AyeDubbleYoo

Don't think Drogba would be interested in swapping to Man Utd.

If Jonas was getting in a good cross 50% of the time he'd be ahead of the majority of wide players in league, surely. I'm not saying he's brilliant, but crossing is a very low percentage game.

I just want him to go to City because of the massive reaction it would cause... it would be class.

Definite sitcom material this.

The Dyer sale was amazing, and West Ham were mental to buy him. He's barely graced a football pitch since man.

Agree. Considering what he was like the last time we were in the Premier League, the improvement is staggering.

Nah, I do agree with you there. Many businesses make losses that are absorbed by the owners until they are profitable. Suppose there are a few questions - whether in a competitive sport we want a level playing field, and whether Chelsea is just an exception based on the fact they happened to achieve league titles quickly and can charge a small fortune for tickets. I can't imagine Man City ever making themselves sustainable - would they not need to win the League every year? Football isn't just a business... financial success/resources is directly related to success in the sport. This makes it questionable whether we want to allow random teams such an advantage because they happen to be lucky enough to have a rich owner? And how long do we let the losses continue?

Exactly, we're not a team that's in a position to start criticising players like Jonas.

It's not a 'market' in the traditional sense though, is it really? The forces in it (i.e. the clubs) are unsustainable businesses that are being propped up by mega-rich owners. In a normal marketplace they would have had to control wages or would have gone bust. This is why allowing a few clubs to operate at massive losses is so unfair on the rest.

I wouldn't say it's 100% though, not with Fat Mike in-charge. True, I was thinking that as I wrote it. Also just want to say that I love your use of punctuation neesy, the apostrophe, capital letter and hyphen can do magical things in your hands!

There is absolutely no way Joe Kinnear is coming anywhere near NUFC, what a load of bollocks.

They'll just be a white square with Sports Direct printed too close to the edges.

Wouldn't be too bad!

Interesting Hughton thinks that the "modern manager is out on the training pitch every day".

Agreed, he has made himself very easy to mark in his last few starts. He has to play though because his presence on the fields means teams can't put so many men against Jose and Jonas unlike when Guthrie/Barton/whoever else starts out on the right. Totally agree with this, it's so obvious to see that we don't look the same team without a right winger to take some pressure off the lads on the left. There's no debate worth having really, Routledge is the only player we have capable of doing that job to a decent level.

Very sensible post... at this point it's just that bit of quality that we're missing. Ben Arfa would have provided it, now we need to reach into the wallet again to make us more confident of survival. For me Hughton has done a very good job, 3 or 4 dodgy results is nowhere near enough to change that view.

He has unfinished business now, and he wanted to come here in the first place. If we stay up I'm quietly confident we can get him to stay. Especially if he manages to get back on the pitch this season... he'll be drowned in Geordie love.

Hmm, not sure Cadamarteri, Jeffers, Nolan and Barton can be put in the same bracket as Rooney!

Mint post! I agree Hughton hasn't been perfect, and I don't always agree with his tactics/selection. But what he's done with the squad he has to work with is very impressive IMO. Ben Arfa would have had us finishing upper-mid table... it's a massive blow to lose him and we have to revise our expectations.

I don't see the problem with saying the roof is too much but the hoardings are OK, a line has to be drawn somewhere.

What does this even mean?

I used to think that Fergie was the only thing keeping that club ticking over, but thinking about it, he keeps falling out with the best player in the team every 5 years. Yeah, but other than that he is doing as you thought. The big test will be Fergie's successor and his first couple of big signings. If they take a gamble on someone it could go tits up, if they go for Mourinho they will be fine.

I would just go with Shola up front alone, play Routledge on the right and put Guthrie inside to attempt the attacking midfield role in rotation with Barton. Sadly Lovenkrands isn't up to it.

I'd say Barton had a decent first half against Wigan, and got worse in the second. Tiote I think was the opposite. In general though, I think Barton has been improving. We should use Guthrie to pressure him for his place rather than play on the right.

Yeah, I know he's been charged, I mean we don't actually know the details of the incident (or whether he's going to be found guilty) so it's a bit early to say Hughton should be "taking the moral stance" on it.