OTF

I actually think Nolan could be pretty handy in the Championship. Will chip in with more goals than Butt, and as long as Smith is still here I'd prefer him in the side over Butt, as he has more running in him and thus far seems to be going well. Both Smith and Butt are good at breaking up opposing teams attack. At the same time I think if we have Butt it will be Guthrie who misses out the most. I think we should be playing Guthrie as much as possible, as I think he's a good talent who will only improve with a lengthy run in the side.

BBC Newcastle, on now! No good if your OOT Yep

BBC Newcastle, on now! No good if your OOT Yep

River running dry?

He's put in at least one good cross (early in the season last year, got behind the defense and crossed it perfectly, was finished for a goal). Jonas will look better playing for Barcelona. He's likely to be rewarded much more for his diving antics there as well.

If Deportivo managed to get a percentage of Coloccini's resale UNDER the price that they sold him for, then they're a bunch of geniuses!

"there or there-abouts" It's as good as done then!

We need our more experienced heads to settle the game down from early and play some possession football to frustrate them.

It's more the intention. .. Moving on, say Taylor is on £30,000 a week. That's £1,560,000 a year. Say Coloccini is on £60,000 a week, that's £3,120,000 a year. We sell Taylor for £8 million, that's a total of £9,560,000 difference across a single season, or £11,276,000 over a two year period. We sell Coloccini for £4 million, that's a total of £7,120,000 difference across a single season, or £10,240,000 over a two year period. Coloccini still has 4 years to run on his 5 year contract. Taylor still has 2 years to run on his three year contract extension. I know you can't sell what noone wants to buy, but surely someone in Spain will take him for less than half of what was paid for him 12 months ago. .. And the sale of Taylor does not imply that Ashley is staying. More likely he's trying to get as much money out of the club as possible, then will sell it for a reduced price.

Yep, it's more about what this says about our owner and our future direction than just the loss of the player himself.

If by some miracle we actually are promoted with whatever scraps of a team we have remaining at the end of the window (then who's to say more won't go in the next window) then what is going to happen when we're back in the Premiership? We're going to have to pay overs for players who are worse than ones we've let go. There's not a pool of decent premiership players hanging around waiting to be snapped up for dirt cheap prices. Ergo, even if we do manage to go up, there's buckleys chance of sufficient money being invested to prevent us from going straight back down. I do think the media outlets have jumped the gun on this one though. If Taylor goes there's no way we'll hang onto Enrique, Coloccini or Jonas (they'll hold out for as long as possible to get the best possible prices, but they'll all go). Barton, Smith and Geremi will also go if an offer is received. We'll be left with this side: GK: Harper RB: Simpson* CB: Tozer CB: Morris LB: Kadar RM: R. Taylor CM: Butt CM: Nolan** LM: LuaLua CF: Ameobi CF: Carroll Subs: Soderberg Vuckic Guthrie Donaldson Lough Ranger Baheng * - For 6 months ** - Could also be sold

Yes. I have an Everton supporting mate who says Jagielka was awesome at CB before he got injured. I wonder whether Taylor would be guaranteed a start ahead of Jagielka and Yobo if both were available? Certainly not over Jagielka. My Everton supporting mate also has glowing things to say about him (I nicknamed him "Air" Jagielka after the ridiculous handball penalty he commited to ensure Sheffield went down a few years back - it turned out well for him as he got a move to Everton out of it). . Reckons he was their player of the season last year. Lescott gets more plaudits because he also chips in with a hefty amount of goals for a defender (or for a NUFC midfielder).

3 days till our next match .... (then 4 days later a Carling Cup tie) 12 days to go in the transfer window .... Not many 'by the end of the weeks' left.

Moyes has come out saying that he has dropped Lescott because of his attitiude, and that he hopes his attitude will improve after the window closes. Moyes has always seemed a straight talker, so I can't see Lescott going unless Man City offer something ridiculous for him. If they do, Everton will buy someone straight away but there's no reason to think that person would be Taylor. When Jagielka's fit they have two good centre halfs with him and Yobo.

SHOLA

I'd love a PM as well please. Just to say Hi and all..

I'll be happy with any sort of win. I predict 3-1 to the good guys. Carroll, Nolan and Jonas* * -

Was shocked to actually see him get on the pitch on the weekend. I'm guessing he may play another cameo in the Sheffield Wednesday match. After Shola he's technically the most experienced striker we have (unless Smith is still counted as a striker). Less Premiership experience than Carroll, but played 44 games from 2006-2008 for Deportivo in La Liga.

Just about any incoming players would be good news. Including Lovenkrands. Him being on a free lends more credibility to the rumours as well. He seemed to be enjoying it while he was here.

Losing Enrique will be tough. Both are 23 years of age but I rate Enrique a better player than Taylor (obviously different positions). Not saying that losing Taylor will be easy, but if he does go I think it will be for an amount that is representative of his worth, with Enrique I think there's a chance that may not be the case. I don't think it's necessary to rebuild completely from scratch as JawD said, but we do have to be resigned to losing a fair chunk of players. It gives us a chance to get rid of the higher profile players who weren't performing, though we should be replacing them with young, keen players who will give their all when playing for us. I'd take Peter Ramage back, same with David Edgar. Unrelated, but I was watching the Wigan match the other day, and was thinking that we'd all have Bramble in our team over Coloccini..

Over a certain level it's the quality of the squad that is important. Problems is we don't know the quality of many of our players included in our first team squad. We had a side last season that was only good enoiugh to finish thrid from bottom in the premier league. That squad has since been weakened substancially with 9 players leaving, and only 1 player coming in (albeit on a 6 month loan).

Yep, it was the winner. A cracking header from a Modric free-kick.

I can't believe people are only now noticing how good a defender Enrique is. I'll be devestated if he goes.

Or it could be that they're 'mates' and he's just there to take the steam off Ashley in general and there actually is no offer... Anyway, we're playing pretty well, leading 1-0 at home.

Yeah, Carroll has done well to get to plenty of long balls and has knocked them down nicely. Doesn't help that Shola is 20 yards away strolling instead of hanging around looking for the knock-down like any lucid half decent strike partner would be.