Tiotes Witch Doctor

Ben Arfa is out. The rest will be fit. Think Pards had a little slip at the talk in when he was talking about how 'Cheik will probably get booked after 12 minutes'. I hope you're right about that. Aslong as we replace Hatem with Marveaux and NOT Obertan we should still line up very strongly.

Can't be arsed to look back through the thread, but has anyone heard anything about injuries? Last I heard, Ben Arfa is definitely out and Cabaye, Tiote, Cisse, Ba and Coloccini are doubtful

Now that this deal is nearing completion all I can think about is who we're gonna sign next, I'm such a selfish bastard.

Fully expecting this deal to be announced tomorrow morning.

Whatever that is, it will haunt my dreams till the day I die.

I have a feeling they may do well, for a season or two, maybe even flirt with europe. As players, fans chairmen will listen to his blarney bullshit for a while. its when people become tired of his tripe, and lots more money is needed to get fresh people in to listen to him again, that things will go very wrong very quickly. Might aswell just gan support them down the road mackem kernnnnnt.

Making it a 4-2-1-3 which pushes Ba back out wide, I agree its a much better system but since Demba has been promised a central role we might not see it

Pardew wouldn't do it but I would have Perch in for Simpson and that would be my formation also. You say that but we played that exact system in one of our pre-season friendly's.... Not with our full strength team though.

Pardew wouldn't do it but I would have Perch in for Simpson and that would be my formation also.

Why's this dead and buried? No news whatsoever about any new bids from anywhere and the fact that the club have came out and said they wont do business with us sort of gives me that impression tbh

4-2-2-2 tbh. Krul Debuchy Douglas Coloccini Santon Tiote Anita Ben Arfa Cabaye Cisse Ba Two attacking fullbacks pushing forward to make up for the lack of width. I honestly believe this was the original plan had we managed to acquire all main targets.

Probably because if Tiote or Cabaye got injured we have no established CM's to replace them.

The fact we've had no bids come in for Simpson says it all really, clubs probably know they could get him for a smaller fee due to it being the last year of his contract aswell. Managers know hes shit. The only people who don't think hes shit are the daft fan boys.

This one is dead and buried unfortunately. Probably stuck with Simpson for another season, which means our defence is never going to be completely solid.

For a second I thought that was real

Hope he gets a fair crack of the whip.

Take Marveaux out for Gutierrez and that should definitely be our starting lineup.

Going to burn my new Newcastle top that I didn't buy, and my season ticket which I've never had.

Pretty embarrasing this, friendly or not it doesn't put anyone in good fettle for the Spurs game and gives the mackems something to cling onto aswell. Hearing Simpson has been absolutely abysmal, standard.

I remember when it went in, the whole bar went mental and everyone was hugging, clapping etc... and I was just sat down still, rooted to my seat in sheer disbelief, by the time I snapped out of my trance most of the celebrations were over.

Really hope Marveaux can stay mostly injury free this season, I always forget how highly rated he was when we signed him.

I disagree, he is what? 31? I would have liked to have made the most of my ability in a sport I am good at. He wasn't exactly trying to make up for all those years of meagre earnings. He is just a greedy c***, could have made a hell of a lot money playing at a club where he was the top dog and giving his all rather than being a heartless, gutless, greedy little w*****.

I'm guessing it must be Pardew/Carr who have at least a sizeable input in the maximum offers though, surely? I can't see Dez or Mike sitting and figuring out each player's market value. Yeah I would imagine they would probably have a small input but, when it comes to negotiating the actual fee's whether it be opening bid or final bid, Pardew has absolutely no input whatsoever, the downside could be argued that he never really knows what to expect and whether his squad will be strengthened until the final day of the window. Which is why he chooses his words more carefully in interviews now. I get the impression that the board are hoping we will all be that happy that we haven't lost anyone so much that we won't cause any bother if we don't bring anyone else in aswell.

We've missed out on a major coup here, the worst thing is Pardew probably knows this aswell, but cannot do a thing about it. Would be much better if Pards was given a set budget and just went after his targets with the help of Carr. Like in the good old days

I just can't put into words how disappointed I would be if Simpson is in the lineup come the Spurs game sort of conveys it a bit.