S-Clarke

It's nice to have a good debate, which has been done on here before - but to do that you need to have both sides willing to accept other views or at least engage with the other views, there's no balance in some of the recent posts and before long it just turns into a one man attack which is uncomfortable to watch but is somewhat brought on. I'm happy to hold my hands up when I've called out a load of bollocks, which I have many times. I mean I said Elyounoussi would add pace to our attack before he signed him.

I don't think Salisu is injured, I think mentally he's not quite with it for whatever reason. I think speculation/other clubs have unsettled him without question, and he's let that impact his game. I can see why he has been taken out of the firing line, he needs to sort his head out if he's staying. The club may see him as the big sale this summer though if Newcastle want to spend $$$$$, so let's see what happens. Certainly happy with keeping Perruad and Lyanco in and around the squad for the coming seasons, like you say they both have the grit and determination that has been lacking in previous signings. (Hoedt, Vestergaard, Lemina etc). You could do a lot worse than having players like them around.

I think he was much more the profile of player we needed to be honest, Diallo is decent but a totally different type of player than we needed at the time I think. Diallo is more of a work in progress, whereas I think Sanagre with his physicality would have been more of an instant hit. Hopefully we get a player like that over the line this summer.

I guess he's always been a poor man's Barry Bannan.

You're looking at the figures and stats again, there is more to football than the numbers of assists and goals. His all round play, creating opening sfor others, stretching the play, creating space etc etc etc - none of that will end up as a statistic, but ultimately that input from him changed our game. Opposition teams saw that and they saw the threat he poses, hence they've stopped allowing him the opportunities - so I'd say the opposition managers and coaches see him as a threat, pundits, former footballers etc all appreciate what he brings to the game. It's not just about figures.

Give up the Broja crusade, seriously. He is not our biggest problem, far from it. Broja won games for us in the early part of the season, not just through goals but his runs to win penalties, get free kicks etc. As I explained yesterday, which you don't seem to be taking much attention of, are the facts that opposition have somewhat nullified his strengths, so now he needs more help from the wider attackers but he's not really getting much link as our attackers, bar Armstrong when he's on form, are absolute bilge.

This game will suit us better than Burnley, as we won't be bullied or outdone physically. Two very evenly matched teams in my opinion, try and do things the right way and have some decent quality in 1 or 2 places, but neither have enough depth or quality in critical positions and it shows come the end of the season after any initial promise.

I think it's a bit harsh to single him out particularly, but the game did highlight some of his weaknesses and why the temptation to offer him a new contract needs to be avoided.

I'd have him in there ahead of Elyounoussi, whose ball carrying skills are so inept it's painful to watch. But he's still not great and this debate alone shows why our number 10 positions are in such a mess. Any forwards in our team have no chance, they have to create it all themselves.

Personally I think as a squad we're still bottom half quality wise. We have a few top half players in terms of quality (JWP/KWP/Salisu/Romeu) but not enough, certainly not enough to sustain any good form when those few good players drop off it. The frustrating thing with us is our extremes, whilst we'll probably end up finishing where our squad and quality dictates we should, the extremes of which we have to endure are what frustrates many. We can look like a top 4 team for a couple of months and have everyone dreaming, then out of nowhere and overnight for the next 2 months we're the worst team in the league and have everyone fearing. That probably comes down to the fact that the 'few' good quality players we have cannot sustain it all themselves, they need help from around them - but the quality in and around such as Smallbone, Valery, Stephens, Bednarek, Diallo, Long, Theo, Moussa, Redmond, Lyanco etc is just way, way, way too much of a drop off in terms of quality. This summer we need about 5 or 6 new additions, 4 of those need to be first 11 starters. Certainly a new number 10, certainly a new striker as Broja won't be here, new CB without question, proper competition in CM and someone to replace Romeu and a new GK who suits our style of play in terms of distribution.

He's a good player Romeu, but he's never been too far above 'average' I'd say. For a club looking to push higher I'd still say we'd need better than Romeu as a starter every week if i'm brutally honest. When he is injured or out of form we struggle because we have no one else who can do his role. That needs to be priority number 1, along with number 10's and CB's in the summer. It's going to be a busy window I hope as we have major issues all over.

There are a couple of things to Broja that you're not quite seeing. 1 - Teams aren't stupid. They know his strengths now and they will double up and have cover so he can't burst away like he did, so he has to come up with different aspects to his game. And as a team (notably the number 10's) need to support and provide for him better, a 20 year old kid can't keep making goals himself. 2 - He's young, he's played a lot of games and young players dip more extreme than experienced pro's. I think most people have seen enough to know that the raw attributes are there, but he's struggling because teams know about him know - it's up to him and the team around him to help evolve his game further, which he can do. Armstrong on the other hand has shown that he has nothing apart from a kick and run approach, which will never be enough at this level.

Tired and overplayed, certainly in the view of Livramento. Both are very young players though and young players have extremes of form. Tino needs a good break, a decent pre-season and we should see the exciting player again next year as the talent was obvious to all.

Has Broja personally upset you or something? For someone who has always been level-headed, reasonable and sensible in your views about Ralph, your views and opinions on Broja are truly bizarre and scream of an agenda rather than being based on any factual stuff. There's a lot more wrong than Broja, focusing on him after tonight's game is weird.

Number 10 is more than a nice to have, it's a fundamental must for the summer. At the moment we have to hope Armstrong is fit and in form, then it works. If he's not available or having a poor game then we have nothing. Redmond, Elyounoussi, Moussa, Theo all need to go. Two new wide number 10's with pace who can actually change a game will make a huge difference to us.

It was a mess, all over. I noticed the tweaks here and there, but it was flawed at all stages. Stupid waste of a game. Play the right players in the right shape from the start and it's probably a different outcome.

It sort of goes back to the mentality thing against doesn't it. I thought we'd shrugged that off a bit and got a bit more steel to us, but tonight was as pussy a display as you'll see from a PL team.

He overthinks, tries to be too clever and out thinks himself and the squad sometimes. Some of his struggles here have been down to the squad, the lack of quality, injuries etc - but tonight was on him. Tactically flawed, you do not play with those defenders against Burnley - even my dog wouldn't have picked Valery today, it was clear he'd be bullied off the pitch. Where was Valery playing at the end? up front, number 10? wide? It was a mess. It was truly horrible to watch. We had Adams on the bench who made us look immediately better when he came on, he's the sort of attacker you need against Burnley - someone who will use power and strength to bully himself, Broja was isolated and frustrated on his own, pretty much as you'd expect when you've got the tippy tappy Elyounossi running around like a headless wally behind you - you've got no chance. There's no denying that we have some dreadful players in key positions, but we had better options on the bench today which would have been far more suitable for a game against Burnley. I've been one of his staunch supporters, but that sort of tactical own goal was awful to see.

Terrible, Terrible, Terrible. Awful. Equally as bad as West Brom last year, if not worse. We looked out of our depth, against Burnley. Burnley have scored the least goals and created less chances than anyone else in the league, yet they could have had 4 or 5 against us. It's horrific and that sort of performance needs a complete root and branch reset because that isn't just 'a bad day', that was fundamentally flawed all the way through it. We know we've got shortcomings and players of very low quality in certain areas, but tactically that was a true horror show. Something for Halloween viewing.

It will probably be Burnleys biggest home win in years. We don't want to be there tonight. Slippers and chocolate is waiting at home for the lads. Prove me wrong lads, but these guys have never really proven me wrong from these sort of positions at places like Burnley.

We said the same last season to be fair. We'll always accumulate enough points to be a nothing team stuck between 11th-14th, but until we had some steal down the spine and better quality in the 10's then we'll never really push above that.

Bullied I'd say. We have a lot of pussies in the side, good when the going is good and they have it their way, but they are absolute wimpy when they are bullied by anyone. That's probably because the only player with any genuine physical presence is Romeu, we need more strength down the spine and that's been obvious for years.

I'm puzzled as to why you've read that post in the opposite of how it was meant.

Absolutley diabolical performance all over. Defence is all over the place. Lyanco is a good squad CB, but shouldn't be a regular. Bednarek ditto. Valery isn't a CB and that's obvious against height and aggression, why you use him in this game is beyond me. Attack is a mess. Armstrong has had an absolute shocker, doesn't look a footballer. Ely runs around but isn't quick enough. Broja very, very poor but equally isolated. Overall that has been a mess, easily as bad as last season at the Hawthorns.

I can see the temptation in offering him a new contract, but part of me still wants to start again with a brand new number 1 next season. I think the club cocked up by giving McCarthy a new contract, they probably realise that now.