Christmas Tree

Mark Douglas saying Twitter that new striker target will be revealed in the Sunday Sun later on today.

Enjoyed him over the last 18 months but so pleased this sideshow has moved on.

6th for me. Done well so far playing poorly at times so expect some even better performances to come when the Likes of Marveaux, Santon etc get into the team. Then come the January window I think we will see some more incomings to strengthen us even further. No reason at all why this team cant fight for sixth.

fuck

Horrible watching this on a tiny crappy internet screen as when any Blue player goes down, my heart is in my mouth. Still cant believe we managed to get a good a player as Cabaye.

Are you being serious when you say that, or it is just a joke (which i hope so) ? Not sure what you mean? The bit you've bolded I think is about right but as others have mentioned, one or two of those appearances were as subs. My overall point was more to do with him being on a very high pedestal here, bearing in mind he hasnt achieved anything here yet. Of course I do hope he does live up to the hype when he finally gets a good run.

My understanding is that you could buy someone any time, just cant register them until the window opens?

Not trolling, but I just wonder if some Newcastle fans are far too carried away with their hero worship of Ben Arfa. Am I right in thinking he's played something like four games for us in over a year and we only won one of them? He did show some great touches at Darlington but that sort of"special" player can also end up losing possession more often either due to their mazy runs being brought to an end or other players just not on his "special" wavelength. If he really was as important as some make out would he not have appeared before now? Hopefully he will get his chance soon and live up to all the hype.

Bottom line with Chris Hughton is he is a very good coach, a handy caretaker who gave his all but not a manager. A genuinely nice fella who should get out of management and back in to coaching as soon as possible.

Think you could be asking for problems starting against Spurs with new partnerships on both wings. I am also finding myself in turmoil over Ben Arfa. While he will give us fantastic moments, will he also lose possession a lot and not hold the ball up as well as say Best does. I have come to the conclusion that I can only really be happing playing 12. Joking aside I think Pardew has some really hard decisions to make. Nice problem to have I guess.

Totally agree. Usually always tries very hard and seems a nice lad. Not for me though (and know hate involved)

I think its good that Pardew is being decent to the players who are currently performing for him, but I think he needs to make an exception to get this lad on asap.

Jack Nicholson style http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/060608-shining-vmed-1p.widec.jpg

Just finally managed to watch the full 90 minutes (Im sure easier knowing the result). Krul was absolutely magnificent and seems to have it all for one so young. Like we used to attribute so many points a season because of Given, they same is true of this fella. Steven Taylor also (penalty aside) looked immense in defence. Cabaye although faded second half looked all over the place and some of his forward passes were sheer quality. Tiote looks to be getting back to his best. Obertan wasnt as bad as I was expecting given some of the comments I have read, however he also faded as the game went on. Im not a Jonas fan. His goal was excellent but once again too much of his end product was poor. I even thought his defending looked poor by his standards. I would certainly have Marveaux in if it was up to me. A mention as well for Best who at times looked very good with some of his hold up play and movement. Im sure the goals will soon return for him. Overall it was a good blood and snots game that seemed to be played at quite a fast paced and given the weather its unsurprising people faded away. I think the commentator mentioned something about honesty in the players performances and I agree. They all seemed to battle for the cause. Finally, for those complaining about sponsorship at St James, just thank god its not like wolves. Advertising all over the inside of the stands and even on every step leading up to the seats. Cant wait for the next few home games.

Read something a few weeks back about Pardew nit been greatly impressed for some reason. Think he followed that up with some curt praise after he had played well in the reserves as well. Will look for the quotes later when on the PC.

I think what he says for public consumption and what he says to the players / coaches etc will be two very different things. Playing a blinder so far.

Cant see any reason why he wouldnt play in this. Very strange.

Did I miss something? Didn't think he was in the ressies squad, or is this a post Strong team out according to journos. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/9285817.Ben_Arfa_gets_a_run_out_for_reserve_side/

Interesting to see how Ben-Arfa does for the reserves tonight. Shame its away.

Cant really see Pardew changing the winning team but not sure how the likes of Ben-Arfa and Marveaux will stay happy playing second fiddle. Regardless I think we'll sneak this.

Let him go fella Its fair to say that if Jose was still here, we wouldnt be fourth. Thats all.

Jose who? Only saw the highlights on a shitty telly but Jose would never have got that sliding block in that Ryan Taylor did.

Doing a fucking marvellous job and laughable that some people want to concentrate more on what he's done wrong rather than the successes of biblical proportions. Long may he continue.

Alright mate, how's it going? Have a good weekend, aye? Just wondering if any 'limited' players have impressed you recently? Surely not a "Jonas scores a goal and is now a god comment" Even I score more often than Jonas.