quayside

I think it was £350k for Barton when he joined us, so about 7% of the fee. Man City refused to pay it to him, so we did.

Unfortunately he had nothing to do with it, which says it all about the state of our club. Liverpool is all about Dalglish signing Carroll, Newcastle is all about Ashley selling Carroll. It still pisses me off that he came out to the fans and said Carroll wouldnt be going. Lying to the fans is asking for trouble. Iirc he said that he had been assured that Carroll was not leaving. He was only lying if he knew Carroll was going when he said that, I don't think he had a clue what was about to happen. Let's enter the real world now. Every player has his price, but a manager can't say 'He'll only leave if we get the right offer'. That would only fuel speculation. Of course - and £35m is, shall we say, a very full price for AC.

Unfortunately he had nothing to do with it, which says it all about the state of our club. Liverpool is all about Dalglish signing Carroll, Newcastle is all about Ashley selling Carroll. It still pisses me off that he came out to the fans and said Carroll wouldnt be going. Lying to the fans is asking for trouble. Iirc he said that he had been assured that Carroll was not leaving. He was only lying if he knew Carroll was going when he said that, I don't think he had a clue what was about to happen.

His transfer and the signings of Colo & Jonas have been the only slithers of ambition. Somewhere between 9 &10. Tiote deserves a mention.

And also maybe the big 75 fingers that Dalglish has waved at Carroll.

So you really think Hughton was sacked because he would have been able to stop that Carroll deal going throgh? Bollox tbh.

In no time at all Terry will be hanging out the back of it.

Purely as a squad player Aaron Hughes would have done us alright.

We've seen some weird characters over the years but this guy is barking. On the pitch he'll turn it on for us though, we're one of the few clubs that can accommodate and motivate him. Welcome my son.....

Xabi Alonso scoring from ten thousand yards out and Harper falling on his arse. Although there was also a time when Shay Given let in goals from long range with worrying frequency. There was even a thread on here about it iirc.

Can't remember the seat number but the view from the Leazes end seat that is very top right (ie same side as the East stand) is nothing short of iconic imho.

Yup - did well for us on the odd occasion he played dm.

I'd take him back. As a defender he's a proper unit, but I sort of get the impression he's a dressing room flare up waiting to happen.

The word is that Sky aren't interested in who leaked the clips, which says something.

I'd imagine there would be a constructive dismissal claim in there somewhere. A clever lawyer on a daft deal like £1m no win no fee deal will take SKY to task. I doubt it would be difficult for Andy Gray to prove others had done similar over twenty years at SKY yet at this moment in time SKY themselves are hanging him out to dry as those clips couldn't have came from anywhere else but SKY. Saying that I can't stand Gray so hope gets f*** all although the talentless c*** is likely rich enough to never need to lift a finger again. Gray was sacked so he can't claim constructive dismissal - he would have to claim for unfair dismissal, Keys resigned so he's got the potential to go for a constructive dismissal claim. But I've got a feeling that if it came to it Sky would pay out on both and still think it was all worth the effort.

My view is what he said is the sort of banter you hear all over and what's said behind doors normally stays behind doors - but there was a miked up camera around at the time. He should know better but thinks he's immune. The whole thing is taken to an even worse level because it is quite apparent from that clip that the others in the studio don't find him funny and think he's a cunt. It was beyond embarrassing.

What a load of rubbish.. Ok explain how in 5 days we will get someone guaranteed to do better for us, who that player will be and how much they will cost. As far as I am concerned if somebody is willing to pay good money for him I wouldn't pass on the opportunity to finally rid ourselves of him, even if that means risking a small step backwards in the short term. More arguments here: http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcforum/index.php/topic,68821.msg2761262.html#msg2761262 The rubbish remark was more to do with your 'part of the fabric' melodramatic nonsense. There was no intended melodrama in my comment, simply stating facts. Like it or not he's been here all his career and has played for Christ knows how many managers, all of them have had the opportunity to offload him and, apart from a brief loan spell at Stoke, none of them have. They all knew his limitations like the rest of us do, but they also knew he could do a job for us. Offloading him at this time of year would be madness unless we can find a replacement who can be guaranteed to do better and, given the few players on the market and the sort of money likely to be available, we won't.

So Bothroyd is proven at this level and guaranteed to be better?

What a load of rubbish.. Ok explain how in 5 days we will get someone guaranteed to do better for us, who that player will be and how much they will cost.

Forget selling him, the time to do that has gone. He's part of the fabric now and anyway we won't get anyone guaranteed to do better at this stage - Shola and us will live and die together.

The right pair of fresh legs coming on against a tired defence will always have a chance of making something happen. Getting substitutions right is an invaluable skill and AP should have brought Ranger on a bit earlier imo. I like Nile as a player but his inability to finish is a pain in the arse.

Shola gets all homesick when he's away from the north east. The poor lamb won't want to go as far afield as Birmingham.

That is true. Jonas has a great engine, wins free kicks, fully engages and occupies whatever the other team has lined up on their right hand side and gets the full attention of some of their other players as well. But he isn't a great crosser of the ball. And another 50 pages on here won't change that.

That is a fundamental question. And my answer is No.