TK-421

I don't think anyone doubts the extra quality he'd bring to the side, I think it's more of a 'he jumped ship for a Pardew led Palace, f*** him' thing. I'd have him back in a second, like. Only thing bothering me about it is the quote in the paper saying that Townsend himself is the one who wants the loan only because we're not certain to be Premier League next season. Obviously it's just speculation with no substantial quotes or anything, but while the possibility of it being true is still there it'll get to me and to be honest with the way he left, it seems more likely that it is true than not to me. Dont want or need that type of player at Newcastle The thing is, as it turns out when he joined us last time, he had the relegation clause put in incase we did go down. That didn't stop him playing well in those 5 months, or to be any less committed to the team/cause. Therefore I don't see it being any different this time. Whether he joins on loan or permanent, I don't think it'll affect his performances for us. And, touch wood, everything will work out fine by the summer anyway, for everyone.

Sounds like loan with permanent possibly in the summer is the only way he would accept coming here. On the surface I'd say f*** him but would imagine such a deal will suit us as well tbh Sounds sensible for us and him; I'd imagine Palace would prefer permanent now. If he wants away but is only saying loan, then maybe it will force Palaces hand (to a degree). Suppose a loan is the lowest risk all round (except for palace), and as long as he is committed enough on the pitch for us (if he comes back) and helps us gain promotion/the championship, then everyones a winner in the summer, too!

Speaking of Bruce, just seen this on the Soccer AM FB page... Bruce getting himself a kebab, apparently. (apologies if already posted)

Great result for Swansea, as it puts them 3 pts ahead of the mackems, but they have slightly worse GD. Really need the teams above the bottom 3 to start opening a gap up.

According to one of the reports posted yesterday, Palace still owe us £3m of the original transfer - so that would be used/considered as the 'loan fee' now, and we'd pay them the £10m difference in the summer if we go up/have obligation to keep him.

McClaren spent about 80mill in 2 transfer windows didn't he? Tell your something mind, I'm a little worried about the phrase Ashley won't spend big on players until we're back in the premier league. If we f*** this up we could be here for a while. Thing is though, unless we were cash rich, then how many teams can sustain spending 'big' on players at this level if they aren't getting promoted? Last summer we made the biggest 2 signings at this level I believe (Gayle and Ritchie @ c. £12m each), and if we don't go up this season, I think we'd struggle to do that next summer. It suspect it would have to be more modest squad additions. The way the club does its sales deals doesn't help though, in that we don't have the sissoko money to spend, but maybe just the first installment. Hence why they are hoping to do the Townsend deal as a loan, and then if we get promoted, the permanent fee wont be an issue/risk.

Yes we did. In third round of UEFA Cup in 1999/00 season. Oh well, there you go then. So many european matches... easy to forget!

That song they've spent all week coming up with isn't even correct. Whilst we've played in a few different Italian cities - including Palermo, Turin, Milan... we've never played in Rome, have we? 4.5/10... must do better.

Hehe, that works for me, like. Palace get a replacement till the summer (and someone Sham knows/likes?), then if/when we (hopefully) go up they get their £££ for Townsend. Everyones a winner!

Money? Looks like we do only have the first installment of the Sissoko fee + whatever was left from the summer.... unless we can get someone moved on, and off the wage bill (Tiote?) Promotion? Still far from certain with half the season to play. A player like Townsend would help. But still a risk that we don't go up... and there may not be a sell on clause this time, and we'd be stuck with him and his (undoubtedly) high wages. I do hope it happens, but can see why we probably want to try and loan him (with a view to the summer) first.

He signed on 26th January last year. Would be weird if a deal was agreed, and everything confirmed/sorted exactly 1 year later!

Add a young potential worldy no.10 OR very experienced Beardsley type signing (hen's teeth, I know) plus a proven more defensive CM (though not necessarily pure CDM) to alternate with Hayden or Shelvey and I think that is enough to comfortably consolidate in the Premier League and to build upon. I can see Hayden and Townsend getting better with continued use, Rafa coaching and the confidence that comes from being relied upon. Can we not stick actual Pedro in?? Bet he could still do it at this level!!

Pity we couldn't have just loaned him to Palace / a PL club in the summer - but I guess them activating his release clause prevented that as an option?

Loan now with a view to making it permanent works for us, but not sure Palace will go for it, as they (Fat Sam) will probably want the cash now to spend this window. Hopefully a deal can be sorted though.

There's nothing there at all, this whole fuss is because a tabloid ran a story based on basically f*** all. Aye, and whilst I agree there's (probably/hopefully) very little in that story at the weekend that actually changes the day-to-day running of the club and/or Rafa's influence, its strange that it was run by the clubs supposed 'media partner'.

I'd have him back, but doubt we will... purely because I cant see MA sanctioning spending more than we got off Palace for him, and I cant see them accepting less than they paid after just 6 months. I don't particularly mind that he left us to stay in the PL, its his own daft fault he stupid enough to join Palace/Pardew. If we could get a deal for £12-13m (max), I think it could happen.

If I'm honest, I don't know a lot about McCarthy... but he's not Colback, so its a yes from me, too!

Thank god for that. Well, at least we have Shelvey back now. Good result day with Brighton losing too. Oh, and the mackems.

Brighton just had a penna... and missed it.

That we haven't what we are doing yet even though we are pretty desperate for players. Regardless of current league position, and the manager, he always said he'd be looking at players able to make the step up next season, or play at that level... his targets probably include established top flight players too. It's probably still a stretch to get the players he might want to (potentially) drop a division, whilst promotion (whilst likely) is still far from certain. Also, I have no issue with bringing lower targets in on loans to do the job for the rest of this season if he cant get his first choices, and wait till summer to see where we are, and then go for the permanent targets.

Tyne Tees news: "Sunderland insist they wont sell him, no matter how much they're offered".

Thing is, at 34 year old there has to be a ceiling to what Sunlun can realistically expect to receive, and what any club is can be expected to pay, even with todays football money and crazy fees. They clearly think they have a Sissoko situation on their hands and can ask for stupid money. However, if he decides he wants to go and they price him out of a move, then they potentially have an unhappy (maybe even unmotivated) player on their books for another few months. Alternatively, they sell him and then any fee they get may just be absorbed into the club debt anyway. This could be a lose-lose situation for the Mackems now.

Defoe might be settled in the North East. After all, he started seeing some married lap-dancer from up here, didn't he? http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/543093/Tony-Calvert-Jermain-Defoe-Rachel-Calvert-Christian-Sunderland

You can't say that Brighton have been lucky - they have deserved their results and are a team with a better mind-set and more experience of fighting to get out of this league than are Newcastle. We were only unlucky at Forest - the rest of the results were deserved because we cannot break down teams that park the bus and compete. How much of Brighton have you watched this season just out of interest? Consensus from their own supporters seems to be that they were very fortunate yesterday and in the reverse fixture. http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?346755-An-apology-to-Fulham My boss is a Brighton fan, but not the best gauge of their supporters.... given he thinks they are playing "fluid, complete football" this season, and this was despite the fact they needed two penalties to beat Leeds. He also claims they have had their 'blip' this season when they lost those 2 matches against us and Brentford. Its a big ask, but to quote KK, "I will love it if we beat them.... LOVE IT!" Hehe

Not sure whether we are actually after Wilson at all, but I do remember what Howe said when we signed Ritchie... “We weren’t happy to let him go - Matt’s an outstanding player. But the reality is that we just couldn’t compete with Newcastle’s finances and Matty expressed a desire to leave." So if we offer the right money to club and player, then a drop down a division is hardly out of the question. And this time, we would also be buying from a 2nd place position, not a player taking (arguably) a bigger risk as Ritchie did on the summer.