Cronky

I've never thought that Cisse was the sharpest tool in the box, and if he did spit back at Evans, that just confirms it. If he gets a ban, I'm not too bothered.

Gouffran had gained control of the situation, and Abeid didn't need to get involved. He ended up complicating the situation and giving Krul a hospital pass. It was a bit of inexperience and over-eagerness.

I'd agree that criticising a young player who's only just making a comeback isn't a great idea. However - a) the criticism was not as harsh as some people are making out, and he's also implicitly saying that he thinks the player has the ability to do better. b) What he said was accurate IMO - Mehdi didn't have such a good game, and can do better. c) Colback is the best passer in our midfield and is a miss. I'd say Abeid is competing with Anita and Tiote for a place, not with Colback. I think our best option is 4-3-3, with a midfield of Colback, Abeid and Sissoko.

Tbf, you'd be literally the only person who would be remotely bothered. He's still shown barely anything and unless you have some sort of relationship with him in real life, I'm not sure why you're so bothered about him. Moyes seems to be bothered, and his record isn't too shabby.

Going by the same highlights - The defending looked terrible yet again - I don't know how we managed to keep a clean sheet. Colo got in some good blocks, but he was barely able to get any sort of challenge in on Benteke in the air, who won't have had an easier game all season. I agree about Cisse - his link-up play isn't good enough - and Obertan seems to have pace and nothing else.

Attaboy, Joey. Team at the wrong end of the table, playing fellow strugglers, and you leave them to cope with 10 men plus your absence for 3 more games. He did something similar with us when he decided that taking Alonso out was more important than helping his club to escape the drop.

This whole thing smacks of indecision. Pardew never seemed to make up his mind about the player, and now that we're effectively without a manager at all, it looks like a weak compromise. We'd like you to stay but we're not sure about you so we're not going to pay you the going rate. At this rate, he'll go to Sociedad because Moyes is giving him a positive message about being wanted. I can't believe that they're going to pay him more. I just hope Ashley is a fan and is prepared to intervene.

I had a feeling they were going to cock this one up.

FYP

Na. It's decision time with this lad. Either we give him a vote of confidence with a new contract, or we let him go. If we offer him a short contract and tell him we want to loan him out, he'd quite rightly tell us to fuck off. That would be a backward step for him.

He could have negotiated an agreed separation, instead of going for his £25million and dragging the club through that long and hugely destructive period.

Sammy has been a late, and slow developer. When I first saw him, I didn't regard him as one of the more promising youngsters. He's got an unusual build for a footballer, which in some situations makes him look quite awkward. I think he also had a tendency to try to do too much on his own, and beat players rather than release the ball early. So his journey hasn't been a simple one. But I think his judgement of situations is much better now, and he's creating more for other people. From the supporters' point of view, with that gangly physique, situations will arise where he loses the ball when most other players wouldn't, and I can hear people instantly getting on his back when that happens. For me, that has to balanced with other situations where he gets clean past defenders and they can't recover. This lad is still a work in progress, and we'd be mad to ditch him now.

Love this player. He has improved a lot this season and there's more to come. It'd be great to secure him on a new contract. Would be like a new signing tbh... I wasn't going to say that.

No, not in itself. I resent the bullshit that's come in the wake of each walkout. In the first case, he walked when the transfer money ran out. In the second case, he walked when he realised that he wasn't going to change the owner's policy and get him to spend - the Gonzalez issue gave him the opportunity to go with his nose clean. And of course, with England he was a failure because there's no opportunity to spend money. You have to work with what you have. Keegan will always have a special place in the club's history, because he was the catalyst for changing the club's thinking from small club to big club. Unfortunately, he didn't have the all-round ability to capitalise on the opportunity that - in fairness - he largely created for himself by hauling the club's ownership in the direction that he wanted.

This is the guy who walked out on the club twice, isn't it? There were many different aspects to the Keegan persona, not all positive. Never known one person to be so wrong about everything Ooh. Harsh.

Once one corrupt decision is made, others follow. UEFA should break away and invite others to join a new organisation. FIFA is beyond repair.

This is the guy who walked out on the club twice, isn't it? There were many different aspects to the Keegan persona, not all positive.

Love this player. He has improved a lot this season and there's more to come. It'd be great to secure him on a new contract.

It wasn't Keegan who said that, was it?

That is toe-curlingly stupid.

There's been enough genuine praise from people who Redknapp has worked with to indicate that he does have some ability. But he's too old now, and he wouldn't be interested in moving up north anyway.

Looking at the article in its entirety. I suspect our friends in the media have been a bit naughty, and have taken two separate comments, put them together, and come up with something far more juicy.

Sissoko was the only member of yesterday's 5 in midfield fit enough to press properly for the whole game unfortunately. Yup and he presses alone which leaves great big holes behind him. I wouldn't mind, our team drops off and doesn't even get particularly tight, it's so easy pass it around against us. There is a problem here. You either have to press as a team, or not at all. Too often our pressing is half-hearted, or individual in nature, like you said. I don't know whether it's Colback not sticking to the plan, or hesitation on the part of others. Perhaps a lack of leadership in general on the pitch.

I wouldn't blame Krul for the goal. It all just fell perfectly for Stoke. Crouch at the back post against a full back = trouble.

God how I love the stream of joyful optimism that is so characteristic of this site.