brummie

2-2 excellent goal from, errr, Ron Vlaar. This is the typical "don't care too much" match. Entertaining stuff.

Fantastic outbreak of goalmouth pinball for Wigan's second goal today. Lambert needs to sort our defence this summer. That is now 22 goals with no clean sheet.

Wigan 0 - Us 1. Darren Bent. It had to be.

Hmmm *shakes head disappointedly*

His mother was very ill at the time, and Ajax couldn't guarantee him regular time off to come back and see her, so he opted to stay in this country. He was a bit of a knob when he was with us by all accounts, but this is an example of him being surprisingly mature.

Who called him a negative long ball merchant? The fact is, on the evidence of the table at the moment, he's done worse than Pardew this year. And he's got a pretty decent squad, too.

There's nothing wrong with that. Time passes, records look different as a result. This time last year, I reckon I could find posts from most people on here rating Pardew way more than they do now.

Nor me. he looks to me like a manager who has reached the limit to his abilities everywhere he has been. Don't Fulham currently have 40 points and sit two places below Newcastle?

Too right. Apart from anything else, it is patently untrue. Available: http://cdn.memegenerator.net/images/300x/1752155.jpg

I never thought I could have less respect for Chelsea until this season and how they've treated Benitez. He's taken them to a European final and they're taking banners like that? What utter classless cunts.

Anyone waving an imaginary card needs to be shot in the face.

Having previously refused to give us more than 3k tickets for our game at Wigan next week, in case it was a relegation decider, Whelan has apparently already been on the blower this morning offering more. I've decided. I am quite glad Wigan have gone.

I wouldn't. Not because I don't think yours is stronger on paper - it is - but because they're players the manager chose, and has been working with, and probably will get decent results out of in future. On the other hand, there just seems to be a gigantic disconnect of some sort at Newcastle, between players and manager. There must be, I don't see how such a decent squad can perform so consistently badly. I saw someone on here the other day mention the amount of luck you had last season with your decent finish. I really don't buy that for a moment, you can't fluke enough over 38 games to get a finish like that, which just makes this season even more inexplicable. From the outside looking in, it must be a case of the manager not getting the results from the players, rather than the players not being up to it. I remember after the January window the consensus amongst every Villa fan I spoke to, or read on forums, was that you'd bought so well, and added to an already strong squad, that you were unquestionably not going to be in a relegation struggle. I still don't entirely understand how you managed to get yourself into it for so long, but whatever happened, it is much, much easier to change the manager to fix the problem rather than start selling off players who have had one bad season.

Is anyone else looking at that photo and finding it hard not to think "ooooh, polystyrene ceiling tiles, how vile"?

In fairness, that's a good point. You were lucky when you went down in that you shifted a load of utter dross, and managed to keep the nucleus of a good side, and therefore come back again.

It doesn't really mean anything. Like when you go on holiday in Europe and you see foreigners wearing t shirts with English slogans on that mean absolutely nothing.

The bottom half of the table has been insane this season. I just read that, should you not beat Arsenal, Stoke draw with Soton, Fulham not win at Swansea, Man City beat Norwich, and we beat Wigan this weekend, we will finish 11th. There are loads of utterly mental combinations of results you can throw together which are actually quite realistic, and lead to some very surprising league placings.

Have to say, I'd have him, he's a very promising player. Although I do have a problem with his face. He looks like a scrote.

Yep, said a while ago I would rather stick with Pardew than get that "boost" (didn't last long) signing an embarrassment of a manager. It is a dreadful signing. Even leaving aside his highly questionable politics, he is a league one mentalist.

Sunderland fans will be buoyant they are staying up, but somewhat less so when they think they're lumbered with that fascist nutjob for the next three years.

Maloney is a confidence player. Did ok for us at times, but then disappeared for months on end. He's bit like Wayne Routledge in that sense. Think he's the sort who just does better on a smaller stage, as he has at Wigan.

"Wigan have the FA Cup and memories you can't buy" Hmmm. Tell Chelsea and Man City that.

Wilshere with a horrible arm covered in tattoos. What the fuck is wrong with you young people?

On the bright side, how much more relaxed are you now than you were last week?