rogerbarton

Birmingham picked up their first win under Zola at the weekend. At the eleventh attempt. They averaged 1.55 points per game under Rowett. So far they're at 0.75 points per game under Zola. Had they kept Rowett and maintained that form, even now you'd expect them to be around 6 points better off (and hence 3 points off play-offs, not 9). I like Zola, but that decision has to go down as one of the most bizarre in a long time.

I really do think a way to bring Mitro back up to speed would be to play him alongside Gayle. I can see Mitro bringing Gayle into play by holding the ball up and winning flick ons. I can see Gayle's runs pulling defenders out of the way so Mitro can find space and slam the ball home. Having watched a few recent games, though, my main concern is in defence. I just don't feel confident when we're having to defend. A lot of people are calling Hanley solid if unspectacular. He looks ropey to me. Limited in the extreme. Would like to see Mbemba come back in and play with Clarke for a bit. But the reality is I'd only keep Yedlin from our back four as a PL starting XI.

Sky moved Huddersfield v Brighton to Thursday for TV so they're both playing today. Great results for us if Brentford hold on. Would really put us in the driving seat ahead of a tough set of fixtures.

I think he started in the game against Everton and had a bit of mare. Hasn't started again since

I agree Mitro faded second half, especially after he missed that sitter. Those strikers who have a knack for, you know, scoring lots of goals would instinctively have found the net there. But it'd be daft not to acknowledge how useful he was at holding the ball up, winning flick ons etc. in the first half. He was involved in the goal for example, where he held it up and knocked it back to Ritchie. He offers something Gayle doesn't, and Murphy hasn't really been as good at. I would still love to see us go two up top with Mitro and Gayle some time, then Diame and Shelvey in the middle of the park.

Brilliant - Villa beaten in the final seconds by Forest. Whose fans, by the way, now hate Lansbury as much as we do

A few shocking results in the PL today. Everton 6-3 Bournemouth, mackems giving Palace an absolute pasting, Hull beating Liverpool. Makes me laugh - Hull playing really well, 4 points off Liverpool and Man United, and a few weeks ago Merson and Thompson were raging about them appointing an unknown foreigner. Will listen out to hear what they say tonight Boro and Leicester well and truly dragged into it now, think they're both in trouble.

Another thing - same amount of injury time in second half as first?! There were three lengthy injuries in the first half, and only one in the second...

YES! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He sees the same replays as us right?

Thank FUCK for that. By the way, that was a blatant penalty on Ritchie at the end, and how the fuck the commentator worked out Carson was being fouled for the second last corner I have no idea.

Happened already for me. Should've killed them off by now.

That hoof from Clarke a minute ago was pretty woeful too. We're gonna need a whole new defence if we go up.

The ref is having a mare.

Mitro with an instinctive finish on the turn... five yards wide...

Agreed with the consensus here that Mitro has been a really focal point of the attack. Been a really good performance - let's just hope we kill it off early in the second half. Good to see Reading losing, and the mackems 4-0 up at Palace? WTF?

Playing some of our best football of the season here. Great stuff from Shelvey.

Been really pleased so far - Mitro offering something different with great hold up play a few times, Diame has looked energetic too. Anyone else think the commentator on the EFL stream might be a Derby fan? Seems to be overstating their role in the game so far

Pleased with the performance so far. Best start in a long time. EDIT: I say that just before we very nearly self-destruct

I actually stuck up for Perez after the QPR game, but you can't argue Diame looks the better choice at the moment. Also interesting to see Elliot on the bench ahead of Sels now. You just know Mitro is gonna get a brace today.

I personally think McClaren was the worst permanent manager we've had under Ashley. That said, we didn't even give Pardew much abuse when he came back, so don't expect any of that. How many home games did we actually win under McClaren? If he does somehow turn us over I'd be interested to see how many games he's won at SJP as an opposition manager/assistant manager compared to as our one.

The reality is a good performance and win against a decent Derby & we'll all be happy again. We kind of need it with the fixtures coming up. My worry is that Reading, Leeds & Huddersfield are all coming on strong. But they're all likely to drop points at some stage where you'd least expect it.

Apparently was given a £30m in the summer & told he didn't have to sell. Understandably, having actually made £35m profit, he thought there'd be money to spend in Jan. Something clearly shifted in the mindset of our fucking psychotic owner.

Who does the email come from? Paste in the exact address here and we'll let you know. If it ends in nufc.co.uk it's probably legitimate. If it's something like xyz@@nufc.zyx.co.uk then it isn't.

Shelvey's reaction was no worse than the one where his red card was overturned v Forest. Would be shocked if he's banned again. Compared to the QPR guy's studs down, deliberate jump onto Sammy's back, it was nothing.

Most of the journos have hinted at the problems with Ashley on Twitter, and Taylor has written about it here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/01/newcastle-united-qpr-championship-match-report Looks like people have been whispering in Ashley's ear, among them Mr Carr who really should have gone a while ago. Did he genuinely expect £45m spent, especially having made £30m profit on it in player sales, was going to repair a team that's been in decline for four years? If he's comparing it to last time we were down we had the solid core of what had essentially been a side in Europe for the past decade. There was more quality just about all over the pitch. Really isn't looking good now.