Village Idiot

JK Which one is Simon Bird [Daily Mirror's north-east football writer]? SB Me. JK You're a c***. It still makes classic reading http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/oct/03/newcastleunited.premierleague The computer generated audio

Yep. Tottenham are out of sight and have long been my pick for 4th. I believe City still have you and Villa to play: we have Villa to play away, and there's no reason whatsoever that we can't go there and win. Liverpool won't drop lower than 6th. They just won't, unfortunately. All we can do is keep our form going and hope the sides above continue to wobble. As you say, our resilience is well and truly back and I was sure we at least wouldn't get beat today and was mildly confident of winning. Let's see where we are after the Villa game. 7th will most probably give you Europe, too. The way it's going, yes. I think I'm right in saying Chelsea winning the FA Cup will make 7th a European spot, as would Spurs or Villa winning it if they finish 5th (or indeed 4th). We have a good chance in that respect. Would love to finish 6th, ahead of Liverpool and City. Unlikely though. Edit: 29 points from the last 13 league games. f***ing injuries. Just imagine what would have been if you didn't have that poor start. Moyes is a genius imo. Even though it might hurt us, i hope he gets a lot of money to spend next season. I want to see what he can do with cash, rather then the current '1 in 1 out' policy. Oh and Hetinga has been very good. I promise you, at Atletico he was a pile of steaming crap (ask Village). Credit to Moyes for that signing for sure. Heitinga is a great player. One of the most passionate I've ever seen at the club as well, he's become a cult hero within 6 months. It was brilliant to put City back in their place. Again. f***ing hate those deluded nobheads. I remember reading a City forum a few months ago for FF research and they spoke like they were playing Footie Man. "We'll buy Ribery and Messi next year and win the CL, 150m would do". Shitting you not. Heitinga has flourished in that DM spot. He was RB at Atlético and he was total rubbish there. Masterstroke signing for your lot.

¿Íñigo? Don't get it. You are getting too arcane now

Yep. Tottenham are out of sight and have long been my pick for 4th. I believe City still have you and Villa to play: we have Villa to play away, and there's no reason whatsoever that we can't go there and win. Liverpool won't drop lower than 6th. They just won't, unfortunately. All we can do is keep our form going and hope the sides above continue to wobble. As you say, our resilience is well and truly back and I was sure we at least wouldn't get beat today and was mildly confident of winning. Let's see where we are after the Villa game. 7th will most probably give you Europe, too.

Watching Guardiola talking to the press after the game and he just said that "71 punts és una puta barbaritat" ("71 points is f***ing ridiculous", love managers swearing live But he's hinting at the fact of the ridiculousness of Real and Barça's numbers this year. I can perfectly see the second placed side finishing above Barça's tally of last year! (which was a La Liga record).

They are keeping the pressure on by maintaining the same gap, waiting for us to make a mistake... I know, it was the same last night though with Forest, every time they mentioned Forest they added that they were keeping the pressure on us, f*** right off, they are/were 5 points closer to WBA then us for an automatic spot. What they are saying is right. If Forest had lost the pressure would have dropped from them, and our game against them wouldn't have been as fired up but as it stands, they are well i nthe race for the 2nd spot and the points between them and us remain the same. Therefore they are keeping the pressure on. Aye but their was no mention of keeping the pressure on WBA, who they are more likely to catch then us since at the time the gap between Forest and WBA was half of the gap between us and Forest. And let's bee honest, I think the fight to not fall from 2 to 3 or 1 to 3 is much more relevant than 1 to 2.

how was the goal? It was a nice team move between Maxwell and Iniesta, great cross that Zlatan taps in. First time I see Messi losing its temper there... he lost his temper because Zlatan scored? Ref signaled a foul and he kicked the ball away angrily. Ref has been quite s*** if you ask me. Bojan seals it 2-0. We have been much, much better this second half. Must've been a hell of a team talk.

how was the goal? It was a nice team move between Maxwell and Iniesta, great cross that Zlatan taps in. First time I see Messi losing its temper there...

Zlatan get in!

What side outside the top 4 has world class players though? Maybe City now, with Tévez, but other than that... And regarding us, we have been this shit since January, but so far Messi has bailed us out. We'll see how this one ends.

I would say yes but nonetheless the wages would be unreasonable. Zaragoza does want to get rid. Google says he's on €2.2m a year. That's... around 35k a week in pounds?

Ooohhhh... will watch then

Any particular reason they've done the deed, now? They're still in good position for a CL spot. Is it due to with the loss to CSKA? Bit harsh if that is the case. He has been questioned for a few games already, some of his selections in key games (like CSKA) have been puzzling. But overall Sevilla have declined as the season has advanced so I guess they want a shot in the arm to make sure they qualify for the CL. And failing to qualify against CSKA was a big blow. They have ambitious plans for growth (new stadium, international expansion, etc...) and progressing in the CL would have been a great platform.

Sevilla's manager Manolo Jiménez has been sacked today after drawing 1-1 with Xerez at home, with an injury time equaliser for the away side. It's the first manager they sack in 11 years.

Massive win, congratulations magpies.

Mkay, I have been meaning to ask you this... who's the bird in your avatar?

Johan Cruyff is my favorite footballer ever, but as a Barça fan I'm *extremely* biased on this. He basically made us what we are now in his stints as both player and manager. But really, him and Rinus Michels transformed football in the 70s. I don't think a side has had such an effect on how the game is played as their Ajax and Holland sides did.

How many games he would need for that? Think we should also play players like Krul or Kadar and some other young players to get them a winners medal then. not sure on the exact figure-read it on simon birds column this week but its 10 for the prem i know that. exceptions can also be obtained to get medals i believe so am i wrong in thinking he only needs to play in 4 more games?... The special dispensations are usually conceded for reserve goalies and players that have suffered serious injuries during the season. That's how Alan Smith got his for ManU, for example. So it's pretty feasible that Barton could get one. Krul too.

More often than not, Carroll's fist. Fucke me, this forum is going to kill me

And this one was openly gay too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Aurelio_Gay Man, we did that joke when I was 10 years old and he played for the parakeet scum (gay used to mean "happy" in Spanish, by the way.)

Aye , he just need to find an opposition player who he can fight with like Shearer and Keane. You just reminded me of his sending off at your place. I distinctly remember Shearer's face as if "bring it on, you punk". Boss moment that was.

That would be a mockery of any sense of discipline, not talking about Carroll thinking he can get away with anything (which will endear him even more problems in the future). Not even Hughton would do that, surely.

It's undeniably more effective though, I think that flair players able to make their stamp in the current age of physical football deserve some merit. I have also seen a few 1960s games here and there (mostly Spanish league of the time but some World Cups, etc...) and the standard of defending looks pretty awful, almost no pressure, defenders allowing attackers an awful lot of space. But it's also wrong to dismiss 1960s footballers for the lack of physicality of football in that era, since we can't know what would have they become if the same modern training methods were available to them.

Yes. He would also have played in the 2006 CL final (at 18 years!) if he hadn't been injuried.

Has CR9 & Kaka amongst others supplying him though. CR9 only supplies himself to be honest. Higuaín is damn good at making its own chances. He doesn't have the all-round game of a Rooney or Drogba, though. He's still young.