his home league debut against Liverpool in 71...was from a tighter angle and struck across Ray Clemence with enormous power into the roof of the net. Both goals probably as important in establishing each player as a folk hero.

Agreed - couldn't believe how biased his commentary was.Probably the worst for bias in years and I don't know how these people get these jobs. If that had been Shearer commentating on Newcastle in that way, the broadcaster would have been bombarded with complaints.....

A much better result - and, more importantly - much better performance than last week. Both of the new signings were critical in producing this and although Ben Arfa will rightly take the headlines for his brilliant goal and ball skills, Tiote was just as important to the side in my opinion ; his tackling, movement and passing were basically the reason why we dominated midfield for a large part of the game. For players who have just played their first full game in the PL, I thought both were superb. Had both been in the side from the off last week, I have little doubt that the Blackpool result would have been much different. It must have been more embarrassing in the first half for Everton fans than it was for us last week, because they were almost completely outplayed at home and they can't have any complaints on the day(Neil ..!). Had Carroll been supported by a better player than Nolan up front, they would almost certainly have lost, although they will point to the absence of Tim Cahill. So - plusses ; HBA and CT, Enrique, Colo, Krul(didn't have much to do apart from collecting high balls). Decent performances by Routledge, esp in supporting the rest of MF, Minuses - Perch ; another Yellow, we need Simpson or ST back soon.Perch didn't have a bad game,but he picks up needless cards by diving in rashly. Decent - Barton and Willo, but I have reservations about some of Willo's challenges. We may concede pens in future as refs will be watching for his tendency to hold players in the box. Fellaini was just as guilty for the one which they wanted a pen for late in the game, but there were others.... Barton tends to fade late in games but played quite well. Ben Arfa gets a big Plus from me as much for his on-field temperament as his undoubted skills ; this will be put to the test over coming weeks as teams become aware of the danger of letting him run.If he has a fault in his play it is that he will tend to hold the ball too long, and I reckon this is why he fell foul of previous management. Our fans will love him though, similar to both Beardo and(almost!)Tony Green..! 7 points from 5 games is OK - its on target and we have pulled back the deficit from last week's defeat. We now need to keep winning games at home against the less talented sides to keep it going.

In his current state of fitness, he is highly unlikely to score anywhere NEAR the number of goals in the PL that he did in the CCC.

Hughton will not be under any extra pressure if we lose today because not many expect us to beat Everton. However, the games against Wigan, West Ham and Stoke will go a long way to deciding whether he - and the team as it currently is - are capable of keeping the club in the Prem because these clubs, along with Blackpool, are the teams we have to get points from to stay up. Interesting month or two ahead....

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle/8400509.Hughton_will_do_a_runner_if_Newcastle_finish_in_top_half/ Doubt very much that his long-distance running skills are going to be put to the test...!

Allardyce is totally correct ; his claim that he was equipped to manage Real is true....the only problem was that he left off the word 'BAD' after Real.....!