Wallace

I think they may have a harder time attracting those players who want to use us as a platform to prove themselves before moving on to bigger clubs. To do that you need a decent team to play in not one that is going to constantly struggle against relegation. We had a good reputation when Cabaye was here because of his success - I think that is in tatters now and that has been the club's own doing.

Had that argument with someone recently whose attitude was to stick with the status quo because "it could be worse" whereas I was arguing "but it could be better" and if we don't try we will never know. Then the old Portsmouth and Leeds comparisons come up even though they are totally different situations - and those clubs still exist. So frustrating.

That's the trouble. I know some (older) people whose only source for NUFC news is the Chronicle and Radio Newcastle as they do not have internet access.

I wonder for how long the narrative of every Palace victory will be "Are Newcastle fans regretting hounding out such a good manager"!!!! This time last year the media were so enraged by the head butt incident that they were advocating his sacking. Conveniently forgotten now. Also sometimes managers just fit certain clubs - maybe Pardew and Palace fit in a way that he never did with us.

What could be interesting is that McLaren is supposed to be a friend of Carr whereas the relationship between Carr and Pardew was a problem. I wonder if that would mean that McLaren's opinions on the team and its requirements would be heeded in contrast to Pardew who they just seemed to ignore.

is ashley working on some f***ing armageddon calendar or something? seems to be waiting until the world ends in the summer before bothering to do anything I was clinging to some faint hope that maybe he was planning on selling in the Summer because they seem to be putting everything off until then and at the pace our lot work at, I would question if that was a good idea.

In Montenegro v Russia Igor Akinfeev the russia keeper has been knocked out by a flare

Isn't he injured?

its £65k over the course of the loan for all 5, each one is on around £1k a week, apparently. Rangers are paying £1k a week but we are still paying some of their wages.

The buses usually come back over the Redheugh Bridge. Last year was the first I can remember them taking the longer route.

So it would seem to be the club's policy, that if one of our players develops a non-related football illness, is to get them off the wage bill and let them become someone else's problem. Sending a player out on loan when you are aware he is suffering from illness and neglecting to inform the club he is going to is poor. Although this should have been picked up on a medical but but no doubt the absence of such was down to Llambias doing a favour for his mate. And they claimed that Ashley had no influence at Rangers.

Supposedly. I read that Lyon were willing to do business with us and negotiate on the price (£15m -> £12m) but we offered a much lower fee with our usual take it or leave it approach. Another example of where we are so rigid with our valuations that we end up losing out on a player whose price increases very quickly afterwards. Whether the player wanted to come is another matter.

Does that absolve him of blame? no I have always believed it was the board's decision as Pardew didn't have any say on which players were bought or sold. However, the fact that Jonas is also angry with Pardew implies that he believes Pardew was also involved. It does seem as if Pardew was not exactly sympathetic to his situation which probably makes it even more galling to him when Pardew made such a big thing of his return to the club.

We are such a heartless club these days.

The 8 year contracts for the coaching staff were always a ridiculous idea regardless of the personnel involved. Ferguson regularly changed his coaches - you need new ideas and a freshness to the coaching even if the manager stays in place. To plan to keep such a small number of coaches and a manager together for 8 years meant that inevitably thing things would go stale and the team would become very predictable. It shows a total lack of football knowledge.

Need to remind them how well Carroll and Enrique turned out for them so might be a good idea to give Janmaat a miss.

The one thing that is not tolerated is any implied criticism of Ashley and headlines saying that Ashley admits he got it wrong will not go down well.

Only reason it won't be more is because they will stop trying after 4 or 5. Other clubs might - not so sure Arsenal will. I don't think Arsenal

It is ridiculous how the "board" have mismanaged the squad and how they do not learn from past mistakes. They have got themselves into a situation where the players they buy in the Summer have to hit the ground running otherwise we will be in serious trouble. They cannot afford to get rid of Cisse until they know that the new strikers have settled and can score goals in this league but I would not surprised to see them say they had to sell him to be able to afford his replacement. If we get a couple of new defenders in - will they need a year like Colo to adjust or will they be bombed out without being given a chance like MYM? The squad needs a complete overhaul in key areas rather than tweaking so they have to get it right and make sure that they do not allow themselves to get into a situation like this again. No doubt we will be hearing when we struggle next season that the problem is we bought too many players and it took too long for them to settle. But we are in a situation where we have to buy so many players because they have run the squad into the ground and not like other clubs who suddenly decide to splash the cash. If they keep buying average players, they are just going to be here for the duration of their contract and leave on a free because no-one else wants to buy them and so we will keep getting this mass exodus every Summer.. However, I guess saving a few thousand to make the balance sheet look good will always be more important that trying to earn that revenue through a higher league position.

I expect that Carver is one of their "insiders" who provides them with some insight into what is going on behind the scenes. Not sure about Ryder but I don't think the other journalists are pro Carver getting the job but they are not going to write too negatively of someone they probably know quite well and who feeds them information.

Our lot sang about him non-stop on Sunday so he will get relentless abuse in the derby whether he is playing or not.

I am sure I heard that the FA no longer extend bans for frivolous appeals.

Its pretty obvious that they dont pay a penny for them though. Why else have they not been sent back if they arent going to play? I had assumed that we were paying their wages but then read that Rangers were (which would be ridiculous as there is no way they can afford them) but Ashley's loan was helping them to do that. I guess the truth will come out in due course once the new board gets to grips with things.

Louise Taylor saying that McLaren is their number one choice to take over in the Summer. I wonder if he will end up with a choice between us and the Mackems in which case, he is more likely to go there - better working conditions and they will probably pay him loads more. We will step aside and refuse to get into a bidding war.

I wonder if we knew they would be out for the rest of the season and just did this to get them off the wage bill. It seems really dodgy.