OTF

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.

We're moving the ball around well while they're busy chucking toys out of the pram. Good cover from Enrique there. As much as they're not doing much they have the ability to put a goal on in the twinkle of an eye.

Anonymous start from Ferguson, but 10-15 minutes in he's started to become more involved and doesn't look out of place. Credit to him. Jonas has been handy in this role. Plenty of running in him as usual and he's already under their skin. Lovenkrands is covering plenty of ground but many of his runs are a waste of energy. We've not been outplayed, though their goal was vastly superior to ours. Doesn't matter though cause they're worth the same where it matters. Game has had some classic Ameobi moments in there which is great- like where he somehow beat two defenders with a delicate combination of grace and clumsiness.

Our future depends on it.

Krul, Simpson, Saylor, Colo, Enrique, Raylor, Barton, Jonas, Ferguson, Lovenkrands, Ameobi Can only assume that JOnas will play on the right with Ferguson on the left and Barton partnering Raylor in the middle.

Don't particularly love him but can see the value in his play when he's one of a kind in our side. I agree that he can be incredibly frustrating. A big part of that is because he often does really well to get into dangerous positions and then makes the wrong decision at the critical moment. The fact that most players wouldn't have been able to get into that position doesn't make it less frustrating but when you're operating at the end of the market that our owners currently are the facts are that you're never going to get a perfect all rounded player. Personally I don't know how well he'd be suited to Italian football, but who can blame him for wanting to play in the best three leagues in the World. It would be a pretty nice feather to hang in his mask upon retirement.

You better have something more 'powerful' than a tea with the old dear if you want to 'experience' that outcome. It will be an interesting side that we put out there, and it will be interesting to see what Chelsea's mind-set will be. It's unfortunate that a lot of our more promising young players are unavailable through injury because this would be the perfect time to get them on the pitch.

CT mate, you have to appreciate that a lot of the time Jonas' end product is a corner, or a free-kick earned. You're generally going to get better delivery from a set-piece than you will from an in-play cross. Even still his crossing is not as bad as is generally made out. He's provided 4 direct assists this season, and countless indirectly through free-kicks and corners, plus his 2 goals. His real value is as a player who cany run at defenders and pull opposing sides out of shape making more space for our other players and maintaining width that we're otherwise lacking. If you look at our side he's basically the only player who can break out of our own half on the dribble and beat defenders. There's plenty more value in that than the average Joe supporter realises. I don't think some people understand what it would cost to replace him, especially when you consider his excellent injury record. There's zillions of players out there who may be able to technically cross more consistently but if they never get in the position to do so, what's the point? You make out like it's a done deal him leaving, but the truth of the matter is if the club showed any ambition and retained players like Enrique then it would be no problems getting Jonas to sign a new deal. The fact that he's even coming out in the media is testament to the precarious situation the club is in in terms of player retainment much more than it is a sign that Jonas simply wants to go.

You're telling me Arsenal, Man U, Spurs pay their wages out of profits from outgoing players? Simply not true. To employ this tactic you would need to continually be able to buy players for a lot lower than you subsequently sell them for whilst never spending substanciual amounts of money (and that's just to make a contribution to wages, never to actually cover the entire amount). You need to have a net profit from player movements each season. From the table indicating the net spend on transfers over the past five years Tottenham are third on the list having shelled out almost £100m net in their push to improve the status of their club (£20m net per season). They've gone some way to achieving it with an excellent run in the champions league this season. Obviously you can't pay wages with -£100m. That sort of spend is not sustainable, so I'm not suggesting we have anything like that. Manchester United despite the gargantuan sale of Ronaldo and the fact that they've bought very few high profile players since then still had a net spend of £2.69m. Not a great deal for a club of that size with such a high turnover, but considering their financial position and the amount of money spent on interest payments alone they've been somewhat fortunate that they've only been able to pay that much additional whilst maintaining an impressive trophy record (Ferguson certainly helps there). Now, onto Arsenal, they have actually made almost £30m over the five years on player transfers, taking a net of near £6m each season. Having just recently moved to a massive new stadium that cost nearly £400m to build they've tightened the belt as part of a sensible long term financiual strategy. Critically they've not won a single title, cup or trophy in that period of time. Deteriorated I would say at a higher rate, certainly with the furore surrounding Kevin Keegan and the subsequent relegation the clubs profile dropped faster than it has in the last 20 years. It could potentially be on the up now, pending the movement of the owner in the summer, but that is more down to the fact that it has just about reached a new low. More down to good luck than anything else the club are currently in what I'd consider a pretty good position to be able to continue building momentum and improve the squad and in doing so our profile. I just can't see it happening though, and that's what's particualrly frustrating about it all.