Wallace

Isn't it more a massive offer for Gouffran himself - Rafa said as much in an article I read earlier. At his age and in the last year of his contract, if another club offers you a good contract for 3 or 4 years, you have to consider it.

Totally agree, if he was to stay in England I'd say his level would be more Southampton/Everton/Stoke etc. West Brom seems a really strange choice. Thinking about it, even if you forget the destination in W.B.A, he was good for Tottenham last season from what i saw. I can't fathom what Pochettino is doing, while their squad is still excellent getting rid of Chadli weakens it for me. whoever they sell him to. To be fair they are/were trying to sign Zaha, suppose Poch thinks Zaha is better than Chadli. Spurs are supposed to be trying to sign Isco.

Chronicle are reporting that Loic Remy is close to joining Palace on a year's loan.

No Townsend then.

He does seem to go down in every match needing treatment. Don't know if it is justified or whether he is just a softie!

They are like we were - OK if they go a goal up but fall to pieces as soon as they concede. That mentality needs to change before they can progress. We've all seen how long it is taking us to recover from that mentality and we are still a work in progress.

Bringing him out for the Reading game probably did him the world of good. Just grounded him a bit after being given the captaincy, poor first two games, etc. Agree. Captain or not, he has to earn his place in the team - same as everyone else.

I thought the atmosphere was OK yesterday - certainly during the first half. It gets quieter when we start to get nervous as we still don't have confidence that the team are not going to mess up. Brighton fans were claiming how loud they were and how unimpressed they were with our support as we never made a sound but sat in the Gallowgate, I never heard a sound from them all game. The problem is a lot of the sound drifts out of the stadium and never reaches the other end.

I suppose also it helps in training having different types of strikers for the defenders to practice against.

So other clubs have had a look at the non-TV games then. :lol:

Didn't overdo the long balls today and was better for it.

That mystery illness that he had which meant he could not play for Rangers must have been a major reason for his career to stall as it did. Whatever it was, he seems to have never fully recovered from it.

Noticed he hasn't played any games for Boro this season. He's not injured is he? I think he could be a good player for us. No injuries, he just isn't in their plans despite only signing in January, they have also made him available, not sure on price though. Wasn't the rumour that it was Gibson who bought him and Karanka didn't want him. I think it took a few games before he played him.

Never read any of those interviews as they are just full of meaningless platitudes - probably scripted for them anyway.

Should give us a clearer idea of how good (or not) we are.

There may be some decent Premier League players that become available in the next few days - for loan at least - as clubs get the players in they need.

I heard a Dutch journalist a couple of months ago saying the Holland manager was keen for the Dutch players to leave Newcastle because it was not good for them to have 5 players in the Championship. Gini and Krul were specifically mentioned but they said they were worried about getting Janmaat out because they did not know if we would let that many leave but they have got their wish now.

The sooner they f*** off to their European super league the better. Once they do they shouldn't be allowed to field any team (including B teams) in any domestic competitions. But you know that won't be the case as they will still want to be in the domestic league but will then complain of too many games and will want the league reduced to accomodate their extra games in Europe.

But that is what football fans do. Similarly if they are brilliant in their first game, it takes a while to realise that perhaps they were never that good after all.

That could be anyone as far as I am concerned. I have no idea what he looked like and the only way I would have identified him amongst our players would have been by a process of elimination.

I have not been especially enthused by any of the players we have signed or are rumoured to be signing. Obviously Ritchie has come in and impressed as has Hayden so I hope others do as well and that we find one or two gems. The media keeps going on about us having the best squad but that is being dismantled as the days go by. Obviously those players don't want to be here and their attitude would be questionable if they have to stay but I don't see the squad we look like being left with as being particularly superior to other Championship clubs especially those that are promotion contenders. I just hope Rafa can work his magic on them.

Sounds like the Shelvey I've watched in a Newcastle shirt since his arrival. Loads of talent when he's given time and space, in between invisible. I find both Colback and Shelvey highly frustrating. Shelvey goes missing when the tough gets going. Colback doesn't hide but doesn't stick his neck out with anything innovative or creative. Put them both together and you'd probably have a decent all-rounder. Unfortunately, they're two halves, and two halves that wouldn't make my first 11 in an ideal world. I think they both just lack in gas and pace so if they come up against opponents with those abilities they are f***ed. This is professional football, you can get amateurs who can run you down if you don't possess either. I get incredibly frustrated with Shelvey - all he wants to do is spray passes around the pitch. If they come off then they look great but they rarely do and the ball usually ends up either out of play or with the opposition goalkeeper. To me there is a real lack of dynamism in our midfield and it is very slow. Most of the teams we have played so far seem to move the ball up the pitch pretty quickly whereas we move slowly across the pitch or the players overhit the long pass so it ends up with the opposition.

Do they have any scouts at Palace or has Pardew just taken our scouting dossier with him?

It seems that he has not been the same player since that shoulder injury but then he has hardly had any quality coaching in the last few years either.

And we have such a good record with signing injured/injury prone players.