OTF

Larsson, while he doesn't excite would have made a healthy contribution to us this season if we had picked him up in January. Given he will cost less in the summer there's no reason why we shouldn't look at bringing him in (that's if irreparable damage wasn't done during contract negotiations in Jan). There will be some other handy players doing down that could be available that we should look at, but I'd like to think we already have our eyes on our primary targets so the relegation fodder will be fallback options.

So, Lovenkrands is the most accurate of the bunch (52% of his shots are on target), Best is the most deadly (scores every 5.5 shots) but also the least accurate (27%) . In total the Newcastle trio score once every 7.4 shots and has 36% of their shots on target. The Tottenham trio score once every 12.2 shots with 32% of their shots on target. If you consider every game started as 70 minutes played, and every substitute appearance as 20 minutes played then the Tottenham 3 played 4,240 minutes compared to 3,520 minutes for the Newcastle three. Assuming two strikers were on the field at the same time that's one goal scored every 103.5 minutes by the Newcastle trio and one every 141.3 minutes for the Tottenham group.

I'd say Leon Best's minutes per offside would be close to if not worse than Bents?

Interesting thoughts regarding Coloccini. His perceived value will certainly have risen. I'd say he would be well suited to Italian football. Not too sure exactly what he's being paid, but if it's particularly high then wages could prove to be a stumbling block to any kind of deal that they try to initiate. With Enrique highly likely to go the chances of Coloccini and Jonas departing would increase. It's all speculation of course but plenty of reasons for believing that it's a realistic possible outcome. That sort of summer I think would have long term implications for the value of the Newcastle United brand.

Talk about a luxury midfield I'm thinking in the vicinity of 10-15m will be spent. I don't expect there will be players sold apart from Enrique, though anyone will have their price and I think they'd accept anything in double figures for Tiote. The more players we sell the lower our net spend will be because the club will only buy lower priced players as replacements in the hope that their values will improve as that is the model of operation that they have continually indicated that they will be using.

Agree. When I've seen him he always looked lively but just wasn't very good at putting the ball in the back of the net. Hope to heck that we're not interested in Carlton Cole.

The benefit of going to France is that they'll be on lower wages as a rule (obviously not in all cases). The problem is you never know what you're going to get.

Mine too, though I have been working on getting them down if it's any consolation.

Selling Andy Carroll for 35m was in isolation a good deal. What made it less appealing was the way in which the deal was conducted and the just a little bit too convenient timing of it. What will make it a good deal for the club is if we end up with a better side as a result. It should be very possible for this to happen with additional money from the 35m still remaining, but the reality of it is something that we can only speculate on. It will ultimately show whether it was a good deal for Newcastle United or simply a good deal for the owner.

That's just about how I feel about him, though it's interspersed with freqeunt but sporadic moments of anger when he misses a sitter or does something stupid, and the occassional moment of delight when he does something Shola special like that goal against Sunderland.

Bloody hell. It's one thing if you're good on the pitch, but as yet he's not even that. He makes Ameobi look graceful.

What happened to team positive? Tom's kinda right, but if you don't know which it's the former.

I think Ranger's motivation will be assisted and improved by other young players being given a chance and making the most of it.

That's a good point actually. With Enrique behind him Ferguson got away with doing very little defending, whilst Enrique had a lot to do and was always pressed very high. On the other side of midfield you had Lovenkrands, mildly amusing the way he runs about at 100 miles an hour but rarely actually gets involved. It's a fine art that he's perfected of late. Ferguson could end up having the same sort of lightweight presence if he doesn't bulk up.

It was a well worked set-piece as well. Colo's marking wasn't great, but then Torres should not have been able to so freely flick the ball on. It was more so great commitment and focus from Ivanovic to be so ready and aware for the opportunity that arose.

Why would the negative side cling to their negativity if we bring in 3 0r 4 first team decent additions. Thats just silly. I would hope your side would be big enough to say no more maoning, we're looking good. Why do you assume I'm on a negative side? I try to be impartial and base any predictions on precedents that have been set. 3 or 4 first team additions of sufficient quality should drastically reduce negativity, but based on precedents I'm not expecting that sort of movement in the market. For the record the 35m sale of Carroll will only be a good deal if the proceeds are used to make us a better side than we were with him. If they were able to do this with 20m spent then it's technically a good deal, though I'd still argue that they should be looking to spend all of it if the right players are available (I'm not saying we should piss it up the wall for the sake of it). Regardless of what is spent if they continue with the trend of selling our best and brightest then that's a massive cause for concern.

I think the general consensus here is that by some small miracle we actually do have a solid nucleus. Where the difference of opinion is is whether the foundation will be built upon, or whether the key structural components will be gutted and sold to be replaced with inferior versions. If only we could fast forward in time to the end of August there should be a general consensus. Of course this will never happen because both sides of the camp will likely find something to cling to regardless of the outcomes.

@ N'Zogbia at left back. He was a rubbish left back, always out of position, couldn't tackle and repeatedly failed to clear the ball. All stands to reason because you can't just decide someone is a left back because they're left footed. Has never had an ounce of defending in him and never will.

Krul has a long time to mature and get the errors out of his game. He's a long way off being at his peak as a keeper. Is a good shot stopper, which is a great fundamental to build on. With his height and reach he should be able to control the area well but obviously needs some improvement in his decision making. What you have to hope is that he will learn from each mistake he makes. If that's the case then he should have learnt quite a bit this season

The more Pardew says the more worrying it becomes. When has he ever come out and said something that has turned out to be accurate regarding player contracts?

'twas a good cross though. Had good pace on it despite the lack of backlift.

Saylor. Start your lap of honour now son!

D'oh. Forget the rest of the game it's time for a donkey race...

CT dilemma. Lua Lua on, but at the expense of Ferguson who picked up a knock.

Either Drogba has lost a fair bit of weight or his head has put a fair bit on.