Cronky

Please could someone supply Pardew with an alternative phrase to 'getting over the line'.

I suspect Shola will haul himself off the treatment table to play, as he's done so often in the past. In which case, we could well see the two Ameobis. Best's level of fitness was impressive on Thursday, but it's asking a lot for him to put in another stint 3 days after playing a very busy 120 minutes.

Best and Ba didn't look like a combination on Thursday. I'd be inclined to start young Sammy with Best, if Shola's not fit. It's a risk, but so are the alternatives.

Hmmm.... Throwing large amounts of money at players who are nearing the end of their careers. That might keep them up this season, but long-term that's usually trouble. I don't think Fernandes is an Abramovich who's going to be able to keep spending.

There will be a lot of pressure on him. It looks like he's being paid a lot more than his team-mates and he'll be expected to deliver. Normally I think he likes an underdog status so this will be a challenge. Becoming a parent might help. Having someone more important than Joey Barton to think about may be just what he needs.

FYP

Is a club allowed to be 'held' by two clubs? I'd assume that Lens take a percentage of a future transfer fee, and that's what they're referring to. If so, their permission should just be a formality. If they can actually block the transfer by saying the money's not enough, then it's not a release clause.

Pardew needs a left back and a striker there's no question about that. But if we've performed badly then a lot of it has been down to his long ball tactics which don't fit the players we have brought into the club. So far results have been good so we can say the ends justify them means. The jury is still out for me on Pardew though, I'll be interested to see if he makes the required changes necessary once we've got a proper left back in. I've got my fingers crossed that our long ball stuff is caused by our fullbacks not being good enough to generate a vibrant wing and our strikers offering nothing to hold up, play off or link the midfield. Cabaye has also been playing too deep to penetrate (LOL) anything from the middle. Still early doors. It's after 10 games we should have a perfect tactical insight I think. I'll be generous and say it's because of our limited full backs Pardew is playing the long ball game as a tactic rather than he doesn't have a clue how to set up a passing team. If I was a manager for example, the first thing I'd do was tell my goalkeeper to throw the ball to the full backs to start a move rather than hoof it down the pitch to two big twats I'd selected specifically to play the long ball game. I think you're right. Full backs who are comfortable on the ball and who want to get forward can make a big difference to your attacking threat, and your ability to keep hold of the ball. I'm hopeful that it's being addressed though.

We're okay in midfield. Let's get a new right back.

I'm not sure why Charlton should be 'working with Sochaux'. These are two separate cases.

This was from June. He probably didn't knew what his situation would be come end of August. He's not a liar. He's a bullshitter. Subtle difference. At the time, he probably believes what he's saying.

Generous for Colo, was his poor clearance that eventually cost us the goal, agree more with Jonny Hall re Colo Very generous, I'd say. It was a very physical encounter and it looked like he wasn't relishing it. He produced some good interceptions as usual, but it wasn't his night. And it was anything but a captain's performance. The back four looked disorganised.

I'd agree. You expect the lower league side to get the rub of the decisions in that sort of game, but the failure to award the penalty was ridiculous. Even Mr Super cool Pardew lost his marbles. It was a very obvious shove in the back and the ref lacked the nerve to give it.

Yep. Pace and movement is what we're lacking.

Okay - I think he finds decisions difficult. I have a dossier of evidence to support this, but I'll spare you all that.

Realistically, if this is his best offer, he has to take it. He could suffer a career ending injury next week, and have to retire without the compensation of a long contract. Still, realism isn't Joey's strong point, and he finds decisions difficult.

Good point about the full backs.

Krul 8.5 - really looks to be maturing into a very good keeper. He basically rescued the defence. Simpson 4 - looked like a frightened rabbit every time the ball went near him. R Taylor 4 - great free kick but very dodgy defensively Colo 5.5 - it just wasnt his type of game, and he looked uncomfortable. S Taylor 7 - provided some much needed physical presence. Marveaux 6 - looked promising. His team mates need to get used to him and vice versa. Cabaye 7.5 - This lad has a great engine and can really pick a pass. Gosling 5.5 - Struggled to find a role. Needs more match time. Lovenkrands 4 - Didn't get involved enough. Easy to forget he was on the pitch. Ba 4 - not found his feet yet. Best 6 - Good in the air and battled hard. Ponderous at times, but that's not his fault. Ameobi 7.5 - Eager to get involved, tricky, a breath of fresh air when we really needed it. Vukcic 6 - classy but a bit naive at times. Still doesn't look quite ready. We improved steadily, but there still didn't seem to be a coherent strategy. We hit a lot of long balls to make use of Best, but Cabaye and Marveaux are more suited to keeping the ball on the deck. If we're a Premiership team, why not play Premiership football?

The answer will probably be, what would you choose if your options were a) QPR b) f*** all? At which point she will say, why are QPR the only club that want him?

Her next question should be - If he's so good, how come he's ending up at QPR?

I don't think anyone wanted this outcome. Some of us are just baulking at the idea that Ashley is entirely to blame. Barton has behaved in an arrogant and selfish manner over the last few months. QPR is what he deserves. I agree about Barton, I think it was pretty obvios what he was up to the day he opened up his twitter account. I still put 100% blame on Ashley giving him away though. Had he stayed he would have put a shift in on the pitch until his contract had expired, which is all that matters from a footballer, so imo from a purely footballing persoective we've lost out big time due to Ashley's stubborness (or asset stripping, whichever way you want to see it). You seem to be agreeing with me that he was behaving badly and selfishly, but that all would have been well for a year the minute he stepped on to the pitch. I beg to differ. Already we had him having a major row with his manager and a team-mate at the Leeds game, and against Arsenal he got himself involved completely unnecessarily in an incident where he actually turned his back when in possession of the ball to grapple with an opposition player. The Arsenal incident ended happily for us, but it could have turned out differently. It's logical to assume we'd have had a continuation of these sorts of episodes throughout the season. I think you're underestimating the importance of team spirit and unity. Barton was talking and acting like he was above it all and that can have a corrosive effect. Pardew was talking like he could control the situation by his diplomatic way, but he was kidding himself. There was no predicting what was going to happen next.

I don't think anyone wanted this outcome. Some of us are just baulking at the idea that Ashley is entirely to blame. Barton has behaved in an arrogant and selfish manner over the last few months. QPR is what he deserves.

It looks like quite a few clubs haven't offered him a contract.

It looks like the end. I've always rated him as a player, but it's reached the point where a parting of the ways is best all round. In his current frame of mind, he'd become a loose cannon, liable to go off in front of a team-mate as much as the opposition. Midfield isn't our weak area, so I think we'll be okay. I can't help but feel that Pardew hasn't handled the situation well over the last few months. He needed to be a lot firmer when Joey started making all these bizarre public comments.

I think Joey finds decisions difficult. He will make a big show of will-I- won't-I before eventually staying with us.