Jimbo

hallelujah

I don't disagree mate, but judging by the MSN conversations I've had today with fans and by the patern of voting its justified, as mad as it is.

I honestly believe that Big Sam hasn't had chance to play his first 11 down to injuries and suspensions. as an aside, what would your first 11 be? I honestly hope he's got some great excuses for his team selection, because otherwise its piss poor My first choice XI would be: 4-4-2 Given Enrique Rozenahl Faye Beye N'Zogbia Emre Butt Milner Owen Martins Today I'd have played harper Enrique Rozenahl Faye Beye N'Zogbia Emre Barton Milner Smith Owen

There's a surprise. Perhaps I should be more like you and be ignorant to the current problems at the club. Can you expand on what I'm "ignorant" to please? Your comment suggests you think I moan about things and that I'm never impressed with anything the club has done, which in truth I'm not because we're a fucking shambles and have been for a few years now, by accusing me of never being happy suggests you're ignorant to the problems the club has. You must see that further upheaval in the managerial and coaching positions would simply prolong this shambles? surely? I agree, I haven't said we should sack him now though, just that I'm not impressed so far and that replacing him with Hughes would be a sideways step.. seen the league table lately ?

There's a surprise. Perhaps I should be more like you and be ignorant to the current problems at the club. Can you expand on what I'm "ignorant" to please? Your comment suggests you think I moan about things and that I'm never impressed with anything the club has done, which in truth I'm not because we're a fucking shambles and have been for a few years now, by accusing me of never being happy suggests you're ignorant to the problems the club has. You must see that further upheaval in the managerial and coaching positions would simply prolong this shambles? surely? I'd settle for a manager that can at least play his chosen XI in the correct positions, we don't seem to have that at the moment, and starts matches with the mind-set to win rather than play for a draw, that would be progress.

We played from the start like we were playing for a draw, not for the first time this season.

Barton got better as the match went on, but I'll forgive him for today as he's probably not match fit yet and was played out of position.

agreed but made a decisive goal-bound clearance.

I personally thought Smith had a good game today, unlike the rest of the midfield. I thought he did a decent job in the absence of Butt.

Author Norman Mailer dies at 84 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer has died of renal failure aged 84, his literary executor has said. Mailer won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize twice, for The Armies of the Night in 1968 and The Executioner's Song in 1979. He was known for biting prose and as an antagonist of the feminist movement. His latest work, The Castle in the Forest, was published this year. Last month he had surgery to remove scar tissue from around his lung. Born in 1923 in New Jersey, Mailer wrote dozens of books as well as plays, poems, screenplays and essays. His strident views on US political life, and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, provoked and enraged readers. Author feuds Mailer's first major success, the 1948 novel The Naked and the Dead, was a fictionalised account based on his experiences in the Army in World War II. "A man who went to a famous prep school in the early 1920s said afterward, 'It was the worst experience of my life and the most valuable.' I can say the same about my time in the US Army," he reflected in 2005. Mailer's works were often filled with violence, sexual obsession and views that angered feminists. Married six times and the father of nine children, Mailer once said in an NBC television interview that he was worried "women are going to take over the world". Detractors considered him an intellectual bully and he feuded with fellow authors including Truman Capote, William Styron, Tom Wolfe and Norman Podhoretz. In later life he reconsidered many of his old positions but never surrendered his right to speak his mind. Mailer was also co-founder of The Village Voice alternative newspaper in New York.

For too long now I found myself looking at the starting XI before kick off thinking "WHY"?

no. square pegs in round holes at the moment. i don't think he knows what his best side is yet. Agreed, and I find that disturbing.

99% Can't have too many complaints with Milner's performance on the left today, but I'd still have had N'Zogbia there in my starting XI.

Your thoughts please.

Allardyce seems obsessed with fitting in Smith and Barton even if its at the detriment of the team.

I agree but considering the next few games I can see the pressure growing. This "best start for years" has been achieved with fixtures against 1 possibly 2 half decent teams at most (Pompey/Man C) I think on the whole, the matches we have won are matches we should have won, and the matches we have lost you can argue are matches we should have got something from, not overly impressed at all so far. I have to say I was slightly "fooled" by the competence of the pre-season - probably as a reaction to the difference to Roeder/Souness but now the original doubts I had about style are starting to bang on the doors in my mind. I think he needs a good transfer window to get anything worthwhile out of this season. I'm sure big money will be spent in January, which will either give Allardyce some breathing space or provide our ambitious owner an excuse to bring in his own man.

I agree but considering the next few games I can see the pressure growing. This "best start for years" has been achieved with fixtures against 1 possibly 2 half decent teams at most (Pompey/Man C) I think on the whole, the matches we have won are matches we should have won, and the matches we have lost you can argue are matches we should have got something from, not overly impressed at all so far.

I thought Faye was excellent, Rozenhal owes me new pair of pants after a few dodgy moments, why Martins was brought on for Owen and not Viduka I'll never know, I'm starting to find much of Allardyce's decision making somewhat questionable.

Hughes is the better manager in my opinion, but I'm not calling for Sam's head. yet.

Has Gordon had a save to make yet ?

This. Anyone got any songs similar to recommend?

what Alex said.

Come on the toon

Derby day, a day for thudding hearts, visions of triumph over local rivals and gnawing, nagging dread. Plans to encourage a more measured existence for Newcastle United, a club who could have a rollercoaster enshrined on their crest, will be delayed until after the short journey back from the Stadium of Light this afternoon, when Chris Mort, the chairman, will return to his quiet revolution. Six managers since Kevin Keegan resigned in January 1997, no domestic trophy since 1955, stellar names and defective teams, chasing European glory and dodging relegation, memories to be savoured and exorcised. There has been a preconception that the soap opera will linger under the ownership of Mike Ashley, the billionaire, but for now at least, that theory feels defective. This week, Mort, the lawyer appointed by Ashley to succeed Freddy Shepherd, was holding forth in Northern Rock’s corporate box at St James’ Park, itself a fitting symbol of the turbulence of Newcastle’s recent history. Since the summer he has been conducting a review of all club affairs and an initial conclusion has been made – constant drama is destabilising. “It’s something Newcastle has a reputation for, that there will be overexpectation and overpessimism,” Mort said. “The fact that there are so many fans who keep the club close to their hearts and take it so personally when the club’s not doing well is part of the reason why we’re here. That passion made the club attractive to us in the first place. “But part of our game plan is to move away from the rollercoaster and getting on to a straight line that’s going in the right direction. The rollercoaster can be fun when you’re close to hitting the peak, but it’s the wrong way to run any business. It just isn’t sustainable. It’s impossible to plan ahead. “Over the last ten years we’ve had some Champions League football, but we’ve mostly ended up in the bottom half of the [league] table. We need to try for long-term progress that sends us in the right direction and helps us stay there. It comes back to that rollercoaster. It doesn’t make any sense to get us as high as we can this year if we’re just going to fall back again.” It will take time for that message to be appreciated. Newcastle are embedded in the public consciousness as a fount of intrigue and Ashley is presumed to have the same hair-trigger patience as Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, as well as the wealth and aversion to the media. Those elements have combined to see speculation swirl around Sam Allardyce, a situation that Mort condemned as “ludicrous”. The manager’s appointment preceded Ashley’s £134 million takeover, but Allardyce’s relationship with Mort is solid. A new gym has been installed at Newcastle’s training ground, the academy is being bolstered – “if we’re going to get this club right, that’s going to be a vital part of it,” Mort said – and vanity will be removed from their transfer dealings. “We’d like players who’ll be here for a number of years; my focus will be on bringing in people that aren’t quick fixes,” Mort said. “Let’s build up a squad that’s going to develop together, instead of trying to put your finger in the dyke. From day one we’ve been determined not to panic and we haven’t been beaten up financially on any player transaction.” Shepherd’s regime was emotional, self-destructive and, on occasion, embarrassing. Mort, still a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the international law firm, in London, is an antidote, but hardly arid. He has met community leaders and fanzine editors, repairing bonds that had been stretched beyond safety. He and Ashley have drunk with supporters. “We’ve made a conscious effort to go out and meet people,” he said. “That’s partly to promote the club, but also to hear what they have to say, making this a club that they feel a part of. I spend a lot of time walking around the city, just to get the place under my skin.” Early validation for the new regime could come today and Ashley’s status will be enhanced by his decision to sit with away fans, clad in monochrome shirt. “I’m going there with the view that 8-0 would be great, blast them, win it all hands down,” Mort said. “But I’ve tried to make sure we don’t have a silly relationship with Sunderland.” It is another break with the past.