OTF

..and then for damage control Hughton takes Routledge off and replaces him with Alan Smith, who not wanting to be outdone by Barton, is also sent off before the half time whistle for a mistimed 'challenge'.

90% going to be Harper, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Enrique, Jonas, Guthrie, Barton, Routledge, Nolan, Carroll Only change that I could see being possible is bringing in Smith and moving Barton or Guthrie to the right replacing Routledge. That's a horrible change to make IMO for the record, but it's something I could see Hughton doing.

If he does go to Cardiff I wonder what percentage of his wage they'd be paying, surely only something pissy. Man City's wage bill must be ridiculously huge - I'd love to see the actual figures. The amounts they're supposed to be paying for Yaya Toure and the like are absurd. Even with Cardiff's contribution Man City will probably be paying Bellamy a solid 60k a week - can you imagine paying 60k a week for one of your players to play elsewhere? You can appreciate what City are trying to do, but it really seems like they've done a pretty poor job of it considering the money they've spent and the wages they're paying. Oh to be able to piss that much money up the wall...

After the goal that Almunia conceded they ought to be in a hurry to get a keeper in. Cracking shot from Ngog, but beaten nearpost by a shot that he easily got a hand to is not good enough. Reina's looked much worse, but the way it happened there's not a lot he really could have done - must have felt like a right tit about it, that would have been a very valuable three points for Liverpool. Edit - Oh, love the way they cut to Given in the stands after Hart made an impressive save.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...ity/8915964.stm Cardiff bloody City? Can we not offer a better package than them? His family live in Cardiff. So, no. That's assuming he wants to be near his family (and that they want him to be near to them).

Yeah, they've just posted some more breaking news - Roeder is closely monitoring Dirk Kuyt.

Exactly, I'd sooner give Xisco or Ranger a solid run in the side than inflate the wage bill unnessecarily with a player who doesn't improve our first 11 in a position where we're well covered with mediocrity already. No disrespect to him He had a pretty decent pre-season apparently. If he was used as a right winger last season then he won't even get a chance to play there for Everton this season as they're unlikely to have as many midfielders injured this time around. Up front there's usually only one forward and he's behind the yak, Saha and Beckford (for the time being).

He's not THAT good, I don't think. If he was he would be attracting interest from elsewhere. Good player no doubt, but not so good that it's unrealistic for us to get him in our current shape.

Wasn't in the Everton side at all last night - though you could question whether he would get into it regardless. On those stats he hasn't started many games, most he comes on as a late sub. For the record I don't think we should be interested in him, another mediocre striker? No thanks. 2009-10 League: 6 starts, 5 subs, 1 goal, 2 assists

Would prefer a captain who's ability puts them in the starting 11 regardless of formation. For what we have though, he's not a bad choice.

Realistically we are short at least one defensive midfield player, with no 'specialist' in the squad.

No doubt would be best mates with Nolan after that horrible challenge two seasons back

All the bullshit speculation and he said / they said is very annoying, but I'm sure both clubs are enjoying it immensely. I see why we could easily think that we'd have a serious interest in this player as he seemingly adds what we're currently missing from our squad. But on the other hand a signing like this is not at all realistic under the current management, even if it's only on loan. Certainly not expecting anything of this now. I think next transfer window I'll steer clear of all the rubbish, because ultimately that's all it usually amounts to being.

Simply because of the comment regarding pace, ability to play on the break and being able to crack a shot. Immediately made me think of Martins. Bellamy is no doubt a more well rounded player, but at 6 years his senior he bloody well should be. How do you think Defoe compares to Bellamy?

Sounds a bit like Obafemi. Admittedly he was a 9ish million pound striker on wages above 60k, something that we're clearly no longer going to be 'indulging' ourselves in. And Oba is 6 years younger, allegedly . Oba has a better scoring record too, surprisingly. Scoring once every 2.76 games, compared to Bellamy every 2.89 games. For the record I'm not saying Martins is better.

Not confusing anything, I said he was a good player but not a great finisher. His timing as the last man is very good, so much so that he often gets called offside when he isn't, an unfortunate by-product of being quick with good timing.

He's a good player no doubt, but the level of Bellamy love in here is a little over the top. He's never been a great finisher. Miles better than anything we have at the moment, but there's more to it than just his character that have prevented him from really settling anywhere. If he really was that good, he'd still be at Liverpool IMO. All said and done though like I said earlier if we could get him on a 1 year loan it would be good, though I don't think Man City will loan him out if his full wages aren't being paid, and there's no way we would be paying anywhere near 90K (which is probably a bullshit figure anyway). Assume it was 80K, that's a little over 4 million pounds for the year. Worth the price of sureing up our survival hopes? You betcha.

On loan if he isn't named in the Man City 25 man squad? The wages are completely ridiculous though. Half of it if he's lucky, so would be up to City to fill the void.

What price a flutter that FMA paid off OM and Ben Arfa to talk up Newcastle without any intention or chance of actually signing. I mean why make an actual signing when you can drum up interest just by pretending? Look forward to the official statemnt from the club about how Ben Arfa was the one that got away because of circumstances beyond the club's control.

True that.

It's on in Australia.. doesn't help you I know, but I can't see how it wouldn't be televised seeing as it's the only match on at that particular time. Not sure how the television rights are over there, but in Australia I should be able to watch every Newcastle league match on TV here

Defensive 4-5-1: Harper Raylor Campbell Williamson Enrique Barton Smith Guthrie Guti Nolan Carroll Attacking 4-4-2: Harper Guti Campbell Williamson Enrique Routledge Barton Guthrie Ben Arfa Lovenkrands Carroll Doesn't matter which team we put out tbh, I still think we'll lose. Campbell not fit for the Manure match, so that will be Colo with Williamson. That would be very interesting to see Gutierrez used at right-back, I know he played there for Argentina but don't know whether he'd have the same care when playing for us, and will still be trying to beat his man which could have disasterous results if he loses the ball. Routledge also doesn't offer much of a defensive shield, so he'd probably be under a fair bit of pressure. Having said all that I'd love to see that team played instead of one where Nolan has a lazy jog about behind Carroll. For once we'd have a side with some real pace about it, all of Guti, Routledge, Ben Arfa, Enrique and Lovenkrands have decent pace.

Luque is better as far as compilations on Youtube go

That doesn't make sense.

In behind Carroll would be interesting. In 2008 we were playing Duff in behind Martins against manure. Martins actually had a decent game, scoring a nice header and generally using his pace to run the manure defenders about. Carroll isn't quick, so having someone in behind with some toe would be very helpful. With all that said Nolan is a favourite of Hughton, so it would probably be at the expense of Barton or Guthrie if Ben Arfa first signs and secondly is played in behind. Wouldn't mind Barton missing out, but taking out Guthrie would hurt our admittedly already small chances of getting anything from the game. Getting a bit ahead of myself here. Less than a week to go. He has a touch of the Jenas about the way he looks, and a touch of the Dyer about the way he plays.