Paris match

It's a hearty "Bienvenue a Tyneside, bonny lad" to Fabrice Pancrate, whom we've signed up on a season-long deal. While on trial, the former Paris St Germain player featured in a 3-2 win over Hartlepool for the Reserves, after which Chris Hughton commented: "His biggest asset is his experience – he’s played in a couple of positions, is good on the ball, works hard and I enjoyed watching him tonight".

As that suggests, Pancrate - at 29 - isn't exactly a spring chicken, and the manager was also defensive when it came to the nature of the deal: "It’s not a question of us having to go down this avenue because of a lack of funds. When chances come your way with a player who has played at a good level for a number of years you will have a look at him". But the fact remains that we have to cut our cloth accordingly, and if it was felt that Pancrate would be a useful addition to the squad, then that's fair enough.

The right side midfield role - Pancrate's preferred position - is currently very much up for grabs. Spiderman could play there but seems to have secured himself the left-hand side since Damien Duff's departure, while Ryan Taylor has impressed there only sporadically, and Geremi and Pancrate's fellow freebie Peter Lovenkrands have also filled the position on occasion this season. Certainly Danny Guthrie did himself no favours whatsoever in staking a permanent claim to it this evening...