acrossthepond

Not exactly a vintage game there, but Cabaye's goal was one for the highlight reel. Get. In. Obertan was useless and hopefully Pardew has finally got the message. Marveaux was hardly on the pitch but showed he has football intelligence by providing a good assist for Cabaye. HBA was decent, glad to see he's getting more playing time. Good shot that was well saved - wish he'd pass a bit more. Simpson was really great today and may have had his best performance in black and white. He really bounced back from how awful he was on Sunday. Perhaps the introduction of Santon last week gave him the idea that his place is no longer 100% guaranteed, and that can only be a motivator for him. Bring on Stoke!

Cheap shot, like. It's not as though many of us were thinking anything different at the time. You judge people on past experience, and Pardew had been sacked at Charlton after taking them down, then sacked at 3rd division Sarfampton, His track record was nothing better than average.

Normally I'd say this is the sort of game we regularly slip up on, but we are full of confidence and Wigan are rather the opposite. If we can avoid complacency, we outclass Wigan in every area of the pitch. Get Ben Arfa, Santon and Marveaux on - new signings (well almost in HBA's case) who will be hungry to prove a point and I think we'll see a demolition on Saturday. I doubt Pardew will change a winning team though.

I want to be in it. I think we'd treat it with a lot more respect this time around because it would mean more to us. Even back in 2006 when we had the Waffa Cup run and went out to AZ, it seemed like neither Roeder nor the players really cared too much. The heights of the SBR years were still lingering in fans' and players' memories and there was no urgency for a 'second-rate' cup. Now if we qualified for Europe it would be a momentous success, especially considering how poorly we've been run since we went out in Alkmaar. We'd not send youth teams like Villa and Spurs have done in the past - or at least I hope we wouldn't. I don't think we've got much hope of qualifying for the CL ever again, so the Europa League and the domestic cups are our best chances of glory, and I would want us to give those all we've got.

What he says: Did you see me at the match mate? I must've kissed everyone within a 20 feet radius so I might've kissed yee when we equalised. How's N-O? Even the Trent Posse divvint drink there nuw mate. No I haven't seen you there yet and I can assure you if you'd kissed me you would remember ;-) tbh the daughter keeps wanting to set off earlier each week so I'm turning up less sober each game. Ended up at the Trent ad we originally headed to the strawberry first to watch the Mackems and then realised after about 15 mins that I couldn't give two shits about them and was more interested in enjoying the pre match build up. As we were already that close, it seemed the logical choice being close to the Leazes. (strange boozer though and seems a bit like a hippies retreat). Newcastle online seems canny so far as there always seems a good range of views on all subjects. The general chat is quite good too, particularly the embarrassing sex thread! Totally different sort of forum to here though but each has it's own charm. Nice to still see some of the canny posters on both sites. The one big difference is the lack of the multi-post-wars which is nice. Don't post as often ad here because someones usually posted the same opinion which is a bit of a novelty after three years on here. Just a shame I left as all my predictions of Ashley getting it right, Pardew being good, Carr being excellent, Krul being fantastic, Cabaye / rob Lee etc etc came good ;-) Nice to see Chez taking on the captaincy with such vigour. What he means: I'd put the wink smiley here but it looks really shit so let's just say I'm winking.

I don't believe that this was ever Fat Mike's 'plan.' Why should he be given credit for things that he never intended to happen? Pardew has turned out to be decent, but he was appointed because he was a cheap option who would toe the bullshit line (which he has consistently done), not out of respect for his CV or because he was believed a candidate to take the club to the next level. Tiote, Ba and Cabaye have turned out to be excellent acquisitions, but again, how much of that was down to Fat Mike or his appointees? Tiote was scouted by KK and was recommended by McClaren. We all watched Ba do the business in the Premier League for West Ham and many of us were talking on here about how we should sign him long before any rumours of it actually taking place occurred, and Cabaye only won the French league last season - it's not like he was an unknown either. We were in for those players because we were taking gambles on inexpensive players who had good potential. Tiote and Cabaye came from weaker leagues; Ba had done well in England but was a risk because of his fitness, and Marveaux is in that category too. That's Mike Ashley's 'plan.' Is that worthy of plaudits? He gambled with our PL status and lost in January 2009, and he did it again last January but managed to win that time. Is this chancer who plays with the fate of our club really someone who you think deserves credit?

Immense game yesterday, one of the most entertaining to watch in a while. It's mostly been done to death on this board (I'm late to the party ) but the weakness of our right flank compared to the left really suggests that Santon should come into the team for Simpson, who is never a Premier League player. Perhaps Santon's ability would bring something out of Obertan, who has been turboshit throughout, but who shouldn't quite be written off yet. I thought Ben Arfa could've done with passing a bit more but that sharpness and vision will return with time. He's just come back into the team, is training with new people and needs match fitness. I think the obvious move, and what all the fans are hoping for, is to replace Best with Ben Arfa against Wigan this Saturday. Destroying a softer team like Wigan could really infuse Ben Arfa with confidence and make him into a key player.

Not a chance. This 'ohh respect Mike or he'll not put his hand in his pocket, you naughty, stupid Geordies, stop singing nasty songs about our saviour and buy more shirts by the way' shit that's been coming from Dekka and Pardew is cringeworthy in the extreme.

The same old lies and bullshit as usual. We've had some good results so now they're trying to take credit for it, but if we hit a bad patch they'll clam up quick as you like. Let's focus on what's happening on the pitch, which is mostly down to team spirit, hard-working performances and, yes, the manager. MA and DL are liars who really have nothing to do with our success at the moment and are probably actively hampering our progression.

I'm just saying that Santon is coming back from injury and that it can really damage a player's confidence if they have a bad debut. It's true that Santon shackled C. Ronaldo one time, but he's lost his way a bit since then and is just starting off at a new club. Let's not expect miracles from him in his first match for us. Of course I want Santon to replace R. Taylor in the long term (and in the short term!) but I wonder if this is just one game too soon for him.

We surely have it in us to beat these. I'd bring in Marveaux for Obertan and HBA for Best, but I could see Pardew opting to use Ben Arfa from the bench. Not sure if Santon should get his debut against Lennon, that might be a bit of a baptism by fire.

But that's not it, HF. The reason many fans slag him off is because he's never made the most of the talent he plainly has, and that's because he's a lazy sack of shit and has always lacked the passion and hunger to succeed. He spends half the match on his arse and the other half with his hands on his hips. He's shown flashes of magic but they've only just been flashes, because he couldn't be bothered to put in the hard work on the pitch.

Beat them at home last year 2-1 and they've got Seydou Keita (of Barca) and Maiga in the squad for this one. If I had to call it, I'd say Mali will win, but a draw isn't outside the realms of possibility, which might drop them into the runner-up spot if Zimbabwe can beat Cape Verde. I've only been halfheartedly following the African stuff this qualifying season though since Egypt's campaign has been such a disaster. I don't think we'll be back in for Maiga in January anyway, though. Sochaux were playing hardball over the price, which isn't a game that Ashley has ever been prepared to play, and he's scored 4 in 6 this season already for them too. They'll want big money, which we won't spend.

They still need to beat Liberia, actually.

It sounds more like Harper's been told exactly what the situation is, which is that he's done playing for us, and so he's of course happy to keep collecting cheques. I don't think it's a lack of willingness to 'fight for his place' so much as it is that it's been made clear he won't be getting his place back. The move to bring in Elliott only makes sense in a situation where we won't be using Harper again, otherwise we really didn't need him. Pardew also worked with Elliott before iirc and will probably favor him over another one of the Barton/Nolan type who were so strongly in support of Hughton.

Guess we'd rather talk about tits than Michael Owen. But I repeat myself.

Geordies are too stupid to spell Gutierrez, that's why he's got Jonas on his shirt.

If we're nominating, I nominate 'Bafra.' 'Barfa' is odious enough, but 'Bafra' bears no resemblance to the lad's name and anyone who uses it should be made unable to see anyone's posts but Fop's. They'd wander this board alone, surrounded by madness, wondering if they are the last beacon of sanity in the Newcastle-supporting world.

I don't know if I agree. Certainly his awareness and positioning are areas that need work, but he's shown some silky touches - vs. Fulham for his 2nd goal, of course, and I remember him peeling away from two defenders early in the QPR game as well before just missing his shot. He has some ability, grafts hard, and is a model pro, but what's lacking in his game that could really elevate him to the next level is the mental side, which mostly just passes him by.

Tbf he was only answering what he was asked. The Forest job looks like a nightmare and probably will be one for quite some time to come. We all have experience of how well these DoF/transfer panel bullshit setups work, that is, not at all.

Crikey. I believe that's known as a 'fail' in industry parlance.

He has matured into the player we all knew he could become since that night in Sicily. I don't think we'll face a fight to hang on to him in the short term (that is, if Fat Mike wants to hang on to him ). Where would he go? Man U have just bought two new keepers, Chelsea have Cech, City have Hart, Liverpool have Reina, and Arsenal are in crisis, especially if Wenger eventually goes.

Over the moon with the result, and both of our goals were special, but we let them back into the game with poor subs and tactics, and Pardew will want to think about how to keep that from happening in future. Sammy would've been a much better choice than the totally finished Lovenkrands, for example, and Guthrie should just not be playing unless we're down to the bare bones. Tiote was back to his best except for pissing about on the edge of the box as he did when Colo was down. Obviously, atrocious refereeing and Wolves can honestly feel hard done by there. Obertan is useless and should've been off for Marveaux or HBA by 60 minutes. Krul was 'incredible' again.

Now they reckon Elmohamady is one of Bruce's transfer fuckups? I thought just this season some four-fingered Freds were coming on here and giving it the big one, saying he'd tear us apart. Fickle fans, kind of like when they turned on Darren Bent's mum.

If we keep worrying about bruiser-type players who will 'do' HBA, he'll never get a game because every side has them. I agree that Wolves are particularly bad for that sort of thing and he's not entirely fit yet, so another sub appearance, perhaps on 65-70 minutes, would be the way forward for this game. But Ben Arfa is one of the players of real quality in this side and he has to start when fully fit, whether against Tottenham/Arsenal/Wigan/other 'softer' sides, or against Stoke and Wolves. You don't see David Silva or Luis Suarez, for example, not starting vs. those physical sides for fear that they'll get injured. They have a job to do and they have to do it against whatever opposition they face, same as HBA does.