OTF

I'm still disappointed that the club didn't use his off field behavioural issues (which brought the clubs reputation into question) as a means to either piss him off, or at thea very least vastly reduce his massive salary. If he was on half what he is on now he'd still be vastly overpaid but if the rumours are correct that would have been savings of 1.5 million pounds across a single season.

A good assessment of Carroll. He'll be difficult to defend for any defender regardless of level. I've said it in the past that he seems to be a better header of the ball when he's under pressure/has a defender right on top of him. When he has too much time to think/place the ball it doesn't work in his favour. Has a lot of improving to do no doubt, but as far as this season has gone it can't be considered anything but a success. Whether he can raise another level for the Premier League remains to be seen of course, but he at least now deserves a chance at it.

Living in the now.. If LovenK and Carroll can keep putting the goals away we'll romp the title.

Completely forgot about Jamie 'the Don' Carragher. What a fucking tool - talking about intentionally injuring his teammates in training. Not to mention retiring from international football when he wasn't even selected. I'm putting out a press release later this week about my impending retirement from the international scene.

Doing my best to not even consider Barton in my reckonings for the remainder of the season and beyond. That way anything we get out of him is a bonus. With his history relying on him for anything has proven foolhardy.

Agree with that, though for me Bullard would have to be injury free and shave off at least a couple of years (and the hair). There's a few people in Nigeria that will be able to help him with the years no doubt.

General consensus seems to be that Hughton is doing nothing special, and that just about any manager would have yielded the same or similar results with the gulf in the class of players in this league. With that in mind if we're promoted the fear is that once the results don't come so easy the players heads will drop and Hughton won't be able to motivate them, or make the necessary tactical adjustments required.

No way in the world that Mark Hughes would even consider it. After being cleared out an Man City going to Hull and being relegated would be disasterous for his career. Dowie is a more realistic shot.

Yeah, realistically it's a pretty good set of results. If West Brom keep winning it will mean that our players can't slacken off at all if they want to win the League. At the same time if Forest keep dropping away it's great news as in the end all that really matters is that we get promoted. Still a key match for us tomorrow.

Quite a few season back in a Newcastle vs Liverpool match Lee Bowyer made a pretty ordinary tackle, nothing malicious but a bad tackle nonetheless. I think the tackle was on Gerrard. Anyway Crouch came charging in from elsewhere on the field and shoved Lee Bowyer in the back, and carried on like a right tit. In the same instance as well Gerrard had his hands around Shearer's throat from behind. Neither Gerrard nor Crouch were penalised in any way for their actions. Of course Lee Bowyer was, because, well, he's Lee Bowyer.

In no particular order: Steven Gerrard, Francesco Totti, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Patrice Evra, Emmanuel Eboue, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Recoba, Fabio Grosso, Craig Fagan, Phil Brown, Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane, Emmanuel Adebayor, Martin Jol, Peter Crouch .... I'm sure I could go on.

Let it be so!

With it being blatantly obvious to all that our squad is not strong enough to avoid a relegation battle in the Premier League, once promotion is properly secured our attention will no doubt immediately turn to the player market. Needing to strengthen in several areas on a rumoured to be extremely limited budget with specific requirements for players (in terms of age, resaleablity etc) we're already in a poor bargaining position. The fact that there will be no more large wages afforded to new players means that the lure of big money is no longer there. With all that in mind I still think we'd offer an attractive proposition for players with a real interest in performing and doing so in front of loud crowds with vocal support. Some realistic targets that I think we should be interested in are: Gylfi Sigurðsson Position: Midfield Age: 20 Club: Reading FC Contract: Unknown Details: Extremely promising young midfielder who is an excellent striker of the ball. Dead ball specialist who scores a fair amount for a midfielder. I'd imagine Reading would be keen to hold onto him, but under the lure of a decent offer may have their arms twisted depending on his current contract. David Nugent Position: Striker Age: 24 Club: Burnley (on loan from Portsmouth) Contract: Until 2010/11 Details: Portsmouth will be keen to sell him as he's a saleable asset. Burnley were interested in buying on a permanent basis but that may change if they are relegated (which seems to be very likely). His stock has dropped since his £6million move to Portsmouth and with only one more year to run on his contract they'll be keen to sell him to recoup some of their outlay on him. Still looks a decent striker, who has come back into a little form for Burnley (despite their results). Nadir Belhadj Position: Left Wing, Left Back Age: 27 Club: Portsmouth Contract: Until 2012/13 Details: On a long contract with Portsmouth, but no doubt will be keen to leave with their financial predicament and forthcoming relegation. Good attacking player who will add some flair and movement to the side, whilst providing experienced cover for Enrique. Habib Beye Position: Right Back Age: 32 Club: Aston Villa Contract: Until 2011/12 Details: Known prospect at Newcastle. Doesn't fit with the buy to sell outlook of Ashley, but would be a feasible option on loan. Isn't being played at Aston Villa so no doubt will be keen to get some time on the field. Kevin Prince Boateng Position: Central Midfield Age: 23 Club: Portsmouth Contract: Until 2011/12 Details: Probably one of the more saleable assets that Portsmouth have because of his age and reputation, and they're be desperate to sell him because he'll be on inflated wages. On the whole he's probably overrated, but would still add a different dimension to Newcastle's midfield. Unfortunately he's apparently money hungry so the wage limit could present a very real barrier in trying to sign him. Jamie O'Hara Position: Midfield Age: 23 Club: Portsmouth (on loan from Tottenham) Contract: Until 2012/13 Details: Likely to only be a loan signing as he still has several years to run on his Tottenham contract. As a loan signing though he presents a very real option that will add some much needed energy to the midfield. Has good premier league experience. More to come...

Disappointed that he won't actually be relegated along with Hull. This move didn't work for Ashley last season, wonder if it will for Hull now? Without looking at their fixtures (and those of the teams around them) I can't see them escaping relegation.

<_< Well said.

I'll have whatever the guy who wrote that article is having..

Yep. 8 million for him with such little experience is good business as he did have some big weaknesses. This season he hasn't really been needed at all and next season would have been the final year of his three year contract. At the end of that he could have left for nothing. Business wise it was defintely the right decision, and team wise it didn't work out too poorly. Plus, any financial gain has been swallowed up by the relegation. I suppose it made financial sense to sell him once we went down but he's different class to what we have going into next season. Money coming in is required to help financially when the income takes a big hit as it does with relegation. I agree though that he's a different type of player to what we have in that he's a big physical central defender who isn't slow. Hopefully they can get back scouting over in France as their league is in quite a strong position at the moment, so with a bit of luck, and a lot of optimism maybe they can find another Bassong or similar.

They got us back when they sold us Owen though. True.

In the premier league where the standard of opposition is on average better than the countries he's been scoring against (Belarus, Andorra, Trinidad & Tobago, Egypt in which 1 was clearly off-side) he has a return of 5 in 29. Granted he offers a different dimension to most of the other candidates. He could possibly be the only not passed it sort of 'post' player that England have as an option.

...Most of Crouch's goals have been easy goals against shit opposition. Fair play to him, he's half decent, but I think there's several better forwards in the picture. In the premier league where the standard of opposition is on average better than the countries he's been scoring against (Belarus, Andorra, Trinidad & Tobago, Egypt in which 1 was clearly off-side) he has a return of 5 in 29.

Good thing in the end that he didn't come back to us when he was deciding where to go. Would have slotted straight back into the Jonathan Woodgate ward of the Newcastle United medical facilities. Still amazes me how much Real Madrid shelled out to get him from us.

If Jagielka picks back up where he left off (prior to his injury) then he should definitely be the first reserve for centre back (and behind Terry and Ferdinand on reputation alone). The fact that Crouch is considered good enough to start by many is worrying. Probably down to most people thinking that Defoe and Rooney can't play well together.

Bringing Butt on was a horrendous decision. Committing fouls and lofting useless balls into the box - pathetic. Routledge and Enrique on the bench for precisely what reason? Pacrate was having a poor game with Routledge a perfect replacement and when Coloccini picked up a knock Kadar could have slotted into central defense with Enrique coming in on the left. If they're not ready to play why name them in the side? Amateur. Best coming on wasn't a great sub either even though he tried hard there was nothing for him.

Whilst I can normally at least understand the ideas behind your thoughts, this is just flat out ridiculous.

....and Thread Closed! PS - I really want to see the dog/frisbee/pony combination.