QBG

Meh. Thought we were ok defensively in the large part. Massively missed Enrique and Nolan, could do with some depth in January. Perch fails at basic full back play, happy to see some more winnable games on the horizon. Krul 6 - Didn't do much wrong, cracking save in the first half. Simpson 5 - Did ok apart from getting beat by Bale. Coloccini 6 - Solid Taylor 6 - See above Perch 3 - Liability. First doesn't close down Lennon for their 1st and almost gives away another being sucked in by Crouch and forgetting about Lennon Routledge 4 - Offered fuck all. Smith 6 - Decent enough. Barton 5 - Competitive but very poor day in terms of delivery. Tiote 7 - Man of the Match. Loved him sitting down Palacios, just wish he'd scored. Jonas 4 - See Routledge. Carroll 5 - Did what he could with no service. Ranger 5 - Made no impression. Lovenkrands 4 - What the fuck kind of first touch was that? Should have been 1-1 ended up 2-0 down.

They're playing Man U tbf.

Good value for 0-0. Loved Tiote throwing Palacios to the ground and what a save by Krul.

Aye good effort, top teams get that luck sometimes, just not our day.

Doesn't look like our day, but I feel more confident when we're attacking the gallowgate.

Can see what he's going for if that is the line up. Obviously seen Nolan's ability to link play with the midfield. Tiote is good all round especially in possession, Smith will likely sit and try and murder anyone coming forward. Playing 2 more sort of holding midfielders I would guess that he wants to give the full backs more freedom to roam and link up with the wingers. It puts alot of pressure on Tiote and Smith if that is the case but it could in theory work if we can get the service into Carroll.

Based purely on the very good season he had with the Fulham, sub in Murphy if you like. And just because shearer did it, doesn't mean Ben Arfa will. Players like him are easily found in the premiership? At 1.5M i don't think so. Cahill, Duff, Parker, Nolan, N'zogbia there are loads of them, average players that have a little bit of extra quality that help mid-table or strugglins sides. £1.5m would only be just under valuation imo given Barton's reputation and past problems. If it wasn't for his reputation he'd command £4-5m. The injury argument works both ways but you failed to acknowledge that, your being overdramatic and and reading too much into a story that is probably bollocks anyway. I'll have a pint of what you're drinking, thank you very much. Barton has made the difference in almost every game he's played for us this season and has dominated midfields against supposedly better players week in, week out. His set pieces have been spot on and he's showing the class that we as fans have known he's always had but rarely shows. In the topsy turvy world of English player transfers, anything less than £15m would be a massive insult. He's the sort of player that, on his day, could be the difference between us staying up or getting dragged into a relegation dogfight. Duff was terrible for us, bar a few games. N'Zogbia didn't learn how to get past the first man or get a cross past the first man during his time at the club. Parker has been very good this season but he hasn't got or has ever had the composure of, say, Tiote and that it's always been the downside to his game. Cahill, average? He'd walk into most teams in the Premiership. He's far from average. In fact, if we could persuade him to move here we'd have one of the better midfields in the league (Barton, Tiote, Cahill and Jonas are the things that dreams are made of*). * at least the ones that don't involve Cheryl Cole, group sex and plenty of chocolate body paint. £15m are you shitting me? I'm not denying the difference he has made but there is no way given his injury and disciplinary record that any team would pay £15m for Joey Barton.

Sky Sports.com understands that Newcastle are willing to listen to offers of £1.5m for Joey Barton. That's the jist of it. It's bollocks basically.

And just because shearer did it, doesn't mean Ben Arfa will. Players like him are easily found in the premiership? At 1.5M i don't think so. Cahill, Duff, Parker, Nolan, N'zogbia there are loads of them, average players that have a little bit of extra quality that help mid-table or strugglins sides. £1.5m would only be just under valuation imo given Barton's reputation and past problems. If it wasn't for his reputation he'd command £4-5m. The injury argument works both ways but you failed to acknowledge that, your being overdramatic and and reading too much into a story that is probably bollocks anyway.

Tbf to neesy he's talking absolute bollocks. Barton has made a difference this year, but players like him in the Premiership are easily found, I wouldn't want to sell him obviously, not this season anyway. If we sold him January AND replaced him I wouldn't be too upset. Secondly, the argument that players who suffer serious injuries never come back the same is a flawed one. Broken bones normally heal quite well and in many cases come back stronger. A serious injury is a test of a player's mental strength, we saw Shearer suffer an injury that has ended careers and he adapted his game to stay at the top. Just because Eduardo is s*** now doesn't mean Ben Arfa will be.

Jonas

Aye does look like Carroll has had a trim.

http://plixi.com/p/64006526 Danny Simpson and Tiote

Going for my first pre-match thread. Lets have these c***s, for Hatem! -------------------------------------------- TRAVELLING INFORMATION: Arriva - Service suspended Go North East - Limited service 1000-1800, some provided with financial assistance from Nexus. VIEW TIMETABLES Metro - Metro services will operate a Sunday timetable between 10am and 7.30pm, with additional services before and after the scheduled 3pm kickoff time. Other Info - Bus services to and from the city centre will run between 9am and 7pm to a reduced timetable, while the Shields Ferry is operating a normal Sunday service. In addition, special match buses will run to and from the game as follows: There will be a return coach service from Northumberland to Newcastle with stops in Newbiggin, Ashington and Morpeth. The first bus will leave at 11.50am and will run until 1.20pm. Return journeys will leave the city from 5.20pm to 5.35pm. Altoonative Travel has also secured a return service from Blyth, stopping at Bedlington and Cramlington before arriving in Newcastle. This will also start at 11.50am until 1.20pm. There will be a service for fans living near Hexham which will leave Hexham bus station at 1pm and a service for Corbridge will leave at 1pm via Wylam at 1.30pm before arriving at the Haymarket bus station. Each ticket is £1 return and can be bought from NUFC, online here or in person at the SJP Box Office. Note that that tickets must be bought in advance as none will be available from the bus on the day. Fans can use the park and ride scheme from Newcastle Great Park and if you have a Metro Mover it is free. Working with Altoonative Travel, Nexus will open all car parks including Kingston Park, Callerton Parkway, Northumberland Park and Heworth free of charge and will operate a more convenient timetable to carry people to the match and will include extra services from the airport and on coastal routes. For those living in the south of the region Altoonative Travel and Go North East will be operating the 21 bus service from Durham bus station every 30 minutes from 10am. This will stop at Chester-le-Street, Birtley and Low Fell before arriving in Newcastle. Altoonative Travel is the public face of the Newcastle United Travel Plan which is managed by Newcastle City Council on behalf of the Newcastle United Supporter Travel Plan Advisory Board, which includes Nexus, Network One, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle United. As usual on Boxing Day the railway network closes down.

The annoying thing is Jonas seems to be good at corners if the Wigan game is anything to go by. So why the fuck does he never cross the ball in open play?!

wat Birmingham, City and Tottenham left in 2010, so technically, we could have 30 points before 2011. 8 points from the next 5 would be my target, puts us on 30 in January which is obviously a fantastic position. That's not even close to what he said though. Yeah 'on the brink' is a strange choice of words. We'd still be 5 points off 30 with two very tough games, poor journalism. They're crucial points, but crucial because they're points we should pick up.

Lawro reckons we'll get beat 2-1 and that their centrebacks will make life difficult for Carroll. Think he's a bit bitter after watching Carroll dominate his beloved Liverpool. Some judge from Strictly Come Dancing reckons it'll be a 1-1 draw.

wat Birmingham, City and Tottenham left in 2010, so technically, we could have 30 points before 2011. 8 points from the next 5 would be my target, puts us on 30 in January which is obviously a fantastic position.

We've made the target I sort of gave us (20 points by Christmas) so well on our way, and you're probably right that a win here would see us good for a while, but I'd really really love to see us get revenge on City. I've rarely been more incensed at a football game in my life, fucking £38 pound for a ticket but we actually play well and are robbed by a cunt of a referee and fucking Adam Johnson.

Seriously though I agree, my idea would to have statues of Milburn, Shearer, Sir Bobby and another (Moncur/Joe Harvey?) outside each corner of the ground. It would be expensive, but it would look good imo.

Cracking spot http://plixi.com/p/62933238 Sums up the cheapness of it tbh. The silver trimming falling off such a 'classy' menu :lol:

Cracking spot

Arsenal getting raped in the midfield.

Disco just got back from India, he's not racist