Neil

If someone can tell me the quickest/cheapest route to the venue it'd be appreciated I don't think either of the dates are on the day of an exam, or indeed the day before an exam, so all seems well at the moment.

Btw lads, I can probably play anywhere at a push(apart from GK), just probably DM I'll embarass myself less as I can get on the ball and pass

NE5 for linesman tbh. So what do you think about being caught offside 4 times in 2 positions with 3 different defenders chasing you? And so on.

Got a 5/1 coming in on Sporting Reading and Roma. Unfortunately, I only put £1 on it. Sigh. Also The Prophet, unfortunately you were the one who laughed at the idea of Shakhtar winning - I guess you should instil a bit of trust in yourself

Everton can be horrendous to watch at times. I think I should like them because they have players I like (Arteta, Pienaar, Osman) and three Nigeria internationals (would have had another if not for work permit nonsense too), but your style of play is incredibly bad sometimes. Yup, and I don't like it at all. But, who am I to complain? 6th and 5th in the last 2 seasons, why change it?

Thing is, Newcastle are hardly alone in a frustrating style of play. We're apparently going for European qualification but our style is terrible, just pumping it upfield far too many times without thinking about it. Only the top 4 (well, Liverpool when Gerrard is in the team) plus Villa seem to be able to move the ball with any sort of confidence in central midfield, on a constant basis. I just don't understand it really, surely it isn't that hard?

Or maybe, we can appreciate Hoffenheim for what they are, instead of trying to lure another thread into a sensationally boring Ashley-related snorefest?

Or was it Emile Mpenza? Who knows.

Every manager fails at Real. No matter how much they win, how well they play, something will go wrong. It's the ultimate poisoned chalice and in terms of common sense, is a ridiculous move for any manager. But, it's Real Madrid, so who'd refuse?

a home game against stoke is a good measure of our situation, the fact we couldnt win it . makes relegation more likely. Derby at home last season? Worst team in PL history and we didn't go down. You can't make assumptions based on that one fact. i am basing it on a number of factors. main ones being, the club is a shambles, players lack confidence, manager is clueless, squad is weak,inability to win,.... You're talking absolute s**** mate. yes we are in a bit of a mess but for gods sake if we'd had Barton and Butt together we would have won. We were great in the first half and had a crap second half due to the lack of cm's, this was made worse by kinnear by making some odd decisions but he could have done anything and it probably wouldn't have worked simply because he didn't have the players on the bench. Football is a strange game, today we are fighting relegation 3 games time we could be 10th 6 points clear of the drop zone. And Everton could finish 4th but we're not going to. The Newcaste supporters I know in person are on the whole very canny guys with sensible opinions, but a lot of them still don't realise how perilous the situation is, taking an "oh, itll get better magically" attitude.

a home game against stoke is a good measure of our situation, the fact we couldnt win it . makes relegation more likely. Derby at home last season? Worst team in PL history and we didn't go down. You can't make assumptions based on that one fact. Imo, using a game as a measure of the situation is hardly making a conclusive assumption about everything.

Still, even if they don't win the league they've got a cracking chance of CL qualification. That really would be fantastic. Also pleased to see people recognising they're using their money to build from the grass roots as it were and not buy willy-nilly. It's excellent to see.

No offence but thats utter tripe. ANY club, INCLUDING those winning all the time talk of all matches not just the ones where they won trophies. Names are remembered, and incidents grow in the telling. I think he meant it in a general sense, i.e. names in the public domain, not just those specifically following football. In a sense I think he's putting football into context of the wider society. And no, I don't like his attitude one bit. My point is it's refreshing to see someone be blunt about it, something most footballers are afraid to be.

Due to the manager's incompetence, a manager who's in charge for the rest of the season. It wasn't some freak accident that you ended up with a lack of central midfielders.

He made something out of nothing

Which is probably what will save you.

Oh and let's not forget his hilarious complaints that because he played for Man Utd, as did Keane, everyone's out "to get us". One more pathetic complaint and ol'Paul will be getting his own spanking new thread.

NF: My moods of despair usually arise from our pathetic standard of play, I'm surprised we actually played well for once! Brummie: This is why I think you might still struggle to get 4th (I'm not saying that's where you're expecting to finish). I do like Villa's style of football but to get outplayed by us is a fairly worrying thing to say the least. Give us a 95th minute 1-0 win at Villa Park and all's well. I'll be philosophical though as opposed to raging, I'm sure you'll play well plenty of times this season and not get the result you deserved. .......ARRRRGHHHH! Fact is though, Lescott's 2nd!

The key question in all this is.... how did you play so well against us?

In a real "what's the point?" mood after that. Battered so-called top 4 contenders for 90 minutes and we lose. Football, ey?

I miss having Sky Sports to complement an utterly lazy day on Sundays through watching hours of football.

It was a Sky Sports News interview I just saw at a passing glance, don't have a written link yet. I can't remember his exact words but it was something like "Look at Newcastle, they're only just above us and no-ones saying bad things about them".

Not sure where to post this, but did anyone hear Ince blabbing on earlier? Saying he doesn't understand why people should be judging him after 15 games, which is a good point. He then went on to moan about how Tottenham and also Newcastle get no negative attention. Gold.

....so therefore all other teams must crash and burn? Righto.