Dickie

Well that wasn't a disaster by any means. I think Benitez will have learned a lot last night and will probably continue to do so over the next week. I'd expect to see a different side lining up against the mackems, although I have to say I've got no idea what it should/will be. The squad is totally unbalanced as we all know, but hopefully he can pull something together to do a job on them. If we beat them and Norwich we're halfway there. I wouldn't have Anita in - just don't think he offers anything at all and for a supposed holding player he gives the ball away more often than not. Mitro had a poor game but he was up against two big centre halves at the top of their games, pretty much on his own. I had a feeling De Jong might start to get a look in under Benitez. I've like what I've seen of him, in the fits and bursts that he has played in, and thought he was unlucky to be dropped by McLaren after he missed that sitter against Villa. Anyone can miss sitters, but he does seem to have the knack of getting into positions either to shoot himself or bring others into the game in and around the box. This bloke Doumbia is a funny one as well. I half remember seeing him on telly at some point, must have been Champs League or Europa and I do remember being impressed. I just wonder if one or both of them might surprise us under Benitez and play a big role in the run in. I might be wrong, but my memories of Benitez Liverpool team was that they didn't rely on pace very much. Can only remember Baros from that team really having any pace about them, so he might yet find a role for De Jong in particular. What I liked about last night was that we were still in with a decent chance of nicking a result right until the end. That's what we need to do in the next ten games - just stay in the game and give ourselves a chance of nicking it, even when we go behind. I've got a fair bit of confidence that Rafa will manage to get us out of it, but obviously Saturday's match is crucial.

Great appointment. I just hope its not too late for this season. He'll definitely have an immediate impact on player attitudes I would have thought, which is clearly sorely needed, but we're still going to need a canny slice of luck to stay up I think. If we do stay up I'll be much more enthusiastic about next season. The most highly qualified coach/manager we've ever had except Robson. However it's going to take a good few transfer windows before I am convinced the club heirarchy have finally learned their lessons. HMHM I share your sceptisism - wouldn't be at all surprised if in the summer he finds out it'd not like it was in the brochure. Anyway for now we can enjoy what is a real coup, and hope he can just get us safe this season.

Good point - my theory doesn't make sense for so many reasons, but nothing does where these lot are concerned. As I said, it would be a perverse and negative attitude for the new bloke to take but it wouldn't surprise me

I wonder if someone has accepted the job and this faffing about is because whoever it is has said he doesn't want to take over til after the Leicester game cos he doesn't want his first game to be a howking. Would be perverse and negative in the extreme but with this club nothing would surprise me. Anyway my prediction is that the squad will be all over the place psychologically and Leicester will be out of sight after half an hour. Shelvey will hoy a radgie and two foot someone, straight red card and we are deprived of our best player for the next 3 games, 2 of which are "must wins". We'll therefore be back to Colback and Anita centre mid for those games, and we'll lose the 3 of them, effectively consigning ourselves to relegation.

Aye just when you think they can't get things more wrong, they continually go and do it. We've had nearly 8 years of this total incompetence ffs, lurching from one car crash to another. To think a few weeks ago I thought the fact that they'd released 80 mil for transfers this season might convince decent managers to apply for the job. There's no chance someone with owt about them would work for these clowns

Anita is very poor like. being stuck with having him and Colback as our centre midfield, plus a very weak left side, was one of the main reasons I was willing to give Mclaren the benefit of the doubt until relatively recently. With that centre mid we were never going to dominate even the weakest teams. Neither of them give any sort of impetus, invention, dynamism or aggression to the centre of the park, where you need it most. With Shelvey coming in and playing like he did against west Ham I thought here we go, season starts now, but it just hasn't happened.

I agree with you about Sissoko - the sooner we get rid of him the better

Benitez is never going to come to Newcastle in a million years, and the more I think about it the more I doubt moyes would. It's a fuckin shambles, can't believe how such a succession of incompetent, self-serving glakes can be in charge of a multi million pound organisation that means so much to an entire region of people. I remember the day Ashley's takeover was announced, I turned up to 5-a-side in west London in the evening and me and my best mate, who is also from Newcastle and had ended up down there at the same time, were over the moon. We both agreed that although neither of us had ever heard of Ashley or knew anything about him, he had to be a massive improvement on shepherd and we'd surely start fulfilling our potential, what a fuckin joke.

Moyes would be a great appointment for us but might be too little, too late. Should have been done during that 18 day break.

Gpirlo you can't be serious. Ashley has rinsed this football club, there's nothing left of what it was or once threatened to be

Hughton was a fuckin lucky appointment. Good bloke, good coach, got the defence organised and got on with influential personalities in the side, exactly what we needed at the time. But there's no chance they identified all those qualities at the time. Pure luck. Scoobos I admire your loyalty to mclaren but, as someone who has been sticking up for him longer than most, I have to admit he is tanking now. That said, wouldn't be that surprised to see us beat Bournemouth convincingly tomorrow a la west ham.

That more or less sums up my current stance as well. Still very worried about who his replacement would be mind.

That second half had relegation written all over it. I thought they did ok in the 1st, but that may have been down to how poor Stoke were. It was the lack of heart in the second for me. Bottom 3 with 12 games to go and 0-0 away from home against a team who clearly weren't at it and they turn in a 2nd half like that? They should have been scrapping for everything to make sure we got the point, maybe even 3, that were there for the taking, but instead there was a total lack of heart, as has so often been the case with this rotten club. Yes we probably weren't expected to win before the game but that performance should worry anyone who saw it. In previous years I've not been fussed about going down cos I'm no fan of the premier league but this year the possibility of seeing the mackems and villa go down without us would be flipping class, that's the main reason I want us to stay up. That and not giving pards and his media chums the satisfaction.

OK cheers - according to those stats my gut feeling was wrong. Hope so!

My worry is that without Mbemba, and even Coloccini, we get howked tonight and the confidence takes a battering. Then going into the Bournemouth game with all that pressure and the same patched up defence, I would fear the worst especially as Bournemouth are getting some good results these days. 0 points from the next 2 games would be a disaster, and I don't go in for the argument that the teams around us are bad enough to keep us safe. Aye, they are shocking but these things are relative and the important question is are they worse than us. Looking at it objectively based on the results we've had this season you'd have to say not really. Especially after seeing the mackems scrap for a draw last night and Norwich push Leicester right to the end at the weekend. I think Swansea will pull away as well.

I agree with you Alex, after 80 mil we should see some upturn, but just because we haven't doesn't necessarily mean mclaren is doing a terrible job. Look at moyes at Man U - he inherited a stagnating squad that was probably just on the way down. He's not a bad manager because of that. Likewise look at keegan when he came back in 2008. It took him a long time to arrest the slide we'd been on under allardyce, although admittedly he had a hard run of games. We have spent a lot in the last two windows but we've also had 7 further years of almost uninterrupted decline as a club overall. The attitude all through the club stinks. Last season under pards and carver was our slide into oblivion, and even Ashley could see that, hence the funds. Nufc should have a miles better manager than mclaren, but I don't think he's necessarily doing the abominable job a lot seem to think he's doing. The fear of who they might get to replace him is also very powerful, and maybe the main reason I'm not convinced it would be better if he went. I've said before that if moyes or someone else with better credentials was lined up and willing then McLaren should go, but it could just as easily be another carver/pards/kinnear lined up

Aye he has, he's at Las Palmas, which is where he's from originally. Following in Vinny Samways illustrious footsteps!

Best player in that team was Valeron I reckon. I used to love watching Deportivo whenever they were on Sky in early 2000s, mainly because of him. Don't recall Djalminha but I work with some Deportivo supporters who rave about him. Strange that I can't remember seeing him cos those clips are unbelievable!

Scoobos I was sticking up for you cos I thought the point you were making about Mclaren didn't deserve to be dismissed, but you've lost me now

Ah right cheers . That's a new one on me - I'd heard of the Chicago blues scene and southern/delta blues but never knew about St Louis. Might be decent after all

And yes, my instinct is also to try to be positive about a bloke who has arguably had us playing the best football (in parts, I'm not saying every game) we have for 10 years. He's not the bloke any of us would want as manager in an ideal world, but I also don't think he's been the unmitigated disaster some people think. Having said that, I have to admit to being very worried about his ability to get us out of a relegation fight

You can't blame scoobos for thinking like that - it is the reality of Ashley's time here. Keegan for allardyce was a no-brainer, a populist move that worked brilliantly til kk sussed them out for what they were. Since then we've had kinnear, huyton (luckily worked out well), pards and carver. I'd say scoobos has every right to be worried about who they'd bring in if mclaren went.

Is that what it's known for? Never heard of a St Louis music scene to be honest. I'll have a look into it, cheers

I have to go to St Louis for work in the summer. Anyone got any advice? Seems to be in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing to offer as far as I can tell from a bit of Googling