Dr Gloom

krul-zilla you legend

he's been solid and unspectacular. done a job david batty would be proud of tbf

ooooh. the perch-inator

i take it all back. what a finish!

there's always a lot of pressure on a player when they make a big monry move - particularly on strikers to score a goal. i remember how chris sutton's debut at chelsea set the tone for his career there. more recently, there's been a similar stories with torres and carroll. cisse's had one of those debuts for me. good movement and sharpness but looks a bit nervous. that header was a massive chance take that pressure off in his first game

villa looking to hang on to a point here like. they haven't done much this half

ahhh, cise. that was your chance

well in jonas. good play that

good tracking back there from the baldy dick

good to see obertan at least running at his man and trying to get a ball in instead of turning back and passing inside all the time.

villa probably deserve to be level - they've created some good chances. krul top class again. our defence is still a bit high for me. bent has got in behind wiliamson a few times and he's always going to do him for pace. we need to be careful after what happened at fulham.

good that we're reverting to 4-4-2. shame ben arfa is the one to miss out - starting perch at home is a bit negative - but he can't have too many complaints - he's been pretty poor lately.

aye, same here. i'm not realistically expecting us to finish above 7th so anything better's a bonus. it's been our best season for years though whichever way you look at it. the best thing about this season has been watching a group of players that genuinely care about the cause and never stop fighting. when was the last time we could say that about a toon team? the football hasn't always been pretty and we've had mroe than our fair share of luck compared with previous years but it's been a lot of fun watching a side that always gives its all and never rolls over.

We've been over achieving all season CT. our squad doesn't have the strength of our rivals. Our success has been built on hard work, organisation and a fair bit of luck. The Blackburn game the other night wasn't the first lucky result we've had this season. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if we were still in this position in late April. I just can't see it happening. Lets put it in context - Top 6/7 would be a massive achievement given what most of us were predicting pre-season (lower to mid table).

No chance

i think he's a lot safer at centre half or holding mid than he is at full back. nowhere near as bad as some make out but a bench player at best. i don't think he's a massive liability, just a steady eddy type that can fill in a few different positions while not throwing his toys out of the pram for not starting every game. a bit like phil neville was for man u. he'll do. every squad needs that kind of player.

Anyone been watching how to cook like Heston? Might give his cheese sauce a whirl this weekend

Credit again to pardew. He gets players we've all written off looking half decent

his reaction to scoring was a funny one like. you'd think he'd be pumping the air. looked a but nonplussed tbh

just booked 3 days in ibiza for mate's weddig, with his second stag (first one is in london ffs) there two days before the wedding. the flights were all at stupid o clock in the morning so i'm going on my tod and the wife is staying at home with the bairn. it'll be the longest i've left him alone since he was born but got to say i'm looking forward to the stag do. the groom is on about not hitting it too hard as he's getting married 48 hours later. he'll be lucky. you set up an ibiza stag do, you get an ibiza stag do.

got to confess to seeing a few episodes last series. i'm not normally one for reality tv but foudn it strangley compelling. i'm sure no one i knew talked like that when i were a lad - taching on ffs? and i didn't recognise any of the bars they were at. obviously things have changed a bit since the late 90s but were they even out and about in the big market? where was circus circus, maddisons, macey's, saturday's, masters et al? and the riverside was a totally differnet club to the one i remember going to.

you got rid of Fred, didn't you , which you wanted, and said anybody would be better, didn't you ? Now, you have what you wanted, so stop moaning about Mike Ashley, because this is what you wanted. You wierd and stupid idiot. Im sure it wasnt DR G that got rid of FFS tbf. Wasnt it SJH? FFS didnt want to sell but his hand was forced by SJH. jesus wept. this is exactly why i have the cunt on ignore. total lies and bullshit, as per. leazesmag, quote me where i said anyone would better than fred or shut the fuck up, please.

shut up. you backed souness etc

Why are you convinced he's said that? You'd think he'd be champing at the bit for a start in the side in any position. I suspect it's more a case of the manager not trusting him to do the defensive side needed in that role.