Ex Lion Tamer

GDP down 0.7% in last quarter, what a disaster. Can we now agree that you can't cut your way out of a recession and that the government's economic policy is doing real damage?

It's a tangent but I'd like to know why Gareth Bale doesn't score free kicks anymore too

Obviously it's hard to judge on YouTube videos, but I think €10m sounds quite reasonable. Works out around £7.2m, so if we've got the money and rate him, then let's do it. At present we've bid very low

I thought it might be useful to compare Lens' videos with the video of another hyped player from Holland, but who went on to fail in the Premier League: "Ryan Babel Liverpool's New Signing" To me Lens looks much quicker with his skills so I'm quite optimistic that he could cut it

Don't f__k with me Kelvin

*has!

Fortunately George had started to see the error of his ways: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/whisper-it-osborne-has-embraced-keynesianism

Just because they can't/won't put a figure on it, doesn't mean the slogan is meaningless. It signals their intentions. Anyway, I was responding to the insinuation that labour don't intend to make cuts, when they have said they will repeatedly. The exact extent of cuts isn't really the issue, there's no magic number. It's about what you do with the money you decide to spend -things like a VAT cut (a concrete labour suggestion) would give people money to spend, creating demand in the economy and creating jobs and growth. That's how to reduce benefit spend, raise tax returns and pay down the deficit. I don't know why they have opposed all the cuts and don't have time now to do detailed research. Perhaps because if you believe the government is cutting too much, stopping them in whatever areas you can is worthwhile. Perhaps simply to make trouble for the government - I never said they were perfect. Child benefit is a tricky issue for labour because they believe benefits should be universal - means testing is an expensive business after all. PS Rachel Reeves is something which Osborne and most of the coalition's treasury people are not - a trained economist

It's the right strategy not to come out with a whole range of policies at this stage, as they'll seem old by the time of the election and the best ones will get taken by the government. But for example, calling for a judicial inquiry into the banks was the right one even though it would probably have been embarrassing for labour, as it showed how the tories are in the pocket of the banks. Labour had said all along that cuts are necessary, but these ones go too far and too fast. Unfortunately the paradox of Keynesian economics is proving difficult to explain to the electorate.

Miliband is actually doing a decent job now, he is making the right policy choices and putting the tories under pressure on most big issues when they arise. He battered Cameron in PMQs this week. The problem remains in communicating to the electorate and the fact he is seen as a geek, and he may never entirely overcome that, but he is starting to look more confident. I could certainly see him winning the election.

I say this not too be negative as I'm sure he's really good. But do I remember right that Adkins targeted him as a weak link when we played them last?

Amusing story about his wedding here! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/9322530/Police-called-to-wedding-of-Newcastle-Utds-Danny-Guthrie-after-stately-home-brawl.html

I maintain that it was Palmer who kept us up that year

He's exceptional in the transfer market and has proven this again at Newcastle

Its important to remember that no manager has a 100% success rate in the transfer market. Bebe anyone? Its probably fair to say that Nigel's record is hit and miss, but would give benefit of the doubt at this stage

The players will already be fired up so if anything they will need calming down. I would concentrate on trying to get them focused, talk tactics and tell them to go out and do their jobs professionally

Two players in each position, backup/competition in brackets: ????? (Kelvin) ???? (Frazer) Hooveld (Fonte) ???? (Martin) ????? (Fox) ????? (????) Morgan (????) Cork (????) Lallana (????) Rickie (Sharp) Lee (?????) I make that 10 players we need, perhaps a bit ambitious

Just speaking to a Boro supporter and he said that's the best they've played at home all season. That said, we still have problems in certain positions, but given how far we've come in just 2 seasons, understandable. Hopefully in the summer we can get the final pieces of the jigsaw in place, whichever league we're in

This. Plus we were unfortunate that Chaplow got injured, for some reason we seem to play better with him in the team even when he doesn't have the ball. To say we were gutless is a joke, we fought hard, just didn't have the quality and the luck to get a win away against one of the better teams in the league

If they expand it I hope that means more bars and no more ridiculous queues

Along with fitness, it's Adkins' psychological control of the squad the marks him as a great manager. We may not have the perfect squad but he has kept this team focused and brought the best out of them, particularly in the slippery games against weaker teams

Chaplow is not a RM, he is a CM, although I still think he is probably our best bet at RM because he is the best at protecting the RB. He was also getting into good positions going forward but the trouble is he's not very good at crossing (because as I say, he's not a RM). He's much better at arriving in the box late to finish a move.

Chaplow's our only midfielder who can get box to box in central midfield, we need him to find his form in the centre and not waste him on the right as Hammond and Cork together are not adventurous enough

Should only be played in CM I think, he's not a RM

He was quality and I could never understand the criticism he got, although yes, he didn't offer as much cover defensively as someone like Telfer did