thenige

Glad we've not been linked with Ryan Fraser else some people on here would be apoplectic.

Think he's got better and hopefully him starting more often at the end of the season was a sign of Rafa trusting him and him following instructions a bit more. At worst he'll be a good squad option.

Ritchie and a bit of a soft vote for Dummett. Played more league games than anyone else, yes we know he has limitations but thought defensively he was solid and consistent throughout the season. Some of the other players who had a huge impact still had off days or other problems (Gayle and Hayden injuries, Shelvey the seemingly never ending will to do something to get sent off/banned/hated by everyone). Those other players mentioned may have had higher highs, but Dummett got about his job to a high level all season. Saying all of that, would be very surprised if he was our starting left-back next year.

Assume it was the same goal which won Championship goal of the month here - http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10615790/barnsleys-adam-armstrong-wins-championship-goal-of-the-month-for-september

Poor old Adam Campbell.

Played in a match a few years back on Clapham Common. One of the opposition got slightly exasperated with some of the referees decisions, his own performance and a few rough tackles, leaving him to eventually bellow at nobody in particularly "I earn more money than all of you!" at the top of his voice. Needless to say after that point, even his own teammates were calling him a w****r.

Agreed. Our current team would sink like a stone in the Premiership and the realistic aim would be survival. Rafa's smart enough to know that bringing in players who have played in England and are familar with the decision may be a wiser decision than signing potentially better players who may not adapt. Look at McClaren's signings - you'd argue none of Gini, Mitro, Mbemba and Thuavin settled into the side. Gini impressed occasionally but his inconsistency (and shameful away performances) didn't help at all. Mbemba was one of our better players at points, but looked completely lost in other games. Would rather we mix up the signings a little bit with experience and be competitive against the better teams looking at a mid-table finish.

Someone from my school took Beardsley and nufc to court over unfair treatment by him. Ross Gardner was his name. Anymore detail regarding the unfair treatment issues? Yeah Beardsley was cleared of any wrongdoing - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/2959232.stm

As highly rated as Burke was here, Leipzig has got some much better prospects than him. Their scouting/signing policy has been pretty exception so far. Keita, Werner, Selke, Forsberg and Klostermann all very highly rated and if we're after a CB, Orban has been very solid this season.

Not for the insane wages he'd be asking for. More likely to move somewhere like China etc I would have thought at this stage of his career.

Saw Danny Mills come out of Wembley Park station on his way to the England game yesterday. Nobody except me seemed to notice him at all. Still, he'll always have the 2002 World Cup.

Going by some of our previous full backs, yes Dummett's not great as an attacking threat but at least he can defend which is more than you can say about the like of Premier League winner Danny Simpson.

Surely nailed on to be Sports Direct no? Best way of making that look acceptable is by having a detestable company on it first so the assumption will be fans will shrug and say "at least it's not as bad as Wonga".

Nice touch that he reached over to give Murphy a quick good luck before he came on last night. Hopefully the penny will drop with him that he can't charge around like a bull in a china shop, and that if he gets a chance he needs to be clinical enough to take it. Don't think he should be written off just yet.

For him had a cracking game. For anyone else it was a 6/10 at best.

The Lynch one looked pretty bad but it's much easier to argue it was an accident than Shelvey's which was a blatant (and fucking stupid) kick out. Hopefully it's referenced in the referee's report and he can't get done retrospectively.

Looked a bit nervous to me, seems a bit short on confidence. Only tried relatively simple things and rarely looked to take on his man. Whether it's Rafa asking him to do so and play in a more structured way or just he's feeling his way back I'm not sure. Would imagine he'll drop down the pecking order when Atsu comes back either way.

So much for that theory then.

If he goes on loan to Watford, they can sell Pantilimon to Chelsea and Begovic can move to Bournemouth. Goalkeeper musical chairs.

Still only 19, scoring in the Championship. No reason to think he couldn't make it at the top level. The average age of a Premier League debutant has risen from around 21 to 23 in the last few years so it's not like he's behind schedule.

Don't really have too much of a problem with the selection today, credit to Oxford, they stayed in the game and took their chances when we were determined to waste ours. Biggest concern is we're still far from comfortable dealing with setpieces. That's got far more potential to fuck up our season than not having a cup run. Don't get me wrong, not making the next round is pretty jarring, but given our priorities this season the Hull loss on penalties probably hurt us more as we were much closer to making a final. Especially being ahead in extra-time. Concentrate on the league, use this loss as an extra excuse to bring some squad/first-team players in before the window closes and this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Saw him play well earlier this season against Arsenal at the Emirates. Caused them all sorts of problems with his pace. Swansea manager's have referred to him as 'raw' in the past and even on that performance where he played well would have to agree. Think there's more about Atsu personally.

Clearly never got over having that screamer disallowed against Man City. Ruined him.

Preferred him when he was Cack Jogback, at least then this thread would give me cause for a smile.

Never a pen for the second one. Come on Darlow!