Dr Gloom

i will be optimistic about everything until we lose

can't imagine many things worse than a caravan holiday.

it's a fair point. our first eleven is probably one of the best in the league. the worry is our complete lack od depth. but we'd all still be more comfortable if we'd signed one or two more players - even a few loan signings. defence and up front is the big worry. if taylor, enrique and shola say were all out injured at the same time, we wouldn't be looking too clever all of a sudden.

no surprise that barton wants hughton to stay. he won' be around for long if shearer is eventually given the job

up there with marcelino, boumsong and luque

cue the manager of the month curse

was always more a fan of the corner, although the gallowgate end is where i used to watch us as a boy. these days it's usually leazes level 7

how many times has that been said though?

absolutely vital that he stays if you ask me. his lack of end product is annoying sure, but he's still streets ahead of most of the rest of our squad in terms of natural ability and definitely more than good enough at this level. he reminds me of laurent robert (minus the goals)

looks like 85-90 should be enough to secure a top 2 finish

Would you also rather have Nolan play up front too? I wouldn't say that scoring goals is going to be a problem this season, We have enough quality in midfield to cover that, In my opinion we should make sure we have enough cover at the back to keep goals out. to be fair, we're thin on the ground everywhere. we've lost over 10 first team players and bought in lovenkrands and simpson. we need defenders, midfielders and strikers. a championship season is a long hard slog We are stocked well in midfield. And alot of them are attacking players thats my point i wouldn't say we're stocked well. the more players we can get the better if you ask me

Would you also rather have Nolan play up front too? I wouldn't say that scoring goals is going to be a problem this season, We have enough quality in midfield to cover that, In my opinion we should make sure we have enough cover at the back to keep goals out. to be fair, we're thin on the ground everywhere. we've lost over 10 first team players and bought in lovenkrands and simpson. we need defenders, midfielders and strikers. a championship season is a long hard slog

i think it's safe to say that if we do sign marlon he would be first choice alongside shola in a 4-4-2. shola/harewood would be as good a front two as any in the championship kind of player you'd want rid of though if we do go up

big bad marlon will do a job at this level. pace and power up front not to be sniffed at

Big attitude problems though iirc. he'd slot in well then

i'm loving it personally. for an exiled geordie living in london it's ideal, especially as we've won just about every televised game that we've played in this year. long may it contiue - we used to be crap on the telly in the prem

funny how smith isn't considered a striker anymore and even nolan gets a run out up front ahead of him when we're down to the bare bones

player is the bit that worries me. we need players.

got a feeling this might be our first defeat of the season

this is exactly the sort of thread that could come back to bite us on the arse

terrible news but absolutely predictable. i reckon we need to sign at least another 6 players to give us the depth required to sustain a promotion push. they can be over the hill, kids or journeymen on next to nothing in wages. at this stage we need extra bodies in the squad desperately and we can't afford to be picky. howay ashley man sort it out.

let's just accept it lads. no takeover is happening before the transfer window shuts.

Thats a pretty strong team, and their definitely is cover for the odd injury. If more players aren't sold, that team should do pretty well, and it would be surprising not to be in the top 3 at the end of the season. so our cover in defence is two average midfielders? hmmmmm. i guess by the odd injury you mean no inuries. the first team looks good enough to hold its own in this division but that squad looks wafer thin to me

fingers crossed for no injuries. how significant taylor/collocini/xisco not being in the squad?