themanupstairs

safe travels mate. don't do drugs and Philippine

Think he'll be busy with the bairn.

And unfortunately also way too thick for joining Real at that stage of his career.

Not sure that's what he said tbf. He just means that Brighton come from a position of relative stability in their quest to gain promotion, whereas NUFC has just been relegated, and is attempting to go back straight back up having overhauled an entire playing squad and coaching staff, add to that the rotten mediocrity that had set in....

Know her very well personally as she went to my school. Dated one of my best mates through lower and upper sixth form. Lovely girl

Agreed, once again.

First time I've felt a tinge of disappointment with Benitez. I know he doesn't like to make reactionary decisions, but it must be absolutely clear to him now that we need at least 2 signings if not 3 in strategic positions, if we are going to not fuck this up. Colback simply must be binned. We need a left back if Lazaar isn't up to it. We need a winger, and we need someone to link up the play in the final third. I know he sees it, but it simply HAS to be done.

Agreed. Also, happy new year mate. How's the woodwork?

This.

100% categorically not Rafa.

But but, aren't we allowed to rip right into him? How long before we're allowed to call him fat, and Spanish? How long before we can comment on a minimum wage job which he may or not have had in the past?

This was as random and ridiculous an appointment as bringing in Avram f***ing Grant Utter madness by the Swansea board.

Take it you've not heard his post-match interview then.

Pretty sure Rafa hasn't clocked on to this. Best be sending out on a postcard to the Wirral HTT!

Dat "header"

A big part of the problem is playing Ritchie and Gouffran together in what is effectively a front 3 when we go forward. They are intended to be Gayle's supply line from wide positions when we have the ball in the final third. Neither of them is quick enough or incisive enough. Ritchie's body language has turned into some sort of Scott Parker/Jack Colback hybrid whereby he no longer looks up, and seems totally bereft of ideas. Gouffran has no turn of pace and no sharpness from out on the left side, and he clearly would still rather play more central. In order to play the way we do, and especially without Shelvey's precision passing in midfield, we need searing pace down the flanks, both from midfield and fullback positions. I know it's unlikely but I wouldn't mind seeing something like Yedlin and Haidara (if and when fit) at fullback, with Atsu and Lazaar in the wide positions, and then one of Ritchie, Diame or even Gouffran (a more natural finisher) behind Gayle.

We haven't lost a single game at home this season. I'm genuinely utterly f***ing perplexed as to how that is the case. It was like when I recently found out Doris Day is still alive.

High quality turd. He'll be fine at this level.

We haven't had a manager who knows what he's doing for absolute ages. We finally do, and he has us sitting top of the table, smashing this league, and people are bored. Don't quite get it sometimes.

Well I remember the song during his reign was "we're s*** and we're sick of it". You'd be hard pushed to find any Newcastle fan who wasn't happy to this day that Allardyce was sacked by NUFC. Looks like it will be another miracle job when he keeps Crystal Palace up even though nobody thinks they should be down where they are with their current squad anyway. I note that the awful BBC fail to mention that when KK took over from Allardyce, he not only improved the football but saved the club from the relegation fate it would have endured that season, had Allardyce remained as manager...only the engineered departure of KK the following September, was the reason for the club being relegated. Still, the BBC acting true to form and only putting their own slant on events...as usual. It is quite shocking to me how fast the BBC has gone from being probably the best news source in the world, to being a vile and petty spin-doctoring pile of s***.

I wonder how much notice Rafa took of SP at the time? Obviously he's a footballing encyclopaedia and will have heard of the campaign. I wonder what he thought about it privately. I wonder if the campaign added to his realisation that this isn't a docile fanbase, and that if you could get the fans on-side, then miracles can happen. I wouldn't be surprised if the first thing Rafa told Charnley when being interviewed is that they absolutely must treat the fans better than that they had done previously. Re: Figures 1-0 argument: The SP campaign was not just a bunch of people screaming abuse at Pardew. The campaign aimed to show that fans will no longer sit on their hands, ignoring facts and evidence that the club was an empty shell and heading nowhere. It was a message to Ashley and the media, more than it was anti-Pardew per se. It was a campaign to protest the campaign by ex-players and pundits to continuously belittle this club and pull the wool over the consumer's eyes when it came to one of their darling own: a British ex-player doing an awful job managing in the top division. SackPardew.com was a middle finger to all of that, and not just some shouty gig to make a manager slightly uncomfortable.

Merry Christmas you bad motherfuckers. Peace on Earth and Up the Villa hoop.

It was one guy's dream, not "people". Also, we have the Rafa factor here to take into consideration. The prospect of a player of Barkley's undoubted talent under Rafa is not the same as Barkley coming to play SMC for example.

What the fuck is that? What the fuck is this thick cunt smoking?