Wallsendmag

Prepare to be shocked mate! I don't think he starts tomorrow. Seems strange considering it was only supposed to be a cold but Howe won't start players unless they're 100%.

Yeah I think he misses out this time but he's got another 3 World Cups left in him after this one so no big deal. I doubt he's expecting a call up tbf.

The England job is a massive downgrade on a Premier League job these days, especially the one he's currently got. Nowadays the England job is for the likes of Allardyce, McClaren, Hodgson, Southgate. It hasn't got the prestige it once had. It's for has beens or never was. No chance of him leaving us for England.

They were louder than they were for the League game. We were sat i Bar1892, nearer to the Gallowgate and could hear them loud and clear.

Dunno why they did that. Seemed a bit pointless. Did the same v Cambridge in the FA Cup last season as well. They had a smaller segregation when we used to play Sunderland.

1. Same as Palace I reckon. All the more room for us. Will be another 51,000+ home fans able to go.

Got a feeling we're going to end up with Liverpool or Man City in the next round. Tbh I'd back us against either of them at home and would rather play them at SJP than at Wembley. Ideally they'd be drawn against each other though.

Boro was a brilliant atmosphere (Rob Lee's debut was it?) and it finished 0-0. You're right probably the only good League Cup atmosphere I can ever recall.

They're absolutely shitting themselves over there right now, it's hilarious

No it definitely wasn't. The start of the 92/93 season was amazing. Best in my lifetime. We would park up at the Dental Hospital at 2pm and as soon as the car doors were open you could hear the crowd singing inside the ground as all the terraced areas were already full (we had season tickets so didn't have to get there as early). Then after 7,000 were locked out v Tranmere they made every game all ticket and I always thought that took the edge off the atmosphere a bit. 93/94 was pretty good but it started to tail off the following season, apart from the odd game. Man Utd and Liverpool were always good games and we had a midweek game v Spurs in 94/95 which had an unbelievable atmosphere (I think it finished 3-3) but generally speaking it's a lot better these days than it was back then.

Aye he should be. Southgate came to watch him (amongst others) against Villa and he couldn't have failed to have been impressed by not only his 2 goals but the way he ragdolled Mings around.

Robert as well. There's always been that core of supporters who hate this type of player, the utter weirdos.

Always been a fan of Howe aftwr what he achieved at Bournemouth. I still don't think he gets enough credit for taking them from the bottom of League 2 to the Premier League like he did. That was simply an astonishing achievement. However I was desperate for us to get Emery and I'll admit to being slightly underwhelmed when Howe was appointed. As it's turned out I genuinely believe there's not a manager on the planet who could have came in and had the same impact as Howe has had and now I just want him to stay here for years. Potentially, and I don't say this lightly, he has the potential to go down as our greatest manager of all time if he's here for the long haul.

Particularly liked this one; "Does not matter who Potter picks, Newcastle are flying and I believe they, Arsenal and City will be the 3 well clear of everyone else come the end of the season. We are short of confidence and belief in every department, and have no game plan. Home win". Whatever the result, and I think it'll prove to be a very tough game, it's good to see the fans of the top ckubs taking us seriously.

100% was people just turning up assuming we'd win. That Bolton game will always stick in my mind, partly because it was the day after my 18th, partly because it was the day we went 12 points clear and for that horrendous atmosphere. I remember we went 1-0 up early on, think Paul Kitson scored and people just didn't seem arsed. Was a totally bizarre experience. Back in those days the ground held 36k and 33k must have been season ticket holders so you had exactly the same people around you every week. Agree about the stadium expansion damaging the atmosphere post 2000 as well. It's a bad design for holding in the noise. Hopefully that's something they can rectify in the coming years.

You jest but I noticed last night a very weird mix of accents there. Still plenty Geordie, but a more significant amount then usual of Durham, Wearside, and Teesside in the pub beforehand and in the ground around me as well. We had 4 Scots sat behind us and they were good crack tbf. Clearly a lot of people taking in their first match as well, which is never going to be conducive to a great atmosphere but everyone's got to start somewhere and nights like last night are usually the place.

I'd offer him to a Championship club in January, preferably one in the top half.

It wouldn't be bouncing though. It would just be the same old tired faces there every week because nobody else can get in. We seen all this happen back in the 90s under Keegan. His final full season here the atmosphere was flat as a fart. I remember beating Bolton at home in the January to go 12 points clear at the top and the atmosphere was worse than it was last night. I've never experienced a good atmosphere at a 3rd Round League Cup game, especially one where the away team only bring 500 fans with them. Not really sure what people were expecting.

Thought he looked a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights last night. Still, it's more experience for him against a solid left back. ASM was no better tbf and Howe ended up switching them round to see if they'd have more impact, which they didn't.

I was there tonight. I wasn't laughing at the time amongst all the tension around me, nor was anyone else.

Was poor tonight. He'll be back on the bench on Saturday.

They'll point to tickets "only" being 20 quid for tonight, whilst totally forgetting that they only charge a tenner for cup games and still only get 4 figure crowds (even for Saturday afternoon FA Cup games!).

Really looking forward to this tonight. Our best chance of breaking our trophy duck is here. Picking the bairn up from school in an hour, quick change then straight up to the toon.

I said this on here at the start of September. I'd watched a few Championship games involving most of the so called fancied teams amd couldn't believe how poor the standard was. It must be the weakest Championship in many years. There's not one team that's impressed me.

Niall Quinn? He was a well known drink driver.