tomlkier

I forgot that Ameobi was back, hopefully Ireland will get at least 45mins .. Loven will be burnt out by half time.

We haven't lost 10 out of 14 at home ...

You're probably right, I think most people would prefer him starting to Loven / Ranger though.

He did fine against Bolton. Barton generally fetches the ball from defense then puts someone through or bombs it down the wing. Jonas would just do his thing and provide link up play for Enrique, would also give him the freedom to come inside which he seems to like.

He was awesome on FM10.

That's what I'd like to see us play.

Nolan should be playing next to Ireland though as two AMC's with Tiote holding. 4-1-2-2-1

We never really replaced Given, so another 30k on GK should be reasonable (Considering Routledge is on 20k). Especially as it'd mean that Krul and Forster would both be able to get playing time. I'm still optimistic towards getting Europe next season with a little luck, if that's the case I think we would need 2 competent keepers, you only need to look at Arsenal to see why. I was reading their forums a while back to see what they thought of him and saw a little of him play against Rangers recently. The Celtic fans seem to think he's a good prospect, but nowhere near the finished article. Good shot-stopping, not particularly authoritative, dire kicking, I'm not sure if a seasons training here or another loan spell would help him improve more in that respect.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1338482/Premier-League-dream-Mexican-Guillermo-Ochoa-despite-Fulham-snub.html Mexico's second keeper, he's a free transfer in the summer, would provide competition for Harper, would also mean that we could loan out both Krul and Forster for the next couple of seasons, as neither are near premiership quality yet (Good shot stopping but both have poor distribution).

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/02/28/stephen-ireland-ready-for-everton-game-72703-28249280/?#ixzz1FFvJkRrY

I don't see why everyone is freaking out about this being a bad move, as long as we don't take an upfront fee for him then we can recall him if we need him. This way he gets game time to prove whether he's worth hanging on to or to put him in the shop window for the summer. If we take a fee for him, it's a risky move, but I don't see why we'd want to or why Forest would be prepared to pay a fee for him. We're pretty much safe now and have a number of players returning from injury, according to phisioroom Ben Arfa, Ireland and Gosling will all be fit for the Everton match. That may not be 100% accurate based on what Pardew has said, but he's lied about injuries before (AC9) to keep the opposition guessing.

Purely stats wise, Pardew is doing a better job: http://i56.tinypic.com/29y59o1.png As much as I was gutted to see Hughton go, Pardew is growing on me.

I'd like to see Ranger replace Loven at half time next match, see if he can maintain his performance over 45mins.

Tactically sound, can't fault him at all. Taylor and Coloccini breaking up the right wing was a joy to watch.

Another game without a yellow! Who are you and what have you done with Cheik?

A few, especially in defence. Knight and Ricketts injured, with Steinsson and Samuel only on light training at the moment. We have no recognised right-back, so Paul Robinson will probably play there and Marcos Alonso (19-yo signed from Real Madrid in the summer) at left-back as they did against Fulham. In that case, delivery into the box will be no problem given Jose and Jonas' form on the left, we just need the strikers to convert the chances. It's a shame we'll be without Ameobi's aerial presence, as he would create chances for Nolan as well as putting them away himself. Hopefully Best's goal last game is a sign that he's been working on his heading in training. 3-1

This is awesome news, sent shivers up my spine when I heard about it. There is no real comparison between this and the AC case, but if i had to choose between AC and CT going forward, I would have chosen CT every time. He offers a much better style of football going forward than AC ever will in the sense that he gives the attacking mids so much more freedom to play attractive football rather than the long ball we had to play to AC. It's great that we have him tied down for his best years, can't fault MA on this one.

Does anyone know if the club appealed Barton's yellow in the Blackburn match? I've not seen any mention of it anywhere.