Jack Flash

Good? Ben Arfa? Good didn't have much to do and Ben Arfa looked massively off the pace. Bigi tried hard. Santon got skinned by Matty Pattison.

We were unstoppable until Shola went off. Lost our direction a bit after that and the game fizzled out a bit. The new french lad was my MOTM and Shola was as good as I've ever seen him I think.

We should be playing our young players whenever it's feasible. They learn nothing in the youth/reserve games or getting 10 mins at the end of a PL game. Sink or swim.

They'll probably just hire some more Stewart's.

The only first team signing we need is a right back, which has clearly been our priority and, as much as I hate to admit it, it wouldn't be the end of the world if we don't get one this window.

We did most of our business early last year. Cabaye, Ba, Marveaux and Abeid were in by the middle of July.

He doesn't want to go to West Ham so he's stuck at Liverpool as nobody else wants him. "Carroll is not even tempted by the massive eight-year contract on offer from West Ham" Who would be?

Part of the problem is there are people who sit playing on here all day and every day just WAITING for something to happen. If they came on here less I doubt they'd be as bothered by the lack of news.

Negatively misquoting someone and saying we're making a balls up of pre-season makes me the arseiest one

"I’m still pretty hopeful there’ll be a body or two in before then." is what he actually said. Hopefully we won't because it'd be nice to see you happy for once.

The negativity on here never fails to amaze me.

They'll sit out the qualifier, as they were probably always going to.

Season ticket holders should start receiving their cards next week, Newcastle United have advised. The Club will send out tickets with a staggered approach from Monday (6th August) and are expecting them all to have arrived by the following Tuesday (14th August). Fans should only contact the club if they have not received their ticket by Tuesday, 14th August.

Buying a "fake" one is the same as buying one from Sports Direct. The club don't get the money so who cares? Buy a fake one and go to another match with the difference.

Lean Mike has it under control, children. As much as some seem to believe so, this isn't our first protracted transfer saga.

Has any other club even bid for him since we "announced" our interest months ago? We're in pole position because nobody else wants him badly enough to just pay the asking price. We'll get him sooner rather than later.

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/24133683.jpg

£15+million rated players don't drop down to a relegation fight. Other teams either don't think he's that good or they don't want to pay such a stupid fee, which is not surprising.

If he's such a good player why do you think that teams like Chelsea or Man U aren't in for him? The fact is take away his aerial prowess and he's pretty ordinary. To get the best out of him you do need to launch the ball long so he can batter centre halves about for goal poachers like Nolan to sneak in. Fat Sam has it spot on. excellent POD for a sensible discussion about Andy Carroll. If Cisse is so good why arent barcelona and real madrid in for him? He must be s***... Not really the same though, is it? /brankostropon

How many seconds passed between the announcement and your post?

If Liverpool weren't playing it long and Carroll is good with that ball at his feet then why was he playing so badly there? Seems like a contradiction to say Liverpool weren't playing "his way" but say he's not just good in the air.

"Newcastle had seen an initial £4m offer rejected earlier this summer, but quickly returned to the negotiating table with a superior offer – closer to the £6m that Lille wanted for their much in demand full-back." "quickly"

Aye. Surely we'd have heard something if it was going to happen in under 7 hours.

We're definitely getting this boy and he'll be fantastic for us.

I don't buy them myself but one of the best things about the first home game of the season is seeing all the black and white tops in the stands. Hope it's the same this year as it's a really good design.