aimaad22

Must have gotten along well with him Wondering how long into next season before Sunderland implode. And who would want to join them in the summer given the stories coming out of the club?

Apparently Bramble has taken a few parting shots at Di Canio. Good lad!

http://www.football-analysis.com/newcastle-united-20122013/?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-analysis.com%2Fnewcastle-united-20122013%2F%3F Decent read that, although much of that has been discussed here at length already. An extract from above: "Minor details aside, personally, the most disappointing factor of this season is the fact that Pardew is concluding his 3rd season in charge at Newcastle and we are still yet to see the outline of a long term plan. When a team is winning it is easy to look past this, as was the case in last season’s distant memory. This year, with results vastly different, one naturally starts to look deeper to find assurances that there are positive signs of growth elsewhere. One only has to look at Liverpool’s current situation to see why a club of their size has become so acceptable of a 7th place finish – purely because anyone can see Brendan Rodgers has a clear philosophy of how he wants his side to play and they are forfeiting short term gains for what they believe will be long term success. Is this happening at Newcastle? After 3 seasons under Pardew’s leadership it’s hard to put a discernible finger on what brand of football we specialize in (besides officially becoming a second ball team). Pardew does not have full control over transfers and even so if he does want a certain style implemented, he would struggle to bring in all the players he feels are best suited to it. Questions of team selection, tactics, set pieces aside, when it comes down to a long term vision and style, under Alan Pardew’s management, what is Newcastle United?"

Thats true. Watching non nufc games I often realise how I hardly take notice of all the misplaced passes etc. Pressure does weird things to everyone including the fans.

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcunited/id/6342?cc=4716 Some interesting points made there about Tiote's time here and his form last season.

EDIT: SPOILER ALERT http://insidetv.ew.c...he-red-wedding/ The guy is evil!

You cant underestimate the value of someone on the flanks who can regularly beat a man and put a good ball into the box for people to attack. We need that. Thats not Ben Arfa's forte, as has been said he drifts naturally into the middle. And thats where he is at his best at.

Nope but thats next on my list. Got an ebook reader almost specifically for it since I couldnt find the bloody print copy anywhere here. Have you read it? Wheel of time is pretty decent, and recently concluded. Not as shall we say, mature, as Martin's work but the politics/plots are just as extensive if not more.

That'd be me. Seemed to me he ended up a lot of the time playing down the wings even though he often started out playing behind Cisse. Im just hoping it was lack of other options as explained above, and not because Pards really thinks thats his best role.

I think him skinning Cole in that Chelski game probably gave Pards the idea Then there's the fact HBA was out, Jonas couldnt provide decent delivery if his life depended on it, and Marveaux has a touch about every 30 minutes in a game. Pards may be tactically senile but a some of what he had to do last season was down to him having little other choice.

Depends on who the two are. If its the likes of Abumeyang and Douglas then it will be hard not to pretend to be happy. If, as is probable, its another gamble or two from the continent then we're asking for trouble again.

Easily good enough for 8th to 10th imo. Not to forget the lack of Thursday night games next season. And there's no way we are getting the same amount of injuries again. Unless of course Pardew decides to keep playing Sissoko on the wings and Cabaye deep in our own half Anyway 10th is what we're aiming for arent we so no surprised then we're going after just one or two players.

I think Mourinho's said somewhere that Lukaku is going nowhere so thats that.

The nails on chalkboard irritating thing is depsite all the blunders of last season we still have a squad here to be reckoned with. If only the Fat One could just draw on a tiny trickle of ambition..........

Never said it wasnt. Im a fan of fantasy and this ranks right up there with the very best. I said the last book, A Dance with Dragons. I thought it was a drag to be honest.

Dont think it will be as bad as last season to be honest. A fully fit and raring to go Sissoko et al may make a considerable difference. 8th to 10th should be achievable. Nonetheless there's no denying we need 3-4 signings to challenge for 5th-6th again, and at least 2 out of those (striker and CB) need to be quality ones.

I really do think we need a proper winger though, someone who can deliver the ball properly. And one striker just wont be enough.

Arent we always Nothing unexpected in there, I'll be surprised if we sign more than a couple of players. Apart from replacing anyone leaving.

Aye if you think THAT was slow just wait till they do the last book!

I think its safe to assume the red wedding has happened then? We usually complain about predictable endings all the time, even in the best of movies/books! Yet here when someone bucks the trend half the world goes crazy! Not that I didnt turn those pages about 10 times myself thinking WTF?????? Think twitter nearly collapsed last night from the furore

Neymar isnt doing too badly.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-united-targeting-celtic-midfielder-4039475?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Well if he comes in I wouldnt mind Tiote leaving.

Aye, whats all the worry about retaining our best players then if they've all been ruined here

Rubbish, cheap looking rubbish.