oscar

Anyone know the crack for attending academy games? Are they generally open to the public? I know u21s are, but not sure about u18s

Surely there's not a chance it'll be on the 19th, no matter what. If Palace go out the cup, it'll be moved to Sunday or Monday. But your main point still stands

Does it matter if he plays well and helps us get promoted? I guess not, but if we get promoted I think it would be in spite of him rather than because of him. He couldn't motivate himself to perform in the biggest league in the world, I can't see it happening in the Championship

Admire the clubs stance on not budging on the fee, but the biggest worry for me is that he stays, gets back in the team and the rest of the world realise there's no way on earth he's even a £15m player, never mind 30. Can see us accepting a bit less if we get a couple hours from the deadline and nothing's happened

He's got a Europa League campaign to look forward to too. He's landed on his feet like!

Bet £25 on a top scorer with paddy power and get a free £5 every time your player scores. Bet £10 on England with Will hill and get a free £5 every time they win. That's all I've spotted so far

Just had a little look over a RAWK. I know we all expected them to go OTT in their defence of him, and a few did, but i think when you stop and actually think about what happened, this post sums it up pretty well...... "The way I see it, like someone said earlier is that Luis is the only one biting but its no worse than elbowing. The fact is you see elbowing much more in the game than you do biting, so is seen as a 'normal' act of violence. Biting is not a manly thing to do in an assault really and thats where this issue of "how bad is it actually?" comes into play. For me anyway. Edit: With regard to the manly thing I mean 'in the art of combat' its not a manly thing to do. Punching, pushing, elbowing, headbutt is a much more 'accepted' from of violence. Slapping and biting are not. The incidents never draw blood or serious wounds, to be fair they're pretty lame in their result but it still is biting and is an act of violence, so its just a matter of accepting that this is what Luis does. He's a bloody biter and probably fights like a girl. Didnt he pull Rafael or Fabio's hair that time. Next will be a slap for someone and that will be that."

Am I the only one who thought that was cheating a bit? He hasn't played a competitive international for 10 years! Poor Roger Milla. Fuck it, let's take Gordon Banks to the next one. You never really need 3 keepers

Did a similar thing myself, called Southampton Soton as that's how it was abbreviated in shoot magazine. Also tried mugging my man utd supporting mate off asking him if Schmeichel was so good, why didn't he play for England

Marriappa? Haha we do need a centre half but when everyone is fit it'll be Colo and Saylor starting. He's someone Pardew has looked at previously, won't cost a lot, and won't come in expecting to start every week.

GK - Krul Forster Elliot RB - Simpson Raylor Santon Tavernier Perch LB - Santon (Pieters) Jonas Ferguson Perch CB - Colo Williamson Saylor (Mariappa) Perch RM - Ben Arfa Obertan Marveaux Raylor Jonas LM - Jonas Obertan Marveaux Ferguson Sammy CM - Cabaye (Tiotes replacement) Abeid Guthrie Perch Vuckic CF - Cisse (Ba's replacement) Best Shola Sammy This is what i'm hoping for, get Guthrie tied down, perhaps a second full back and let Simpson go. Obviously would prefer Ba to stay but if he goes he must be replaced. Trying to be realistic and thinking that one of our top players will go, possibly two. I think that will be strong enough to compete whether we make Europe or not. EDIT - If Krul was to go for 20Million i'd be happy to give Forster a season and invest that money elsewhere.

If chelsea finish 5th but beat everton in the final, does the cup win take precedence over the league finish and 6th place qualify for Europe rather than the cup runners up? Has this situation been clarified anywhere?

Why not Jonas on the right ? He knows Enrique very well. Enrique knows Jonas very well, more importantly. If Enrique is the same attacking full back he was at Newcastle, Hatem will struggle. Didn't you know? Despite being exactly the same player he was a year ago, Jose is now one of the best left backs in the world since he's signed for a big club

I wonder if the precedent we set with Barton not so long ago would give Ranger a good case against the club if they were to sack him?

And remind me never to take tips from random people on the internet again!

Shamrock 2-1 up with 10 mins to go, one more goal needed!

http://www.blogonthetyne.co.uk/2012/02/scott-parker-couldnt-handle-th.html It's about 2 weeks old so apologies if it's been discussed, but what a load of fcking shite from Lee Ryder

He says he expects to start against Wolves considering the form he's in, despite Cabaye and Tiote returning. And it's implied that whether he does or not could have a major impact on his decision to sign a new contract. http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2012/02/15/danny-guthire-expects-to-to-face-wolverhampton-61634-30333107/

What's the crack with so many reserve games, both home and away, being played behind closed doors? I'm sure it never used to be like that

I didn't even realise there had been a midweek round of games. It's getting interesting now, AC Milan slipped up at Lazio leaving Juve top by one point with a game in hand, while Inter drew 4-4 with Palermo, 4 goals for Milito and a hattrick for Miccoli!

Worst of all, the vidiprinter has disappeared from the menu. I now have to click on every individual game to to find out who scored in each game

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16482590.stm Another example of player power going too far for me. Aaron ramsay whinging because he hasn't been consulted by the FAW over the appointment of the new Wales manager. I think he needs to learn his place, why should the players have any say over who the new manager will be?

It's kicking off in Twitter land after someone alerted Gabrielle marcotti to Jeff winters bigoted views on his website. Something to do with Catholics being Nazi kiddy fiddlers. Marcotti got in touch with him amidst suggestions he was hacked, but winter still hasn't actually denied it was him

You could presume that the likes of the Palestinians and Tongans don't watch a lot of football and are judging on reputation, but what is john toshacks excuse for voting eto'o into 3rd place and messi nowhere?!

Very rarely see free kicks given for back passes these days. An incident on motd last night got me thinking about this. In the Norwich game a defender made a last ditch save on the line, and kicked it straight into the keepers arms. Wondering whether that was deemed accidental, therefore legal, or if the rule just isn't being enforced as much