Neil

A lot of the time he's horrendous, and shows odd glimpses of talent. That said, he played well on Sunday so I'm prepared to give him a chance. As you say, the striker who's miles ahead of the other 2 at the moment keeps getting knocks. The thing is, it's hard to say whether it's Jo and Yakubu's fault for not playing well - partly it is, but partly they've had awful service. With Pienaar and Bily both now playing hopefully most games together, that should very quickly improve.

Coleman and Hibbert both starting in Greece. Oh man.

Friday, 1715 GMT on BBC2 I think. 17:45 according to article above. How come the they are playing at such shit times though? They should move the two early kick offs one hour later at least, fuck the massive gap between the second and third game. Ah right. That sort of time, anyway. Am I the only one who isn't too unhappy about the kick-off times?

Andy Gray enjoys seeing Adebayor's neck muscles and torso if I remember correctly.

Probably already mentioned but the unbelievably pathetic rule of getting a yellow card for removing your shirt. Never heard of anything so ludicrous.

Friday, 1715 GMT on BBC2 I think.

Could have some legs this - too often do teams go 2 or 3 goals up with a good chunk of the game to go, and just sit on that and slip back into 2nd gear. Getting your money's worth and all that jazz. That said the team in front would argue they can do what they want with that lead and if they think the opposition has goals in them, playing more conservatively would suit them better. Put yourself in the 2-0 situation - if you're 2-0 up, and you're playing a pretty decent side who score regularly, what do you do? Need to recognise the defensive element of the game as well, I guess. In conclusion, I don't know.

Right, I'll leave it after this one, probably because I'll wind myself up more. No-one is saying the FA Cup is going to be a realistic aim to win. No-one is saying you should play your absolutely strongest possible team. BUT, why on earth shouldn't Newcastle United give it a go? As JH has said, it's not like this competition means you're playing every other midweek ffs. Have a bit of ambition man, a good cup run may slightly tire a couple of players but for the love of Peter Beardsley, it would get the city buzzing, give a clear sign to everyone else that NUFC are still alive and kicking and should be taken seriously, and all that sort of stuff. A bit of luck in the draw and who knows? Besides, since when has winning a couple of games been a bad thing? To disregard the FA Cup entirely is nothing short of pathetic in my view.

I actually think it'll be a good game, KD. Pienaar and Bily will both be playing so at last we'll have some craft (it was embarassing seeing Pienaar skip past players on Sunday only to get minimal support) - it's whether our defence can get their heads out of their arses and stay alert, because against the likes of Kranjcar, Lennon and Defoe, my word they'll have to be.

As I've said, I don't get why AEK are 6/4 to beat us tomorrow night.

I like the look of Villa's midfield and attack, the only criticism being a couple of injuries (not bitter at all!) could seriously hamper you, particularly in central midfield. But when everyone's fit, you've got a brilliant set of options: Downing, Milner, Carew, Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey.

Also, according to the bookies, we're just as likely to win as AEK tomorrow. (6-4).

Well, supposed home bankers are going off my train of thought when betting tbh. MK Dons, Dag & Red and now fucking Burton, all erratic as of late and have fucked various bets up.

The 5Live commentators are having a right go at Spurs, virtually labelling them arrogant for "thinking they can come to Old Trafford and get chance after chance".

He's Irish? Damn it.

I knew it was going too well; Burton behind at home.

Villa lead, Milner.

Petrov gives Pompey the lead with a great finish into his own net, but Heskey swiftly equalises.

Portsmouth v Aston Villa Oldham v Leeds Leyton Orient v Gillingham Burton v Accrington Did have Swindon away to Stockport, but it's been called off. £1 pays £16ish; I'd put more on but funds are tight.

The point is though, a bit of a cup-run, say to the quarters, is surely only a positive? No-one's saying you should take it seriously as in it being a realistic objective that you'll win it; I'm in disbelief as to how anyone can say this is a negative. I will repeat: I understand concerns regarding potential injuries, but in any given match you could pick up injuries. Give it a go ffs.

Let them in. Let's have every single debatable decision overturned. They really are embarrassing themselves.

We won four of the next five league games? Er - I was referring to the fact that we lost away to Peterborough in the next round, with several of our youngsters on the pitch. So it got us nowhere. And we had to take Harewood on loan to replace Shola. ...who for example scored a brace at the weekend? Stop being so negative man.

Why is it frightening? It's extra games we could do without. Our squad is too small and we could lose players through injury or fatigue from playing in such games and that could effect our performance in the league. The main objective is to get promoted and not focus on a cup win.1 Of course the main objective is promotion, noone is opposing that. But we shouldn't be actively looking for defeat (which is what alot are saying - i.e. "the sooner we're out the better"). If we play a few fringe with a few first teamers (Guthrie, Simpson etc.), and leave the important lot like Taylor and Enrique out, let's see how far we can go. I don't understand the "let's just put our under 15s on and get trounced" attitude. I'm not stating promotion as the main objective because that point is in dispute, I'm saying it because that's the reason why some don't care if we field an under strength side and we lose. I feel the same with your second sentence, I don't want just kids out there, but I would expect players who have played in most games this season or those who are tired should get a rest as we need them more in the promotion bid over a cup run. If we do well in the cup then great, but I won't be losing any sleep if we don't get through to the next round. I only think this because we have a thin squad. If our squad had another 3 or 4 players then I would think we could afford to commit resources to try and win both. I'm also not saying we should lose on purpose, that is foolish, but that's very different from resting some key players and sadly not going through as a result. And again, I agree that fans probably wouldn't be overly fussed if you go out because promotion is by all accounts your priority. What I am calling 'frightening' is an apparent active pursuit of defeat. 'Play a crap side, let's get out of this competition'. That is what I'm perplexed about. Also in the context of the promotion push, the sheer regularity of your chasers dropping points suggests that if you get to, say, the Quarters and some fatigue did set in (which I don't think it will because of the fact there aren't a big quantity of FA Cup matches), then the sides around you are showing no signs of putting together long-term runs to catch you.

Finally! Someone appreciates our inevitable late title surge.