Consortium of one

Barton was class today

And get who in? Right now, beggars can't be choosers and I can't see us investing in a player with as much of a range of passing and creativity, which we'll be bereft of if we ditch him. I hear you but what if he gets crocked again or gets a few suspensions or gets on the wrong side of Pardew? Joey doesn't have much of a track record of continuous play since he's been here, has he? Can we count on him to be a consistent presence in the starting eleven.

He's certainly been our best midfielder but he's still a ticking time bomb and what happens if he doesn't want to play for Pardew? If I could get 5M for him and clear his wages off the bill, I'd have to strongly consider it.

ALAN F***KING PARDEW

Pardew. **** me.

/Mike Ashley picks up telephone and calls Alan Pardew "Alan, yeah we dumped Hughton and I'd like too..." /Derek Lambass sticks head in Ashley's door "sssss, sssss...Ajax and Jol just parted ways." /Ashley picks up piece of paper and crinkles it near the phone "Alan? Alan? It seems we have a poor connection. I'll call you back. Promise! "Derek, get me Martin Jol!

Mikey dumped him so he wouldn't have to get a gift?

This decision is a freaking joke. I genuinely like Hughton and thought he has done a pretty good job. Are there better managers? Of course. However, he took the mess that got relegated and brought them back up. He's worked with a squad that is littered with deadwood, gotten some good results and some poor ones too, but all in all has gotten as much out of the sqad as anyone could have expected this far into the campaign. Fine, you want someone better or you don't want to pay him a fair wage. If you want to replace him, wait until the season is over or at least in peril, if it ever got that far. You can't jeopardize the season with a move like this. Didn't Ashley learn anything?

Barton had some brilliant crosses but I wonder if he could keep doing it. If he's marked tighter can he skin his man and still be able to deliver? Jonas looks to be the only guy who is comfortable with the ball at his feet for an extended period of time. I agree he hasn't shown a lot of end product but he does typically draw 1, 2 or 3 men into his area. Even if he lays the ball back off to Enrique, Enrique can deliver a cross or play it on the deck to the middle. We had no answer for Obinna early in the game and it looked like he was going to kill us. Barton and Simpson looked unable to handle him. And then, suddenly, it was like he was gone. I couldn't tell if we defended him better or West Ham got away from using him. Once Obinna was taken out of the equation, Williamson and Colo looked much better. That combo is limited, though, and I think if we are to progress, they have to be upgraded. Coloccini brings a lot to the table and he looks much more comfortable than he did a couple of years ago but he plays too small, IMO. I was real disappointed in the way Shola played. He just looked like he was always a step slow or a step behind everyone else. When we play with two forwards, we have nothing to pair with Carroll. Maybe Shola and/or Loven need a few more runouts before they get crossed off (again)

Perch was horrible, Loven, Guthrie and Barton were pretty much invisible. The attack was unbalanced with everything going down the left flank. No one on the right side presented themselves as an option.

With everything I've read and heard about the clubs lack of pace before HBA was fit it is really curious and disappointing that Hughton is digging his heals in on Nolan. I swear, if he'd just give a midfield of Tiote, Barton, Jonas, Routledge and HBA a continued runout, he'd never look back.

Dont agree at all with the Tiote part, however Im with you on the HBA and Jonas part. I think taking Tiote was a mistake since we had no one to play in that position. If he was to be taken off than Smith had to go in. We needed someone who could win possesion and just pass it fast. Nolan didn't contribute except a goal. Yeah, not having a ready replacement for Tiote is a good point. I guess Smith could have gone in with instructions to win the ball and hoof it forward. That still might have been better than giving the ball away in the midfield though. I'm not knocking Tiote mind you, just think he's going to need some games to get up to speed. He didn't know the opposition or his teammates well enough to adjust to the way they closed him down in the 2nd half, that's all.

I thought Tiote needed to come off. He was starting to give away possession too easily. He was making nice passes in the first half but started feeling the heat after the half when they closed him down more. He needs more time to acclimate to the Premiership, IMO. I got the impression that Hughton felt obligated to bring in Jonas to play in his normal position. The move that Hughton has to make, and it's one that has already been discussed, is he needs to get Jonas and HBA on the pitch together. Playing Jonas on the left wing with HBA in the hole behind Carroll is the way to go. Jonas and HBA can really disrupt a defense. They can bend it about and play off each other. They can take pressure off of Routledge so he can cross to Carroll or cut inside. Enrique can cross from the left. They can also overlap on Carroll and be counter targets for Barton and Tiote from deeper positions. With those two running around the attack can strike from left, right or middle, in the air or on the deck and that would make them very difficult to defend. It would also allow the club to target specific areas of weakness of their opponent and punish them.

I'm looking forward to actually watching a game on my TV.

Quite happy. Would like to have seen an experienced FC come in to back up Carroll. Tiote will hopefully give us some teeth as a ball winning CM. Also would have liked to have gooten a good deputy for Enrique. Still, there is overall good depth and the midfielders all bring something different to the table which could give Hughton flexibility.

To secure loans at the rate of 14.25% and rising to 16.25% smacks of desperation, IMO. Either the Glazer's thought they could pay down the debt quickly or they knew that the house of cards had to eventually fall. The only other reason to secure a loan at those rates is if they were getting something from the hedge funds off the books.

I like him and would like to see him stay but not at 60k/week. I'd hope to get at least 4M for him.

Was happy to follow on gamecast but this kind of win could get us more games in the states. Great freakin' win.

1-1 Our #9 scores a header off an Enrique cross before the half and Rooney equalizes after.

---------------------Given---------------------- R Taylor-- Bramble--Rozehnal--Lough Pancrate--Gonzalez--Nolan--Pancrate ------------Smith---------Viduka---------- Bench: Perch

Not true. When Hughton took over for Keegan, Xisco started all three games of his tenure as temporary manager-- losses to Hull, Blackburn, and West Ham. Also started a cup game against Tottenham. Then Kinnear was appointed....and Xisco never started again. Came on late a couple of times. That's the way I remember it. I also remember Kinnear going off on Xisco in the press for failing to work hard to get to the far post in a training session, IIRC. Then JFK buried him.

If PSG knock back a bid of 5.5M then Ashley @ Co. should bid 4.9M and see what they say

Barry Moat still calls me every other week or so to make sure I'm still interested in throwing in with him to buy the club. I still can't understand most of what he says. Man, he just talks so fast. I haven't the heart to tell him I've spent most of the money I raised to buy the club, though. He still thinks I'm some big money American.

Putting a pacey guy into the center of the pitch could be a big boost for Jonas.

This. A guy like that can be like cancer to a team. Once a quitter, always a quitter. Not the Keegan argument again. I'm not Keegan so it's not his argument. It's pretty simple, if you don't have enough pride to do your job well, despite the circumstances, then you have to go someplace else. If you quit or dog in front of your teammates and you know and they know it how is anyone gonna know if you're going to do it again? I'm all for second, thrid and fourth chances even but when you just quit because you aren't getting your way, it's a hard habit to break and it effects everyone else around you. Better to move on