Theregulars

Where do you live these days Yorkster? If it helps you save and gives us the pleasure of your company, I could pick you up on the way. I'd offer you my hotel room but the chica is coming up in tow and it would be weird (not necessarily in a bad way, if that's your thing).

Ginger pirlo (origingeal) is confirmed

Absolute, unfettered garbage. Breathes new life into the meaning of the phrase "oxygen thief" (pun very much intended).

Perez has been as petulant as he has been ineffective.

Did you just reply to your own post?

To be fair, he did have the sale of Jedinak forced upon him by club ownership.

Aaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahad infinitum

That's just ridiculous. I'm going to give you the sarcasm pass

Oh just jog on you loathsome sack of gonorrhea. The way he's created this epic, Amistad-level tale of his own change of employer is only paralleled in its lamentability by the way the press have lapped it up. He's an utterly unremarkable, one dimensional player who will be found out at any level higher than mid-table in the best leagues in Europe. The nerve he has to complain about maltreatment considering the contempt with which he's treated the shirt. I hope a shark rapes him.

Maybe, just maybe, our extremely talented manager sees something in him that he believes will work in the system he likes to play.

Yes/more proven (the latter is not really fair because Armstrong hasn't had a chance yet)

For that fee, if he scores 10 goals as a back up this year and never plays for us again, it's a good deal and shrewd business. It's very feasible that he scores 10 goals playing in a squad rotation system in +/- 50 games this year.

As much as I am loathe to quote this man, he's got it spot on here.

With the striker news I would absolutely, 100% take a point.

I've never known a club with this kind of injury misfortune. Like 2 concussions to 2 strikers in the same game? Come on

How can you tell whether someone is fast from a still image? I'm basing it on the photo. So its fair to say there is a chance of error on my part. Every report on him says he has blistering pace. In which case, it is possible that Khay has the relatively unexciting but nonetheless impressive of judging speed based on still image. A rare breed.

How can you tell whether someone is fast from a still image?

If has was obviously, definitely off from the start I don't think he would have featured so heavily in pre-season and then the first two games. I think it will be either that Benitez wanted to take a good look to decide whether he was expendable, or whether there was actually no market for his services until relatively recently (perhaps when he was dropped for Anita against Reading). As Minhosa said, don't get the hate. He was definitely one of the better players during the hell that was the preceding two seasons to the present. I just think he got mired down by the total lack of ambition.

I think in reality Rafa will be very content with a point. As usual we will set up to contain, but I see Brighton scoring because we look porous. I'd really like to twat them into submission for those consecutive cup defeats; although I view those as defeats of Pardew rather than the team.

I think a lot of people are looking at this with a tainted view because it looks like he's rejecting us. For his first year, he was arguably our player of the season, looked very useful (more so as an attacking full-back, admittedly) and appeared to be spirited, committed and up for it. His performances have declined as the realisation set in for him that he was playing for a club with no ambition and that he was largely surrounded by dross/people not trying/shit management. That does not excuse the fact that he allowed the malaise to set in, but let's not pretend that he's a worse player than he is. I would definitely prefer to have Janmaat at RB this season over Anita or Yedlin. Gamez may well be better, I have not seen anywhere near enough of him. I suspect that playing for a team that actually tries to win games/competitions might show him off in a better light.

Hopefully he can help bail us out of this league.

His niece works for sky so he gives them a lot of soundbytes/access to players/for interviews etc. Their higher-ups are very clear about not criticising him. Really ? So pundits go against what they believe because of that (if they really think he's rubbish of course). That's just ridiculous if true. Any of them who give them access and stories get an easy ride. Note the lack of criticism for Allardyce, for example. Their production team is full of family members/friends of players/managers/ex-players. You are told in production meetings who can't be criticised/about whom criticism cannot be aired. They don't mind letting people question Wenger on air because, amongst other reasons, they think he never does anything for them above the bare contractual minimum. It's the same across so many of their departments - there are children of former England Cricket players in the Cricket production team, for example, because in return daddy tells the ECB to grant them first-rate access and first option on everything. It's a really despicable organisation to be frank.

His niece works for sky so he gives them a lot of soundbytes/access to players/for interviews etc. Their higher-ups are very clear about not criticising him.

Win's a win but that sounded dogshit from here. Unless we deliberately didn't get out of second gear because we didn't feel the need to, we were just mopping up pressure all game.

He's been told he won't be given the game time he needs. The move makes perfect sense for him and the club. This. Not this. Read Tron's post above. Rafa has invited him to battle for a place and prove himself.