Pilko

The Chronicle understands that Swansea left-back Neil Taylor was on Tyneside yesterday and only formalities need to be completed before he signs a five-year contract. Signed as back-up for either Jose Enrique or another senior left-back United are lining up, the 22-year-old Wales international has been signed by Newcastle after a release clause in his contract was triggered.

Not surprised Quinn didn't want him, after all he's spent months complaining about Ba's being his clubs downfall.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6991787,00.html hahahaha

It's pointless if you consider that's what we'll spend on a replacement. Who are we going to get anywhere near Routledge's experience and standard (whatever you consider that to be) for £1m? It won't particularly impact our summer spending, I'd rather keep the player. He might come good. Not that it matters, because I'm sure Pardew was far from complimentary about him after witnessing that wank Stevenage showing from him.

£60,000 a week? Just wait, on the Apprentice next week: Sugar to spin in his chair and fire Brady for being so fucking clueless.

Would rather keep than get a pointless £1m for whatever. Pardew's comments in January suggest he's off, he said something like "we need to get better than Wayne, and we will", I think?

Westwood - decent squad goalkeeper but won't really make a difference. There's a reason he's existed in the Championship for so long, despite always being touted for the top level, and a reason why a punt's only being taken on him whilst he's free. Di Jong Won - no idea, he's not that expensive though so if he's shite then it's not a great loss, if he's good then they've done well to get him. Low risk. Gibson - will grab 5 or 6 goals from long range but otherwise isn't a signing that will really help the mackems push on. His all round game is very ordinary. N'gog - what a fucking waste of money.

If there's a club that wants to pay decent money for him, I'd bring him on a bicycle myself. John McEnroe

Agree. My only grievance is that it should be a gradual step away from this, as opposed to a complete dismantling of it over one summer.

Are people seriously suggesting to me that Steven Taylor should be given the captains armband? The stupid fucker already thinks he's some sort of geordie superhero, imagine how bad he would be with a giant rubber band around his arm. He'd do so much pointing that his arms would fall off and his chest inflation level wouldn't look out of place with Pamela Anderson.

Does not compute.

Purely on the pitch, Nolan going and Gardner coming isn't that bad a move. However, the wider connotations of this move are fucking terrible. He's our captain and I'd hate to see the effect him leaving could potentially have.

Baines has amazing attacking stats. 11 assists, 100 accurate crosses! Brilliant.

While Gyan isn't that great he's comfortably one of the Mackems best players. Bruce is a fucking headcase if he thinks he's going to get more than what he originally paid.

If it really is £6m for Barnetta I'd hope we're in there like a flash. I'd be absolutely delighted if we recruited him and N'Zogbia.

Boyata on loan would be a clever move imo.

Shearer the player, Shearer the man, Shearer the pundit and Shearer the manager are all almost entirely separate entities imo. Shearer the player and Shearer the man I have very little bad to say. Shearer the manager, there's plenty of things I can tell you that from an admittedly short space of time appeared to be not very good at all. People are commenting on Shearer because you've come out with this idea that he'll do incredibly well at Cardiff based on very little. You never said what you think of him as a pundit... Personally, I wish him all the best. Haha, I said that either earlier in this thread or somewhere else. I think he's a naff pundit. Not the worst, but there are loads better. I wish him well too, I'd love to be proven wrong and see him make a successful management career for himself. My points are just meant to convey that at this stage, there's not a great deal to be anything near certain that will happen.

Pardew and Hughton have both taken an absolute battering on here before when playing Lovenkrands on the wing. It's worth pointing out that Lovenkrands was available for 6 of the 8 games Shearer took charge of, and he played him on the wing (in at least one case ahead of the benched Gutierrez) in three of those games. Regardless of the scenario and the turmoil etc, to me that doesn't really demonstrate good player knowledge. EDIT: And then there was the whole taking too long to drop Owen, and also Edgar over Coloccini. I was pleased he was at least trying to change things and have a go at shaking us up, but not many of the things he tried paid off. EDIT EDIT: Happy to admit that Dowie clearly didn't help Shearer that much by allowing him to make such mental decisions.

The only team Shearer managed to beat was a team still in danger of going down on the final day. Sounds very familiar to me, apart from the fact Shearer had about 7 games rather than more than half a season. Aye, he beat Boro, and managed to oversee a whopping 1 goal in the other 7 fixtures that he took charge of.

Shearer the player, Shearer the man, Shearer the pundit and Shearer the manager are all almost entirely separate entities imo. Shearer the player and Shearer the man I have very little bad to say. Shearer the manager, there's plenty of things I can tell you that from an admittedly short space of time appeared to be not very good at all. People are commenting on Shearer because you've come out with this idea that he'll do incredibly well at Cardiff based on very little.

Villa want to take a leaf (pun intended) out of Dave's bud-nipping book with this McLeish stuff.

Whilst I understand this is the usual provocative boring shite you peddle re: Pardew, I think it's safe to say that Shearer didn't look too far off a circus performer during his brief stint in charge of Newcastle. We scored in 2 out of the 8 games he took charge of, Cardiff will be lucky to stay up at that rate. Say what you like about the circumstances, the likes of Lawrie frigging Sanchez and Paul Hart have come in for similar-length stints at Premier League clubs and kept them up.

I hope they get Matt Holland, who seems to me an excellent pundit, but sadly I can't see that happening. It'll be Lee fucking Dixon promoted from MoTD2.

Shearer's punditry is garbage. He over-compensates by rarely saying positive things about us, so that people don't just think he's a Geordie simpleton. There was a newspaper article pointing out that his vocabulary range is so narrow compared to most other pundits.