alpal78

Did you also count how many knock ons he headed to err nobody?

The most infuriating about Shola is that he does not seem to apply any thinking the way he plays. Any donkey would know that if you are playing as a target man upfront alone in a 4-3-3, you do not go for headed 'flick ons' because nobody will be there. In a 4-3-3, a target man should be holding on to the ball and spreading it to either one of the wing/forward or the most advanced midfielder before making his way to the penalty box. You can only go for 'knock'ons' in a 4-4-2 when there will be another striker to receive it. How is it possible that we as fans can see this but a professional player who is training every day can't figure this out? Is Pardew not telling him what he is expected to do?!!

Shola is flicking the ball as if we're playing 442! There nobody there idiot!

If we draw this, we'll get relegated coz heads will drop even the new ones

Seriously Shola is not even playing the target man role! Pardew is crazy!

They're full of thugs!

Everything is going through Agbonlahor at the moment!

My worry now is that we'll get a mega bid for Cabaye!

Why is Marveaux not even on the subs bench by the way?

Is this real? Don't feel like I'm watching Newcastle!

Terry's not the best example eh? Didn't he cuckold a teammate? I'm in no way suggesting that these are exemplary captains, they all have their own issues and have caused problems for their respective clubs, some more than others. But I dare say that none of them would threaten to leave their clubs midway through the season, and then after agreeing to stay comes out with a statement that demonstrates how much they really wanted to leave and keep absolutely mum to their own supporters.

I'll reserve judgement with regards to him wanting to leave. I don’t know why he wanted to go, if it was because we weren’t doing well then I’ll probably change my mind, I’ll not change it based on rumours based on nothing but tittle tattle. The fact that we don't know his reasons is being used as a blanket excuse for everything. It's bad enough that he wanted to leave us in the middle of a relegation fight. But even if his personal issues were super terrible, the least he could have done now that he has agreed to stay on till end of the season is come out with a statement to assure everyone that he is committed to the cause and rally his team mates that everyone have to focus on the job coz we have a fight on our hands. What sort of captain rocks the boat and then pretends like nothing happened afterwords. In fact what he effectively said, is that I really want to be on the San Lorenzo ship but this contract chains are holding me back from jumping ship. That to me is not captain material at all, notwithstanding the fact that I still think that he will perform as usual. Perhaps my understanding of what a captain should be is a bit on the traditional side, but ask yourself this question, would captains like Shearer, Roy Keane, Vieira, Terry, Kompany, Gerrard do the same thing?

Why the hell would Fernandes listen to Redknapp? The former is the boss and successful entrepreneur whereas the latter is a grade A cunt

You don't know what his problems are. Mick man, you don't need to know what his problems are to say that he should have at least acknowledged our fans and state his commitment to NUFC in that letter/quote. You make it sound that because nobody knows his problems, nobody is allowed to say anything remotely negative of him

San Lorenzo really did put in a tremendous effort, so tremendous that they offered us a total huge sum of $0. Thanks Colo for acknowledging us, your fans, legendary captain!

That sounds very much like you don't understand some issues are bigger than football. Of course I do and we can sympathize on a personal level but it does not mean that a player can do whatever he wants including walking out of the club when he has signed a contract. The resolution must be mutually agreeable coz like it or not, the club has paid good money for the player. Like I said, there is no reason why the club can't give him compassionate leave. What do you propose, that a player can just walk out on a contract because of personal reasons? Where does it end?

I don't get people just saying they are fine if he leaves. Surely what matters and the point of the whole discussion is how he leaves us. Of course if there is an agreement between the club and him and we either gave him some compensionate leave or sell him at more or less market value, then that is fine. Anything else and especially if he walks out of the club because he does not get his way would not be acceptable. Whilst we can all understand that some issues are bigger than football, the club can't just let player go because they have personal problems.

Agree that his behavior with regards to communication is not unprofessional although as captain, some words to pacify the club/fans wouldn't have gone amiss. The bigger problem is that you seem to assume (correct me if I'm wrong), that a player can still be considered professional if he wants to leave after signing a contract even if the club does not agree with it. Like I said if it is a personal problem, depending on the gravity of the problem, there are other ways to resolve this than the player walking out of the club and leaving us to fight relegation without our captain.

I agree with your expect for the part in the end. It would depend on how he leaves. If he waits till the end of the season and come to a mutual agreement with the club then that is fine. But if he walks out on us whilst we're in the middle of a relegation fight, then he deserves no respect. If it is a personal problem, I'm sure the club can consider giving him a few weeks compassionate leave. He can of course retire from football if it is really serious and he absolutely has to be back for a longer period.

Not a done deal till we agree his wages. Someone might be waiting to do a Remy on us particular paying 2.5M for such a class player

You wish. Not optimistic we'll get Sissoko. If we are lucky, maybe on deadline day

Why does it matter if he spends because his worried about his investment. Let's not pretend that he bought the club because he was a loyal ardent fans. Most football club owners do so as a business strategy. If we get all those players above, credit where it is due although as some mentioned at least 1 of that signing should have been done earlier.

Regardless of his exemplary past, walking out on us without coming clean during a relegation fight and whilst he is captain is still 'Owen'ish. If I cheated on my partner especially when she is in poor health, my past loyalty counts for nothing. Why should it be different for footballers and Colo. Appreciate what he has done for us in the past by all means, but if he walks out on us now, call a spade a spade. He'd be leaving us in the s*** and deserves no respect

Says who? He's scored more than Remy both this season and last season. I think the price tag is making people ignore this guys record for some reason, he's quite clearly a good player by any account. Remy scored 20 goals last season..... i'm pretty certain Gouffran didn't score more than that tbh.... Remy is comfortably a better footballer than Gouffran, because he's struggled with injuries since end of last season doesn't change that. We shouldn't be comparing Gouffran to Remy tbh, Gouffran is a decent player and should do well but he's nowhere near Remy and he never will be. Always nice to see fans downplaying new players ability and potential even before he has kicked a ball for us.

I don't know what his problems are. If it is that bad, perhaps we could give a him a short home leave. But for the captain to walk out on us whilst we're in the middle of a relegation dogfight would put him in the same bracket as Owen! If he doesn't come clean with his problems, he'll lose the respect of many.