AyeDubbleYoo

Fabregas has also been struggling recently and will be uncomfortable with being a pre-dinner snack for

I have noticed that Jonas is trying to get the ball in earlier as well, he most be listening to coaching. It doesn't always work, but he's trying.

Don't think a defeat would affect us too much, we're a resilient lot nowadays! As long as we put up a good fight and don't get hammered... we'll be alright.

Near to tears reading that!

I really think that having Carroll and Shola up front with players like Nolan and Barton able to support them must mean that a massive proportion of the opposition's midfield and defence is just worried about stopping them. We suddenly pose a threat that is much harder to deal with. I like this formation, the only reservations I have are (a) whether Nolan has the ability to play that role against teams with mobile/dynamic midfields, and (b) whether Barton can provide enough width in games when he's also been pulled inside to help out the CMs.

First touch is something he needs to work on, but it might never be perfect. Surprisingly pacey when he gets going as well... going to be a brilliant No.9 for us.

Aye, it was unbelievable.

Hope Supermac fucked off as well.

I said at the start of the season that it would be great to go into the last couple of months with us not being talked about as relegation battlers. If we can achieve that it will be great, and we can turn to planning for progress in the summer.

Totally, nothing wrong with a bit of celebration after a great win, and meeting and greeting the fans. In Newcastle you just have to watch where you choose to go, and be careful not to do it too much when things are going wrong on the pitch.

That's immense

Wasn't there a similar position against Villa where the ball ended up nearer the corner flag?

I would be ok with Ashley staying if he showed a bit more enthusiasm but he still gives the impression he wants out which means there is never likely to be any long term investment or planning for the club. On the other hand, since going down you could argue we've been pretty stable and have made progress through stability and sensible spending. I don't like Ashley but I really don't want another sale saga right now.

Totally right, if you think there's no difference between 8th and 17th, you must have forgotten the point of a league system.

We don't need a sale of the club at the moment IMO... the speculation over it would be too damaging, and Ashley pulling out of transfers etc completely would undermine Hughton too much in the summer. I would prefer if there just wasn't a murmur about ownership for 2-3 years, then we'll see how we are.

Didn't pick up on that, good post. Great work by Hughton there.

When he runs out at SJP for the first time it's going to be epic.

Saint Niall offering a public apology for the yesterday's magic carpet crash. Well I saw him in the director's box at half time yesterday making small talk, smiling and greeting old friends - didn't look overly upset about being 3-0 down. What a phoney. Don't think the Chairman of a club really needs to be crying his eyes out at half time or throwing things round the executive lounge. Quinn obviously cares about Sunderland.

To be fair, if everything had gone for us this season with decisions, injuries etc we could have a few more points on the board. But then again, an injury to Carroll/Nolan/Colocinni and we would probably have a few less. My feeling is that we'll finish lower than we are now, around 12th-15th, which would be more than good enough. If we stay up, and go about it in a way that doesn't leave us shitting ourselves for the last couple of months, it will have been a great season and we can kick on from there.

Used to babysit my mate... who's a Sunderland fan!

This was probably the most irritating weekend of TV ever... every single show had some sort of fucking Halloween theme. THIS ISN'T AMERICA!!!

Now you mention it, it is!

He's quite angry as well, but in a funny kind of way. I actually quite rate him as a ref!

Were there any other games this weekend? I missed them