Cronky

That's unusual for an international manager to act like that - dropping a player for dirty play and giving him a public rebuke. I can't remember another example. It'll be interesting to see how a referee deals with him the next time he goes into a tackle like that.

Guthrie and Gosling might challenge for that role, but as they're not available I can't see the alternative.

Considering the quality of the opposition midfield and forwards apart from a wrongly given penalty and an excellent individual goal I can't remember them threatening us. Great credit to our defence and midfield for that. Like you, I was proud of our manager and team on the day but at the same time really sick and depressed about the way it panned out. One thing I'd like to see from Hughton is a little bit less "fair play nice guy" and a touch more of the Ferguson pugnacity, where any referee or opposition thug would know they'd be getting both barrels from him as they leave the pitch. That said CH was about as angry as we've ever seen him. Yeah, my strongest feeling after the game was pride, despite the sadness of Ben Arfa's injury. Manager and players showed a lot of heart. I don't know about having a go at the opposition as they leave the pitch though. That sounds more Souness than Ferguson. Keeping your composure sets the right example, and losing it can show the opposition you're rattled.

We seemed to be changing formation on Sunday from the 4-4-1-1, to 4-3-2-1. With Ben Arfa going off, it didn't get a proper chance, but Jonas seemed to take to it well, even though Routledge looked all at sea. He seems to be an out and out winger or nothing. I'd take a punt on Ranger making a better fist of it, even though he's a bit raw. If nothing else, he's positive. So our front six would be - Barton Tiote Nolan Ranger Jonas Shola or Carroll * (*controversy avoidance device)

I was very disappointed with Routledge today. He looks like a player who's always going to be found wanting at this level. With Ben Arfa out and Lua Lua on loan, it looks like Ranger is the only alternative. I'd be tempted.

I think Hughton's hit the nail on the head. It was a challenge that didn't need to be made. De Jong could have got the ball without steaming in with so much force. There were a few times during the game where I felt City were trying to put our players in their place, so to speak. It was like they were big name players who didn't want to be shown up by these inferior beings. One that springs to mind is when Krul actually took the ball round a challenge by Tevez. Tevez then ran after him and banged into his ribs long after Krul had cleared. Not the worst foul in the world, but it was mean-spirited.

He may be out for a while, but it's usually easier to make a complete recovery from a clean fracture. Knee or ankle ligament damage is the more likely career-stopper.

Krul's performance was a big plus today. He looked like he'd arrived. He showed composure and confidence, which is so crucial for a keeper. Not to mention some decent stops. The other big plus was team spirit. It felt like Ben Arfa's injury bonded the team together. If we keep showing that, we should be all right.

A fair indication that nobbling HBA was their top priority at the start of the game. No one has been able to get close to him in his previous starts, it was always a fair bet that other teams would try and take him out by other means. Yeah. It was what in American football would be called 'unnecessary roughness.' I presume he wasn't out to nobble the player, but I think it was designed to hurt and put him off. It was a similar tackle to the one that got Barton sent off against Liverpool, in that he allowed his trailing leg to follow through. De Jong was a bit more subtle.

Brilliant, spirited performance. It's a worry how easily City are getting through on our right, but we're causing a threat ourselves. I'm actually proud of our team right now.

I'm glad Richards isn't playing. He scares the shit out of me. No Johnson seems perverse. Is this the legendary Mancini man-management at work?

32 games to go, people.

Contradictions o'clock This was discussed on Sunday Supplement. There was apparently a massive row between Carroll and Stuart Pearce when Carroll declared himself unfit. Pearce tried to insist that Carroll travel down to Luton on a Bank Holiday Monday for a medical, even though the England U21 physio and the Newcastle physio, who would conduct the examination, are one and the same person. The club got involved as well.

Yep. There's been some fitness issue since the Wolves game, hasn't there? He's not looked quite as mobile recently. I've been intrigued to see how Shola and Ben Arfa combine (though not at the expense of Carroll). Looks like we'll find out. I'd be surprised if Campbell doesn't play now. We need his ability in the air.

Wouldn't be against it. Me neither. They're a big lot and we could do with Campbell's strength at set pieces.

If it was absolutely, completely, blatantly 100% cheating, then yes, the victory would be tainted IMO. PS - the classic definition of gamesmanship is 'the art of winning without actually cheating'

That brings into question Carroll's role in the team. Usually a target man is used to bring others into the game, whether that's a forward running off him or midfielders arriving in the box. Nolan doesn't really fit into either category and IMO the partnership doesn't work. As it happens I thought Ranger was excellent in his hold up play when he was used as a sole striker last season. Hughton needs to find a solution where the strikers are linking with the midfielders better, we would have a better chance of scoring goals that way IMO. I'd agree. Hughton's position is that he has to choose between a number of options, none of which are ideal or obviously better than the rest. I think Carroll has to play, although Shola and Ranger each, in their own way, have a slightly different package to offer. What swings it for me is Carroll's work in helping out the defence at set pieces. He really is great at getting his head to the ball, and that's very important to us. It's an area where we're otherwise very weak, and we'd be at risk of a lot more Stoke-like defeats if Carroll was absent.

A good summary of the counter-argument. Gosling in particular could threaten Nolan's place in the side. Gosling is a midfielder, Nolan if I'm not mistaken is playing as a striker. Until last season, we'd have defined Nolan as a midfielder as well. Playing either player in that position isn't ideal, but I think Gosling could step up to it. I wouldn't say that about Guthrie.

A good summary of the counter-argument. Gosling in particular could threaten Nolan's place in the side.

The issue that I think is being ignored here is how to link with Carroll. He's strong but not very mobile and, as others have rightly said, there's a danger that he can get isolated. A big part of Nolan's job is to play quite far forward to make sure that doesn't happen. If you ask Ben Arfa to do the same thing, then you'll be restricting him a bit. He'll be playing in a more crowded area rather than dropping deep in a free role and running at the defence. The other by-product of Nolan's role is that he gets on the end of chances, and even if he isn't quick, he does have the strength and the ability in the air to put some of them away. Ben Arfa looks like a creator rather than a finisher to me. I'm quite sure that this is the dilemma that is in Hughton's head. It's more complex than how useful / useless you think Nolan is as an individual.

I know things can get a bit bi-polar among a group of fans, but it's getting a bit out of hand. Exactly the same side beat Everton away and Hughton was a genius. What has changed isn't Hughton or the team or Nolan but the opposition. Both games were fairly close, and against Stoke we were up against a team that was able to exploit a particular weakness in our defence. Nolan's lack of pace is a problem, but he does get on the end of chances through his good reading of the game. He's also a fair bit fitter than he was when he first came. What he contributes to the team in terms of leadership is difficult to assess, but there aren't any other leaders in the side at the moment (apart from possibly Barton), so that has to be weighed up as well. We also need to weigh up how best to use Ben Arfa. His current role looks right for him, and if we put him further forward trying to get on the end of Carroll's knock-downs, we might lose as much as we gain.

http://images.football365.com/10/09/150x150/Taylor1_2497052.jpg A Blue Meanie http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2358/2344002594_10083cae14.jpg Ryan Taylor

http://www.topnews.in/files/David-Miliband1_0.jpg http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/blogs/citizenship_education/Ed.jpeg

If Hughton is intending to play Nolan against Man City, I think he's right to say so now, before this issue gets too out of hand and undue pressure is put on the player. Righto, let's close down the forum then people. Didn't realised you needed a UEFA licence to express an opinion about your team. Uefa 'B' minimum apparently. Obviously any idea that we shouldn't challenge a professional's view would make this forum redundant, and besides, the professional isn't always right. But the tone of a lot of the comments suggest that the solution is obvious and Hughton is a fool or a coward for not realising that. That's just not the case here.

It's an interesting debate, but every alternative seems to carry as many concerns as the current Carroll-Nolan arrangement. I'd give it a bit longer to see what develops. Ideally, you'd have a fast, creative striker playing around Carroll, but Lovenkrands has looked terrible in his two games this season, and wasn't that convincing before. Ranger still looks inexperienced. Ben Arfa looks the best bet, but I quite liked the shape of our midfield in the first half and that roving role looked right for him. I wouldn't want to sacrifice that unless it was necessary. You might say we didn't create many chances for all the possession, but it's early days and that formation should be given a bit more time to develop.