Coles to Newcastle

Newcastle 2 West Ham 2

What a shame. When the dust has settled and the game is appraised honestly, this will be seen as two points thrown away. Second half we were superb until we took the lead; then Zola came over all Turds and circled the wagons, trying to protect the points. The result? We invited Newcastle on, gave heart to the Geordie fans and turned certain victory into a scrambled draw.

The positives? Two superb goals. The Parker pass to Bellyache and the dinked finish from the tatooed gob, were both sublime. It was a brilliant goal but the second was perhaps even better. Cole was offside just before Ilunga hit the pass but he stepped onside cleverly, then darted forward as the pass was made. His finish was nothing short of stunning, blasting the ball past the best shot stopper in the Prmiership. Now let's just recap. This is Carlton Cole. Carlton Cole stepped up cleverly, darted forward astutely, controlled the ball beautifully and finished brilliantly. Did you ever expect to read that sentence? Amazing!

The negatives? Both goals were sloppy. Collins was slow to close Owen for the first and failed to show him on to his weaker foot. Green perhaps should have done better. For the second, Behrami was far too slow to close Duff who was given half the weekend to measure his cross and direct it on to Carroll's head.

Change of Tack, Tevez back?

Suddenly everything is looking so much more promising. Bowyer could be on his way to Birmingham which should delight the local Asian community; let's hope he makes the mistake of going out alone and bumps into a few Asian Villa fans with a memory. Etherington has staked his life savings on Stoke not going down. Downpipe could just help Bolton to go down the tubes. And Luis Boa-Morte may even be on his way, though I can't imagine he would take his salary package with him to Hull City. Still, we could always agree to pay his wages, Fowler style, just to offload him. Personally, I would snap off City's banker's hand if £10m was really offered for Parker. That's pretty good money for a sub prime player! Most promising of all, it looks as if Upson and Bellyache are staying put. All we need now is for Tevez to fall out so badly with Fergie that he is loaned back to us until the end of the season. Now that really would be a poke in the eye for McCabe and the Premier League!