The Axe isn't Barton, is he? There are very, very few footballers I'd be vehemently against playing for us. Barton's one of them. In terms of ability, Barton's better than our other options, but the numerous negatives that come with that ability totally negate it. The thought of our club paying someone like him wages to supplement his lifestyle makes me sick.

What a strange man you are. Holier Than Thou? I'll get back to you once I've stubbed a cigar out in someone's eyes, beaten a teenager to a pulp, and smashed up a co-worker so badly he nearly lost his sight Nobody has to suggest an alternative because they don't want Barton at the club.

He's attempting a wind up mate, it's what he does. That post actually made me laugh out loud. Definately getting better!

LOL

Come on, man. The Rafa/Fergie thing was blown way out of proportion. Sam makes 2 or 3 lines comment to a posed question and suddenly every newspaper in the world has him siding with Fergie and backing up his former mentor. It was a mountain out of a molehill. The similar "lack of interest" in playing the top 4 is down to focusing on the games we needed to win and dealing with our ridiculous injury problems. Bolton never surrendered to the top 4, and in actual fact often gave them (especially Utd) a good game, so why do you think next season we'll continue to surrender? With the amount of injuries we have and the threadbare squad Sam cannot be blamed for playing players out of position. Ince was doing it when we had an almost fully fit squad. No judgement can be made on Sam until next season at the earliest... this season is about staying up by any means neccassary, and we are on course to achieve that, regardless of anything else.

Calling Barton a "block head" is a little simple. He is a disgusting human being, and his antics off the pitch extend far beyond anything Todd, Neill, Sav, Diouf or Dickov ever did or have done. The club sets a bad moral example when it decides "forget that this man is a violent thug who has angered, betrayed and hurt both fans and teammates in the past, he has skill therefore we shall sign him". If you were being sarcastic in your post btw, I take back any criticism of it. I just can't tell.

Let's try again: He can pass. Watch games he's played for City and you can see that... he hasn't featured enough in an awful Newcastle team to display such talent regularly. If he didn't have such talent, he wouldn't be so sought after despite his record. The fact he's still getting interest says something about the skills he has. He's a workhorse who doesn't give up. Much like Savage, he'll chase opponents across the pitch and put them under pressure. Obviously, sometimes it gets him in trouble (Sunday as an example) much like it did Sav, but it's a trait not enough footballers possess. He attempts to lead the team by example and motivate. Again, much like Sav. He's not afraid to give underperforming players a piece of his mind. In fact, he's in many ways like a more technically gifted version of Savage, but he somehow has a far worse attitude and appears to be a terrible human being.

Barton's shown glimpses of talent, he wouldn't be sought after if he didn't have skill. He's got a good passing game, he's very committed (on Sunday he was one of the few Newcastle players who looked arsed, closing players down and chasing the ball) and tries to be a leader on the pitch. He might be overrated by some, but I have no doubt he's good enough for the premiership. His attitude is and I think always will be his biggest problem. He's not like Savage, Dickov or Diouf, who may get into a few more on-pitch altercations than the average player but are generally considered good blokes off the pitch, Barton's a scumbag as much off the pitch as on it. His reputation preceeds him in matches, I'm sure, but he only has himself to blame for that and should expect no less after the things he's done.

Most of Barton's good performances came before he moved to Newcastle, he hasn't really produced anything of note whilst he's been there. Think he's had 9 appearances this season? He did look the most committed on Sunday, but then, it's not hard considering the other players seemed to be going through the motions on their way down to the Championship.

Thing is, Barton's not a kid anymore. He's 26. If he still can't control his emotions at his age he needs to seek psychiatric help, fast.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...hall-shame.html Obviously there's now even more to add to that list, but quite frankly, not a player I'd want at our club. Whatever talent he has is negated by his awful behaviour.

I'm not talking a normal slanging match... some of the quotes are hilarious I'm sure they'll come up in a redtop soon enough.

Rumours that he and Shearer had a massive bust up after the Liverpool game...

The catch is he might only be able to play 9 games a season, as he has for Newcastle, due to getting wasted and knocking out somebody in front of a maccy d'z. He's also prone to training ground bust ups, and has battered one of his own team mates and stubbed a cigar in another's eye. But yes, he's just what we need. Sign him up.

I'd be absolutely gutted if we signed Barton. He's quite literally the bottom of the human barrell, not comparable to Diouf off-pitch at all. If this club has any self-respect the answer if Sam asks about Barton will be the same as the answer in regards to Bullard: NO.

Newcastle fans are saying the reason Barton gets sent off and yellow carded so often is because "his past is in the back of the referees mind". Whose fault is that? No sympathy for Barton at all. I hope his past actions do result in him getting treated unfairly, he deserves it.

Both players are absolute jokers. If I was Scottish I'd never want to see them near the national team again. Ferguson's been rubbish for a while anyway, his exclusion from the line-up against Iceland probably helped them win.

The Mexico job has definately done Sven's professional rep harm (let's face it, his personal one can't go any lower). Coming out of the Man City job, people had sympathy for him for being sacked so soon, and after McClaren's disasterous England reign people looked back with fondness upon Sven's, in comparison, good reign. However, after what was leaked to the press soon after he left the City job and his rubbish tenure as at Mexico, he's got to rebuild himself elsewhere.

Lol, Deicide are an alright band. Not usually in my taste (though i do like the songs Standing In the Flames and Scars of the Crucifix) but if they were at a festival or something I'd probably watch them. One of my friends just bought me a ticket for an Alll Shall Perish gig in Lodnon on feb 23rd... don't know the band too well, but oh well, should be alright.

Good. Pleased to hear Nonda's off the mark and Emerton is playing well at RB! After a slow start we're beginning to pick up points, very encouraged!

Wow, pretty disasterous first day so far

Rovers all over. Battle to get level and then throw it away.

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=2/3118160654.jpg&s=x2 I don't think the Utd fans are very happy I know sometimes we spout and moan a lot when things are going wrong but they take it to a whole new level.

Amazing result... if we'd had better up front it could have been more. Kuqi is so blatently not up to premiership standard it's not a joke anymore... but enough negative, 4-3, double over the scum, rio sent off, first hat trick ever against utd in the premiership... wonderful game. Make no mistake we had the game gifted to us by defensive errors by Man utd, they were SHOCKING in defence - but we took those chances and held on to the end. Absolutely chuffed.

Sent an official complaint to the BBC about Lawro because I was bored, and I hate him. They should reply within ten days.