Wullie

If Lambert and Rodgers keep on as they are they'd be my candidates for manager of the year. Be interesting to see if they get cherry picked in the summer. Hope they don't. Very refreshing the way that clubs coming up from the Championship have fared in the last few years, there was a point about five years ago where getting promoted was practically a pointless exercise. Think they've largely stopped buying Premier League "experience" (has-beens basically) and gone with the young hungry players that got them promoted. The club that has done the opposite, QPR, are the ones starting to slide.

Gawd, only 5 points ahead of Norwich now.

Hartlepool have lost at home again ffs. EDIT: they've just scored, there is hope. This always happens to me, I sent a text to the missus yesterday on about 92:30 saying "the mackems have got a fucking point" and then the bastards won the match. I'm gonna send one before the match on Wednesday saying we've been fucking dismal.

I don't want him or West Ham doing well. The former is a but pathetic really. He did positive things here, I wish him all the best. Bit sad that attitude if you ask me.

i reckon the fact he isn't in the team is relevant He should be in the team, but I don't buy all this indispensible, our star player, build the team around him claptrap that is on here. Bit of a difference between building the team around him and not having him on the field at all, or for twenty minutes when chasing the game. Classic straw man, as Dave would say. I wouldn't build the team around Coloccini, that doesn't mean I'd have him on the fucking bench. Does he want to play on the right though? Pardew has insisted time after time that he wants a player to constantly knock on his door and say he wants to play. I am sure that if Ben Arfa asked to play on the right, and spent all week playing there in training, he'd be starting in that position instead of Sammy fucking Ameobi. Why does he have to play on the right? Sammy Ameobi's not been starting there so I've no idea where that comes from. Why should a player have to "knock on the manager's door" and tell him where he wants to play? "Sorry Tim, thought you'd have been a-knockin' this week and I've not heard from you so Rob's in goal today, he's been knock-knock-knockin' on Pardew's door all week"

So Pardew should change our formation to suit one player?? No but he should change the formation/system to get the best out of the team and the players available. He's doing that at the moment. Personally I'd put Ben Arfa into a 4-4-2 and see how that goes before I start changing entire systems but certainly the rigid way we set up now is really restricting our play and not getting the best out of anyone other than maybe Ba. Fair point. Defensively is where we are lacking though, not attacking. Changing to have less in midfield for me (e.g. 433) wouldn't be 'the answer'. I disagree completely, we have been shocking in possession of the ball for the last six weeks, we have become almost entirely reliant to giving the ball to Ba and hoping he can do something with it.

i reckon the fact he isn't in the team is relevant He should be in the team, but I don't buy all this indispensible, our star player, build the team around him claptrap that is on here. Bit of a difference between building the team around him and not having him on the field at all, or for twenty minutes when chasing the game. Classic straw man, as Dave would say. I wouldn't build the team around Coloccini, that doesn't mean I'd have him on the fucking bench.

So Pardew should change our formation to suit one player?? No but he should change the formation/system to get the best out of the team and the players available. He's doing that at the moment. Personally I'd put Ben Arfa into a 4-4-2 and see how that goes before I start changing entire systems but certainly the rigid way we set up now is really restricting our play and not getting the best out of anyone other than maybe Ba.

Norwich level.

I don't think he's been shite but I'd definitely accept an offer of £25m. That would be twice his actual worth IMO. And that helps the team does it? Incredible post.

ok

To be honest, I'd be happy to get a centre half in on loan if it let us buy a player who could change our game going forward. Only real requirement is to be able to head a ball if either of Colo or Mike get injured.

Celebrating injury. He's got a sore toe, he's not been in a car crash.

I'll take the law into my own hands if Ben Arfa doesn't play again.

Yeah there's a few, Gallas too. I'm scarred by the memory of Boumsong (technically from Scotland I know) and Rozehnal (sp?)

I'd be very wary of buying a centre half from the French league. We've had some right dross, often weak as piss, and there's not been a great many of them come to the Premier League and succeed in recent years, at least not without a fair old period of adapting. Having said that, I was a fan of Bassong.

Yes, he should have come on at 3-2 right after Ba scored to try and force the game, keep the ball in their half and pin them back. He brought on Sammy, so presumably you agree with him that Sammy could change the game but Ben Arfa couldn't? Your sentence about Obertan is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on here in a long time. Concentrated and committed?! No I don't rate Sammy tbh. Ben Arfa floats around, he lacks self discipline and would rarely chase back. The one time he did defend (City away) he gave away a penalty. Obertan for all his inadequacies in attack and actual contribution will at least track back and put effort into the defensive side of the game. Considering we've an absolute liability at RB you need that extra body. If you look at Ben Arfa's best performance for this club (Everton away) he was ahead of a fantastic fullback in Enrique, who could shoulder the burden of having to do a lot of work. Until we can provide him that solid backup I don't know if I'd like to see him outwide. We'll have to agree to disagree about Obertan, I think he bottles challenges and puts very little effort in defensively. I can appreciate what Jonas offers defensively even if he's having a s*** game with the ball, I don't see it in the slightest from Obertan. I also think that's a very negative way to look at the game, exactly the way I absolutely hate managers looking at it, same reason I detested Souness for the Robert situation. You should build your team around your best creative players, not leave them out because they don't do enough graft. If they're not doing it, it's your job as manager to either get them to do it or get the other players to fill in. David Silva's hardly a workhorse, he'd be a poorer player if he was. No we won't, we'll fight until one of us gives up. FWIW, I think if he's got any sense he'll use him against Man United given what happened yesterday (assuming their side is much the same) because Carrick clearly has a coronary when someone runs at him. Ben Arfa? I really hope so. Good opportunity to beat them, as the Liverpool game was, and we'll need quality.

So? You don't get a European place for being a loser in that final, only the FA Cup final. Obviously if one of them wins it, it's 6th.

Yes, he should have come on at 3-2 right after Ba scored to try and force the game, keep the ball in their half and pin them back. He brought on Sammy, so presumably you agree with him that Sammy could change the game but Ben Arfa couldn't? Your sentence about Obertan is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on here in a long time. Concentrated and committed?! No I don't rate Sammy tbh. Ben Arfa floats around, he lacks self discipline and would rarely chase back. The one time he did defend (City away) he gave away a penalty. Obertan for all his inadequacies in attack and actual contribution will at least track back and put effort into the defensive side of the game. Considering we've an absolute liability at RB you need that extra body. If you look at Ben Arfa's best performance for this club (Everton away) he was ahead of a fantastic fullback in Enrique, who could shoulder the burden of having to do a lot of work. Until we can provide him that solid backup I don't know if I'd like to see him outwide. We'll have to agree to disagree about Obertan, I think he bottles challenges and puts very little effort in defensively. I can appreciate what Jonas offers defensively even if he's having a shit game with the ball, I don't see it in the slightest from Obertan. I also think that's a very negative way to look at the game, exactly the way I absolutely hate managers looking at it, same reason I detested Souness for the Robert situation. You should build your team around your best creative players, not leave them out because they don't do enough graft. If they're not doing it, it's your job as manager to either get them to do it or get the other players to fill in. David Silva's hardly a workhorse, he'd be a poorer player if he was.

7th has typically been enough to qualify in previous years other than last season.

Yes, he should have come on at 3-2 right after Ba scored to try and force the game, keep the ball in their half and pin them back. He brought on Sammy, so presumably you agree with him that Sammy could change the game but Ben Arfa couldn't? Your sentence about Obertan is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on here in a long time. Concentrated and committed?!

Pardew's the one saying that Ben Arfa's not playing because he doesn't defend enough and gives the ball away, not me. The injury is rarely brought into it. The Valencia comparison is not redundant at all unless you think Pardew is acting on medical advice - why does he not say that? And why did he apparently ignore that advice against Forest but not against Wigan? Against Bolton but not against Swansea? I wasn't complaining earlier in the season when results were good, so your point about Pardew is just not relevant. I could just as easily say your agenda is to defend absolutely everything the owner and manager does, I've certainly never seen anything else. 1 win is 9 is an appalling run especially given some of the games we've had and means we need something against Man Utd. I'm more than prepared to say when I think he's done a good job (Stoke for example was as good tactically as Liverpool was bad) but his management over the last month has been shocking imo and really fucked up the good start we had. The team is playing very negatively and coming out with stuff about not playing Ben Arfa because he might concede possession is symptomatic of that, and certainly not consistent with other players he is picking who can barely pick out a black and white shirt. How long are you prepared to let him sit on the bench and have Obertan play ahead of him? If we get to March and he's still getting 15 minutes when we're rolling over again to Norwich and West Brom, is that still ok?

I'd be very surprised if "most people" can see why we went with Vuckic ahead of Ben Arfa tbh. You don't pick a player who is going to play behind the forward for his hustle or his defensive aspects. And how is he being ushered in slowly when he previously started three games on the bounce? How is leaving him on the bench completely against Swansea and Norwich and until late against West Brom when we're absolutely desperate for a goal "ushering him in slowly"? It simply doesn't wash. When Antonio Valencia came back from his leg break (he broke it two weeks before Ben Arfa), he was straight into the team in September, no bench appearances, no in and out. He's since made 15 appearances this season, even with the team rotating constantly. Ben Arfa first made the team back in September too, right on schedule, we're now in January and we're still ushering him in?! How is he fit to play 70 minutes at Forest in September and yet it's too much to do half an hour in a desperate situation against Swansea in December? If he's not fit, why is he on the bench? It's an absolutely ridiculous suggestion imo. With our lack of creativity, he should be in the team week in and week out whether it be off Ba or in one of the wide positions. You can talk about Vuckic for as long as you like but there is absolutely zero justification for leaving him out and picking Obertan every week. I don't doubt that he's not match fit... that's because he's hardly getting on the field.

Has he missed a game since he arrived? Even f***ing Bruce had more guts than our manager. Fast becoming a parody. One of the best footballer posters (apparently). Believe me, if I thought the bloke who calls himself "Gabriele Marcotti II" agreed with me about football, I'd pack it in.

Did you actually watch the game? They had one of the worst midfield combinations that Liverpool have put out in years and we didn't try and press them, harry them, try and actually pass the ball between them, we just let them have the ball and do what the hell they wanted with it and every time we got it, we panicked and kicked it long straight back to them. Against the top teams that is the game that bucks the trend though, we've played well against Man Utd, City and Chelsea and did pressure them. If we'd played like we did at Old Trafford at Anfield we'd have beaten them. Top teams? They were 1 point above us! Any team that plays with a midfield of Spearing, Adam and Henderson we should be beating, or at least competing with and creating chances against imo, no matter what the crest on the shirt says. Struggling to think of any chances we had at Old Trafford tbh. Good result but a lot of rewriting of how the game actually went based on a penalty that never was and the only reason we got that penalty was because we had a player willing and capable of running at their defence, who has since been sent to the naughty step for being too positive.