AyeDubbleYoo

In god's name why?

Was thinking this last night. Will be a couple of years yet. Aye, will be a couple of years before we tell them to get their filthy hands off Chris Hughton MBE, our trophy-winning manager!

Well I don't want him to get injured obviously, I would rather we played our strongest team in the cups and tried to win them. But I don't think I have to choose - I understand there's a risk of him getting injured playing for England, but IMO it's great to see him do it. The risk is unavoidable and acceptable.

Don't think that's a contradiction at all. I'm happy for Carroll to get a call-up because it's a big achievement for him... I understand the risk of injury.

I hope they don't get permission TBH... the plans for the housing development sound much better for the community. It is probably their last chance to get a site near Chelsea though, there's not many knocking about.

It was very clever to keep the same team but adjust the system to suit the game. More managers should do this instead of thinking "better play one up front away from home". It take good coaching to work as well, and a clear gameplan that the players understand. Credit to Hughton for both.

You should take a look at that Dirk Kuyt?

He provides something similar to what Wilshire is doing for Arsenal IMO... he carries the ball into very tight spaces, direct at defenders. But he's not running for the sake of it, he always has his head up and is looking to create something. I just hope we can maintain our robust team game when he returns, I don't want us to just go for "get it to Ben Arfa" all the time.

I burst out laughing at the thought that the next post would be Dave saying "What a wonderful debate." Alas, it was not to be. I just post the Tiote face to express a feeling that can't be put into words. It's hard to explain, the face just does the job.

Still love the "we all live in Kevin Nolan's house" song... one of the best for years.

The Everton highlights of him were scarily good... I've rarely seen a player combine that much acceleration with that much technique. Make no mistake, he will take us to the "next level".

You would think Andy Carroll is a kitten rapist. What he has got up to so far is nothing even compared to the likes of Terry, Rooney and Ashley Cole, so to be arguing he isn't setting an example is total nonsense. He's been involved in a couple of minor scuffles because he's a young lad who has risen quickly to fame and fortune. That's pretty much it IMO.

Surely there's no way Mike Ashley is going to make a profit on NUFC? He would have to sell at a totally unrealistic price to get his money back. Unless we win a cup or finish pretty high in the league for a few seasons, I doubt the value of the club has increased much since he bought it.

I know you're right, but it would be immense for him to get a cap... I'd love to see it.

Will be a bit surreal to see him run out for England. And class obviously.

In a couple years Simpson might actually be in with a chance if he comes on a bit. We're not exactly blessed with right-backs.

It's a bit much to expect Newcastle fans to be enduring one of the most painful periods in recent memory and step back and say "can't wait to see how the lad Coloccini turns out". He might have been caught up in the crossfire of the general hatred directed towards the team, but it's understandable IMO.

For a guy with Mike Ashley's recent track record, not making an immense blunder and fucking things up = steering us in the right direction. You could argue things are happening despite Ashley, but at least he isn't stopping them happening, which for him is a big step forward.

That's great to hear, good on ya Joey lad. I think a big part of the issues Barton has head is that he doesn't feel at home with the typical Premier League dressing room... I think the fact we have a solid bunch of fairly normal people is helping him settle down a lot.

Pulis's idea is total bollocks on many levels. He's just making himself look more of a tool suggesting things like this.

I agree, still think fans would be reluctant to accept a ref saying "At the time I didn't see Cattermole handle the ball of the line, but looking at the replay it's totally obvious". I wonder whether it would actually do much good.

I see what you've done there Taylor27, pointed out all the strengths of the players without any of their limitations. I know what you mean though, it would be difficult to change the team right now. Thing is, it's too far away to even worry about - by the time Ben Arfa returns we might have lost 4 or 5 on the bounce and Nolan or Shola might be injured. It's just great to have a player of Ben Arfa's quality in the squad.

Not only that, but it's impossible to know anyway.

I agree with you in principle. What if the referee just didn't see something though? Or in his opinion it wasn't a foul, when replays suggest it was? Would simple explanations like that be enough for people?