alpal78

It's their defence that I am scared about, you're right we will probably get a goal. But man their attack will tear our defense apart, and it is not that our defence is poor, it's just that their attack is too fucking awesome! That is where we will come unstuck

Man management ftw. It's good man management for the squad players and the Lovenkrads, but don't think it's good for HBA's morale. He must be quite surprised to be put in the same bracket as Lovekrads, I hope he is patient and understands that he needs to be eased in. Although that both Obertan and Marveux is out, he should be getting more minutes. It would be wrong to start with Ameobi against City.

I'd take 1 point for the next 3 games easy. Barring a miracle, we will lose against City. We have a small chance of getting a point against Utd in Old Trafford. The Chelsea game would depend on whether we get all our players back. Whilst there's no harm to be optimistic especially given our current position and form, remember that we only drew with Arsenal and Spuds at home and I consider both teams to be inferior to Chelsea.

Tbh, I did not consider the whole distinction between signed behind the scenes and contract offer leaked to the newspapers, but now that it has been pointed out, yes it does worry me. I was quite ambivalent about losing Carroll because of the transfer fees (though pissed that we didn't reinvest the money to strengthen the squad), annoyed when Enrique left (at both club and player) but I will be totally pissed if we don't go all out to get Colo to stay. Players like Barton and Nolan was the symbol of our club last few years and Colo is the epitome of our club now and for the next few years and tbh I like the new version of the club much better. Calm, stable and all moving in the same direction without players appearing on the front pages. Not extending Colo's contract for whatever reason (and I don't think he will be unreasonable) would be an unforgivable mistake even for supporters like me who tend to look on the positive side of things.

This comment that he is not releasing the ball quick enough is tripe to be honest and is being used as a stick to hit him all the time without analyzing the specific circumstances of the game. If we are chasing the game, then yes you could probably blame him if he did not release the ball quick enough to present a goal scoring chance. But when we are defending a lead by the skin of our teeth with an inferior midfield and knackered defense, then it makes better footballing sense for a player to keep the ball and relieve some pressure off the team (and mind you not all players can do this, HBA is one of them). Based on Pardew's post game comments, that is what he was told to do, that was what he did against Everton and that is what he should be evaluated on. In reality a through pass consist of two parts, a good weighted ball into space and a willing striker to run onto the ball. With Ba clearly knackered, an attempted through ball (even if it looked to be on at some point), might not work out if Ba can't get to it on time, then an attempted through ball would be = losing possession. I bet that had HBA done this, people like CT would be all over him for losing possession when we are defending a lead, then the stick would be why was he losing possession instead of closing the game out. With some people, you just can't win and they are just best ignored.

I disagree, I've seen quite a few penalties where the hand does move towards the direction of the ball. Obviously handballs are generally not premeditated, they are mostly instinctive, even Suarez's infamous save against Ghana, but you can still see the hand move towards the ball. Gosling's case was the opposite, the ball hit him on the arm. This rule (if applied consistently makes sense too), otherwise a clever striker could easily get a penalty by scooping the ball towards the hand of the defender in such a way/speed that it makes it very difficult for the defender to move his hands out of the way.

Kept the ball too long... That was his f***ing job! Top post

Except pardew said he was great and did exactly what he told him to do which makes your argument null He did generally keep hold of the ball too long. Pardew isn't going to say he did poorly. The lad needs careful man management, he is still a long way from being ready for regular starts and he looks extremely frustrated to me. He was warming up, looking at Pardew, with Pardew seemingly deliberately looking away from him. May just be me but I get the feeling that there is tension between the two. I think you could be right about the tension thing and this is only going to intensify the longer this situation goes on as it is. Interesting yesterday seeing Pardew big Ba up as "the number 10" in the journal. Those who know Pardews career will have a better idea whether he is a fan of the flair type player like HBA. Pardew to me seems very much defence first, then attack and I just wonder if a player like HBA who may do something great, but may also concede possession, is his type of player. Could be that he sees Ba playing the 10 role off the new striker. I hope HBA does come good because Beardsley type players are a joy to watch. I wouldn't however be shocked if he was gone in the next window or two. Except that we converted the loan into purchase under Pardew's watch. Maybe Pardew mistook him for a defender? Seriously the saying creating a mountain out of a molehill does not adequately describe your postings, you're creating a mountain out of nothing! It's good that HBA is desperate to play and it's also good that Pardew is easing him in (although now with Obertan and Marveux injured, I expect him to get more minutes if not starting games). I'd be very surprised if Pardew had anything whatsoever to do with that decision. Unfortunately you being surprise has no value whatsoever given the track record of your postings. Although none of us will know for sure how much he was actually involved, it has been well argued on this board that although Derek and Mike makes the final call based on financial criteria, Pardew does recommend the player he wants (just like most other managers)

If this is true, this could be the start of a collective orgasm on NO, or the beginning of a January sale. We all know that the club does not take too kindly to players negotiating hard and Colo has all the right to do so. I'm just hoping that if the deal is not up to his expectations, then he consider captaining the club, the great team spirit and our potential to progress under a stable setup as mitigating factors to accept a deal that he would otherwise turn down.

Except pardew said he was great and did exactly what he told him to do which makes your argument null He did generally keep hold of the ball too long. Pardew isn't going to say he did poorly. The lad needs careful man management, he is still a long way from being ready for regular starts and he looks extremely frustrated to me. He was warming up, looking at Pardew, with Pardew seemingly deliberately looking away from him. May just be me but I get the feeling that there is tension between the two. I think you could be right about the tension thing and this is only going to intensify the longer this situation goes on as it is. Interesting yesterday seeing Pardew big Ba up as "the number 10" in the journal. Those who know Pardews career will have a better idea whether he is a fan of the flair type player like HBA. Pardew to me seems very much defence first, then attack and I just wonder if a player like HBA who may do something great, but may also concede possession, is his type of player. Could be that he sees Ba playing the 10 role off the new striker. I hope HBA does come good because Beardsley type players are a joy to watch. I wouldn't however be shocked if he was gone in the next window or two. Except that we converted the loan into purchase under Pardew's watch. Maybe Pardew mistook him for a defender? Seriously the saying creating a mountain out of a molehill does not adequately describe your postings, you're creating a mountain out of nothing! It's good that HBA is desperate to play and it's also good that Pardew is easing him in (although now with Obertan and Marveux injured, I expect him to get more minutes if not starting games).

The only question left is do you guys prefer Enrique a more solid and composed defender or Ryan Taylor for his superlative match winning goals (6 points on his own)?

Without Tiote, we'll lose 0-2

Interesting post mate

Done. Cheers mate

any idea where I can see a video of this i.e. our players using the towel and Pulis going all ape shit? would be mint!

Update for the month of October (all premier league games played till 31st October): 1) Ba - 8 goals in 553 minutes = 69 minutes per goal 2) Best - 3 goals in 629 minutes = 209.7 minutes per goal 3) Carroll - 2 goals in 567 minutes = 283.5 minutes per goal My observation, is that Carroll is catching on fast to Best as the latter goes through a dry spell in October (though he is still contributing in other ways), will not be surprised if Carroll overtakes Best by end of November. But Ba is certainly on fire and bar some horrible drop in form (or super strike rate from either Best or Carroll) will certainly be the best of the three come end of the season. I'm resetting the poll so that everyone can vote again. I'm voting for Ba. Your thoughts on how the three will stack up? The vote as of end of 25th September (Ba was not included yet as a voting option in September) was: 82.4% voted for Best (75 votes) and 17.6% voted for Carroll (16 votes) The vote as of 2 November was: 57.3% (51 votes) voted for Ba; 36% (32 votes) voted for Best and 6.7% (6 votes) voted for Carroll * usual disclaimer applies i.e. i) states based on soccernet (premier league games only) and ii) minutes played based on assumption of 45 minutes per half. Can I please request one of the mods/admin to change the title to reflect the three way comparison ("Best vs Ba vs Carroll"), thanks

Judging by the ring, she looks married

bet last night was a real eye opener for yohan. never in his life in his entire career was he ever expecting to play a team which just throws the ball at you into submission, he must have been thinking, WTF is this? i'm i playing an entire different game now??? halloween special?, handball/football game?

Yeah cos we're going to carry on like this all season, suffer no injuries and nobody's going to suffer a loss of form. You are missing my point, of course he'll get some game time, but for him to shine he has to or needs to be the main man and when everybody is fit and performing well as is the case right now, I cannot see him being that main man for us. Pardew would be mad to bring him into this team as a first teamer right now because we are doing so well. Yet he clearly needs games. I know what you're saying but I think the other point that's being made here is that the team as it is right now may not be the same team for the rest of the season (at times it definitely won't be). When Ben Arfa gets his chance he could take it and become a main player in the team. I'm just glad that we have players like Ben Arfa, Marveaux and Santon who can come into the side if we hit a dip in form or if we have injuries. Its then up to them to keep themselves in the side and with the way Pardew seems to play it if they do well they'll stay in the team. My thoughts exactly, whilst they might be frustrated now in not getting decent time with the team, Pardew's approach of sticking with players that perform might benefit them in the future provided they play well when they get the chance.

You just know Mike is gonna fuck this up by selling him for a tidy sum in January just because he doesn't sign a new contract

Was probably the right decision not to play him today but worried if he starts becoming more and more desperate i.e. trying to prove a point in every game by trying to do it all on his own. It's a vicious cycle that good attacking flair players go through when they think they have not been given a proper chance which only make matters worse Pards will need to manage the situation delicately keeping him patient whilst still motivating him because like it or not if he can recapture his form against Everton last season (even putting aside the stunning goal), he's undoubtedly our most skillful player

that could be barnetta aswell. not 100% about the speaking french bit though. Barnetta is Swiss, therefore he will speak Frenchie, its the main language in Switzerland, sign him up too Actually depends which part of Switzerland he's from. Might speak German. I've been a dozen or so times and its always been french, a bit of German, which i found strange as i thought it would be mainly German, just never heard much of it to be honest like, never heard any Italian, has a sprinkling of swiss which is the wierdiest stuff i've ever heard, and i've heard Welsh . Fair bit of English mind, which was surprising. Where did you go in Switzerland? All the Swiss people I've met all spoke German (more than likely from the German speaking regions). I have no idea how the Pieters thread have morphed into a thread on language and Blair's policies, but on your question, people in Geneva speak predominantly French

How typical.

I was there. Fair enough to those who went, otherwise the 'assessment' is just rubbish

Can I just know for those commenting that he played poorly, how many watched the game or are your views just based on radio commentary?