Stal

Hoping this is true, maybe Rafa would do us all a favour and banish him to Portland with the other chuckle brother. Think he did but didn't look happy about it.

I was unimpressed with the signing in the first place, thought it was strange giving him the no. 9, and his debut has been downright awful, the only way is up from here I guess. He's not a 10 million player on this evidence I was always dubious, especially as he was linked with us many times pre-Rafa.

What is the point of Gayle?

Sounds like the old "sign Robert Pires but ended up with Lionel Perez" story.

One of Carr's picks. Really went all out to get him too and I'm sure he turned us down twice. Glad this sort of thing isn't happening under Rafa's watch.

Id forgotten about Bigirimana. Did we ever find/work out what the mystery illness was that stopped him playing in Scotland?

What bothers me is the fact our midfield is a concern, but we've signed like 6 billion midfielders over the past couple of windows so it's the area that shouldn't have ever been an issue. But, it is what it is. I wonder who he will go for, if our business isn't done yet.

I read this in the voice of pvt Frazer from dads army.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/what-happen-st-james-park-11647952#ICID=FB-Chron-main More Rafa influence do you think? It's like he just went to the board "just stop treating the fans like c***s".

There are specialist right wingers and left wingers. Do we have enough to play down either flank?

Has this been doctored? Not by you of course, but I've seen this and some of the wording was different. It said "centre back" not "defender". If it was, maybe it originally did say "come on toons".

Right, that's Hanley done so who do we think will be next in?

Anyone on here know what the hold up is on him signing?

I'm a lot happier now we've got another defender in. I wouldn't say no to another but at least I feel safer that we have cover and rotation options.

5 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT GRANT HANLEY 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GRANT HANLEY 5 things you could know about Grant Hanley by doing a quick google search, starting with his Wiki page. "'And, though his surname may be an anagram of Tony Hadley, no he is not a relative of Spandau Ballet's frontman".

5 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT GRANT HANLEY 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GRANT HANLEY

Really not a fan of this "can play there" mentality. Yes, in a pinch or during a match when a substitution is forced upon us. But we should have competent specialist centre backs. Two other points: 1) Dummet will likely play left back this season so why shift folk around rather than have someone specialist to come in? (except in the case of bare bones emergencies) 2) The rotation thing. We have a LOT of games coming up so having players who can slip straight into their preferred position without having to adjust would be far more useful. Rafa rotates and we have a lot of games. It's not likely to be so that the newcomer suddenly gets ahead of our current two in the pecking order. Im going to add in a bonus point, wouldn't it be good to have a more experienced centre back for our current young pairing to learn from?

Nothing definitive. There is more information about signings in just reading this thread.

What's the latest on signing a defender? I'm so confident in Rafa but I still wont feel comfortable until we have a centre back signed. No way the two we have is enough for a prolonged championship campaign. I feel it's threadbare at the back, regardless of "others can shoehorn themselves into CB".

I'd definitely be happier if CBs were signed. I'm not a fan of the "but Player X can play there" school of thinking. Yes, they maybe can, but I'd rather that was because of a forced substitution in a match rather than the very first injury or suspension.

Are there any players anywhere on a pay as you play contract?

No ta. Let's hear more defensive targets please Rafa.

Don't they play on opposite wings?

Oh, Dusty. Infamous is when you're MORE than famous. This stand, El Gallowgate, it's not just famous, it's INfamous. Three Amigos reference?

It's a false logic-that smug b***ard pardew will not even acknowledge the fact he was shit for England and see it as a success for him that he managed his country. I want him to be seen for the charlatan he is right now and for the press to annihilate him for his current and past works.