Dr Gloom

Do you think if Mike Ashley had bought the club in 1992, we would have had the 15 years that we had under the previous regime ? Don't answer a question with a question. What is your answer? It's a ridiculous hypothetical question though tbf. Not especially, it's a straight, albeit hypothetical, comparison between the old board and the current owner. do we really need to drag that debate on any longer though? it's been done to death and beyond. if we all stop, maybe leazesmag will stop too. please make it stop. it's killing this board. even with leazesmag on ignore there's no escape from it

What happened to the riverside? I loved that place as a teenager. Fond memories include my first eve cowie to the sounds of josh wink at the shindig and seeing noel Gallagher get sparked out on stage by some radgie at oasis's first ever Newcastle gig.

I used to love the barley mow. Had the best jukebox in town. Perfect for a pre-gig pint at the riverside.

Always used to be a fan of a post - planet earth mission to munchies. Probably rank but any shite tastes good after 10 pints

While I appreciate the fact the new look of the forum means the ignore tool results in me barely noticing when leazes posts, the problem of me having to read his stuff through others' quote pyramids remains. Can the mods please fix this? I'm utterly bored of reading him post the same old shite in every single thread. Would be great if ignore could also block quotes. Is it possible to do this?

As far as fishing goes, you dont get much more blatant an attempt than this Baggio effort. I'm sure the most likely candidate to bite is due back from the pub before too long.

Who suggested he was anywhere near as good as Enrique?

I dont think we'd suffer a great deal on the set pieces by not having him in if we've cabaye and Ben arfa playing As I've said in the past, raylor is an accident waiting to happen in just about every game he plays. Poor defender with shocking positional sense. Just because he can deliver a free kick occasionally...and he can...that isn't enough to overcome his defensive inadequacy. He's lucky he has Jonas working his arse off around him. i'd agree with that if you'd made the argument at the start of the season but you have to give him credit for his positional discipline this season. i don't remember him making any massive errors prior to the city game. whatever pardew has been doing seems to have been working. the evidence is in the goals against column. Then you should agree with me. I made this point about Taylor long ago. He is a poor player who constantly gets caught out and is pretty much a liability. I'm surprised you don't see that. i did see it prior to this season, never rated him and like everyone elese, i didn't fancy him at left back at all. but to be fair to taylor, he's in the team on merit. he's been a solid left back for most of the season up until now and is proof that limited players can improve with good coaching. i don't think he should be dropped on the back of one poor performance. if this is the return fo the old taylor then fair enough, give the other lad a go. he's earned one more crack though to prove it is just a blip.

tbh, i think appointing souness was almost as idiotic a move as appointing joe kinnear was.

I dont think we'd suffer a great deal on the set pieces by not having him in if we've cabaye and Ben arfa playing As I've said in the past, raylor is an accident waiting to happen in just about every game he plays. Poor defender with shocking positional sense. Just because he can deliver a free kick occasionally...and he can...that isn't enough to overcome his defensive inadequacy. He's lucky he has Jonas working his arse off around him. i'd agree with that if you'd made the argument at the start of the season but you have to give him credit for his positional discipline this season. i don't remember him making any massive errors prior to the city game. whatever pardew has been doing seems to have been working. the evidence is in the goals against column.

he's first in the queue for any free kicks in dangerous situations. he whips in almost all of our set pieces into the box better than anyone i've seen and he almost always gets it over the wall and tests the keeper with direct efforts - a v difficult thing to do consistently. don't know why he isn't on corners tbh. he hits the ball flatter and with more dip than cabaye going on what i've seen. cabaye's deliveries seem to have less pace on them. taylor's are a nightmare to defend.

I can say. Say what? come one, you must know by now. i agree with stevie fwiw that from our current position we should be the 7th strongest team (or thereabout) for the next few years. the only problem with that argument is that we know from experience that fatty will think of nothing of flogging our best players and gambling by replacing them with cheaper, unproven players. it seems to be working this season and i think it'll take a disaster from here on the pitch or a holocaust of a january transfer window for us not to finish at least 7th from this position. the outlook beyond this season though is far from certain.

I wonder if Carroll regrets the move now. He was a guaranteed starter for us. I suppose the lure of his hometown hallowed number 9 shirt wasn't as big a deal as it was to Shearer. You could argue he was forced out by the owners who were determined to cash in but if he'd really wanted to stay he could have dragged his heels. I still think he's a good player and would walk back into our starting 11 but he clearly isn't as good as some thought. Never a 35m player in a million years. 10-15m aye, no more

God, he's such a crushing bore

Spurs look a quality outfit tbf. Their midfield and front two would get into most teams with the exception of Parker. Still think he's one of the most over rated players out there.

taylor offers more going forward through his delivery. he takes the best set piece by a mile too. simpson better defensively though - his pace gets him out of trouble more often but he's not the best on the overlap.

i'm sure most of us would be loving it if we were bought out by some oil rich arabs and were competing for honours again. it's all very well to take the moral highround when it's not your club but i'd love to see the likes of silva and aguerro at the toon. i wouldn't give two shits if the only reason we go them was because we were paying more than anyone else.

administer corporal punishment - 20 lashes

pretty much agree with all of his comments. don't see what the problem is tbh

If we're talking the st Paul's lot, that clearly isn't the case. I've actually been down there and interviewed them mate. These are not currently employed - or arguably employable - people. I just dont see how a bunch of crusties camped in tents in a church square with no united voice or message will change anything. Unless they mobilise and form a political movement they're unlikely to be viewed as anything except an eye sore. The lack of a coherent political message or a clear understanding of the issues at hand will almost certainly prevent that happening. That said, I think the US police actions against the occupy movement there was a disgrace. You don't often see that level of police brutality here.

This crowd would be protesting and not working whatever the state of the economy though is my point

The problem with the st Paul's lot is the lack of a coherent voice. It's a bit like the riots back in the summer. Protest agaInst the system with little thought given to what is wrong or how it might be fixed. We're talking in the main about smelly traveller types with dreadlocks. Not as bad a crowd as the chav scum that looted the shops in their local communities but that there are similarities

According to a survey of Zuccotti Park protesters by the Baruch College School of Public Affairs published on October 19, of 1,619 web respondents, 1/3 were older than 35, half were employed full-time, 13% were unemployed and 13% earned over $75,000. http://www.fastcompa...hics-statistics there's no way that survey is based on the scruffs sat outside st pauls.

i've seen them at st pauls. bunch of crusties basically. the sort you see on ther may day protests. i doubt any of them had jobs even before the financial crisis hit. i've talked to a range of the protestors and there's no real unified or coherent message.

poor game today from r taylor but i'm not sure throwing in santon for his full premiership debut at old trafford is the right move. we all know taylor isn't the long term solution at left back but you have to give him credit for his performances this season. we've always known he's the best taker of set pieces at the club, and one of the best in the premiership at hitting a dead ball. but now he's also demonstrated that with good coaching, he can hold his position and contribute to a solid defensive display. he's done enough to earn a new contract and i think we'll all be more confident in hm being given a go in his more natural positions of right midfield and right back in the future. santon isn't a natural left footer either so it will be interesting to see if he makes the position his own either or whether he goes on to play more frequently at rigjht back. i'd still like to see us sign a natural left-footed left back to replace enrique in the long term. i'd give taylor another chance so his head doesn't go down and if he performs poorly again, give santon a go at home to chelsea.