OTF

Merry Christmas to all from down under

It had to be done.

Damn straight. Mackem game first because it was almost poetic with Bramble being sent off, and their goal clearly displaying that there was none of their supporters left in the stadium.

I don't think anyone does blame Hughton, which is good really because the opinions of the supporters, and other people in football (journalists, other managers etc all agree) are much more valuable than those of Mike Ashely and Derek Llambias.

Not quite a toe punt, but getting there. Toe punt's fine though, it more the torque created on the top of the foot/ankle when shooting through the ball. Anyhow!

leg breaks shouldn't damage his pace. players can often come back stronger these days from fractures. it's the knee and ankle ligaments you really need to worry about i reckon. Having smashed myself to pieces over the years (and work keep on picking up the bill) I can confirm that everything I've been told and gone through indicates that a broken bone that isnt in the area of ligaments or where the muscle anchors onto the bone will grow back as strong or stronger the problem comes if you stretch or tear the ligaments in that area or break the bone where the muscle attaches to the bone so I'm hopeful that he will come back and wont notice the injury Having torn my ankle ligaments twice and had to heal them on the NHS I don't have any adverse effects and can still play pain free. I think it probably varies person to person I've done ankle ligaments and still get pain if I kick through the ball too far down my foot if that makes sense. Side footing, running etc are all completely fine. I think he should be ok to come back given how quickly he's healed.

Stevie for me for the entertaining balance of knowledge, passion and controversey. manc-mag has posted some good stuff. Getting past the chip on Leazes shoulder is just too fucking hard, and has denied the board a proper Papa Smurf figure. Noelie has deputised which isn't too bad because he brought us the classic 'Wilson'.

I reckon we may make one token signing. I don't hold any hope of it being a good signing as January is notoriously tough for doing good business. I don't think anyone will be sold, though they'll be desperate to get rid of Xisco, and possibly Best.

Just on Allardyce, it's refreshing to know that this Indian Chicken group seem to have as little idea about things as our owners do. To sack him when they're in a relatively strong position in the league for the squad that they have, only to replace him with a first team coach in Steve Kean who is talking about 5 million pounds as though it is a large amount. At least when Ashley sacked Allardyce he had Kevin Keegan lined up (admittedly that was a compromised role that Keegan took). They clearly had no-one pencilled in for the job and so have settled for a yes-man style appointment. The insinuation from that is that the footballing side of affairs will be controlled from the top by a bunch of people who have little idea about the game, let alone the intricacies of the Premier League. The pressure will be heaped on Kean who will just be a glorified trainer/coach operating under the illusion that he's manager. Oh, and Rafa is funny.

Do you think that would be the Best option?

He's got a debt to work offf so will go to the club that pays the highest wages I would imagine. Ergo, that won't be us, probably somewhere in Russia, China or the Middle East

Can't see him being sold, Pardew has already come out saying he wants to keep him. Nothing here is impossible, but there's not even any financial sense in trying to sell him to reduce wages because we don't really have anything to replace him with, and bringing someone in of that level would cost much more than the rumoured amount that Barton will go for, which will effectively negate the lower wages.

How annoying.

Much more pleasing to read than Bent rambling on or whatever Pardew said. I really hope Jose is still getting English language lessons, with that said. I hope he's not getting them from Danny Simpson and Wayne Routledge....

As I said, best I can be bothered with. You however seem the ideal person to take this baby on and make it your own. Have a sook..

Where's Damien Duff on the outgoing lists? And Bassong didn't cost 2m.

Worth more to the team than 20 million easily.

If you're looking at how well they've performed in their positions you have to have Enrique in there also. I'm leaning towards Tiote, but I really only hope that come the end of the season we can have a similar discussion with several viable candidates available.

Concise but pretty on the money there Besty. Jonas is going through a poor patch of late. Previously he was one of our best players at retaining the ball, lately he's one of the worst. Struggles particularly when he's up against a pacy fullback like he was today. Tiote's positioning and movement off the ball is great. With him and Barton in the side everything fits together nicely in the midfield. Wasn't a perfect match, but was a great result. Briefly was thinking here we go again when they got the equaliser. Ranger coming on was like an extra player because of his enthusiasm in stark contrast to Shola's.

What was the general feeling/attitude at the match? Ashley was spared some agro by the result on the pitch. Classic that you busted your beak during the celebration. Fantastic goal that deserved that sort of celebration.

Fantastic effort from Ranger. When he put the ball on his right I thought he'd curled it in past Reina for half a second. With that sort of play he's a great impact player if only we had someone half decent that he could be coming on to replace.

Have to hold onto him obviously. Barton, Tiote, Carroll, Enrique the core with Nolan a healthy contributer.

That's not Vuckic. Absolutely classic that Hodgson gif. His face rubbing antcis were hilarious. Very early in the piece he was rubbing his lip, with the camera man deciding not to cut away until he was finished. Thought we could have missed a few minutes of the game the way he was going. Great result for Chris Hughton's team.

Seldom does good come from deep hartred and disgust, but it's tough to be anything but. Obviously as an "outsider" I'm in a different position to many of those on here, but going into the match on the weekend I'm really not sure how I'll feel about the club, the new manager or anything once the whistle blows.

Thats because he fucking knew if we went all out attack with this squad we'd get shit on. Unbelievable. I need to calm down. Liverpool so obviously now quaking in their boots!