Wallace

All the players talk about getting in to Europe and I think it means a lot to them and apparently, the European clubs take the Europa League much more seriously that we do here in England. If we want the players to stay then we need to make that next step to progress as a club. Surely Ashley would want the club to have European football. It would raise the club's profile again in Europe, the extra games will raise more revenue and perhaps we will then become more attractive to sponsors.

If Ba does stay, we will again be without our main strikers for potentially 6 weeks because of the ACoN. I think we will need another striker as a back up. Lovenkrands will be gone, Shola another year older and prone to injury and Best also picks up a few injuries. It doesn't look like any of the young'uns are ready to step up to the first team squad striker-wise so I think they will have to buy an up and coming young striker in the Summer. I like Carroll and wouldn't mind him back here and I don't think we only played hoof-ball with him in the team. All the accusations that are thrown at Carroll about what he can't do are mostly things he was doing here. However, I can't see it happening although I would love it if he did come back and started performing again after all that was said by the media and Liverpool in that he needed to go to a "proper" club and that Dalglish would know how to look after him and develop his potential. I thought that was pretty insulting towards us. I would hate for him to end up at West Ham and Stoke as I think he is a better player than that but the way their managers play would just re-inforce the stereo-type of him as a player. Unfortunately, I do believe if West Ham are promoted that he would end up there. I just hope he puts on a performance for Liverpool next Sunday to beat Everton.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2012/04/07/alan-pardew-praises-papiss-cisse-s-electric-form-61634-30711559/ From The Journal's interview with Pardew: “It wasn’t just about his goals, it was also about his work-rate. He’s bought into our ethic about what we’ve got at this club. “It’s not always that you sign a big, big player and he wants to take that on board. He has. “I think Demba, Yohan and Hatem have got that into him, and there’s a nice little group there with a good camaraderie between them." I find it amusing that Pardew is crediting Ben Arfa for getting the importance of work-rate across to Cisse!!

I think the following chants suggested in a West Ham forum show what they think of Allardyce and his style of football. we come every week we come every week must be deluded we come every week He's tactics are great he's tactics are great big Sam for England he's tactics are great. It's quarter to four, it's quarter to four, I'm f-ucking bored s-hitless, it's quarter to four he's a short-sighted toad he's a short-sighted toad he thinks we play football or maybe he's just a (unt (oops!!) ...work needed we play on the floor we play on the floor we're west ham united we play on the floor My neck really hurts My neck really hurts Fu(k this hoofball My neck really hurts i wear a neck brace manager says we play ace (unts sponsored by fray bentos just look at his face We play shlt and he lies We play shlt and he liiiies Go manage Wigan They do better pies it's good in row z see it hoofed on to the taaaaall laaaaads heeeead width is extinct now we all shake our heads he does like a pie one must have hit him right iiiiiiiin theeeeeeee eeeeeeeye says we're playing good football just fu(k off and ... (DOH) he's round not square he likes his football in the air toad faced c.unt , toad faced c.unt O fu(kin eck Its off the deck O fu(kin eck I've broken my neck We're launching the ball, we're launching the ball But Maynard and Baldock Aint that fu(king tall. We don't like your style, your hoofball is vile. We pass on the deck, it's good for your neck. We are West Ham, we play on the floor, please Fu(k off in May, whatever the score. You Fat kunt, You Fat kunt, You Fat kunt They've gone in front, bring a striker on u kunt Can't take anymore, u play for a draw

Eh? He was in Watford's youth team for a year as an 18 year old. Don't think he started particularly late. Well he has said himself that he started late for a professional footballer but I don't know how he qualifies that - first pro contract, first team squad?

I see Ba as a different case to most players because of his circumstances. He started playing football quite late (about 20 I think) and knows that his career could be ended at any time. If a club came in offering him a long contract on huge wages, I would understand if he wanted to move.

It is always the same with the Mackems with "big" games.. They get themselves into a giddy state as they believe they have already won the game and it just a case of how many. They then start planning their victory parades and planning their European trips. A big crowd turns up for the game but the team does not.

And they need to play him every game to give him a chance to get his form back. With us, he got better with every game he played. Whenever he has a half decent game for them, he is dropped for the next one. And it is pointless bringing him on for the last few minutes of a game.

How many players do you f***ing want?! Good job they have not been in Europe this season.

If that happened, oh my..... But don't they always raise their game against the "big" teams!!

Barton substituted and booed by the QPR supporters.

I've always suspected Pardew was quite keen to get rid of Nolan, not so certain about Barton though. I'd go along with this, though I suspect the club wanted the players committee to be dismantled. Even S. Taylor said it couldn't continue like it was. I recall Pardew saying that he had given a list to the board of players to be sold and another list of players that could be sold if a decent offer was received. I always thought that Nolan and Barton were on the latter list. Also there was a lot of bigging up of Nolan towards the end of last season e.g. that he didn't realise how good a footballer he was which I think some managers do when they want rid.

I couldn't believe they even tried to claim that. I wasn't there on Sunday but I was down there for the away game and they appeal for everything......HAAAANDBALLLLLL must have been heard 4/5 times before we started taking the p*ss. Random shouts of handball on the various trains all the long way back from Newcastle was hiliarious, or at least it was compared to the result. I was at one away game recently and there were a bunch of Newcastle fans on the train and they just started shouting handball. I thought to myself "guess you were at the Norwich game then"!!

I was struck by how little non SD advertising there is in the ground now. There used to be a bit at the front of level 7 but apart from Cruise and something else I couldn't read even that is now all SD. Would love to know the real reason for this. Even during poor economic times in the past, we have always managed to get local advertising in. Their justification for the renaming is because of the low commerical revenue and I wonder whether that is down to their own shortcomings or whether they have little appetite to advertise anything other than SD.

Its that Peter Harrison, a former agent of Andy Carroll. https://twitter.com/agentH058 He has been ranting about dodgy dealings involving Allardyce, Gartside and Curtis for a while now on Twitter. Has been saying he is going to tell all for ages but if there is anything to report, he is certainly taking his time over it. Whenever Allardyce or Phil Brown are pundits on TV, it usually starts him off.

Ben Arfa seems to have matured as there does not seem to have been any falling out with manager or players and there has not really been any complaining in the media. There was that article where he said he liked the way Swansea played which was interpreted that he did not like our style but that seemed to pass by quite smoothly.

We were complaining about this at the match last night. Arsenal continuing to play when we had a man down and us putting the ball when they had a man down.

Lots of criticism on the Guardian website under the match report and on the radio this mornimg. They are definitely starting to turn. However, they need to keep Kenny though so he can drag them down further.

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2012/03/aston-villa-prophets-and-losses.html The Swiss Ramble has done a blog on Villa's financial results. It is an interesting comparison and although our financial results had not been published when it was written, it is useful to look at the figures quoted for other clubs.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/llambias-happy-with-newcastles-finances-7546062.html Noticed the following paragraph at the end of the article. "The club yesterday completed the signing of the French winger Romain Amalfitano from Reims on a three-year deal."

Did he really have to say this part? its almost like hes inviting offers Everyone knows that if the bigger clubs come in for your players that it is hard to hold on to them but why do we have to mention it in virtually every interview. You don't hear other clubs constantly saying it is going to be a struggle to hold on to their best players. It just smacks of reminding other clubs we have some players they might like to take a look out and we are open to offers. Even in Pardew's interview on Radio Newcastle about Krul's new contract, he was saying it was good business for the club as it would ensure they would get the maximum price if another club came in for him.

Not sure why Pardew wants a smaller squad - we haven't got enough players as it is.

Pleat was awful. There were a few Arsenal supporters watching with us and even they were getting p*ssed at Pleat's commentary. To be fair, he is usually much better and even very complimentary towards us (Tottenham home match and Villa a few weeks ago come to mind). Heard him on the radio last week and he was saying it was good that Liverpool were in the top 6 and the right teams were now making up the top 6 (even though we were 6th and Liverpool 7th). He then said that 2 teams were underperforming that should be in the top 8 and they were Villa and Everton. Never mentioned us at all.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4170008/Jonas-Gutierrez-Id-never-wail-about-life-here.html Jonas: I’d never wail Exclusive By STEVE BRENNER Published: Today at 00:09 JONAS GUTIERREZ is an Argentine Premier League star who would never go AWOL. Carlos Tevez may have given South Americans a bad name after his Munich mutiny. But Newcastle winger Gutierrez is cut from a different cloth. When the Toon cult hero runs out in the white-hot heat of today's Tyne-Wear derby crunch, he will be everything Tevez isn't. He's passionate about his club, the area, its fans, the staff. He gives nothing but his all. Perhaps Tev can learn something from his international pal. Remember, this is a foreign star who has not only done a four-year stint at one club but actually, and amazingly, stuck with them during the nightmare of relegation. You won't find Gutierrez with a grimace or grizzly frown slapped across his face. By bringing his family over — his parents live in Newcastle while his sister is at University in Manchester — the 28-year-old has warmly embraced England. This is no renegade who cannot wait to head back home. Loyalty and desire go down well in these parts so it's no wonder a packed St James' Park will bounce to their feet every time he runs at the Sunderland defence this lunchtime. So why has one favourite son of South America prospered while another has stumbled from one fury-invoking disaster to another? Gutierrez told SunSport: "My brother is in Argentina but my sister is studying in Manchester and my parents are in Newcastle. "They came to Spain with me when I was at Mallorca. It's not easy for your family when you leave South America so to have them with me in Spain and now here has been vital. "I always wanted to play in England but to live in Spain first was the way to go, to make that first step away. The difference between here and Argentina is too great to cope with. "The weather, the language is all a shock. For Carlos, his family hasn't been around, he has children back in Argentina. "That is the problem for him. I text him now and then. He's a fantastic player. I can understand why he has had problems though. "At times it has been hard here for me like when we got relegated. But if you go down you have to stay and bring them back up. "My family love it here anyway. I can't speak Geordie though. It's impossible." Gutierrez knows what this match means to the region and added: "Last season's 5-1 win at home was great for us but it was disappointing to concede in the last minute. "I love the passion. The fans don't care if we play well or not. Three points is the aim. "It's the same for the players. We know we have to win. Simple as that. "Everyone I see in the street, all they say is that we have to win this game. But we are confident, even if their new manager has come in and done very well. "In Argentina the derby I was involved with was Velez Sarsfield v San Lorenzo. It's not like River Plate v Boca but still one of the biggest derbies in Argentina. "If you lose angry fans will go down to the training ground to complain. Luckily that never happened to me because we got good results. "People die in South America at matches which just isn't right. The violence is wrong. "Fans in England love football the same but channel their passion in a different way." It's doubtful Gutierrez never has a smile on his face although a recent burglary at his mum's house in Argentina upset him. He added: "My mum was shocked. Some football shirts I had given her were taken along with a computer and other things. "Hopefully I will give her something new to put on the wall after the derby. My mum used to shout a lot at games but now she sits in the executive boxes she has to be quiet!" That could be difficult today.

I noticed new ones at the wolves game, in the gallowgate and leezers I am waiting to see how they manage to put up more SD advertising in the Milburn. TV is showing more shots from the Strawberry Corner and the Milburn is seriously lacking in SD signage compared to the rest of the stadium. Maybe it is time to piss off more sponsors and remove the names from the front of the corporate boxes. The thing is there is probably little point in other sponsors buying advertising space because anything else is totally overshadowed by SD. Unless it was something equally as garish as SD, would it even be noticed? The stadium is starting to resemble his tacky shops everyday with the way he stick up sale signs all over the windows with no space spared. It really annoys me when they talk about having to find new revenue streams when it would appear they are less than enthusiastic in attracting new advertising revenue.