The Fish

The consensus from the Newcastle fans is that we played poorly and should have put the game to bed in the 1st half. We understand why Cisse was given the opportunity from the spot, but many would have preferred to let the in-form Ba get us 2 goals clear, then take advantage of the cushion and stretch the game. The players we''ve got should be able to ceate chances, especially when the other team is chasing the game. Baffled by Obertan''s appearance as he''s universally derided by the Geordie faithful. All in all a flat performance by both sides and perhaps the goodwill towards your manager contributed to the flat atmosphere.Once again, thanks for the welcome and good luck for the rest of the season. For what it''s worth I think you''ll survive, but you''ll need to strengthen the creative side of things at Xmas (or have you big man come into form). Southampton and Reading are terrible and if Liverpool''s form continues... ;)

Thanks all very much for the replies, I''ve put them HERE on Toontastic.net[quote user="Mister Chops"]What reception will your fans give him?[/quote]I wouldn''t be surprised if he got a chant to be honest. There''s a lot of love on Tyneside for that man. Wasn''t just that he got us back to the Premier League as Champions (which is no mean feat, even with a strong squad), he handled one of the most turbulent times, for one of the most turbulent clubs in the country. Newcastle are often the punchline club, ("would rather lose 4-3", chairmen slagging off their own fans, topless fat blokes in 3" of snow, and so on) so for a man who wasn''t "one of us" in the fans eyes to do so with such a calm, professional and likeable persona was brilliant. Although the crux of his footballing philosophy is based upon a mean defence, we did play some good stuff under Chris. Tell you what, there''s something to be said when you''re chanting the CB & FBs name, not for a crunching tackle, but for taking the mick out of the oppo striker with a deft turn or backheel in the box. So yeah we were still nervous in the Championship, but the overwhleming sense was that this was not a sinking ship any more. We were terrified of what the future held, fans were suggesting a Leeds style implosion; losing all our players and never really having the finance to recover. Others saying we''d sink to depths we''d not seen since before Keegan''s first time in charge and drop into the 3rd tier. We were soundly beaten 6-1 by Leyton Orient before the Championship started and, honestly, I thought we''d do well to survive relegation. Bear in mind this was before a lot of the big name players left.He is a gentleman, brave and honest. He shouldered the blame for defeats and pushed any praise on to his players. Took a dressing room that was torn asunder by big egos (Owen is one of the biggest mercenary arseholes in world football.) and made them the most together squad I''ve seen in decades. He also brought through young players like Carroll and Sammy Ameobi (Shola''s younger brother who looks decent & is brilliant on Twitter). Everyone wanted him to stay, nobody trusted Pardew. We were pleased to see him get back into a managerial role quickly at Birmingham and while personally I think he''d have been better off staying with them and getting them up his way, I think yours is a good fit for him. A club where he''ll be given time by the board and the fans without unreasonable demands. Can''t speak highly enough of him. Nigh impossible task, done with aplomb.Sorry for the long reply [:)]

All right lads, Got a few questions which I''ll be adding to Toontastic.net before the game on Sunday[quote]A few clubs find themselves with new managers this season, what are your thoughts on the old guard and new?Swansea got huge amounts of praise last season and yet you finished level on points, is there any resentment or are you glad of flying under the radar a little?Delia; Is she bat crap crazy?Often clubs that come up have to put up with a fair bit of patronising nonsense from pundits and other fans, have you felt that?What do you think of the current Newcastle side?Which Norwich player do you predict will have a big season? Which Norwich player do you predict will have a disappointing season? What''s a realistic aim for Norwich this season? Where have you strengthened to achieve this? Who will win the Premier League this year and why? How do you see the top 6 panning out? and why? Which teams will be relegated and why? Which new Premier League players are you looking forward to seeing? Who will be your danger man/men against Newcastle? Which Newcastle players are you worried about? Finally, what do you reckon the score will be?[/quote]Thanks for any replies.Dave