Wallace

We wanted him on loan with an option to buy and wanted Spurs to pay part of his wages. If another club comes in with the cash to buy the player outright, then Spurs will push for that option.

Collymore on Talksport saying that Liverpool should go for Carroll.

Probably waiting to see how he adjuts to the PL with us before he swoops.

They are short on striking options and struggling to bring players in. Also heard that Faye is looking more vulnerable these days so there is a feeling that the team has so far not been improved for this season.

Steven Taylor will not be fit for a few weeks so I would imagine PL clubs would be reluctant to loan a player in those circumstances. The loan window for Championship clubs re-opens in September so I guess if they end up not giving him a squad number, it would make sense for him to have a short term loan to regain match fitmess. But there seems to be an element of humiliating the player going on - maybe it is just the media - but I do not think it is necessary.

Surprisingly the match reports in various newspapers seem to be sympathetic towards Barton and think he was unfairly targetted.

Probably will. Footballers are like elephants. They never forget. Just hope it isn't Barton. The ref wouldn't be able to get the red card out of his pocket quick enough. One thing for sure is that Nolan will not forget. At a talk-in I went to, he could readily reel off what he perceived to be past injustices.

The downside of Zoggy joining the Mackems is that he had a tendency to score against them.

It is wonderful for us to have such an exciting young talent playing for us but so frustrating that on the back of 3 games, the media are already trying to move him on to one of the "big" clubs.

The weird thing with Shola is that he has an uncanny knack of scoring goals that matter - against the Mackems, he has an excellent record scoring in Europe and had that great game against Barcelona. He also managed to score in the semi-final at Cardiff and his early goals last season were important in building up confidence at a point when we had no idea how the team were going to respond to relegation etc and of course his goal that broke the deadlock in the Forest game. I always thought that he was more suited to playing in Europe but that is probably too late for him now - not that I could imagine him making such a move anyway.

Good that the 4 major goalscorers from last season have all scored already this season.

He is probablty not allowed to talk about it. Remember the club statement saying Hughton could only answer questions on footballing matters. This one is a grey area but an awkard one for Hughton. If he said anything, it would be interpreted as either implied criticism of the board or the player.

Don't give him ideas.

I thought our fans were really poor - I have never known them to be so quiet. Thought the Accy fans were brilliant though and it was refreshing to hear a different repertoire for a change.

It's funny how when it suits, people are ready to believe Ashley's propaganda. Make the player out to be greedy and with the public's attitude to player's wages, you get them onside immediately. Figures can be manipulated to tell which story you want to promote. And Ashley has a habit of moving the goalposts from day to day. I want Taylor to stay but I think this situation is being deliberately manipulated by the Club to make Taylor out to be the bad guy. He may be asking too much, who knows but that should be a private matter between him and the club. If contract negotiations have been broken down then surely they should just tell the player that they will inform other clubs that they are are willing to listen to offers instead of leaking information to the press. Unfortunately Ashley has a history of sullying the reputations of former players and managers but once out there mud sticks, and whatever the outcome or the truth, many fans will now associate Taylor with being greedy.

Isn't he only on something like £300k a year which is probably less than all of the players bar the kids? I think they said that Hughes' package at Fulham is £2m although that might include his coaching staff. However from Ashley's point of view, it would make sense to wait a few months to see how we do and then give him a rolling contract. The London media seem to constantly imply that we are looking for a big name. I hope that is just mischief-making on their part. Ashley always seems very reluctant and/or slow to negotiate new contracts.

The distances involved for fans to get to South Africa and within the country affected attendances (and I guess therefore profits). It will be the same for Brazil and with the 2022 tournament and also Russia if they get 2018. England would not have that problem at all. A lot of fans from countries like the Netherlands could even make it a day trip if they wished. It would be an opportunity for FIFA to give fans from all over the world their best chance to attend a World Cup compared to all the other bidders. I guess the same could be said of Spain/Portugal to a certain extent but we are a much more compact country and probably have better international travel links. . It would be brilliant to see Newcastle full of football fans from all different countries

Hope we play some of the senior pros rather than just all kids. Accrington knocked Doncaster out in the last round and gave Fulham a hard game in the FA Cup last year. At Peterborough, there were too many kids and they were out of their depth. Don't want us to be humiliated on TV.

Anyone else notice that the MOTM was chosen by the NUFC directors and staff and not Collingwood Insurance.

I heard last week that there was such a probem with the bonuses. Not sure of all the facts, but the Mail are definitely on to something here.

Hopefully, they will get through their European game this week so that will be good experience for him plus the pressure of playing in a few Old Firm games. And chances are, he may well win something again this season.

Carroll was exceptional in that game and he was only 16/17 at the time.

Just hope the judge isn't a Mackem then.

Promising It was Niall Hickman from the Daily Express. He said he had been over to interview McLaren last season at Twente and McLaren had said there was only one player in his squad that was good enough for the Premier League and that was Tiote.

Think it makes sense to give him a new contract rather than letting him walk for free. He is perfectly good enough for where we are now. And if other clubs come in for him later on, we would then get a decent transfer fee for him.