AyeDubbleYoo

I was flabbergasted when I saw they were all playing. One is bad enough.

Ah right, makes sense now you mention it.

If we play Smith and Nolan in the Premiership we will get torn to shreds.

Other clubs fans must shit themselves when they see our hate mob coming. Not sure why you quoted me here, what's your point?

Is this a joke?

The art of being a manager is to pick the best 11 to do a job on the day, not pick players on reputation or past performances. In many respects I like Chris Hughton, but in this regard he's failed badly IMO. In no way have Smith, Butt or Nolan shown that they are best played together so in reality it's reputation he's picking them on. I agree with you really, I just mean that there are also reasons why he might believe it's best to keep the team the same beyond just being 'scared to drop players'. Also, the lack of alternatives is a major issue... he can't leave out all of our midfielders. Now that we have a couple of good wingers I hope he's brave and decides to go without Butt and Nolan. When Barton's back even more so. He didn't do that today obviously, but it's early days with the new players and we had a couple of important injuries. I think he might actually realise this though, fingers crossed he'll get round to making the changes soon.

I don't see any evidence to support the view that Hughton is 'scared of dropping players' really. He has left Butt out more than a lot of other managers, and it would be difficult to make a case for Nolan's droppage when he was scoring goals. The thing is, our results and league position demand that the team should be kept the same, while our performances demand that it should be changed. As an inexperienced manager, who might not have a lot of confidence, I can understand why Hughton is only making cautious changes. I would rather he was more drastic, but it's not likely to happen.

I would think being shot at by armed militants is a good enough reason to make an exception, even if it's only on compassionate grounds. I can't imagine how the players could have played games of football in the few days after the incident anyway.

So you think we'll go up via the playoffs?

I remember people used to say that Steven Taylor got a lot of time to prove himself because he was a local lad... maybe Carroll deserves a bit of that as well. As was said above, he probably shouldn't be starting as many games as he is... he could be developed more gradually.

Based on what?

It's two weeks old. Ah right. He wasn't any good two weeks ago either though.

Why would a premiership team be bidding for Carroll? Can't be true, surely.

Looked positive and tried a lot more positive passes than most of our team. Seems to have a bit of a swagger about him, definitely a Chelsea player and not a Newcastle one.

Looks a very decent player so far.

He's our best CM by a mile, but obviously the competition is fucking terrible. Like Nolan he's lacking physically, and always seems out of his depth in tackles etc. Also seems to take too long to make decisions.

Correct and correct.

If it was up to me we would always go 442 with the two wingers and without Butt and Nolan. But to be fair, you could argue that he's kept the scoreboard ticking over without taking risks and has settled for draws without risking defeat to get some more wins. Seems especially true of away games. It'll be interesting to see what he does with Jonas back and Routledge in, but some of the criticism is a bit harsh IMO.

Carroll looks rank at the moment, terrible performance. As usual Butt, Nolan and Smith were poor (Guthrie as well actually). Can only think that Jonas wasn't able to play at all, in which case he shouldn't have been on the bench. With a proper 442 with Routledge and Jonas and a decent striker we would have taken all 3 points.

Think he probably will go for the two wide players now they're done to 10 - if Jonas is fit enough for it.

A couple more than the third place team would be good.

This is one of the maddest decisions I've ever heard.

Craven Cottage is a great stadium IMO, I love it there. The neutral area is weird like.

I hope he is better than Jose by a factor of 20 and we sign him for a button and a pecan nut. Maradona wasn't that good.