um pahars

Totally agree. Some of the Ad Hominem comments on here went way beyond differing opinions, concerns and doubts. You could of course argue that those who were attacked were unlikely to be viewing a noddy message board, but it was still OTT, unnecessary and infantile. Now back to the result. No matter how poor Newcastle were, it looked a great performance and a real morale boost to the players and management team who are still getting to know each other. We really are Newcastle's worst footballing destination! and would be interested to know what the deal is with regards a new contract for Cork as his performances (& his goals!) must be making those who hold the purse strings think about a new contract.

not sure how his schedule works, but think half time isn't the best choice. Would have thought 1:00 or 2:00 at the Common/Cowherds and then Have a run in to town with people watching or joining in would have been better.

They are under no legal obligation to sell anything to you, it is what is known as "invitation to treat", and at that point no contract is in place, they are merely inviting you to make an offer. However, if there pricing is misleading then they may have fallen foul of the Consumer Pricing (or is it Protection) Act.

Absolutely. In the current era, power has switched to mercenary players & unscrupulous agents. There was no premeditated firesale, no closing down clearance & no Club being left abandoned. Instead the Club were left to clear up the shift of a number of players putting their own interests first (whether that was selfish & disloyal, or instead a reflection of the modern game/society or just wanting to better themselves is another argument). Even if players were forcing the Club's hand and demanding a move, then the Club issuing a not for sale is a reasonable response, not least to ensure a premium price is achieved if we have to sell. As with "I've signed a 5 yr deal & I'm happy to stay here until I retire", "this is a club I've always wanted to join", "the fans are so special", blah, blah, blah, you have to take these statements & cliches with a pinch of salt & not get all piffy when you find out there ain't much substance behind them!! Think the Club have made a decent effort clearing up the shift left behind, and my gut feel is that overall we have been weakened by the summer's dealings, but not massively.

I thought only Lambert was sold before Koeman was appointed mid June???

After the May meltdown this is a very credible comeback. Some decent talent on there and conversion of the two loans would make it very impressive. My only concern would be team spirit needs to be built again as a lot of characters and stalwarts have gone (Lambert, Jos, Lallana). And Being honest, still haven't come to terms with Long for £12m and have nagging doubts over Schneiderlin & Rodrigues lasting the season (plus is Big Vic being tapped up). but this is where a decent manager earns his wages, so more than happy to sit back and watch Koeman work his stuf to mould this team together. Mid table finish this reason, then ...................

May be way off the mark, but I thought the medicals were undertaken at Nuffield/Spire hospitals as scans etc were needed, and the Uni was used for pre season and other times for fitness monitoring (heart rates, oxygen levels etc).

Very interesting read, so thanks for posting up the link. With regards the swathe of territory, I did think that large parts of the "ISIS controlled territory" were indeed barren scrubland and as the piece mentions, towns like Fallujah have only nominally run by those in Baghdad.

His army/Air Force are still dropping barrels filled with chlorine on civilian areas (as per the recent UN statement on war crimes in Syria). The whole thing is a clusterfkck. Despot dictators ruling by fear over historically imposed boundaries, minorities persecuted (then & now), potentially positive "Arab Springs" turning into 2/3/4/5 way civil wars, western countries intervening here and there, other Middle Eastern states fighting proxy wars and Ideologies & Religion being used to justify it all. Pandora's box has been smashed open.

It wasn't that long ago that the current Govt were pushing to be theirs and others Air Force against Assad!

Listening to those in groups like Al-Muhajiroun, Muslim Against Crusades etc, then I'm not sure that their lack of command of the English Language is a driving force for their hatred and radicalised views on the world.

John, I was replying to your use of the higher figure of 800,000ish who couldn't speak English when the actual figure was just over 100,000 (the difference being those who couldn't speak it well, not ideal, but definitely not speaking English at all). http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/language-in-england-and-wales-2011/rpt---language-in-england-and-wales--2011.html I agree that not speaking English is a barrier to integration, but I don't think that's the same as not wanting to integrate (as per Powell's claim), and I would like to think that over time those who have emigrated here (and most definitely the next generation) would in turn speak the local language.

The figure who didn't speak English was just over 100,000 which really doesn't seem that big a number given the numbers who came in to the country recently (with most from non English speaking countries).

Are you sure about that? I thought the number who could not speak English was much lower (with more saying not very well). And as I said above, in the short term following bursts of immigration there will be issues of integration and assimilation (including speaking English), but over time these dissipate.

I just don't recognise that at all John. Sure, initial immigrants and maybe first or even second generations tend to stick together in the short term, but our City has shown how over time the vast majority integrate/assimilate (even if they also manage to keep their own traditions/religions/history alive). From Huguenots, to Russian Jews, to Poles, to Afro-Carobbeans, to Indians, to Maltese, to Idi Amin's Ugandan refugees, this City has long been a recipient of immigration, with most of those listed above integrating over time in to the fabric of the City. I think there is nothing wrong with discussing the effect and numbers regarding immigration (& emigration), but I think Powell was wrong with regards immigrants not wanting/refusing to integrate. St Mary's was once a hub for the Afro-Caribbean immigrants. Who can forget the West Indian Club in its heyday, the various shebeens, the famous Newtown FC, Ebony Rockers etc? You'll be lucky to find an Afro-Caribbean family down that way nowadays as the second and third generations have integrated and the area is now home to another generation of immigrants (Eastern European, Somali).

I'm sure there are many fundamentalists, both home & abroad, BUT they are very much a tiny minority of the Muslim community. I'm sure there are many unhappy people in Iraq & in many other countries across the Globe. However, your poorly written piece linked the "many" unhappy people in one sentence with the "they" in the next sentence (who you then describe in somewhat unglowing terms). I would suggest that the overwhelming majority of Muslims who have come here (happy or unhappy) have not resorted to the behaviour or attitude that you suggest "they" have.

The problem lies with the inclusion in the preceding sentence of "many people". Following that with "they" therefore links the "they" to "many people", not just two or more.

And just watching Sky News now and hearing excerpts from the "video", surely someone can recognise that voice and put a name to it??

Some?? Does that equate to the overwhelming majority??

A bit of a sweeping usage of the term THEY. These extremists/murderers/loons are a minority, granted a loud and dangerous minority, but they should not be used to tar all immigrants/Muslims/whoever. This dangerous minority should feel the full force of the law and we should ensure we do all to bring them to justice, outlaw their hate preaching & indoctrination and not allow our proud tradition of free speech and personal freedoms to be abused. The OP also labels the two Rigby murderers as immigrants, whereas I'm sure they were both British born.

With a turnover that is almost double ours, I would imagine they have a bit more flexibility with regards waving some ££££s at this hard up young man. Greed is good.

There was an interval of about 20 minutes (enough time to pop in one of the boozers nearby!!) and it went on past 10:00.

Wise words

Would recommend an evening out to go and watch this performance. Venue is really great, and performance itself pretty good. Very topical and some funny references to our current predicament!!! Anyone else go tonight??? Or planning on going???

Ralph is out, in fact I've just shared a Fosters and a chat with him. Nice guy!!