Gallowgate Toon

I'm not having a go at you personally Gallowgate so apologies if it appears that way. But. Seriously what the f*** has Lua Lua done to justify being near the first team bar scoring against Blyth and a bunch of Northumbria Uni students? He looked horrendous against Reading. I'd rather give Haris a go, or try signing a right winger on loan. Lovenkrands even . I only really had him there to justify the formation of the midfield tbh. I think he's one for the future and he needs to be given more of a chance but in all honesty i couldn't think of anyone else to put there.

On the midfield debate, at home i would be tempted to go for a 4-3-3 when Barton, Guthrie and Smith are fit. Smith Barton Guthrie Lua Lua Jonas Ameobi At home i think that would be a great formation and if we were promoted i would try and keep it that way but i'd have a better quality striker leading the line (Shola is at his level now imo). The midfield above is perfect for the Championship as it has the pace, the creativity, the vision, the skill and the grit to win this league. I don't think it would look out of place in the Prem either, all 3 could at least play for a mid-table side especially Barton who has the ability to play in Europe imo.

Sounds like he did well today, maybe his selection in the Argie squad has boosted his confidence?

In the first ten minutes we played the ball on the deck and looked to have left off like we did against Reading, then for some reason we went far too route one and although Shola got a goal it was extremely unsuccesful for the rest of the time. We have a ball playing Midfield but we don't use them and it was infuriating to watch. Thought everyone but Ryan Taylor was ok (he's not a winger, couldn't skin anything if his life depended on it). Don't know why the subs were made so late on, we looked exhausted in the last 20 and the team have to play more games this season, so it's vital we keep them as fresh as possible. Overall it was tough, but we shot ourselves in the foot a bit by not playing to our strengths.

you mean either one of his simple passes to the wing that Guthrie does all the time too? He can do the simple stuff but he is also one of the very few players we have who has the vision to pick a pass that splits the opposition defence. Because he's been out of action so much we've not often seen him at his best. He was getting there under Keegan although playing out of position. You are obviously not convinced that Barton is the club's best player. So who is your nomination? A brilliant example of his vision and passing was when we played Liverpool, and he put Lovenkrands through one-on-one with a beautiful little dink pass, something Guthrie could only dream of doing.

Although he was hardly playing against the world's greatest strikers today, i think he deserves some praise. He finally showed something he has been so desperately lacking, confidence. He looked wobbly in the first 10 but after that he looked a classy centre half, snuffed out a lot of danger, won some headers, very comfortable on the ball, he wasn't ball watching either saw him sprinting flat out to make key blocks on a few occasions and he marshalled the offside trap well on a couple of occasions too (seemed much more vocal in general). Good on him for knuckling down and it was especially nice to see him celebrate with Shola for the second goal. There is a good player in there, and today he actually showed why he was highly rated in La Liga, more of the same please Colo.

Yeah he did for the second, ran the full length of the pitch and jumped on his back iirc.

Northumberland lass, IIRC. Peter Barrett's daughter.

Should be CM, or even playing behind a striker. Thought by his standards, he played an average match but still looked a lot better than anyone else out there.

Chris Hughton in his post-match said they thought he'd just got a kick and it was a bit bruised, said Barton was much happier when he saw him after the game.

For a 4-4-2 Jonas should just be on the right when Duff's playing, but if Kazenga plays i'd keep Jonas on the left because he does work well with Enrique and it's probably better for Colo to have those 2 near him etc. I don't think Jonas' best position is winger tbh, i think he'd be much more effective playing behind 2 strikers as his short passing is pretty good and he'd open up a lot of space for the strikers with his dribbling.

Looked to regain some of the lost confidence in the second half like he showed in the early stages of last season, which can only be a good thing for us. Don't know why everyone is saying he was so shit because he wasn't really, he looked dodgy in the first half granted but i thought he had a pretty good second half, winning a few in the air and put in some decent tackles.

Think we'll sneak a 1-1, just with a Barton pen in the last 10 mins or so. Barton is going to be key this season for me, because he is the only player out of this current bunch, who is truly below his station in the Championship. He may be a reckless idiot but he is a good footballer, and i can really see him running the show this season.

Ashley taking the cheap option again until he can sell it for real it would appear.

How does Alonso > Gerrard work like? Alonso has one great season (btw, thats not saying his others in England were ordinary) and suddenly he's worth £35m and on another level to Gerrard? I cant stand 'Stevie G' but he's a hell of a good footballer. He hasnt hit it off for England, but neither had Alonso with Spain until last year. This. Gerrard is a better player overall. Alonso reminds me of Juninho in a lot of ways, he has brilliant technique, but imo that doesn't make him a world class player, you need a bit more than that. For example I can't imagine Alonso ever doing what Gerrard did against Milan in the Champions League final, a good player no doubt, but not world class.

You were conned mate they give me it last week for £3.33a month lol. The bastards.

Tried to cancel with them the other day. The guy on the phone started giving me lower offers, until eventually i got it for £3.99 a month for the next 3 months, thought i might as well have kept it on for that price.

Rooney played his best football this season when he was straight upfront with Barbatov, he scored 10 goals in 10 games didn't he?

They are discussing how to move the club forward as well as Shearer's contract agreements. If they're putting something together, that would perhaps be a 3 year project, involving dealings with finances and staff etc, then it may take a couple of days to sort out. Setting out their blueprint will take a bit of time, which we don't have a lot of.

Would in a way make sense with the whole fresh start, but i think stability must be there.

2 factors to take into account here. 1. the £ is now weaker for offers from foreign clubs. 2. Inflation is huge, Zoggy £6 million and Milner £12, we could see higher fees than we anticipate tbh. What's this issue with prize money? It's hardly different, you don't get much money from the Prem unless you're in the top 10.

We'll need a couple of strikers, i want Xisco to stay and have his chance. However i would never, ever want 'Big Andy' leading the line next year, he's just the type that would mean we don't get promoted, he's never really shown much tbh bar a couple of goals. Horrible player that would basically symbolise everything i don't want us to become, cloggers.

The money is worth more than him tbh he's not exactly a world beater, just a solid performer, he can be easily replaced.

There's 2 players i really want to stay, one is Habib Beye the other Jose Enrique.

I just want it to be August now, i just want to know who we'll be shot of and who we'll be left with.