Bovril

Ben Arfa is suspended in Europe for one more game, so he couldn''t play regardless. The Europa Cup is treated in a similar way to the League Cup [Capital One Cup] with managers not wanting to risk their star players. Instead, giving fringe players a chance of a run-out. Newcastle remain a very dangerous team, have home advantage and if an unsettled Demba Ba results in him scoring more goals then before it was reported, then any personal problems clearly don''t relate to performances on the pitch at this present time. The trouble we now face in the next run of games is that a draw would be an acceptable result but three points will be badly needed.

Every teams fans complain about MOTD every time their shown last. Despite the game being a relatively entertaining 0-0 draw where would you realistically put the game in as a neutral fan? If Derby drew 0-0 with Wolves in the premiership, would you rather see the highlights of that or the highlights of a game with goals / a game involving a big team. For the majority of fans, it''s the latter option. As for the pundits it''s universally agreed they need to shake it up now. Alan Hansen was decent and still gives a good defensively analysis from time to time but is too old now. Alan Shearer...a great player to watch.

Everyone knew Southampton had a good attack but woeful defence and this has proved true so far, but out of their four games they''ve played Man City, Man United, and Arsenal. Reading don''t look they have much although look at us last year at home to Spurs, got murdered. Way too early to judge at the moment, usual 10-game barometer, but it will more than likely be the usual suspects [us included] down there.

The initial ESPN table linked by The Rock isn''t wrong but the alignment of the column headers is out of place. Last years table clearly shows a correlation between the type of football a team plays and their position in the fair-play table with the exception of Newcastle maybe. Not receiving any yellow cards on first-hand is great but getting hammered 5-0 and not picking up a card some would say lacks passion. Two penalties given away with no cards received either. Always find that strange. A penalty kick is a game changing decision and most innocuous fouls not warranting a card outside the box are rarely given inside the box.

We live in a world of convenience more and more. If we have money and can easily pay someone else to do the job, why should we do it ourselves? This is the attitude of most today and I completely agree with the ''changing a tire should be on the drivers test'' idea.

The issue ''are we willing to spend'' should be compared with those clubs at the same financial level as us. As has been pointed out, Reading/Saints/QPR all have external funds of which we don''t. Instead we should compare with Swansea and West Brom. Swansea have bought a few 2-3million pound players (the same as us) along with a bigger signing in Ki Sung Yeong due to the money raised from the Allen and Sinclair deals. West Brom and Jeremy Pearce are notoriously tight with their budget but have sustained a decent squad albeit being the ultimate yo-yo club in recent years. With a large chunk of the remaining hard debt to be paid this year along with the compensation package for Hughton and Co. don''t expect the 5mill+ players to roll through the door this year. Maybe the following summer, Premiership survival depending, with the huge 80% rise in TV Income we could see a true ''marquee'' player but by that time will money be earmarked for the increase of the stadium?

Most people view CMS as a target-man (Holt-esque) maybe because of his prolific partnership with Aaron Mclean who was a short, nippy striker. He''s actually closer to Jackson in terms of playing style due to his work-rate, constant running and harassing defenders. He''s decent at championship level but won''t improve upon what we have especially if Hughton is looking to play 4-2-3-1 (as stated by Tettey). In this formation it''s vital that the central attacking midfielder scores 10+goals similar to what Michu looks capable of doing for Swansea. It''s imperative whoever plays there (howson / butterfield / hoolahan / snodgrass) gets into scoring positions and more importantly converts them.

A very similar scenario as to what Newcastle had three years ago when Shay Given left. They had... 1. Steve Harper 2. Tim Krul 3. Fraser Forster At the time Harper was No. 1 choice but they faced a dilemma as to what to with two very good, promising, goalkeepers. Now Harper is the understudy to an ever-growing Tim Krul with Forster sent out on loan before eventually being sold. Long-term I can see Rudd staying and challenging and then taking Ruddy''s place in a couple of years. Ruddy will more than likely end up at a upper-midtable side (maybe back at Everton). Steer will impress on loan but not face a look-in here and be sold to a top-championship team (Wolves / Cardiff).

With 4 weeks and an expected busy period of transfers to go, this is how I view it as it stands... QPR have bought well and Hughes has enough about him to keep them safe with the players he has. Villa under Lambert will re-discover mid-table Sunderland won''t go down under O''Neill Clubs that might be relegated: Wigan, West Ham, Reading, Norwich, Swansea, Southampton, Fulham, West Brom, and Stoke. With not much difference in overall squad ability between the teams, it boils down to what the managers can get out of the teams. Roberto Martinez Sam Allaydyce Brian Mcdermott Chris Hughton Michael Laudrap Nigel Adkins Martin Jol Steve Clarke Tony Pulis A mixture of experience and bright, young managers... West Brom, West Ham, and Reading/Swansea (New Owners / New Manager)

Andy Carroll - 35mill Joe Allen - 15mill Connor Wickham - 9mill Jordan Henderson - 18mill Howson - 2mill Pilkington - 2.5mill Snodgrass - 3mill Just shows you how good the NCFC board currently are at buying young, promising, English players.

He''s clearly leaving and the bid was clearly purposefully ''leaked'' by Leeds United to start a bidding war. The statement was issued extremely quickly after the media reported a bid with the statement itself virtually reading as a resignation letter with the message ''come and bid''. Lambert was on record telling that he had given the Norwich board his transfer targets for the summer. Hence, the NCFC board would know if Villa are seriously interested or not. I firmly believe at some point in the next two weeks a deal in the 2-3mill bracket will be sealed and Snodgrass will become the latest player to change Yorkshire for Norfolk.

It does make you wonder how the problem was solved as soon as Lambert left. He was a very important player before he got injured and even more so now that Drury has departed. Good to see Ayala back in full training as well. Ayala and Bennett has the potential if they can fulfill it, big season for both of them.

Stolen from a West Ham forum (Pilkington got the nod from Holt and Ruddy as their favourite player for us) Arsenal - Van Persie Aston Villa - Given Chelsea - Mata Everton - Baines Fulham - Dempsey Liverpool - Gerrard Man City - Kompany Man Utd - Rio Newcastle - Cabaye Norwich - Pilkington QPR - Mackie Reading - Kebe Southampton - Lallana Stoke - Ethrington Sunderland - Mclean Swansea - Vorm Tottenham - Bale West Brom - Olsson West Ham - Cole Wigan - Moses

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/next-manager-to-leave-post 1. Big Sam 2. Steve Clarke 3. Nigel Adkins

A good manager is more important then having a rich-owner to ultimately succeed (although the money obviously helps). WBA - Steve Clarke Swansea - Michael Laudrap Wigan - Roberto Martinez Fulham - Martin Jol Southampton - Nigel Adkins Stoke - Tony Pulis Villa - Paul Lambert Clarke is a great coach but can he manage? Pearce is also notoriously tight with his money. Swansea based their good season on clean sheets and keeping the ball away, can Laudrap continue this? also without a key player in Sigurdsson Wigan will be down there once more. Fulham under Jol is a difficult call but have a decent squad, enough to finish bottom-half without relegation. I''m a fan of Adkins and has money to spend. Easy to write of a promoted club but for my money will be the highest placed promoted club. Stoke could really struggle this year. Never looked convincing and kick and rush is finally starting to die in England. Villa under Lambert will be a totally different story to last year, no-where near relegation for me. Reading and West Ham depends on signings made but I rate Mcdermott much more then Big Sam. Wigan, Swansea, Stoke, West Ham and Reading will be our main competitors.

Point 1 - No goal music Point 2 - Daydream Believer 5 mins before kick off Point 3 - Entrance music (only for the derby / decisive relegation/promotion match) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzdc-0Q45wM&feature=fvwrel

You don''t necessarily need raw pace from players, you need the pace upstairs in the brain. Using the extreme best example, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas. These are not renowned for their pace (although the latter two aren''t slow either) but have a lightning fast football brain to match their technique. We scored a large percentage of our goals from counter-attacking football last year with the only real change in the squad (pace wise) being Kyle Naughton. I agree with the OP with where additions are needed with maybe another loan coming in for full-back and a lethal finisher / a penalty box striker to utilise the amount of creativity we now have in the squad (pilkington / howson/ butterfield / hoolahan)

Jacob Butterfield has signed on a 4-year deal. To be announced later today.

You rarely get to the rumoured stage of a 4th transfer bid without some piece of evidence... From all the stories written it does seem that West Ham made an original offer of around £3-4mill and this was instantly rejected. Big Sam played Kevin Davies until he was 64 so would not be surprised if West Ham had put in a totalled £6mill bid.

Chelsea (a) is on a weekend following the Champions League matches so this could easily be moved to a Sunday Decent schedule..a good mix of winnable and less winnable games. Last thing you want to start the season is either a) all the top sides b) all the sides tipped to struggle Good to have the promoted sides 10+ games in and not straight away too.

The Sun (for all it''s abuse) is also probably one of the best tabloid papers for accurate news on transfer information.. No surprise with the three papers mentioned though, like the BBC, The Guardian tends to wait for the news to be 90% official before giving the go-ahead for the article rather then risk being first.

I''m pretty sure LOSC Luc is who he says he is, the errors he makes are mainly via conjugating verbs, common mistakes in anybody learning a foreign language. The acid test is simple. Write ''LOSC Luc - Pink''Un'' on a piece of paper and take a picture of it outside next to a road sign (which would obviously be in francais). ---- Could be a good shout though, realistically would he come here?

It''s a confirmed wind-up (as pointed out with the weather and the tweeter himself). I doubt the interviews are being held at carrow road for this exact reason. More then likely (especially if it''s true Mcnally is looking across the pond) that any 1st round interviews will be held in London / an area away from the Press.

Steven Fletcher Knows the division, has the experience and track record Right age and similar mould to Holt With Wolves being relegated is now a realistic target £7-8mill affordable if Holt goes

A week ago I imagine most people''s expectations for next season were to stay up but at the same time also hoping to further progress and establish a solid mid-table position. Now with the new manager are we purely looking to hang on in the division? or do people think we can make further strides next year and achieve what we did this past year?