ohmelads

Our best player (not saying much) and the only one to really come out of the game with any credit. Pardew knew the game was gone and probably brought him off to save him for the last 3 games because he is crucial if we are going to create an upset. As soon as he came off our second half period of domination instantly ended and I don't remember us creating another chance.

Well where do you begin? The service has been poor but Ba and Cisse aren't doing enough running for me, we're playing too deep espescially considering the deficit and that's allowing Wigan to build from the back. We need to be snapping at their heels all over the pitch and playing higher up. Wigan seem happy to give free kicks away all day with "professional fouls" so Ryan Taylor will probably come on. I don't think their defence are that comfortable under pressure, they've given the ball away the couple of times they were forced into tight situations and have been fouling whenever anyone runs at them. They don't look all that solid at the back if we can play the ball along the deck, be a bit more patient with it and get Cisse in the box. They are moving the ball much quicker than us. We actually look tired, second to every loose ball and slow in the pass. We need to up the tempo and get the ball out wide where the space is. Wigan have been good on the ball but we're helping to make them look good by dwelling on the ball, poor positional play and poor pressure. We need to claw something back in the second half for our goal difference and hope other results go well for us today, that's about all we can wish for at this stage. Awful day at the office but we have to wait and see how costly this is and what we can do about it in the second half. Come on lads wake up ffs.

The pressure is off now and all we can do is have a go. Chelsea and Spurs have a "please save our season" mentality in the dressing room, the boardroom, the stands. It's affecting them, you can see it on the pitch. We've had a great season and who knows, it might get better. The momentum is with us after 5 wins on the bounce and we have nothing to lose now. One thing is for sure, when we play Chelsea and Man City we will have a good go and we will go for the win. I reckon we'll either lose by a few or it'll be another heroic Man Utd performance. If we go down, we'll go down swinging. Either way, there'll be a lot more nails being bitten in White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge over the coming weeks. The fixture list may be against us but the pressure's off. Just read Scott Parker's latest comments, they're bricking it. A few months ago they were talking about the title (and they call us deluded!). Let's enjoy these final few games and hope for the best. We are within touching distance, we owe it to ourselves to have a good go. Howay the lads!

I wouldn't say it's top class, it's been balanced relatively evenly since we came back up. There's still far too much fannying about with things that should be just sorted. E.g, not signing another defender in the summer or January. The Cisse signing will hopefully prove to be the turning point; it's the first time i think we've actually bought a player to add to the first team. Not because someone has left or because we needed to fill the squad out, which you could apply to all of our summer signings. But because it'll add to what we've already got and make us better. That signing was the first proper sign of ambition in the transfer market since Ashley arrived, imo. I am looking forward to the summer. Providing no one leaves, i don't think there's a great deal of work that needs doing... If we signed two players (first choice CB, first choice LB), i'd be absolutely delighted. I agree the Cisse signing was the first signing aimed at strengthening the first team and not just replacing lost first team players. My worry is that that's what it will ultimately be though, if for example Ba leaves then Cisse is just another replacement. And if a big bid comes in for Ba it would be easy to sell and say we already have a replacement in Cisse. I think we'll be looking at some pretty big offers for a couple of our players in the summer and I reckon we'll sell and rebuild again. We got away with it last summer and Ashley likes a gamble (and a profit) but it's a policy which usually backfires. We sold four of our best players and somehow came off better but lightning doesn't strike twice and if we do it again we'll be in trouble. We have to keep Krul-Colo-Taylor-Tiote-Cabaye-Gutierrez-Ba-Ben Arfa and Cisse, and I rate Guthrie as backup too. I'll be surprised if we've still got that lot next season but if we do then the future is bright because that's a good core group of players to build a squad around.

Ludicrous to suggest replacing Pardew given what he's achieved on such a small budget. He steadied the ship quickly after Hughton was sacked where other managers may have sunk and he did it again in the summer after losing 4 of his best performers from that season. He was left in an awful position for a manager after losing Carroll, Nolan, Barton and Enrique with little cash for replacements but he rolled his sleeves up and got on with it and look where we are now. Whatever you think of his tactics and so on you've got to give him credit for that. Many managers have struggled at St James, we have made some awful appointments and brought in inexperienced or clueless managers, but the pressure in this job is higher than all but a few clubs in the country. Pardew has come in and thrived under that pressure in my view and we will not find many managers who can. I do agree with the notion that just because we are 6th now it doesn't mean we can remain top 6 year on year playing football like this, nor does it mean we'll finish top 6 or even top 7 this season. We have to be honest and say we've been a bit lucky in many games this season and top 6 sides tend to dominate a lot more games than we do. All we can do is hope to sneak a euro place this year and with the extra finances and prestige it brings, try and improve the squad and be better next season. Pardew is reluctant to change the status quo but a few defeats on the bounce may quickly change his mind. For now he deserves the benefit of the doubt regarding his team selections but that doesn't mean the doubt isn't there. Truth be told we're not playing that well and I just hope the return of Tiote and a rested Cabaye has a big impact because it needs to.

After a year out of football with a double leg break, I imagine you would probably need a good run of consecutive games in the team to hit form and fitness. This is generally accepted wisdom for all footballers. Unless you're Ben Arfa. The treatment of this lad is a joke to be honest. He gets a few minutes off the bench here and there, he'll start once in a while, he might even get a goal and an assist and then he's not seen for a few weeks while stars like Shola, Obertan and Peter Lovenkrands strut their stuff. Then he's expected to come in, playing a different position again, and win us the game or else he's dropped for another month due to "poor workrate". To ease the pressure on him, his manager comes out with condescending comments post-match that he doesn't get what our team is about, criticising his workrate all in public of course. All the while, coming back from a broken leg, he's trying to find match fitness, sharpness and form while sat on the subs bench. After weeks on the sidelines, you get the feeling there's a mountain of pressure on him to put in a match winning performance. Without, of course, giving the ball away. Honestly when was the last time this guy had a run of 8, 9, 10 starts in a row? What you need to get up to speed. Two years ago? At his last club, before his leg break? Says it all. And the irony is he has shown flashes of brilliance this season, signs he's an international class player who just needs that fitness and form, that momentum which you get by playing games week in week out. The line about workrate is ironic when you have Shola starting up front. After Pardew's treatment of Tevez and Mascherano, you sense the player may never get his chance at this club and someone else will give him a run of games next season. Well at least we'll still have Shola.

I hope I'm wrong, but the player isn't going to put up with another season of this and the manager either doesn't rate him or I suspect more likely they have fallen out. He'd be mad to stay under the current circumstances, he's never had a run of games and we're in February of his second season here. Another season like this one will damage his career unless he starts getting games very soon - there's only 13 games left. Pardew is happy to give players like Perch, Raylor, Guthrie, Ameobi and Obertan a run in the team yet when we've got injuries and we're getting embarrassed on the pitch he turns to Ferguson and Lovenkrands to come on. You can guarantee there'll be other clubs monitoring the situation.

Ben Arfa is as good as gone, he'll be off in the summer. The fact Obertan started and Ferguson replaced him tells you all you need to know. How many games has he even started under Pardew? I have the gut feeling he'll go somewhere else and do well. Something has obviously happened behind the scenes. It's a shame the transfer window has closed because we don't have the wingers to put teams on the back foot, Marveaux is crocked and our most creative player can't get on the field. Whatever has happened Pardew needs to do what is good for the team and the club. Ben Arfa has shown more in his few chances than Obertan has all season, so there's no excuses.

Pardew talks about letting our hair down but the proof will be in the team sheet. I like the fact he's willing to go 4-4-2 against big teams and I think he'll do the same again, but I fully expect Obertan will start in place of Ben Arfa on the right wing due to his extra workrate. Obertan will do more running than Ben Arfa but I'd argue he loses as many balls through sloppy play. Ben Arfa is a much bigger goal threat and I'd say that outweighs Obertan's defensive contributions. We have to be wary of Spurs but we also need a threat to scare them. If you were a Spurs fan, who would you rather see start against you? I also think Spurs are the kind of team who will attack and leave opportunities for the counter, and in that kind of game I'd want Ben Arfa in the side. Give him the ball with space to run into and he'll cause problems and with two forwards who know how to find space, it might be our best way to get at them.

With Tiote and Cabaye back after Spurs and Cisse now here he's not gonna get a look in which is a shame as he clearly has a lot of potential. Championship seems perfect for him to get the pitch time and confidence. If he performs at that level it'll elevate his status and he'll get more of a chance when he comes back. It's worked well for us in the past with Krul and Carroll.

I think we'll give them a game despite no Tiote and Cabaye which is obviously a major loss. In previous years we might have packed the midfield and sat back against big teams but one thing I do like about Pardew is he is willing to stick two strikers up front against these teams and give them something to think about. Two strikers does remove a midfielder but it also allows you to press the ball from the front. Tottenham have a stronger midfield but if we pack the midfield and put one up front I can see us struggling to hold possession at all and it'll keep coming back until eventually we buckle and it's game over. I'd rather we have a go. For me Ben Arfa has to start here because his trickery and running will cause problems on the counter and with the strikers we have it'll worry Spurs when we break because they're obviously three dangerous players. Ben Arfa loses the odd ball trying things out but Obertan lost a lot of balls yesterday without even knowing what he wanted to do. I'm pretty certain Pardew will go for Obertan due to his tracking back which is understandable but I think this would be a mistake. We need the ability to hurt them at the other end too. A draw obviously would be a good result, espescially as Liverpool travel to Old Trafford and Arsenal's game at the dark side won't be easy either. Spurs will obviously be favourites and without Cabaye and Tiote it might be a big ask but if we get our tactics right we can give them a game. They're good but as another poster said, they're not Barcelona. Average teams like Wolves, Stoke and Swansea have taken points off them, there's no reason why we can't get at them.

I agree we should adapt the formation to the resources we have seeing as we're lacking players but we should also play a formation that puts us on the front foot and puts bodies in the penalty area. We're at home to a beatable Villa side and have to attack them. We've also not had much success with 4-3-3 and I'm not sure it suits the players we have. Sure it gives us an extra body in midfield, but if Villa decide to do the same it's gonna be a scrappy game with 6 bodies running around the middle of the park and only 1 pressuring each penalty area - IMO this suits Villa being the away team, they'll see us as a tough fixture despite our injuries. I think the home advantage and the addition of Ba and Cisse alone will see an improved performance on Blackburn. But lessons have to be learned from that game. Raylor in the middle doesn't work, and while Perch shored it up a little, we were still overrun. I'd gamble on Abeid who seems to be highly rated and is a natural DM. If he can't get a chance to start a league game now then you wonder when he will.

I agree. I'd be disappointed if he's in our first team next season, but I think it'd be a mistake to sell him. He's a very limited player in many ways but in spite of this his workrate and dead balls have impressed this season, he never gets injured and he's unlikely to cause a fuss if he's dropped for long spells.

They do look weak in the middle but so do we unfortunately. I can't see Cisse starting, I reckon he'll be used as a wild card on the bench as they won't know much about him. Could lift the fans too to see him come on, will raise the noise a bit. I hope he keeps Ben Arfa in the team because the onus will be on us to break them down as the home side. Obertan will be more effective coming off the bench espescially if we can get the first goal like yesterday.

How many games has he started in his entire NUFC career? Not to mention, how many consecutive games has he started in? If the jury is out it's because we've barely seen him play. Some people see him as some sort of saviour which is heaping unnecessary pressure on him, but there's little doubt he's the most gifted creative player at Newcastle and that's going to make people excited about the possibilities, IF we can get it out of him on a regular basis. In a team lacking creative flair the spotlight will be on a player like Ben Arfa, espescially when he isn't getting games and we're struggling to cut teams open from midfield. It's obvious he needs a run in the team. He might lack certain attributes but most players of his type do. They're in the team for what they do at the other end of the pitch. I'm confident given an injury free run in the team he'll be a key player but he needs that chance. He's never had it at this club. I think he's the sort of player we will give up on and some other club will be laughing a year down the line. I hope that's not the case but when you look at our wide options all season with Marveaux's injury it's stunning Ben Arfa (and Santon) have had to wait so long. I think what Pardew's done on a meagre budget is very impressive but he'll sometimes get it wrong and in Ben Arfa I think he needs to wake up and give the boy a proper chance. A goal and an assist against Fulham, a crucial goal against Blackburn, a crucial goal off the bench against Bolton, the lad is already showing end product despite limited chances and a team playing some pretty average football. We definitely need him.

A cold night in Blackburn will be a shock to the system after playing in an African tournament. My guess is both will be on the bench. They should be OK to play some part on Wednesday though, both just started one game for Senegal and you would hope their coach will try some new things out in the last game after two defeats. If we're lucky one of them won't start again. I hope they'll be sensible and not go in for any 50/50s as the game is meaningless. Great news for us though, a bit stunned Senegal bombed out but we could have been waiting weeks. We'll need these boys even on Wednesday, and their presence on the bench could be a big psychological boost and a motivator for the likes of Best and Shola.

Will be a tough test of our squad. Fulham is a hard place to go and we didn't look too convincing against a poor QPR team, espescially before Ben Arfa came on. A draw wouldn't be such a bad result under the circumstances. In spite of Best's brilliant finish the two forwards showed poor movement against QPR. If Pardew is serious about dropping Ben Arfa again then it shows negativity and fear. I think we will need his quality as we are missing Tiote, Ba and possibly Cabaye too. I've always rated Guthrie as a decent player and I'm confident he'll do well again. Having Cabaye in there too would be a big boost though because otherwise we're patching things up. It worked against QPR but bringing our most creative player onto the pitch also helped swing the balance in that game. If he wants to give Simpson protection I don't see why Ben Arfa can't play off the front man dropping into the hole. He's still had very limited chances there. Best isn't the biggest to hold the ball up but after Shola's last performance I see no reason to include him just because he's a big guy. We can't afford another performance like that, we carried him in the last game.

Looks a similar player to Ba actually, bit of a fox in the box with two good feet, good in the air, good with crosses. He'll find it a step up from the German league, but he looks a natural goalscorer. The difference is Ba likes to drop deep and get involved in the build up while Pardew says this guy plays the line, so if that's true they will hopefully click. Be interesting to see how they play together for Senegal. It's not really like this regime to make an ambitious signing that will push us on, a signing we don't necessarily need purely to improve the first team. Our big signings have usually been replacements for outgoing players who have left a hole in the squad. Either the board have changed their tune or someone will make way for this. Let's hope those making way are the likes of Lovenkrands, Ranger and Smith and not any of our first team. You would assume he's been signed as a partner for Ba. Let's hope this convinces Ba to sign a new deal.

Incredibly gifted player. He will lose the ball a few times a game but he'll also set up chances week in week out. I thought he made a good effort to track back yesterday, if that was your first time seeing him you would wonder what all this work rate fuss is about. He made the wrong decision a couple of times, but so did everyone else out there. So long as he loses the ball in the final third and doesn't consistently give it away then I'll take it. In a game of so few chances he created our best chance with a through ball to Best. In games like this he is key to creating chances when no one else can. I can see an argument for leaving him out against the big teams when we want to play the percentages, work our bollocks off and shut up shop but even there I think you need to have a counter-attacking threat otherwise the big teams will just keep you on the back foot all game and wear you down. Given his lack of chances it's safe to assume we haven't seen the best of him and that bodes well. We're in for a tough few weeks without Tiote and Ba and we could do with his quality. He came on and we changed the game - it was as much to do with the change of team shape I suspect but he played a big part.

Can't see it happening, it'd be a huge embarrassment to Liverpool and to Dalglish. If it were possible, I'd hope it was to pair him with Ba and not to replace him or even a swap deal for Ba further down the line. I wouldn't put anything past Ashley. I think he's still a good player with potential to bang in 15+ a season, and if he'd come good anywhere it'd be here. The way we're set up right now though there's nobody who can regularly put the kind of high crosses that Barton was swinging in last season.

The way our club operates I couldn't see us splashing out on any players this January beyond a cut-price deal or a loan. Ba is a temporary absence and so is Taylor albeit a much longer one. We haven't seen what Ben Arfa can do with a run of games up top yet and I'd be very surprised if we blew 7M on a striker at this point. A loan deal would suit us well. Covers Ba's absence, saves Ashley's precious money and increases competition up front and out wide. If he's not getting games at PSG and he's only 24 they may be up for a loan deal too.

You're right, I was trying to give a balanced assessment but posted in a hurry. Overall I think he's done a good job and I could understand his reluctance early on to change a winning team. I think he deserves criticism for what's happened in recent weeks and needs to make changes before we drop more points. But overall I think some people are being harsh by going back to our early season wins and laying into the manager, we are still in a good position and some of what has happened in recent weeks was affected by the Taylor injury - again I don't think it's necessarily Pardew's fault we began the season with just 3 centre backs. Perhaps the injury to Obertan will force him to make necessary changes. We just have to hope Ben Arfa can come in and hit the ground running, I think that's one situation he has handled poorly because there'll be a lot of pressure on him to do so with Tiote and Ba out of the picture.

I think Pardew is taking some very unfair criticism from some fans. You look at the investment we had in the summer and the budget signings who came in. Ba and Marveaux were bosman signings who other clubs probably didn't want to gamble on. It was said at the time that Stoke and Liverpool looked at both but decided against it. Obertan was another budget signing, as was Abeid. Really he wasn't backed in the transfer window to replace the major losses of Carroll, Enrique, Barton, Nolan. We lose 4 of our best players, 4 established first teamers. You look at the money he was given to make do and he has us 7th in the New Year. I thought we rode our luck early on in the season and over time our lack of squad depth has been found out. It isn't really Pardew's fault the squad is weak, I'm sure he'd have wanted to drop proper money on a more proven right winger, another defender and another quality forward rather than taking a punt on Obertan and making do elsewhere but the money wasn't given. We grinded out games with limited resources and players giving their all and you have to give the manager credit there. He quickly forged a strong team spirit with players who were new to the team, they gelled impressively quickly and that's down to management. Having said that he has made some errors in recent games and it's now up to him to look back, accept his mistakes and make the necessary changes. It's incredible that Ben Arfa has never had a run of games at the club. To drop him for Vuckic makes little sense, an inexperienced player not known for his hard work either, and just a few days after Ben Arfa came off the bench to score a vital goal at Bolton. And in the circumstances, we know Ashley won't fund a striker so Pardew must find a Ba replacement from within the club. Ba has scored half of our goals and you look at players like Ameobi, Lovenkrands and Best, all have had their chance here and all have proven themselves as limited footballers. We need a matchwinner in Ba's absence and the one player who you would want to give a run isn't getting games. It is starting to remind me of Pardew's attitude with Tevez and Mascherano. There are similar question marks over Santon's absence. The sooner we get these 2 players into the side the better because it's clear that we're lacking quality on the ball to beat teams like Swansea, Norwich and West Brom.

A relief he's not playing us to be honest. Last thing we need is a gifted footballer with a point to prove over a former club lacking in confidence. Not to mention he's easily one of their best players.

I think it took balls to throw Vuckic into this game. Unfortunately it was a gamble which didn't pay off. He doesn't seem the hardest worker to me and if you want a flair player to link with midfield, why not start Ben Arfa? Again I'm left wondering if there is something that has happened behind the scenes because Ben Arfa came off the bench a few days earlier and helped us beat Bolton with a vital goal. If he wanted a harder worker against Liverpool why pick Vuckic? It makes no sense. I think the better team won over the 90 mins but the scoreline flatters Liverpool who were poor. At 1-1 we were a bit negative and the free-kick did change things, he's right. I don't see a lot wrong with his comments to be honest but I think starting Vuckic over Ben Arfa was a strange decision. We need to find a replacement for Ba from within the club and we have very little time in which to do it. Pardew himself said he wants Ben Arfa to step up when Ba leaves. So in the bigger picture it makes even less sense that the guy can't get games. Obertan's injury will perhaps force Pardew to pick both. We'll be in trouble when Ba is gone unless someone hits a streak of form and the only man I see capable of doing that is Ben Arfa, IF he gets a run in the team which he has actually never had.