Cronky

Alan Dzagoev in the Mirror - http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-10million-swoop-alan-dzagoev-7087438

Might explain his performance on Saturday. He didn't look 100%.

He didn't look too bothered yesterday, like his mind was elsewhere. Ayoze was the same, although maybe for different reasons. He only seemed to click into gear when he was about to be subbed.

Trevor Francis hit the nail on the head. We're in trouble because our players aren't very good. We need a good January window.

Poor punch by Elliot for the goal, but Colo seemed to hesitate because he thought Anita might clear the ball away first. Bad defending. He should have taken charge of the situation. Mitro's mind didn't seem to be completely on it. It was a very, very simple chance that he missed. Everton were generally the better side, but at the end any result was possible.

For the first 20 minutes it looked so grim. The midfield can't defend, and their technique is so poor on the ball that Everton's pressing game had us pinned back. Now that Everton have slowed a bit, we're coming into it, and we might get something. Terrible to watch though.

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas, guys.

It'd be good to see De Jong and Ayoze playing together, as the two players most likely to make something happen. McClaren obviously sees them as competing for the same place, and presumably is worried that our defensive capability would be weakened. But Ayoze can play in a deeper position and can put in some hard work. It's worth a try.

If this is the case then why persist with it game after game? We could play a midfield three of Anita, Sissoko and Wijnaldum with Anita holding and Sissoko going box to box but over and over again we play this stupid 4-2-3-1 with Colback playing hide and don't seek in the middle. We'd get totally overrun in midfield playing those 3. For me it's vital we strengthen our central midfield in January because currently we get the worst of both worlds. Our back 4 doesn't get the protection it needs and there's also an alarming lack of creativity as well. Is the ugly truth.

Which isn't often enough these days.

I'm pretty sure he was the main advocate of 3 points for a win, which is now universal and taken for granted, but which began as a novelty. That proved to be a big encouragement towards attacking football, particularly away from home. His manner did grate at times, but he was never a man afraid to back his opinions and innovate.

So their issue is their defending is poor but our major issue will be breaking them down? Everything checks out here, moving along. Yeah, please do.

McClaren is right in that Villa look okay going forward. Their defending is poor. It'll be a very different game from the last two, in that in all probability it'll be a matter of breaking their defence down rather than relying on counter-attack. For that reason, I'd want to use Mitro's power in the air. Well, that's not the only reason. Cisse has looked a bit more committed recently but I still don't think he offers us enough.

While I think Mou is a cunt, I wouldn't give that book much credence. Torres and Mou were enemies since day one at Real Madrid, and he's got a massive axe to grind. There's a level of detail in that book which indicates inside information from within the dressing room and other parts of the club. If it weren't substantially true, there would be a lot of material that Mourinho could use to sue, and the picture it paints of him is of someone who is corrupt as well as a bit cracked. Also, what seems to have happened at Chelsea follows the same pattern as Real, with battles in the dressing room, and paranoid fantasies about officials etc The confrontation with his medical staff earlier on was the first indication that Mourinho had serious problems. He must know that when a ref is beckoning for medical attention that they have no choice but to go on, but the mere fact that their actions didn't conform with what he wanted was enough for him to lash out. It was like he'd crossed that fine line between genius and madness.

He's been talking and acting like a man who doesn't care whether he keeps his job or not. You can't motivate the players from that mindset, and there was no sign of it changing. The Torres book on Mourinho's time at Real is a good read. It shows a man who doesn't think he can do any wrong. Bad results are down to refs, conspiracies, traitors in the dressing room etc. Ferguson and Wenger suffered from some element of paranoia, but nothing like this.

I'd be happy to see Sissoko go there for cash + Townsend. There's probably a few players not getting games there which would walk in to our first team. It's a tricky one, but yeah I'd do the swap. Sissoko is very effective in certain situations, but his clumsiness on the ball makes it difficult to build attacks with any fluency. I don't entirely trust Townsend, but he's shown that he can produce and it's not as though our current set up is working well. Ideally, you'd keep both options, but if it has to be a choice I'd go for it. CM and CD are the priorities though.

All impossible I assume. Yep. I can't see why Swansea would sell Sigurdsson and Shelvey to their relegation rivals half way through the season. Particularly this season. Watford are in a better position, but they're not going to want to take any chances. I think we'll have to look abroad, or the lower leagues.

Leicester's run has lasted too long for it to be a fluke. They've got pace and energy and are able to play without any pressure. They also don't have the distraction of European football. It reminds me a bit of when Clough's Notts Forest ran away with the league, the season after getting promoted. Everyone assumed they were going to slip up at some stage, but they just carried on. I never thought I'd see the same thing again in the Premiership, because the bigger clubs are now even more powerful. But for one reason or another, none of those clubs are hitting top gear. So yeah, it could happen, providing they don't have an injury crisis. But my money would be on Arsenal to win it, and Leicester to be in the top four.

You're all as stupid as Mito. There's no other explanation.

It's great to see players celebrate. It's an important part of the game, and it can be a bonding experience with the supporters. The nature of celebrations seems to go by custom as much as anything. And in recent years, this thing of jumping on players backs seems more and more common. The risk comes when some big lug takes things a bit too far. All I can do is suggest that if anyone has a recording of the match, they watch the celebration. Georginio jumps on Ayoze's back, then Mito jumps on Georginio's back. Under the weight of both, Ayoze falls to the deck. Opinions will differ, but anyone watching that and thinking that there's no risk at all is refusing to use their brain.

This isn't a one-off with Mito. I've seen him celebrate like that 2 or 3 times before. Okay, it's only a small risk, but it's an unnecessary one. You can post as many wind-up smileys as you like. Ayoze has two heavier players jumping on his back and no-one can tell me that's not an issue.

I thought De Jong did well. He's starting to look like the player we thought we were buying.

http://i.imgur.com/uH3jW4W.jpg If I was McClaren, I'd be having a word.

He makes his presence felt in all sorts of ways, and he has the ability to lift the side. Still needs to calm down. The challenge on Alli was a bit wild, and likewise the way he jumped on the players who were celebrating Ayoze's goal.

Once we got the equaliser, only one team was going to win it. Magnificent finish by Ayoze. It looked like it was a case of Europa-itis for Spurs in the second half, but we now have a way of winning games, and it's something to build on. Hopefully our possession play will improve after January.