Cronky

Scott Sinclair to Man City is an odd one. City seem to have decided now to buy young, but I can't see Sinclair being good enough to make a breakthrough. On a related subject, I get very annoyed when Mancini complains about a lack of signings. No manager in history has been backed as well as him, and his existing squad is more than good enough to win the league. Not sure if he's the nicest guy in the world, this one.

No way is Tiote an Arsenal player.

They may be European champions but they're a long way from being the best side in Europe. They looked good going forward but they're vulnerable in defence and we missed one or two good chances. We all know we've had worse days at Stamford Bridge but this issue of how the team is set up has been a long standing one, and I'm not convinced we've got that right.

Everyone's calm, I trust him as well but it's a growing concern imo. This concern has some substance though. Pardew has said in public that Ba had been worried about what position he was going to play, and that he'd told him that in 90% of games, he'd be down the middle. Really that can only mean 4-4-2, unless he's going to drop Cisse, or push him wide. In that respect, he's made a bit of an exception of Ba. No-one else has been given those kind of public assurances. That's never felt right to me.

Pards didn't sound very confident. At all.

You could be on the money with that one. I'd take him. Looks very raw though. If he could make a Victor Moses like improvement it would be good. How much though £5m-8m possibly? I think it'd take a bit more than that to shift him - possibly around £10m. I'm a bit surprised he's still at Palace. I was really wanting us to sign one of Moses, Hoilett or Zaha. He's raw, but he could turn out the best of the three. Pardew's Palace connections might work in our favour.

4-4-2 is most effective when one of the strikers can drop deeper in a freer role and link with the midfield. We don't have anyone like that. I thought Ben Arfa could play there, but he's looked better in 4-3-3.

Zaha?

That was the best game I've seen from HBA. He was very strong on the ball and managed to make the most of the situations that came his way. Cisse was poor. On that form, if we have to play one of Ba and Cisse (and I think we should), then it would be Ba at the moment.

Anita looks like he's not used to the pace of the Premiership yet. Unsurprisingly. Ba and Cisse don't give us enough pace and movement for 4-4-2 to work away from home. The system also means that Ben Arfa has to hang back a bit to help out Simpson. He's done a brilliant job with the scraps of possession that have come his way and we need to get him into more advanced positions.

Wasn't Caulkin the far-sighted sage who backed NUST in their campaign against Ashley, talking about all the millions that they'd supposedly raised?

Every time I see Rodgers now, he seems to radiate a lack of confidence, whatever he happens to be saying at the time.

No question it was an attempt to get round the back pass rule. In the situation though, it would have been a very brave or very foolish ref to give it. Common sense prevailed.

Has Shola ever missed a penalty? I can't recall one. Interesting, because with those long, gangly legs and his hit-and-miss finishing you wouldn't fancy him as a penalty-taker. A large part of it has to be in the head. Possible parallel - Shola and Le Tiss - both laid-back, unegotistical - perhaps unambitious characters who were content to see out their careers with their first club. Discuss.

..and get rid of the smile while you're doing it. he didn't murder a puppy with his bare hands man I'm not sure why you've reacted like that. It was very clear in the interviews on Saturday that, he was seeing the funny side of the situation as well. There is a funny side, but it's best not to present it to the Panel, that's all. He seems to be a guy who is used to charming his way out of situations. It won't work with all of the people all of the time.

..and get rid of the smile while you're doing it.

On a different subject, I've never been able to spot why there's been a bit of a fuss about Sigurdsson, and I wasn't any the wiser after the weekend. He's got a good shot and takes a decent set piece, but seems a bit limited otherwise.

Yep. It's a significant weakness in his game. His passing is erratic and he's slow in getting them away.

I still think we've got a problem with Ba, despite the goal. You'd have thought from the post-match interview that we'd lost, his manner was so miserable. It seems clear that Pardew has said to Ba that he intends to play him down the middle nearly all the time (I think he was quoted at 90%) Half way through the first game of the season, he switches him wider. If Pardew's semi-promise has influenced Ba in whether he stays or goes, then there's going to be some resentment. I don't like players demanding where they should play, but the manager has to be honest with them. I don't think Pardew has handled this correctly.

Everyone's right. He's a good finisher, from short and long range, but he doesn't link well with his team-mates.

liked the way we played but to listen to shearers MotD analysis, the tiote pass takes 3 out as does ban arfas, still one pass later they have us swamped at the back really and it was a fantastic to get us the goal. Shearer had a good point. Up till then, their pressing game had us knocking the ball backwards and hoofing it long. That was one of the first occasions when we actually managed to use a bit of skill to get the ball through their midfield. It left Simpson with lots of time to pick the cross. I didn't think we played all that much better in the second half. However, we did get the first goal, and that was crucial for our confidence. Still not convinced that we should be playing Ba and Cisse together, whether it's 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. i disagree, each time we gave the ball to ben arfa in the first half we done that. i was more takingissue with the punditry of "takes 3 out" then the next pass "takes 3 out" as if those players wont drop back in and consolodate. Throughout the game, we were very reliant on Ben Arfa's individual efforts, but we really struggled to pass and move our way towards the opposition defence. It's what's separating us from the sides above us. Shearer could have put it better, because yeah we didn't eliminate those midfield players for the entire move. But we got the ball behind them, and made them turn backwards. Usually it was us going backwards.

He should get a ban, and quite rightly. You can't let the bloke off when he's pushed an official. That would set a bad precedent. Do the crime, do the time, that's all.

liked the way we played but to listen to shearers MotD analysis, the tiote pass takes 3 out as does ban arfas, still one pass later they have us swamped at the back really and it was a fantastic to get us the goal. Shearer had a good point. Up till then, their pressing game had us knocking the ball backwards and hoofing it long. That was one of the first occasions when we actually managed to use a bit of skill to get the ball through their midfield. It left Simpson with lots of time to pick the cross. I didn't think we played all that much better in the second half. However, we did get the first goal, and that was crucial for our confidence. Still not convinced that we should be playing Ba and Cisse together, whether it's 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

Ben Arfa and Ba produced the moments of class that won us the game. Otherwise we looked very disjointed, even in the second half, and we have to look to improve. It wasn't a great Spurs side, but they still looked far better on the ball. Got to disagree with Parky on the pen. Professional footballers shouldn't be arguing like a bunch of kids on who takes it. That has to be decided before the game.

Good analysis.