Tsunami

James Perch in his car this morning - on the phone - naughty boy.

Saw Perch in his car at around 9.30 this morning coming off at The Great Park roundabout. He was on the phone; probably saying 'Get my lucky under keks out, I'm marking Rooney tomorrow'. He was in a bit of a rush.

I'd take issue with that. IMO both Ginola and Waddle were had better all round games and if you ask older folk they'll tell you that Shackleton was the best and when you look at his stats it's hard to disagree. Six on his debut and my dad often recalls being there when he sat on the ball on the touch line (I was there when Wharton also sat on the ball), he tells me he was an absolute genius.

My dad says Len White was fantastic and is right up there with the best. Surprised nobody has mentioned Hughie Gallagher. Not many will have seen him but he must have been quite something.

The question should be: How can they have no chips?

Aguero walks off at HT with a Newcastle shirt in his hands - Sammy's no doubt.

Played well today.

City were pretty comfortable today. That was partly down to us gifting them their 3 goals and fluffing the chances that came our way. We seemed a little overawed early on and gave away possession easily. It would have interesting if Ba had put us in front though I very much doubt that we'd have hung on. Hopefully we'll learn that we can compete and take that belief into next week's game.

Pardew needs to decide whether we are going to compete in midfield or not. If not then we play 2 up front and try to bypass central midfield. The obvious risk being that we don't get the ball and Yaya and Silva run riot with Tiote picking up an early booking. If we are going to compete in midfield and try to gain some kind of control through possession then we play 1 up front and attempt to stifle City and condense the game. HBA imo would be pivotal and runs beyond the City defense would be our main threat. Ba would basically have run himself into the ground for little reward. Of the 2 I feel we have more chance with the second option which should also provide extra cover in wide areas. Either way we are going to have to play exceptionally well to get anything.

Would have been a belter. Would love to see the game as it was televised. We went on Keith's Jumbo n stayed in that hotel next to the little train station. The shop next to it did a roaring trade in beer. Didn't go to Feyenoord as I thought we were out but the money saved helped pay for Milan and Barca (with Keith again n the carry on getting the flight and coaches changed). Fuck knows how we found the coach afterwards; it was hard enough to walk never mind trying to find the coaches.

St James' Nike; could be worse.

He's still kidding himself & has no chance until he stops that. There's no way he's not had a drink in 11 months not unless the lass at work who lives and drinks in Dunston has been seeing things. There's no doubt he's trying but he has a huge challenge & I simply don't think he has the mental toughness to do it. Shame.

We knew this was coming, we know he's an odious prick and he knows that any negative chanting will affect the on field performance & that the fans will not want to fuck that up. We need to support the team in whatever we do and grafitti any reference to SDA anywhere on SJP. This is likely to be plastered all over the place what price Shearer's becoming The Sports Direct Bar or some derivitive of it. Spoil it all. I should add that I in no way condone criminal damage.......

Sammy tweeted that his first game at SJP will also be his last.

Aspers

:whatdidido:Where the f*** is the Sports Direct Arena? What a pillock.

I hope everyone just draws a line under the last few pages and starts again on his upcoming performances and say it as it is. The scrutiny is ridiculous. Try asking yourself If A N Other player had done that, what would have been my opinion of it? He's doing ok, has a bit to go and if we're being honest Danny Gutherie has made the better come back so far (albeit they have different roles to play).

RTG showed their class again this afternoon. They were having a laugh about why Sammy had S Ameobi on his shirt and Shola just had Ameobi. The post turned to what it could stand for and one poster suggested it was S...o (think Jim Davidson/ a Stallone character). Only one poster in the next 30 mins or so complained. The post and reference to it have now been removed. Class. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't even a ban.

In the same way that we've been a touch fortunate to go 11 games unbeaten,yeah. You'll need to explain that to me as I'm struggling to compare the two unless you don't think he was fortunate and that you don't think we've had a touch of good fortune to remain unbeaten. If that is the case then you're a nailed on half full glass type of person. Sorry Tsunami, I generally like your posts but I really don't undrestand how you saw he was fortunate to get those free kicks. He's a player you cannot easily take the ball from. No problem. He protects the ball well, the 2 free kicks he got yday were both were he'd ran himself into a bit of trouble and was awarded what imo were softish free kicks. He's not as sharp as he will be which is the crux of him being caught in possession.

In the same way that we've been a touch fortunate to go 11 games unbeaten,yeah. You'll need to explain that to me as I'm struggling to compare the two unless you don't think he was fortunate and that you don't think we've had a touch of good fortune to remain unbeaten. If that is the case then you're a nailed on half full glass type of person.

He hasn't been any bother at all; you're right there. I said earlier that there may be a bit tension between him and Pardew; he clearly wants game time which is something Pardew can hopefully use in a positive way. I'm looking forward to the day when the lad plays without any self imposed pressure to shine. That's the day when we could tear someone apart.

I can't understand some of the criticism of CT's posts. I don't think he wants HBA to fail or be sold and if some can't see that HBA has been a bit guilty of hanging onto the ball and losing the ball then they need to get the blinkers off. He won a couple of free kicks yday but was a touch fortunate to get them. He's the most talented player we have, he needs easing into the team and unfortunately for him the way we are set up at the moment doesn't suit how he likes to play. Careful handling is needed. It has been rightly said that Sammy came on in front of HBA as HBA could have left us a bit exposed. From what I've seen he's a No 10 and unless you are prepared to let him do his thing then you may not be able to play him. The fact that he can be difficult just adds to the mix. Don't get me wrong, I think he's fantastic; I was at Goodison when we all saw what he could do and stood almost in disbelief when he put that goal in. This thread is making him a bit like marmite. I don't see that at all, we have a fantastic talent recovering from serious injury at a new club. Let's see how things have gone come the end of the season and by then we'll have a much better idea of what we have on our hands and what Pardew really does think of him.

Woodgate was different class. Colo is doing superbly well but not many CB's would fare favourably against a fit Woodgate in his time at Newcastle.

Except pardew said he was great and did exactly what he told him to do which makes your argument null He did generally keep hold of the ball too long. Pardew isn't going to say he did poorly. The lad needs careful man management, he is still a long way from being ready for regular starts and he looks extremely frustrated to me. He was warming up, looking at Pardew, with Pardew seemingly deliberately looking away from him. May just be me but I get the feeling that there is tension between the two.

The lad has hardly played in the last 2 years. He did as well as could be expected. We got 3 points with a midfield pairing that has hardly played for months on end. Job done.