rogerbarton

I'm beginning to lose track of all the signings now. How many full backs are we going to have at the end of this? If we include Anita, I'm counting him, Gamez, Lazaar, Yedlin, Dummett, Haidara. I suppose Anita can play midfield, Dummett was primarily a centre back (though when did he last play there?), Lazaar and Yedlin may be able to play a bit further forward. Just shows Rafa is definitely going to be switching it up a lot this season. If you include Dummett, we now have five decent centre backs too. I can't remember us ever having this much defensive cover. I'd agree I'd like to see another creative midfield player brought in, but what I saw on Saturday was very encouraging given none of Mitro, Gayle or Murphy were playing. As for the lack of Premier League quality - we're likely to have brought in 13 players at the end of this window! I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot more additions next season if we go up. I think there's a strong core here anyway so we'd be looking at a couple of top quality defenders, two or three better midfielders, definitely one 15+ goal a season PL striker. Anyway, getting ahead of ourselves.

Come on guys. We all know the bad run will continue for a few more games, then they'll suddenly pull together a six game winning streak with Benteke hitting form around October/November time. That'll have them pretty much safe by Christmas, and they can revert to relegation form thereafter.

Not sure what the Krul hate is about. Yes, he's had shaky moments (and increasingly in the previous couple of seasons), but he's played 160 games for us. No less than you'd expect! Elliot looked decidedly dodgy in his early days, but was excellent last season. Still not totally sold on Darlow, but he put in a decent shift at the back end of last season too. All of which means I'd have Sels fourth choice on what I've seen from him so far.

Hey guys. Been a while since I've posted here but feel like I need to know what's going on - living too far away to see home games at the minute. From what I've heard, we're lacking: 1) A powerful striker who can take the game by the scruff of the neck. Yes, we have Mitro to come back, but surely we'll need backup for the games he's inevitably suspended or injured? 2) A winger to complement Ritchie on the other side. I'm a fan of Aarons - what happened to him on Saturday? Am I the only one thinking we should just chuck Sissoko in for the next couple of games and tell him he needs to impress to get his move? 3) A central midfield that takes control of games. Wondering what's going on here. Colback, Shelvey, Anita should easily be good enough for this level. Surely Hayden and Diame will come good given their performances last season? Would agree with others that Tiote is worth keeping and putting in as first choice when fit. Other question I have is on Sels. What was he like v Huddersfield? Didn't impress me with the very few things he had to do v Fulham. Is he worthy of taking over from Darlow? And when do we expect Elliot or Krul to return? A word also for Siem de Jong. Has always impressed me in the few minutes we've actually seen him. Albeit he hasn't done much, just has that silky passing that's quite rare for Newcastle over the past few years. Would like to see him get a chance this season.

The defence really is going to be a huge problem. Taylor - Lascelles is the stuff of nightmares, and the left back issue is one I'm not sure how to remedy. Nufc.com reckons Mbemba and Townsend might be back, though, so I'd go: Elliot Janmaat Mbemba Taylor Colback Shelvey Tiote Perez Wijnaldum Townsend Mitrovic Quite where people are coming up with Marveaux, de Jong, or Doumbia to start at this point, though, I'm not sure. Definitely would like to see the latter play a part from the bench, though.

You heard it here first. 0-1, scrappy late winner from Mitrovic.

Well, it's all over now, and McClaren has to live with the fact he's the worst permanent NUFC manager in living history. It's funny, I was wiling to give him a chance for a lot longer than I probably should have. I thought the style of football he was trying to impress on the players was encouraging in (some) home games. We just kept waiting for it to click. And waiting. And waiting. He had a number of opportunities to press on and it never happened. You make your own luck and all that. Goes down as a worse appointment than Pardew in my book. Sorry.

First off - absolutely brilliant. I don't think any of us could have dreamed of this a week ago. Rafa the gaffer. However, the team have been so inept all season, it has some people wondering if anyone could save us. I'd just like to temper this with a couple of points: There have been some games that have shown our promise (West Ham at home, West Brom at home being two main examples). We passed the ball very well at times in both those games If you look back to the last time we put a run together, under dear old Pardew, the team hasn't changed much and, if anything, is stronger now: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29868777 (Never understood getting shot of Abeid mind)

He's still young, definitely worth a loan to see how he fares. We undoubtedly need support in the striking positions. If I recall correctly, Graham Carr has always been very keen on De Jong. He thought his style of play would suit the Premier League.

Changing the financial year to the actual gregorian calendar year probably wouldn't be very convenient. April makes sense, not a lot of any note happens in the three months prior.

Totally forgot about Jonas! He's not even in the squad. Might he have picked up another knock? Marveaux totally out too. Would have both of those ahead of Obertan and Sameobi to be fair.

Scored some crucial goals for us the season we finished 5th. Showed some silky skills too. Could have done with him last season I reckon.

It's up to parliament to change the law on Wonga's dealings and that's something I feel strongly about. Football long since sold its soul to the capitalist devil, however, and considering it's our record sponsorship deal I suppose we ought to play the game to our advantage as best we can.

Agree with the 4-3-3 with Anita ideas. It should definitely be given a try, it's not like any of the systems last season came off particularly well. I can't see Gouffran and Ben Arfa as our wide midfielders providing any kind of defensive support. Also RollingStones makes a good point re. Ben Arfa - how many goals did he score cutting in from the right on his left foot in the last few months of the 11/12 season?

Chris Hughton managed to get a better strikeforce over the line than us for Norwich...

All isn't lost, Sidibe of Stoke fame, Kappa of Reading fame and Helguson of Watford fame are all still available on frees.

I've watched OL play, but I've also spent more time watching Newcastle United play over the last couple of years which is evidence enough on this one!

To be honest, Ba is probably exactly the kind of player we need right now. Him and a little more creativity from midfield and we'd be okay for about 10th I reckon. 12 million euros for Long? Have I read that correctly?

Didn't see anything of Remy at QPR, so that's encouraging. But with Ben Arfa and Remy as protection in front of Debuchy and Santon I'm a little worried about our defensive situation. Particularly with Tiote looking like a liability as he currently is. Do people think Sissoko and Anita is a viable partnership in a 4-4-2? I'm thinking both defensively and creatively.

He's still got my backing taking everything into account. It's just the long aimless punts forward that I have never understood (they used to happen in the season we finished 5th too, just with less frequency). Does Pardew not trust the defence to be able to play the ball out from the back? There's no way he can seriously believe Cisse is ever going to win a header. I can see why we went after Gomis and Bent - to add some physicality to the attack and I think that's what Pardew ideally would like, probably in a 4-4-2 alongside Cisse. Does that leave Remy on the left wing? Not sure it gives us the required balance, especially with Tiote looking such a liability. Tom makes a good point about the 4-3-3, we were all screaming out for it last season but we never really got close to playing that same system that worked so well in the second half of the 5th season, Ba was really quite effective on the left side, allowing Cisse into better positions.

He should strike a deal up with Tony Fernandes.

As for Tim Krul, if Arsenal are really going to try and ram us up the arse to this extent we should just tell them they're not getting either player. We are in a position of power with Cabaye, as much as I have thought we should cash in on him since the summer began. Just wish it could have all happened a lot sooner. Do you think Carr has done any research into replacing him? (I'm not even going to include Kinnear here.) With regards a striker, I'm beginning to think the Baby Drogba might be very useful afterall. Pardew isn't going to stop instructing Krul to hoof the ball aimlessly upfield every time he gets it (remember when we used to work the ball out of defence via Coloccini and Enrique?) so we might as well finally have someone up there who might win a header ever. Cisse needs the support, he looked at his best for us when he was part of a strong three pronged attack with Ben Arfa and Demba Ba (who was actually very effective on the left of the attack).

Working in south east Asia at the moment, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore - all these countries are absolutely crazy about football. PSV came to Bangkok in their winter break and it was a massive deal. Atletico Madrid bought a Thai player and everyone went out and got their shirts. Tons of people have Everton shirts 'cos they're sponsored by Chang. I think the Asian market is something Newcastle could easily tap into and probably should have done the summer when we finished 5th. The people out here know their football really well, you get the odd Swansea 'fan' because of the football they've played recently and there are a lot of people who are still interested in Newcastle from back in the Keegan/Robson years. I know Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal came through SE Asia this summer, and Barcelona too, but I see no reason why Newcastle couldn't attract big crowds over here if they marketed things properly. A cheap deal with a crisps company and a token Thai signing and you're sorted.

If we do sign Gomis, how are we going to play? Is he really going to try and play two up front with Gomis and Cisse? It wouldn't surprise me - Gomis is exactly the kind of player Pardew would like, since it would enable us to play lump it up there football with a degree of success. Does anyone think it could be a successful partnership? How many Premier League teams play with two out and out strikers any more?

Thank heavens for that. Seems I jumped the gun. Those wages would put an end to the whole affair so I'm still not sure that's quite right. My concern re. Remy is that we're just making another audacious bid that QPR won't even consider. Reminds me of the Carroll saga last summer.