Wallace

It's the lack of honesty and communication though. If they didn't want to spend or only within certain parameters then why not communicate that to Rafa. Rafa obviously expected signings and had been discussing them for several weeks with Charnley. He was still expecting something to happen on deadline day. You can say the lack of signings has made Rafa look a bit stupid and as if he had been deliberately misleading the fans. Talksport are currently referring to past interviews with Ashley to justify what has happened but we all know the club have a history of lying and misinformation so anything Ashley says can be taken with a pitch of salt.

I do think that if Ashley meddles enough to make Rafa walk then he will destroy the club and I don't think he will recover this time. He must see what a gift Rafa has been to him. No flak towards him or the board for relegation, record attendances in the Championship, a bond being created with the city and the people. The profile of the club increasingly positive and more likely to attract better investment (if desired). If he destroys that, then he deserves everything that comes his way. Is he that stupid? He certainly seems arrogant enough. Like with Sports Direct, he pays lip service to the feedback and then carries on as before despite all the evidence to prove it is not working.

The BBC Radio Newcastle interview was quite positive whereas some of the newspaper articles from their press conference are leaning more to a slightly negative stance.

I can't see what Ashley would have to be unhappy about with the transfers we have done. Quite a few would not be good enough for the Premier League but we would get our money back on most of them and there would not be a huge loss for others compared to e.g. Riviere, Thauvin, Cabella and probably Saivet. Virtually all of them have made a contribution. The only dodgy one is probably Gamez but that is only because he has been injured a lot but from the little we have seen of him, he looked like a decent player.

I was struck about how hospitable and friendly the staff were.

Birmingham must have agreed to this discount price, seems good value though, on the website it says £3 if you are between the ages of 65 and 120. Few Birmingham fans could be bothered to go to the home tie so can't see that many making the trip up here for the replay.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/newcastle-free-to-dream-big-again-under-benitez-sqplnq0pc?shareToken=c99afc4350ac78ef263920ca9a93d7e4

I thought they wanted to sign him permanently. Is this due to his loan period being over whilst they negotiate a new deal?

Can't see him keeping them up. No, we're lost mate. Hopefully we do stick with Clement for a decent period, 2-3 years at least and we start re-building. Our defence is a shambles, that's where to start. If he does wonders though, he'll be poached. I can see Monk and Leeds passing us, but I know no-one outside of Swansea will believe it, losing Monk was the right decision. Fans know their own club best. Pardew was bad for us and we were mocked for wanting him gone but there is scarcely one NUFC fan that would want him back.

If Leicester win and also Palace tomorrow, then there will be bit of a gap opening up between the bottom 3 and 4th bottom.

Think it is because their away form is so terrible. Home form is very good but if that was to fall away then they could be in trouble.

Problem with Tiote is that he always needs 5-6 games to get his form back and we cannot afford to carry him in the meantime.

http://www.football365.com/news/will-pardews-career-recover-from-palace

Mentioned in tomorrow's papers that West Ham are interested.

Enjoyed reading that. Geordie father-in-law.

https://mashoftheday.com/2016/12/02/alan-pardew-hires-excuse-consultant-to-help-him-come-up-with-more-excuses/ I love how the list of excuses compiled by SackPardew.com has become so well-known and oft repeated.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/said-newcastle-fans-were-deluded-12361442

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alan-pardew-leaves-crystal-palace-12360300 The Chronicle seems to be enjoying this. Looks like Allardyce has been planning on getting this job for a few weeks. Ed Malyon ✔ @eaamalyon Allardyce sent a detailed squad analysis and outline of January plan to CPFC's ?? co-owners in late November. Does it outstrip concerns? 3:25 PM - 22 Dec 2016

The one problem I see with Shelvey's game is that he often slows play down....note how we quickened the passing and movement against Forest just after he was sent off and scored. Quicker passing and moving is the key to breaking down massed defences in the Championship. I said the same after the Forest game.

Is the Puma deal up soon? I know Wonga ends this season. There was talk a few months ago about the badge being redesigned and I am sure I recall people mentioning on here that they knew of people who had been approached by the club about it.

If we don't go up, I think he will probably leave but I am confident he will stay if we are promoted.

Nigel Clough has managed to get his teams to pull off some shock results against bigger teams over the years.

Last season Brighton were unbeaten until about time time and then it was a few weeks before they picked up another win.

They've just appointed new people to the board who have "big" plans so probably nothing to do with how they are or not performing.

It's not as if we've been unlucky in any of those games losing narrowly against the run of play - we have been abysmal in virtually every game we have played there. I don't even think we were all that when we won the one game.