Baggio

Newcastle United enjoyed an evening of success at the Sport Newcastle awards, with manager Alan Pardew winning the Sports Personality of the Year honour. Pardew, 50, has guided the Magpies into contention for European football in the Premier League this season, winning 12 of 27 top flight games. http://www.bbc.co.uk...tball/17270854?

This is why I think we deserve to be where we are in the league, we're beating the teams I'd expect us to beat. Crazy stat but was it Man Utd a few years ago that failed to beat another team in the top 4 but won 19 of the 20 games against the bottom half teams?

Following our magnificent start to the season, the club has lost 7 of it's last 16 games. Only Blackburn, Bolton, Wolves and QPR have lost more in the same period. I hope the progress made isn't fleeting. Liverpool away Chelsea home Man City away Spurs away Norwich away West Brom home Fulham away So not that bad when you look at it more closely, only 2 home defeats all season makes me think we're much harder to beat.

That's twice this season Mike Dean has failed to send someone off for a clear red card offence because it was too early in the game.

I would be interested in seeing how much ground we're covering as a team because watching Sunderland against us reminded me of the work we put in as a team in the first half of the season, we don't seem to be working to that level any more.

I agree, we should be looking for cover for him rather than selling him. Another fullback and centre back are what we need this summer, if Ben Arfa isn't going to stay out on the right then a new winger too.

Can't say I agree with sticking him on the left, he's more dangerous when he's cutting inside and I'd prefer him to be running at defenders towards goal than to the touchline to get a cross in. The problem we've got down the right is that Simpson isn't good enough going forward to overlap and get to the touchline, if he was then we could pull teams apart down that side. The problem down the left is that Santon is right footed so wants to cut inside, that isn't a problem but it doesn't work with Jonas in front of him as he wants to cut inside the majority of the time too so we're not taking full advantage of the width of the pitch. What I'd like to see Pardew do in the summer is get a quality left footed left back in and switch Santon to the right, that way we've got 2 fullbacks that will overlap and go on the outside of our 2 wingers that prefer cutting in.

I'd be very happy with three first teamers in the summer and no significant losses. I've accepted that if we get a huge offer or a player is refusing to sign a new contract then he would leave, with Coloccini signing a new contract it only leaves Ba left with a question mark hanging over him, other than that the current spine of the team are all tied to long term deals so it's going to take an impressive offer to take one of our players. With Smith and Lovenkrands likely to be off in the summer it opens up a chance to make some improvements to the squad and first team.

It just shows we're on the right track on and off the pitch, you then factor in that next year we will have improved finances due to the virgin deal as well as more money from a higher league finish and it's looking good for us to push on, hopefully the year after we will have more from Europa football and it gets better still. I expect us to add 2 or 3 quality players in the summer that are capable of walking into the first team after hearing this, if they do crackdown on the financial fair play rules then it makes the position even sweeter for us.

Played 27 Points 44 I don't think my nerves can take many more games like that, it definitely feels like 4 points dropped from our last 2 games as this is the time we thought we could kick on with Tiote and Cabaye back but rather than doing that we've put in 2 awful performances up to half time yesterday. We've gone from a team that could mix up play to repetitive long ball stuff since the Man Utd game (apart from the second half at QPR) and I'm starting to think the pressure is getting to the team, I've seen the highlights and noticed Ba telling the guys at the back to keep it on the floor. I'm not sure what Pardew said at half time but it worked, the first half performance just wasn't acceptable but some tinkering of the set up had us coming out much more dominant the second half, I know we can't keep up that pace for 90 minutes every game but it was a performance we all know we're capable of. The change to what looked like a 4-3-3 worked, however we've seen it work when we've changed it against QPR too yet when we've started with the formation it's been terrible. I thought Ben Arfa was excellent when he came on too but we've seen with his performance against Wolves that there just isn't any consistency there, hopefully he gets rewarded with a start against Arsenal as he deserves it. Arsenal next, a game I expect to walk away with nothing from after their last 2 performances in the league but you never know. Fingers crossed Chelsea win tomorrow...

You might have a point if it wasn't for the complete lack of quality we've had in that department over the years, the same way as you would struggle to find a beefed right back here in the past 20 years than Beye but again that is down to the shite we've had there previously. Like I said I rate Coloccini highly but the talk of him being irreplaceable or world class is just going too far and if that makes me a wum then so be it. That's the point he's making, you absolute clown! Of course it's not, unless you think he was attempting to give Coloccini a back handed compliment?

Not sure if the score in the Liverpool game was good for us or not. We could still come 6th and not qualify for Europe.

They signed a deal with a new shirt sponsor I believe, they also signed a new kit deal recently too to change from Nike so that should boost it next year.

If those are the 3rd and 4th best centre halves the club has had in the past 20 years then being 2nd best is hardly an achievement. His weaknesses are his lack of pace, lack of ability in the air and he doesn't hold his position well, whether it's being pulled high while marking or chasing after the ball when it's better to leave it to a team mate. Now what makes him world class?

You might have a point if it wasn't for the complete lack of quality we've had in that department over the years, the same way as you would struggle to find a beefed right back here in the past 20 years than Beye but again that is down to the shite we've had there previously. Like I said I rate Coloccini highly but the talk of him being irreplaceable or world class is just going too far and if that makes me a wum then so be it. Either a wum or stupid. We gave you two choices. What you're saying amounts to "Yeah we've got a very good centre half, in the top two that we've had in the last 20 years. But it wouldn't hurt to sell him and roll the dice on a replacement." I mean if that's not a wind up, then it's stupid, no? I don't see it as either, I see it as having a very good player with some obvious flaws in his game that I'd take the money if it was offered and gamble on having a better partnership at the back at the end of it. I honestly think some people would have stuck with Hughton, Barton,Nolan,Carroll etc rather than gambling on improvement. Out of interest, presuming Woodgate and Coloccini are your 2 top ranked centre backs of the past 20 years, who would you have as 3rd and4th on the list?

You might have a point if it wasn't for the complete lack of quality we've had in that department over the years, the same way as you would struggle to find a beefed right back here in the past 20 years than Beye but again that is down to the shite we've had there previously. Like I said I rate Coloccini highly but the talk of him being irreplaceable or world class is just going too far and if that makes me a wum then so be it.

No he isn't, Carroll was unplayable at times for us and that's a level Coloccini has never been at. So you agree then that we've evolved our strikeforce by selling our best striker, I'd say we evolved the whole teak by selling one of the top scoring midfielders in the league too so of course we can do it with our back 4 as long as we bring in the right people. Otherwise we're going to be fucked when he does leave. I hate that word - "unplayable". Just because he beat the Arsenal keeper to an aerial ball ages ago doesn't make him impossible to defend against. In fact defences all over the country have had no problems reducing his impact to near zero. Colo on the other hand is right up there in terms of World class CBs. We're talking about what he did while here and defenders couldn't handle him, I'm not sure how anyone can argue that. How is Coloccini World class btw? What attributes does he have that puts him in the elite group?

Also, it was only Ginola that went on to be quality somewhere else. Ferdinand was injury prone at Spurs, Beardsley had just got old and Asprilla falls in the same category as Ben Arfa and Margins for being completely hit and miss.

No he isn't, Carroll was unplayable at times for us and that's a level Coloccini has never been at. So you agree then that we've evolved our strikeforce by selling our best striker, I'd say we evolved the whole teak by selling one of the top scoring midfielders in the league too so of course we can do it with our back 4 as long as we bring in the right people. Otherwise we're going to be fucked when he does leave.

Absolute rubbish. You don't evolve your defence by selling your best player in the back four. I fail to see what is so difficult about finding a partner for him, it's much easier to find a physical CB than one like Colo who is cultured and comfortable on the ball. Early days yet but have we evolved our strikeforce by selling our best striker?

To be fair he did buy some decent players, it was just the injury to Shearer that ruined it.

Being average at something is by distinction not a weakness. For example, I wouldn't say your ability to be the forum's contrarian was average. Would I? Anyway, great news. Did not expect Colo to sign. I thought it would just drag on for months and then he would be sold in the summer. Great stuff. Krul signing too is equal or even better news. Where as I have no idea who you are or that you posted on this forum until you quoted this posted, so perhaps not having the exact same opion as the majority of on every single matter isn't the worst thing in the world.

I'm not disputing how good an individual he is, I just think if he were to leave the chance to bring in 2 big athletes that are both quick and can bully strikers is one I would seriously consider taking. I think it's about evolving more than overhauling so that wasn't the best choice of words on my part but I just see him being such a difficult player to find the right partner for because of what he lacks, where as signing 2 players that are capable of former a better partnership could be the better option to make us stronger back there.

And how much do you think he would cost to replace? Depends who they replace him with, obviously. While he's been quality for the majority of the season if he were to leave it would give us the option of giving the centre backs a complete overhaul, like I said he has been quality but he does have some big weaknesses to his game that have left us exposed this season, mainly his lack of pace and average ability in the air.

I'd accept £10+ million for Colo in the summer so that's not a problem. Great news on both btw, we've currently got some quality players kicking around the squad and I plan on spending my time enjoying them while they are here rather than being down about the possibility of them leaving every window.