PRL

DO NOT walk from Hammersmith – it’s miles! The tube is open to Putney Bridge which is all you need to get to the ground. Surprised to hear so many people talk so highly of the game to be honest, was my least favourite away game last year but that’s probably due to the awful football we played and the fact it was the only game I took the missus to; safe to say she did not enjoy being ‘out in the cold in the winter’. Still, I’m looking forward to the game nonetheless, being that I have recently moved to Fulham so it’s not exactly far to go! What pub do people normally opt for? I know there are loads around the area…

Totally agree with this. Had enough of taking Top 4 rejects and them not working out – too many English players at the top 4 clubs are made to look good by those around them (I think this even applies to some of the top 4’s supposed big English players with Gerrard flattered by the work of Alonso / Mascherano, Terry by Carvalho and Carragher by Agger – all have been exposed to a degree when these players are missing, not that I would say no to having any of them!). I think if you look at Brown and who he plays with – Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, he can get away with a lot as others will cover for him and as stated earlier the ball spends a lot less time in Man Utd’s half than it does in ours. I don’t think another defender is the answer in January, give our lot some time. Remember how long it took Vidic and Evra to adapt to the premiership and how much grief they got in their first (half) season’s? Hopefully (optimistic I know) the same will apply, to an extent, with Roz and Enrique. Both have had promising moments and some dodgy moments, but we need to give them time, they both clearly have the potential to be decent.

Metro and the likes down London have been pretty complimentary today. Most football press seems to be actually. Who cares though!? Will all change at the drop of a hat, hopefully they'll move back to Spurs if they have a shocker at the weekend.

heh, my comment at the beginning of 'good job you weren't playing warren, otherwise we'd have taken a hiding' was supposed to imply that ;-)

Just on 'You're on Sky Sports' proving i'm definitely not from Newcastle! Dad's a Geordie and been at st james / away games since i was 6 or 7 so reckon i can just about claim honourary status. Fuck me, those fan lines ain't fun, thought i could give a load of banter but panicked, just gave warren barton a bit of grief then talked shit for 3 minutes. Apologies

why can't andy gray ever admit when he's wrong. He called Martins offside, fucking obvious he was a mile on before the replay, but even then it's 'touch and go'. Is it bollocks. It's onside. Then when he sees the replay of Arsenal's goal and they put a fucking line across the pitch showing that Adebayor is offside he pipes up with 'he may have been offside'. Cockmuncher.

I'm not proclaiming him the second coming or trying to justify his behaviour but i think it's perfectly fair to maintain there were mitigating circumstances. None of us will ever know the ins and outs and maybe i'm wrong but i just think when you look at where he's come from (look at his brother for example!) he could have done a lot worse - it's just that he's a football player and everything he does is under the microscope. And on the playing front, I guess I'm mainly going off the recent times he's played against us for city where he has always ran the show and made our midfield look very ordinary (which in fairness it often was)

Please explain how our fans have made us unsuccessful. Give us a run through of the players we've hounded out who would have brought us trophies? Our lack of success has been down to an awful board (80s, majority of 00s), awful managerial appointments (everything post-Keegan bar Bobby) and the team / manager choking (Keegan era). The only thing that could be pinned on the fans there is putting pressure on the team under Keegan, but what fans wouldn't have expected the title from that situation? It's only now we seem to have the makings of a solid board / manager / team combo. The people you have listed as allowed to 'take the piss' weren't treated in any way as heroes - Shepherd and Douglas Hall are pretty much universally hated and although I personally still rate Bellamy as a player he was shipped out as was Dyer. As for the 'recent' cigar incident - it was 2004 when the guy was 22, it was stoopid but he was just a lad and made a mistake when he was drunk. He's got a temper, he acknowledges that but more often than not he uses it in a positive way (i include the Dabo incident in that as if I had to play with such a shower of s*** week in week out who didn't give two fucks about the club i'd want to give him a damn good hiding too). We like Barton as he seems pretty honest - whenever he's screwed up he's put his hands up and admitted it and he has been willing to do things such as go to counselling to try and sort himself out. He's come from a pretty tough childhood so hasn't had the best upbringing and so has a tendency to get in trouble but if he can cut that out there is no arguing he's a damn fine player - one i was very pleased to see us sign

Great quotes from Martins in the paper this morning, feels like everyone is positive at the minute, hope we carry it on against Reading: "I'm very happy and settled at Newcastle, I don't take any notice of the stories saying I'll leave," Martins said in the Daily Express. "And if Sam Allardyce is here for five years I will be here for five years as well. "That is how much I enjoy playing for him. I don't think I'll be going anywhere while Sam is here. "I'm scoring goals and I'm playing games, that's all you can ask for as a striker." "It wasn't that easy when I first came to Newcastle and it took me a few months to learn about the Premier League, about England and living in Newcastle. "I had to adapt to the style of football and it took me some time, but I'm very happy here."

(meant to post this in the preferred striking options yesterday but forgot, so thought I’d stick it in here) Gotta say Owen & Martins deserve a chance together. I disagree they are too similar, everyone says that based on size but they are totally different players. Martins is so strong and gets so high he can outjump someone far taller and is also just a big ball of muscle. I know he wasn’t so good at holding it up on his own last season but then he didn’t have Owen as an outlet. Also, he scored his fair share of headers and long range bullets last year, whilst Owen tends to get behind the defence and also be in the right place at the right time. Martins, despite his pace, rarely made similar runs to Owen and whilst it hindered him last season it could be beneficial this year. After all, what combination scored our winner against Wigan – Martins cross, Owen goal. They deserve a chance, especially in games such as tonight, where they have everything needed to tear Derby apart.