DJ_NUFC

That's ridiculous.

Is that Peter Ramage?

Got to be a 3 game ban if the FA are playing fair and doing their job properly. :yaoming: Fail.

Got to be a 3 game ban if the FA are playing fair and doing their job properly. :yaoming:

Ryan Taylor's just as bad on the left. I honestly can't see how anyone can win this "who's worse, Raylor or Simpson" argument as they're both absolutely fucking shit. One will have a game where he doesn't absolutely fuck up and the other one does, so automatically the former will be looked upon as 'better' than the latter. We need new full-backs, and with Santon hopefully finding his feet in English football by next year, we only have to worry about replacing the right-side.

Did Pardew just mention Lovenkrands when he said "we've got firepower here..." And for all conspiracy theorists, he mentioned Lovenkrands in that sentence BEFORE he mentioned Ben Arfa. Tan tan tannnnnnnnnn.

Cheers for that, Dave. '96 onwards (Keegan bandwagon jumper, me) I'm averaging 10.06... so 10th place. Funny coz we've never actually finished 10th so have no idea what it feels like, lol. 10th is fucking shite. BRING BACK KEEGAN.

Perchenbauer

Exactly, it's getting silly now and a lot seems to be based solely on the defence of one player. I like Ben Arfa a hell of a lot, he can be an absolute genius and has the natural ability far beyond a player we could (normally) realistically attract but it's also not difficult to see why he would cause a manager concern at times. It is a genuine shame that the issue is stopping some from enjoying a fantastic season. You can guarantee the same group will moan before every game that he won't start, moan if he doesn't start (usually with a comment like "well that's cost us the game!") or if he does start moan that others on the pitch didn't give him enough chances to show what he can do. He has the attention Barton could only dream of He has done brilliantly in the limited chances he has been given but there have also been clear signs why a manager who has based our eye opening success this season on team work has had to hold him back at times. I don't understand these obvious concerns a manager in Pardew's position would have about playing Ben Arfa. Care to enlighten me? As brilliant as he is he gives the ball away a fair bit when we seem to be in control and have players pushing forward, leaving us exposed to a counter attack. We have got lucky a few times. Personally I would have the lad in the side every week but it's not hard to see why he would give a manager something to think about. He does, but contrary to what some people on here would have you believe, he also works very hard to get it back. I remember at least two incidents this season where this happened and we scored from him winning back possession, lastly this past weekend our first goal vs Blackburn. As for the other players moving forward, this is a matter of tactics. When a player goes on a run the striker(s) and wingers should move forward, along with maybe one of the central midfielders, not both. If everybody pushes forward and we are caught out on the break that is not so much a problem with the person losing the ball (which is always a possibility), but also how the other players react to it. Another thing is we lose a lot of possession in other ways, be it by long punts that bounce off our forwards or go straight to the opposition or by wayward passes from the back or midfield. I would argue we lose the ball a lot more in these ways than we do by Ben Arfa losing it when he's trying to make something happen in the opposition half. The problem is, it's very noticeable when it happens when you're on the edge of your seat waiting for something exciting to happen, because he is that type of player, whereas when it's Krul or the defence kicking it long you almost expect us to lose the ball most of the time and it's a pleasant surprise if one of the strikers actually manages to make it stick. Percentage wise I don't think Ben Arfa loses more possession than many other players, but it gets noticed a lot more. The flip side is that whenever he does not lose the ball, he is much more likely to make something positive happen. For that reason it is imperative that we stick with him. That's actually very, very spot-on. I can't tell you how many times I've hung my head in frustration as we lose the ball each time we lump it upfield expecting Ameobi to act like a venus flytrap, or Best to go on his mazy left-wing runs which probably have more in common with Ed Milliband's election campaigns than utilizing the actual left wing of a football pitch. In fact, we lose the ball 95% more times hoofing it up field than via Ben Arfa trying to get past players. You're right, he just gets noticed a lot more when he does. How many times does Tiote give it away? Tonnes as well, and he's in a much more vulnerable position.

This is a disgrace. RVP getting away with his blatant, motivated assault while they charge Le Cab for something he did out of an impulse without even looking? RVP should've been banned as he clearly looks at the guy, THEN goes in with his elbows up. Seen the replay over and over. Disgusting. Typical prejudice from the FA.

Davide Santon: 7 International Caps (and counting). Tim Sherwood: 3 International Caps (people stopped counting a long ago). Piece of shit.

What's behind this kind of ludicrous mentality? Sense of entitlement. Think Liverpool, multiply by a thousand. To understand Madrid you have to look at the history. It is the one and only true "superclub" -- ever. This is arguably the best period in Barca's history, at least on the European stage, whereas Madrid was winning the European Cup for jokes in the 1950s. They once were the blazing symbol for Spanish nationalism, the King's own personal team, as close to royalty as football teams can ever get, and they burned bright. And then they became something completely different, Franco's lackeys and also the face of Fascism, and they took all the lows that also come with being a Nationalist symbol. This club has always been more than a club, same as Barca has been. I have the utmost respect for the Catalans, but to say Madrid fans are fickle simple because they have a misguided sense of entitlement a la Liverpool is a gross simplification. I'm sure VI can extrapolate on the subject better when he takes a more objective stance to Real Madrid.

I love how they think he may have insider information. The closest he's ever getting to the top 4 clubs is by predicting their scores on twitter, nobody in their right mind would let him into some betting circle even if they had one going. #IjazButt

Didn't Woan score that goal in the FA Cup against us to knock us out? I could be wrong. I was a wee lad.

March 4th, New York, eh? Hmmmm. I may just attempt to make it from Toronto, will probably drive down on Friday if the weather is nice. Will have to see how work is, though, that weekend. Also, saw a chap wearing a toon scarf on the Dundas subway platform after the Man U game, by any chance, was it someone off here? (Gosh, this sounds like a Lonely Hearts ad).

Erm, the way Duff was claiming the penalty with that much vitriol also had my blood boiling. YOU PLAYED FOR US YOU F*CKING PIECE OF SH1T. Have some respect for our club and some dignity for yourself. Instead he's become a massive player since he left us, which is incredible since we were paying him fatloads and he did fuck all with it.

that long ago i can't remember exactly but did anyone say that or did they say the rule should be changed to that in future, bit like a penalty try in rugby union. as for the wide eyed wonder bit etc, i doubt they've changed their mind about it. as for it being stupid i'd say it was more stupid not to look at that and not see it as a situation that could be altered to reflect the seriousness of it as being seen as no deterrant from it happeing again. Spot-on. I was one of those 'mongs' -- and I still think the whole rule needs to be revisited. And isn't football all about getting caught up in the heat of these moments, if, Thomas -- sorry, thomas -- you're implying that a football fan must act, think and speak with absolute rationality at every moment while watching a game. The same rule exists in cricket and rugby, mong-sports?

I guess what I'm saying is, is there a due process the admins put the offender through? Or is it a straight ban? "Injustice in any Internet forum is a threat to justice everywhere," Martin Luther King.

What about that Sunl'un fella who got banned in the Gary Speed thread? It's not like he was insulting Speed-o. I guess he had it coming though with his other posts. It was just good to have a mackem around here as it was overall pretty entertaining.

He was at the edge of the tunnel, looking at the penalty (Gyan's ) through webbed fingers. As soon as it didn't go in, he went mental, dancing around like he was the girl from The Exorcist.

Hehe. It was his celebration and c*ntish behaviour afterwards that killed it. "I cheated and I love it!"

I'm not defending him, goodness me, no. I just used to think a ban is the absolute last resort, and only applied when an actual forum rule is broken?

I'll never, ever forgive him for what he did to Ghana. That was just bang out of order.

That article's a joke, primary school newspapers wouldn't go off some screen grab. Oh, the press.

I don't know, I'm not liking this Ayatollah-like culture from the admins, banning people left, right and center. We shouldn't be banning people for expressing their own opinion, no matter how nauseous it may be. Watch me get banned now