Dr Gloom

There's no cash turnstiles on level 7. for the rest of the season? are there any pay on the gate options now?

250 below id say. Wicket is as dry as can be. it looped around in the air a fair bit in the first couple of sessions mind. still, 350 was gettable. i can't remember the last time we made a big sore of 500 or more. did we even make that much against bangladesh? Aye, 1st innings, 1st test. ah, well that's only the equivalent of 300 against any other side, given their blowing attack

what's this about no cash turnstiles on level 7? i'm coming up for the blackpool game and i usually get my tickets on the day

now he just needs a decent haircut

wigan away could be a relegation battle 6 pointer already

i don't think he's had that much credit. his name has never been sung that much by the crowd. most of us, me included, never fancied him at all as a manager. didn't think he was a big enough personality. didn't think he'd last the season. im starting to think again. one thing has been clear from our first couple of games - even the defeat to man u when we were outclassed - is he's got the lads playing as a team with good spirit. long time since we've had that. i wonder whether in hughton we might by chance have stumbled across exactly the manager we need for the situation we're in. still a long way to go obviously....

Fair play Chris Hughton. i don't think he's put a foot wrong since he took over as manager. Isn't it time we all started giving him some credit for the job he's done? Long may he continue to prove the doubters wrong.

big game for us this like. could be a barometer for the rest of our season as this is the kind of home game we should be aiming to win. shame we didn't sign a few more players in time for it. i think we'd all be a lot more confident if we had ben arfa tucked behind carroll.

Hang on, I thought you were Optimistic Nut? I thought your name change was a parody kinda thing Used to be known as simply 'Dan' didn't he? yeah, that was me. i was 'fancy dan lecturer' too for a bit in honour of leazesmag

£2.5m....a big offer by our standards

do you honestly see that happening? even if we do sign four, which i doubt, who's to say they won't be four more james perchs or xiscos?

does he still post? there's loads that have vanished without trace. you're nowhere near as prolific as you used to be...how come?

I always have a chuckle when i see people carrying those about. aye, those record of achievements really came in handy like

there's many a good poster that vanished without trace. i wonder what happened to the likes of swindonmag, swissmag, optimisitc nut, jj, blaydon and many more....have they changed usernames? did they lose interest and leave for good? do they still lurk? i guess the admin here might be able to shed some light. the mix that's left is a good one. when the merged toon-chat board split, i used to go between this one and newcastle online. but this one is way better craic, i don't bother looking at the other one anymore. lots of funny characters and the debate is usually lively without ever getting too serious.

We've been linked to loads of players over the past week if you look hard enough. Anyway, links mean fuck all. The press get nothing from the club regarding transfers nowadays anyway. it's usually agents that leak most rumours

it isn't so much that there's no movement on this rumour that's worrying me. more that we haven't been linked with anyone else either.

i think we're looking far weaker at right back, centre mid and centre foward than we are for goalkeepers.

250 below id say. Wicket is as dry as can be. it looped around in the air a fair bit in the first couple of sessions mind. still, 350 was gettable. i can't remember the last time we made a big sore of 500 or more. did we even make that much against bangladesh?

yawn

the top order served up total garbage today like. about 150 below a par score there.

that's why it's massive. it's obvious we're operating on a smaller budget than in the past but either ashley puts his fingers in his pockets and gives us a fighting chance, or he reverts to type and only gives hughton the kind of cash that allows us to get one or two more perch type signings. it's a huge window. if he doesn't act now, it may be too late come december to save us, like last time. and if we go down again, there's no guarantee we'll bounce straight back up again. ashley still has time to allow hughton to add quality to the squad. if he doesn't, he's taking a pretty big punt, if you ask me.

nice to see so many bowling wickets this summer, even though it means we could end up being on the wrong end of another tonking in this test. too many chief executive's pitches last year.

absolutely. our activity - or lack there of - in the next couple of weeks will make or break us. this is an absolutely massive window for us this. management's choice between a relegation battle and telling the rest of the league that we're serious and up for the fight. i fear the former. ashley probably hoping we can wing it on a few last minute bargains. hope he proves us all wrong

time for cook to get the axe like. the aussies will tear him a new one in the winter on this form england 9/1