oldtype

I would pay a hundred quid a year for this. ...hell, I'd pay two. Or three. Maybe even four...

We stood on the brink of complete implosion. After the relegation, it would have been very easy (and typical) for us to fall apart as a team and flounder in mid table. Many, many long-time Premiership clubs have failed to make the expected quick return and have disappeared into the Football League over the past few years. We have every right to be proud of coming back at first time of asking. (Assuming that it actually happens, of course)

With our luck, I fully expect Ashley to bring in an unknown Uruguayan center-back on emergency loan tomorrow and Hughton to get so offended by it that he walks.

In all honesty.... Probably not.

Don't agree, tbh. We only looked liked scoring when we went 2-1 because they started dropping back. I think bringing on a DM for a striker was the correct move at that time, it's just a shame that the DM we had available was Nicky Butt.

Some people just don't like Hughton and nothing will ever change that. IMO it's got everything to do with the preconception that he's not a "proper" manager (and perhaps some sort of resentment/distrust towards him for appearing to be an Ashley apologist) and nothing to do with what happens on the pitch. No matter what happens in the match, reality will be altered and interpreted to match what they perceive as be the truth.

OEWYREYRW)EUR#@($*)@#(*$)@#$ YEEEESSS FUCK YOU BORO

To be fair we were always going to struggle with that defense we've got out there.

Surely we just bring on Best at this point and go for it the best we can?

I'm guessing the Chris Hughton thread is going to be busy tonight...

It's funny to see my uncanny ability to have all my injuries concentrated on one position on FM carry on to real life, by the way.

Colo off [kneejerk]there goes our season?[/kneejerk]

Playing a decent side away so being on the kosh for a bit is expected. Hopefully we'll play better second half as we usually do. Great shifts as usual from Lovenkrands, Jonas, and Guthrie. A bit poor from the rest.

Guthrie's movement looks positively Gerrard-esque

Depends on how you look at it I suppose. I don't think taking us to eight points clear with a game in hand at the top of the table was particularly easy either considering the shambles we were in pre-season. Forgive me if I'm wrong but weren't you one of the people saying that we could be facing consecutive relegations? And I wasn't saying that Hughton was a better caretaker, just that both were so horrible that there's really no point in comparing.

Do I? Well yes, I think he's a better manager. You're having a laugh with the part in bold though aren't you? Why? What's wrong with it?

I'm really looking forward to seeing Barton play at all to be honest. Not sure if he'll ever be an important player for us again. His fitness record since joining us makes Michael Owen look like lazarus.

Ronaldo, you seem to rate Nigel Pearson a lot more than you rate Hughton, why is that the case considering that Pearson's record as NUFC caretaker is as bad as or perhaps even worse than Hughton's, not to mention the fact that Hughton has a far, far superior record in the CCC?

One striker and one central midfielder are non-negotiable, as I don't think any of our players playing those positions are going to be able to make the step up comfortably. Cost permitting, I'd love us to really go for broke and spend the majority of the transfer budget on the best striker we can get. (I actually wouldn't be surprised if Hughton's thinking the same thing... What with the vacant No. 9 shirt and all. We could probably use another right back and another winger to provide competition and add a bit of depth, but otherwise I'm willing to keep the nucleus of the current team. One 15-goal striker and one decent Premiership CM and we're sitting pretty at 11th~15th imo.

There's no appreciable difference between 8th and 17th place, and we certainly haven't got a popsicle's chance in hell of making 7th, so yes the goal is no more than to stay up. And I think we can do it

Apparently, with the passing of the late Keith Alexander, Hughton is now one of only two black managers in the football league. So.. umm... Black power!

I don't know if Hughton is good enough for the Premiership or not, but one thing that I can't disagree with is the idea that he's improving. How refreshing is it to see a manager who seems to learn from his mistakes instead of pig-headedly insisting on picking the same names in the same shape every match? A blinkered insistence on ideas that just don't work has been the downfall for many of our former managers, such as Souness and Allardyce. There's something to be said for having a new guy with a fresh outlook on things instead of some "proper manager" who'll stick to his guns until it all comes crashing down.

We should just rest him for as long as he needs to be 100% fit. Can't risk a long term injury, and the prospect of Kadar coming into the team for a couple games doesn't exactly fill me with dread. My God, this is such a wierd feeling... We have squad depth

This is classic N-O. We just won 6-1 but why be happy when you can start up another boring Ashley argument instead!

I am honestly starting to have doubts about whether I really want us to go back to the Prem or not.