The Prophet

Drinking from the well of bitterness are we?

Danny Welbeck loaned to Preston.

Rivlado: Palmeiras, Barcelona, Olympiacos and Bunyodkor.

Fantastic, glad we risked key members of our squad in a pointless cup run.

In providing the plan doesn't change.

Well if he isn't good enough to get in the Portsmouth team I don't want him anyway.

He didn't play to save them paying an appearance fee for him.

Fee of around £900,000 apparently.

No-one moaned It was a pre-emptive comment, just in case.

Was impressive at this level at Watford, God knows what 5 months of being unable to play has done to him. For those saying we could of done better get a fucking grip. How many centre backs would come to a Championship side to sit on the bench for large chunks of the season? If he can recapture the form he showed at Watford he'll be a decent, solid, unspectacular squad signing.

Don't know if it's in here but .com claim we're after Fitz Hall.

David Craig was just saying on SSN he's 'heard' a certian high flying Champioship club is trying to hijack Boro's move for Routledge.

If reports are to be believed he's cost a minimal fee and he's on minimal wages. No he's not the best right back out there but he'll do for the time being and it gives us a chance to focus on strengthening other positions.

Smith was woefully out of his depth in the Premier League. West Brom are the team we've played that look even moderately like a top flight outfit and he looked poor. Guthrie is our only central midfielder with an ounce of quality, that is going to have to change if we want even a shot at survival should we go up.

Smith gets credit because of his effort more than anything. Most know he has limited ability, hence being poor before our relegation, but the fact he puts himself about and looks like he gives a shit means people warm to him more than likes of Butt despite having minimal talent.

There's a rumour doing the rounds that the nappy slappers are chasing him.

In fairness he's hardly going to rip him a new one, especially if we're trying to sign him up.

True, Hughton seems to have some form of complex when it comes to the midfield.

Some player ratings: Harper 6 - Very unfortunate with the Bedner effort, could of gone anywhere. Generally did well but need to tell the defence to push out at times, we were far too deep especially from the second ball. Simpson 4 - Probably his worst performance playing righ back in a Newcastle shirt. Struggled all night with the pace and directness of Thomas. Coloccini 5 - Bullied by Bednar on occassion, seems he still struggles against physical opposition. Didn't cover himself in glory for the second. Taylor 6 - Steady away. Dealt with the threat of Bednar better than Colo. Enrique 6 - Good defensively, going forward he was hampered by incosistant distriubtion. Guthrie 7 - Thought he was our best player. He drifts inside exposing Simpson but that's what you get playing a centre-mid out wide. Whiped some fantastic balls into the box and frequently looked like he could create something productive, get him in the middle Chris. Nolan 5 - When he's playing in a 4-4-2 he might as well not bother. Completely over run in the middle. Smith 5.5 - Tried to put himself about but like Nolan overran at times. The pair of them were clearly lacking in technical ability compared to the West Brom midfield. Jonas 6 - Yeah his distriubtion is crap but he provided a good outlet and worried the West Brom defence. Linked up well with Enrique as usual. Shola 5 - Nothing special, fell over a lot. Lovenkrands 6 - Good header for the goal (although the keeper should of sone better), glad the lad scored. Needs a player like Carrol next to him who will hold things up and flick the high balls on, not a big pudding like Shola.

He's alright, nothing spectacular. Still better than what we have though.

I think some people are overreacting a bit. The game was more must not lose than must win. The gap between ourselves and West Brom is still six points, both face tricky away ties with their game in hand. Who's position would you rather be in? I know what a West Brom fan would say. Forest have made things a bit nervy but again, we're still in a superior position. That is why it was important to build up a lead, we were always going to have a little bit of a blip at some stage, yet we're still clear. Regarding the game itself we were outplayed in parts, but hasn't the been the theme for the season? We don't have a midfield capable of playing good football, we've been relying heavily on the defence but now they are starting to make mistakes we are starting to drop points. It's no secret we need reinforcements but as long as that tit is in charge we aren't going to get many.

We probably wouldn't be in this division for a start.

It's been evident all season.

Class match. End to end stuff, ref had too much to say second half. A draw isn't the end of the world but Palace is an absolute must win. The neutral and Forest are the winners from this one though.

Fair enough, thought it worked the other way round. How strange. Good decision linesman.