oldtype

nah

Like I mentioned in the match thread, there's no overall gameplan that the entire team adheres to. He just allows each individual player play to their strengths, which works sometimes, but overall makes the team look terribly disorganized. Stoke is an extreme case, but Hughton needs to decide what our defining shape is and have players adapt their styles to it to a degree. We had far superior players today but they weren't working as a unit.

Tiote did lose the ball in awkward positions a couple of times today, mistakes Smith would have been crucified for. I'm starting to see some of the pluses and minuses in his game. (Still an infinitely superior player to Smith though, goes without saying.)

I'm not a fan, but certainly can't argue that he deserves a crack at it now.

just soldified his pariah status unfortunately. Don't see him lasting here.

Taking Tiote off instead of Nolan was terrible, terrible, terrible. Hope he learns, and I hope this wasn't evidence of the "player power" accusations that people have been throwing his way for a while now.

I've made up my mind now. Drop Nolan and drop the bastardized 4-5-1 formation designed to accommodate him.

They're just better organized. They know what they do best and every part of their gameplan is designed to maximize their relative advantage. Ultimately we need to establish an overall shape that goes beyond "have all the lads do what they do best." In portions we're playing short, passing football, then that inexplicably segues into a long ball up to Carroll. Ben Arfa is doing whatever he does alone, ditto Tiote. It's like two different groups of five-a-side playing together. The whole operation just seems desperately unfocused. We had the far superior players but we didn't have a system that exploits their strengths. It's time to go find one now.

I hate football.

Shearer's not so bad it turns out. My local commentator thinks that Ben Arfa's first name is Ben and last name is Arfa.

Jones up front alone is going to pose no threat to us. They're set up to stifle us basically, playing all hands on deck as if we're Man Utd or something. "Relegation rivals" my ass. We're so much better than these.

The present and future stars of Korean football playing on the same pitch. First time two Koreans have played in the same Premiership match since ManU:Tottenham in 2006/2007 or so I think.

Completely pointless I know, but South Korea has just won the U-17 Women's World Cup. Just utterly confused by the concept of us winning anything in football.

I'm sure plenty of foreign posters on here can attest to how easy it is to pick up English/Geordie vocabulary just by posting on the same goddamn Internet message board as you lot.

That corner was probably the best one we've had this season, it was brilliant and unexpected. Because he put it in with his right foot. He's right footed, plays on the left and therefore crosses almost entirely with his left foot. Not saying he'd make a great right winger, but I'd play him on the right or not at all. Nah, he's much more dangerous cutting inside than he is hugging the byline and making crosses. I recall Kinnear moving him around from left to right quite a few times in that first season, and we came to the collective conclusion that he should play on the left or not at all.

Newcastle fans being picky about cup wins is a bit like debating the relative merits of evian v. Perrier in the middle of the Sahara.

I'll be the first deluded idiot to say it: we could win the cup!

Just be ready to roll with the punches when we lose 1-0 to a 90th minute Robert Huth header on Sunday.

So far under his management the club has given me more good memories than all the other manager's I've experienced combined.

As far as I'm concerned he is second choice left-back starting now.

We are so obviously going to lose this, by the way.

The most completely ridiculous 90 minutes of football I've experienced in my lifetime.

Is it just me or is Jonas playing left back? Can't even fathom what our formation is supposed to be right now. Not that I care, mind.

Benayoun keels over and they have no subs left

Kalou's pulled something.