Cronky

I can't see that Blackburn stand any chance. Why should Hoilett sign a new contract with a side in danger of relegation, when in a few months time he can have his pick of clubs with much better prospects, and who can at least equal whatever Blackburn are offering in wages? They've missed the boat.

I thought Pulis could have been a bit more generous to us in his post-match interview. He said it was down to a couple of defensive mistakes, but in reality we put his rather one-dimensional team in their place and he knew it. They also produced some rather cute challenges in our penalty area - two by Huth and one by Walters - where they weren't going to get the ball but made sure our lad was going to get hurt in winning it. (twice on Raylor, once on Krul) The one by Huth on Krul looked quite dangerous because the whistle had long gone, Krul had relaxed and then Huth went steaming into him. I don't believe for a second that he didn't hear the whistle.

Every player had confidence in the game-plan and in one another, and knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing. In the end, an easy win at a place where winning isn't supposed to be easy at all. Well done AP. Krul was under a lot of pressure and struggled on occasion, but stayed relaxed and positive. He kept coming for the ball and that late piece of thuggery from Huth was a kind of compliment to how much he'd frustrated them. Another team that was supposed to find us out has failed. Yes, there are even bigger tests to come, but I'm really confident now that we'll continue to pick up points.

Best I've seen him play. Looked really composed.

That's a pretty flimsy looking midfield without Cheik. I'm in pessimism mode.

I agree. The value of a good keeper in form is often under-estimated, both within the professional game and outside IMO.

Ashley should tell Shepherd to poke it. Freddie kicked him when he was down and offers his support when things are going well. Sums the bloke up.

trolling? Billy Davies is a disgraceful little scumbag tbh...i just find him very odious tbh... I've no opinion on his personality. He does have a more than decent record as a manager though and deserves the chance to be backed up by a bit of money.

Liverpool have taken over from us as the Premiership's leading mugs - paying over the odds in wages and fees in a desperate attempt to get back to where they think they belong. They're not doing their homework on players, they're in too much of a hurry and when the money runs out they'll be in trouble.

It's clearly violent conduct and a three match ban. The FA and Rooney should just accept it. Once he's served his punishment, it's a purely footballing decision. Rooney is a player of outstanding quality and we'd be daft not to have that option available if we get through the group stages.

Brilliant game. Looks like Arsenal are back.

Yeah, he was struggling at the start of the season, but now looks back to his best. I reckon that's what's making the difference.

Arsenal have played well. They seem to have got their act together at last. Mind you, as long as they're so weak at set pieces, there's a limit to how much they can progress.

I think Billy Davies has earned a chance at a club like Leicester. Keegan has had his chances.

an honest one- big difference Ray Wilkins might not share that opinion, from his Fulham days. This proposal - if true - feels like hedging your bets rather than creating a dream team. It sounds like they're not sure whether Clark is good enough yet.

Interesting stat in the paper - 6 out of Stoke's 7 league goals have come from headers. We can't afford to be weak in that area, so I'm sure Pardew will stick with his usual starting line-up. It's a tough game, but this team consistently does that bit better than expected, and won't be bullied.

They take it in turns to watch Match of the Day.

I felt on Saturday that his flat-out sprinting speed didn't seem to be there. I assume the right expertise is at the club to target that element of his fitness. We may have to be patient for a while though.

That's an interesting point. But in this case, playing for the reserves isn't a punishment. It's a step on the road to fitness and playing in the first team. It sounds like he needs to trust people a bit more.

Obviously we don't know exactly what happened, but the idea that Ben Arfa is reluctant to play reserve games isn't exactly a strange one, and we've seen before with Joey Barton that Pardew tends to treat the more quirky characters in a very diplomatic way. With coming back from a career-threatening injury, and then getting injured again on tour from a bad tackle, Ben Arfa might not want to risk playing against a bunch of over-enthusiastic youngsters who are still learning the game and who are eager to make a name for themselves.

Having just watched the Rugby worl cup....and wondered how the referee/player respect in Rugby can be so different to football, how do you bring football back into line. You would have games where they finished with 8 players vs 9 and with 17 yellow cards if you immediately started enforcing this. I'd love to see it, but I don't know how they could do it. I can only think that the need to mic the referee so everyone can hear what's said....and you have a different method of penalising the back-chat....such as the extra-10-yards. And then repeat as often as necessary. And I can only imagine what SAF or Wenger would say about a game like that. It feels to me like it's not just Rugby. Football seems to be alone amongst team sports in accepting so much boorish and aggressive behaviour from players to refs. I don't know how it all originated, and no-one seems to be prepared to put up with the short-term disruption that would be needed before it could be stamped out in the long-term. But it could be stamped out, for sure. It isn't often mentioned, but when Brian Clough was in charge at Notts Forest, you never saw any of their players even argue with the ref, let alone abuse them. Somehow, under his regime, players managed to keep their discipline. It can be done.

While I agree their midfield is a part of the problem imho the main problem is the centre of defence and more specifically Jamie Carragher. He's beyond past it but its not like the rest of their cbs are much better, Coates is an unknown quantity still adapting, Skrtel is overrated and Agger is always getting injured. Instead of going off and spending 20m on Henderson they should have spent some of that on a proven cb I'd agree. Their midfield isn't as great as it was, but it's still pretty good and they can produce some skilful football. The defence is their weakest point at the moment. Against Norwich, they conceded a very simple goal.

Fair play to Fergie, he came out to face the cameras afterwards and took it on the chin. No histrionics, no locking the dressing room door for an hour whilst he tore a strip off his team. Dealing with it in that fashion will help his team.

If you'd seen Coates play against Brighton, you'd know the answer to that. He looked nervous and clumsy. Of course it can take foreign defenders a while to adjust to the English game, but my money would be on Coates not being the answer they're seeking. Like one or two of their other signings, it seems that he's been bought on the strength of an inflated current reputation, rather than any careful research over a period of time.

I'd change the punishment for the foul in the goalscoring position. Make it a yellow and a penalty (regardless of where the offence takes place) rather than a red and a free kick.