Wallace

If both West Ham and Palace are interested in Remy then he will stay in London.

I think the silly long contract didn't help too. He had made it on the gravy train for a long time, so no need to keep performances at this peak. Another example where the club are always thinking about the balance sheet and potential profit rather than assessing players on an individual basis. If they end up not being good enough, you can't shift them because of the contract e.g. Gouffran and they end up scarcely playing and going on a free. If they are good enough, then it can be a case of a lack of incentive to improve. They should have shorter contracts but under constant review to encourage the players to improve.

Why do no journalists pull him up on the absolute s**** he talks? Man is an absolute joke The ironic thing is that it was not Pardew who managed Ben Arfa but Cabaye. He was the one who would have a word with him when needed and constantly urged Pardew to find a place for him in the team. No surprise thing deteriorated very quickly once Cabaye left.

Both will go down together with Villa. I think Sunderland have a better chance that us of staying up. They are used to this situation as is their manager. I think we have some of the better players amongst the struggling teams (not including Chelsea) but we have the worst manager apart from Swansea. I think we are in serious trouble and I am surprised that so many in the media think we will be fine. We need to get several wins quickly but I can't see us that happening with the forthcoming fixtures so we are very reliant on the other teams cocking up.

Nah, call ujpest doza whatever you like. I was just relaying what some "ITK" had said on twitter. I heard something similar towards the end of last season i.e. that he would look to leave as he was disillusioned about the way he was being treated by Carver.

Agree. I can't help but think we will come off worse if this deal happens. Probably end up paying £14m for him with a couple of our best players thrown in as well. As much as we like to think we are tough negotiators, I think that is proving not to be the case with each passing transfer window.

Always felt uncomfortable about Thauvin because I felt he never wanted to be here and was pushed into the move by Marseilles. And we haven't given him a chance to succeed although I suppose they are now at the stage where they can't afford to take any risks. Feel that all the players that could potentially get you excited about the team are being eased out in favour of grafters and runners. With the exception of Gini and Perez sometimes, I can't get too enthusastic about most of the current lot. Even Stoke seem to have more flair players than us these days. How I miss the likes of Cabaye and Ben Arfa.

Would be a bad move for him professionally (if not financially) because it would be another example of Chelsea signing a player because they need to remedy a striker shortage and they will only ever play him as a last resort before buying a big name in the Summer. If they do want him though, I am sure that is where he will end up.

Well this club has a history of buying players that managers do not want who then refuse to play them. It seemed to me that at times, Pardew deliberately set up players to fail just to prove a point and most if not all of them lost value as a result. It hasn't put the club off from continuing to buy the players they want rather than the manager.

One of the reports of the service yesterday mentioned that Keegan had sent a message or something.

Most of the other teams at the bottom can also claim they have put in decent performances as well from time to time - we just need wins now especially against our relegation rivals which has been a regular failing of ours in recent seasons. I think Sunderland could get out of it - they are used to this situation as is Allardyce. We don't have their mentality.

I thought Guthrie was fine as a squad player as cover for Cabaye. He could lose heart quite easily though and seemed a sulky kid.

Saw Andy Carroll had turned 27 this week so that should be the end to all those rumours.

I think some of the journalists had already written their stories on it to be honest. There were songs sung and booing at the end as well as abuse from about half the fans there, but nothing like the ferocity of the Leicester cup game last season imo. Most of the negativity was directed at the club in general for being s*** and Ashley, but there was an airing of "don't know what you're doing" aimed at McClaren just after he subbed Mbabu. The chanting really started about 20 minutes from the end, but was as half-hearted as the support had been beforehand imo. What really struck me most of all was the air of resignation to it all. Just my opinion, but it seems that apathy rather than anger is what has really kicked in for a large proportion of fans. But it's harder for Ryder/Douglas/Edwards to make as good a headline out of that. I agree with this and surprised that it has got the headlines it has. Goodness knows how McClaren would cope with the Stoke level of abuse that Pardew had.

So we want to buy a player that needs to adapt to the Premier League immediately to help us stay up so we plan to play him out of position. Mmm.

I agree - looked a very good player from what I saw. Naturally another team will now buy him though. We are supposed to very interested in one Oxford player so much so that their fans were only saying last week that they were expecting him to move to us. Can't remember which player though.

They leave it a week and if we have lost the next 2 games which is more than feasible then any potential interested players will be having second thoughts. I can't believe they were not ready to go on 1st January - well I can actually - but the longer they leave it this time, the harder it will become as we are not hovering above the relegation spots but on the verge of being cut off. I would have thought loans were their best option to give them a chance of signing better players - especially those that want to play at the Euros as they will have an incentive to do well. OK it may be wasted money from Ashley's point of view but it will be significantly cheaper than getting relegated. Unless they give a player a get out at the end of the season, I don't know why any quality player would sign for us. OK money - but then are they the ones that are going to be giving their all to save us from relegation.

Don't forget Pardew's opinion that it was down to class and education with them being middle class and us being a working class area. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/28/alan-pardew-newcastle-education-southampton

That was an amazing night in the away end despite the result.

You would hope it is not true but you never know with this lot and there were muttering about a 5 year extension kicking in at some point when he arrived. They never ever learn. They eventually admitted that Pardew had run his course here and it was an uneasy relationship at the end but they would not have sacked him because of the compensation so why would you tie yourself into another long-term deal. It just invites complacency because if the manager knows he won't be sacked where is the incentive for him to improve rather than just sit on his laurels. And also things get boring for players and fans alike - you need freshness and innovation every so often otherwise it all gets rather stale. And supposedly, if Ashley is true to his word - unlikely admittedly, and sells up on winning a trophy, why would you hand such a deal to the manager when a new owner might want their own man. I know managers continually bleat on about needing time to implement their ideas but really a 3 year contract is enough although I don't see why they can't all be on rolling one year contracts. If they are doing a good job, they have nothing to worry about but if they are not at least clubs are not tied to them because they cannot afford to sack them and the manager still gets a decent amount for failure.

Unless the deal was going ahead, I would expect us to deny it. Can't let other clubs know we have money to spend - they might ask for a bigger fee.

From the Chronicle's blog A full translation of the L’Equipe article is here: The offer was serious enough for Alexandre Lacazette to be notified of its existence. His response, unfortunately for Newcastle, was immediately negative. Lacazette has no intention of risking his chances of a place at EURO 2016 by moving clubs in the middle of the season and is particularly perturbed by Newcastle’s record with French players including Hatem Ben Arfa and Florian Thauvin. Ideally, Lacazette would like to join a club after the major tournament this summer that plays in the Champions’ League. Does that mean that a move for Lacazette to Newcastle this month is impossible? The answer is no. Newcastle will look at other targets in the coming days but have the financial capacity to make a bigger offer for Lacazette, a fee that is over the €30m mark.

This How depressing is it that you just made me excited that we could get Patrick Bamford in. Apparently Bournemouth are keen and sadly I think they are a better fit and a more attractive option than us.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle/14182970.Why_Mike_Ashley_s_transfer_policy_means_Newcastle_United_will_not_be_re_signing_Loic_Remy/? This article is saying that Ashley won't sanction loan deals unless there is the option to buy because it is wasted money. I think that is rather short-sighted - surely if there is an option to sign a good player on loan - maybe one who needs game time ahead of the Euros, it would potentially save the club millions in the long run. This club never seems to look at the bigger picture.

If there is any truth in the Lacazette bid, I wonder how long we will wait before moving onto other targets given that the player doesn't want to come here. However, I would expect that if Lyon indicate they are inclined to accept the bid then other clubs will get involved.