Tomaszk

What's that? You're interested in seeing an xG table and laughing at Leeds not being runaway leaders? No probs. Also, Bristol City very much the Newcastle of the second tier.

13/8 for draw or win! Right on that.

Can absolutely see West Ham winning tonight. Leicester have been pony recently.

NZonzi linked with West Ham.

If there was a player I'd expect to be at a game waving his crutches around when he should be out of the cold at home resting, it's super John McGinn.

Almost fell to page 2! Shame on all of you. He wants success just as much as everyone in the stands this lad.

Smith confirmed he's missing out due to selection choices, nothing else. Surprised tbh. He's better than Chester for me. Doesn't bode well for his future that a chap we'll probably be releasing is ahead of him. I would guess he'll play v Leicester with Mings protected...? It's a big game but we're in the position now I can't see us getting a league point if Mings isn't there.

10 days until the next match. I think it's safe to say Samatta will be starting. Wonder if we'll have anyone else in. A right sided attacker who can have a bash up front would just be lovely. Funnily enough Bertrand Traore who would fill that gap is being linked to Bournemouth. I would very much like it if he stays in France unless he's coming to play for Villa.

The goal yeah I know what you mean. Hopefully he's bawling at Konsa to drop, because I think he watching Doucoure come round the back. You can see he's hanging off Deeney in case it's clipped all the way to the back post where he is. When Konsa doesn't move, priorities have to take over though and he should probably have gone in to meet Deeney earlier.

Get them believing Deano.

You can see he's OK but incredibly unfit. If he can't play in the cup, the U23s have a game next Wednesday. I'd be putting him through sprints on and off all week and getting him on that pitch for 90 mins. He is definitely more tactically switched on than Doug. He reads the game better, even if he can't get around to act on it! I think he might start again at Bournemouth. Damning of Lansbury and Hourihane he's in ahead of them when he's so unfit. I'm not convinced he's got much more ability than either of them but he's got a pair of bollocks getting on the ball and playing it.

Hope he enjoyed himself watching tonight.

Wonder if he had a painkilling injection or anything? Warrior.

Chester is very funny there. Just disappears off screen, looks like he's off on lap of the centre circle.

Surely to God watching that, Dean can see we need someone to do something different to Taylor. If Targett breaks his leg, Taylor should not be the guy coming in. I'd rather have Engels out there than Taylor.

Great effort with the header, a foot either way that was in. That's the sort of aggression I want from him. Well played.

Evening Alex. You have to laugh honestly, it's really funny. I could enjoy it a lot more if we weren't going down instead of them. Here's the table going off xG for a treat. Newcastle fans and Bruce won't care, and neither should they. It's unbelievably efficient to have 13.5 points more than you "should" when you so often do nothing but sit in your box. What should happen at the club now is they move forward over the next few seasons, use this good luck/efficiency as a blessing and a gateway into dictating/controlling games more. This is absolutely unsustainable, just like the performances Aston Villa had under Bruce for 100 games were. The Villa ones though were far more criminal as he had one of the best squads in the Championship and was producing muck. I always said he'd have got less stick doing it in the Premier League because at least we'd be playing against good sides, not ones with a tenth of our budget. Bet he's not getting much stick off the Newcastle fans right now. I wonder if Bruce will change?

I think they thought survival was probable IMO. I think Purslow will ask questions in the summer. All hinges on if Smith says the players are good enough. Purslow is the only guy in his position at the club I fully believe in right now. Him and Jack Grealish.

No messing. Slammed in like Jack with that Brighton chance.

I keep saying his voice in a scouse accent. Weird.

I got carried away and wrote a huge ramble addressing recruitment that hasn't got the abuse it deserves.

If Fred is fit he starts. If he's not fit I'll be very sad.

His head looks real sturdy to me.

An old Jimmy Carr.... If a giant ape and a table-tennis champion got into a fight over a far east karaoke machine, would the newspaper headline be 'Hong Kong King Kong Ping Pong Sing Song Ding Dong?'

Addressed this in my silly long post earlier. You're right in what you say. It is hard. But you can do better than "for every good signing there is a bad one". 50/50 hit rate? Not good enough. I thought this change of club structure bringing in Suso was going to bring us forward with our recruitment. Analytics. Using data as well as eyes as well as recommendations, multiple reports on reports on reports of player profiles. It's why Liverpool are running away with the league and now strengthening from a position of remarkable power, they use these things to the Nth degree. Not using these things well enough is why Utd have shit the bed in the last 5 years and are just horrendous with an expensive squad being paid a fortune. Even better news is that this field isn't set in stone within an established hierarchy yet. You've got Man Utd, one of the biggest sports teams in the world miles behind Brentford in terms of getting their shit together and planning sensibly according to needs and means. Imagine Brentford with Utd's budget! Or even better, imagine Brentford with our budget...this summer, we wouldn't have ended up with only one striker that cost £22m and wasn't good enough. I had really high hopes for the summer window and what we've ended up with isn't good enough, cost more than it should and we are now halfway through January going into the latest "biggest game of the season" without a bloody striker. What the hell has gone on? Has anything actually changed or have we got some new scouts? Suso and his pals.