AyeDubbleYoo

First point correct, second point awful.

next time I post in french and you translate time that I perfected in English Ooh, that's fighting talk! Fight fight fight...

Problem is there are too many excuses for keeping Nolan in the team. Against good or physical teams he provides "and extra body in midfield", against poor teams he "might pop up with a goal". He's also central to the new team spirit, apparently. He needs to be dropped ASAP IMO, but it's a difficult decision for any manager.

Aye, I was shouting at him not to shoot, but he actually struck it quite well.

TBF to Hughton I think his inability to drop Nolan is a specific rather than general problem of his. He dropped Smith, he didn't put Campbell straight in etc. It's just this particular player he seems to rate way above his actual ability. The fact that Nolan pops up occasionally with a goal also helps to mask the fact he's useless in general.

We're in danger of an NZogbia/Duff situation here... mitigated a potentially good signing by dropping one of our best players. IMO the decision to play Ben Arfa central and leave Jonas/Enrique together on the left is so obvious it's criminal. Anything else causes more problems than it solves.

I'm not going to change my view that Hughton has done well based on this result... but he does need to improve his in-game work. Taking of Tiote for Shola against a team like Stoke is like going down to 10 men. Combine that with dropping Nolan into midfield and you're down to 9. Bizarre decision.

It's on Hughton this one... and I'm a big fan of his. Taking off Ben Arfa was premature, even though he was quiet. Should have brought Jonas on for Nolan... he was knackered as always. And taking off Tiote for Shola was just suicidal... WTF is Shola going to do against Stoke? I really hope Hughton realises that Nolan isn't a midfielder after this.

No! You're wrong!

Carroll's due a goal or two, no need to get carried away and drop him. Especially not against Stoke.

They will not be able to stop the Arfa... if they defend too deep he will punish them. I know it's very like us to lose this one, but I'm confident we won't.

I agree most football tattoos look shit, but I don't think tattoos in general are stupid or mindless. Some people put a lot of thought into them.

Me too, saving grace is that it's on TV.

I was just thinking the same thing, I'm seriously thinking of getting one now, not sure if it's because the design has grown on me or because we're doing well.

It must be great for the players to be able to go to work and have a calm, assured atmosphere. Massively different to what most of them are used to at NUFC.

Aye, I'll say I was partly wrong about Routledge. Certainly didn't think he'd be as useful as he is.

I would get something that represented Newcastle in an abstract way, but probably not literally the badge or owt. Maybe a seahorse in the style of an oriental tattoo or something, that would be good.

True, except in football you also have to think of the short term. Can't really afford to give Krul experience if it meant losing another 5 games. I don't think it will, but hypothetically.

I'm not pissy, I just don't think it's worth doing. The info is freely available, no need to pay for it.

In football these things go in cycles, I think barring the appearance of a mega wealthy owner, Liverpool are fucked for a decade while they convert to a low debt busniness model. I never thought I'd say this 24 months ago, but I can honestly see us overtaking Liverpool's position in the Premier within a couple of years. In any event, it just shows how quickly things can turn around in football. We were beating Barca in the Champs League, then a few years later we were relegated . For Liverpool, this is a frightening thought. For the likes of us, it shows how short the route back to the top can be.

Fair play to Chelsea for the attendance, aye. We got approached by a load of people outside trying to get tickets. They probably weren't the bulk of the hardcore fans, but you can understand a broader range of people when the tickets were £20 and league games there are 50-something.

When I watch interviews with fucking Harry Redknapp and people like that, I realise how lucky we are to have CH.

Enrique - right, always thought he would be class. Carroll - wrong, I had massive doubts he would be able to get mobile enough to be a top player. Duff - thought he would be a bargain signing at the time. Williamson - was unsure about him, but certainly didn't think he's be as good as he is. Best - right, thought he was a pointless signing and he was.

I think any job is only as ruthless and stressful as you make it, there are many ways to approach any position. Hughton doesn't go for the 'I'm the greatest, look at my ego' Allardyce style of management, he's careful and considered as he's been throughout his coaching career. Calderwood also seems a great foil for him, both similar characters. Personally I would much rather work with a manager who seems to be calm, collected and thinking about his decisions carefully. He will be good for the likes of Barton and Ben Arfa too. Bravo the Hughtster, long may it continue.

Just point out that the Chelsea team had a combined 374 international caps, and we had four players starting who have never started a PL game. The result as much as it was a good one for us was an embarassment for Chelsea and its featured players. Exactly. Don't even know why I've bothered to respond again. They're barely football fans. They're a twattish bunch of spoilt c***s, is how it looks. Yep, exactly my first thoughts. I've given up arguing though, it's a waste with plastic supporters like that who don't know what it's like to follow a real club. I was about respond to the 'big club' jibe, but yeah it's just a waste of time. Chelsea were f***ing nowt till Abramovich turned up. Devils advocate, but Abramovich's first match in chrage of Chelsea was a CL qualifier. IT's not a Man City situation. They were a serious club before. It's not far off. 1 league title in their history before he turned up. Even we've got 4. They were a run of the mill club, not terrible but not doing amazingly either. In the current league, I remember them being about as good as Villa or Everton maybe.