Shak

Well, this is another nice result to wake up to. Don't think I could have taken watching that, we probably should have bought some defenders in the summer eh?

So February or some shit then? Tremendous.

Yeah, Ferguson is clearly terrified of us.

Ba to leave with a couple of days left in the window, then Marseille up the asking price for Remy by half a million knowing we're in a tough spot. We produce another masterclass of nerve and end up signing nobody.

I see SteveMc hasn't posted since the game finished... hope he hasn't murdered the father in law.

If we're going by the letter of the law then if it's not a goal, it's a penalty, Evans is pushing and shoving Cisse, he basically shoves him into the offside position, which is a foul, he then has a has a bit of a spaz attack and knees it into his own net whilst Cisse just watches him do it. Goal or penalty, those are the only legitimate options for the ref. You know full well the ref isn't gonna give a penalty very often for that kind of pushing and shoving, that kind of thing is very much a judgement call and generally the easiest thing to do for a ref is ignore it. Offside on the other hand is a very clear cut on or off scenario that necessitates a definitive call one way or the other from the linesman. Wasn't really my point in any case, it's more to do with what constitutes being "active" these days that I think is wrong.

Solskjaer hacking down Rob Lee.

Just seen the goals. Fucking Simpson for the last goal man, he's looking across the line and still plays them all onside. Useless bag of shite. It was also very polite of him not to close Van Persie down for their 3rd goal, on another day his strategy of falling onto one knee and standing there waiting for him to get the shot away might have worked too. Evra's goal was the kind of shot that Krul saves more often than not, disappointing from him on that one. Cracking finish from Cisse, hope that'll boost his confidence. De Gea for our first. I don't think our second should be a goal... Evans puts it in his own net trying to keep the ball away from Cisse, who is right on his shoulder and six yards from goal. I don't think you can expect a defender to just assume the player is offside, for all Evans knows they might have their very own Danny Simpson at right back playing Cisse onside like a cunt. I think he has to make a play for that ball, and is being forced to do so by us having a player in an offside position. (I do know that by the letter of the law the goal should be allowed to stand, so well done the ref for making what was technically the right decision. My point is more that I think the rule in this situation is a bad one.)

Did we get a free kick?

Aren't the officials well within their rights to send him to the stands for berating them? I'd do that all the time if I were a ref.

Not sure whether I'm happy I missed this or not. Sounds like an utter shambles.

Kickoff 2AM my time.

Go home leffe you are drunk. Talking complete drivel, how exactly were we supposed to know that Taylor would get injured again? Any sane person would look at his injury history and figure he was due a good run of being healthy, no way we could have known Williamson would feature so much.

Fuck sake, what a pile of shite. If Shola wants to go he should be allowed, Pardew is some spa.

http://cdn.ksk.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/PrepareYourAnus.jpg

I'm not sure you're being entirely serious, but anyway. The difference is that Ba is well able to play effectively out on the flank while Cisse looks completely unsuited to the role. When Cisse has played out wide he's looked hopeless, while when Ba plays there he looks very comfortable in the role and has helped the team play some of it's best football. The only thing missing from his performances was the goals. I'd be very confident that should we move Cisse back into the middle of a front three then the goals would start flowing again. Not at the same ridiculous rate he was banging them in last year, but play him in that role and he wouldn't be looking like the donkey he's come across as in the last few months. Would he have scored as many as Ba this year? Hard to know, but I doubt he'd have been far off. We wouldn't have had an absolute passenger in the team either (which is what Cisse has been all year), and it would also have allowed Ben Arfa play in a more advanced role than he's been finding himself in all year. But yeah, as long as Demba gets more goals for himself then that's the main thing, and anyone who has a problem with his insistence on playing central hurting the team as a whole is obviously a moron! (I realise that that last sentence is patronizing, but no more so than your "let's get rid of our best goalscorer!!" posts tbh)

And Anita and Jonas. Four defensive midfielders, only one of whom has any real composure on the ball and can make strong passes forward. At least Anita is a creative player, someone you can give the ball to and hope he'll make something happen. You could also make the argument that Jonas is a winger and might cause them problems out wide. You'd be wrong, but you'd at least have some sort of leg to stand on. Perch and Tiote though... they're pure ball winners who don't do anything else. And we started both of them at home to the worst team in the league. Anita's 'creative' in the first phase of an attack. It's why a CM triumvirate of Anita, Tiote and Perch is never going to work - because all three of them, if you look at their best attributes, should be the first man to get the ball once it's out of defense. Anita spent the majority of the game a few yards loitering outside the box, and it was just a waste. He wasn't getting the ball at the right time and we suffered as a team because of that. He should have been about 20 yards deeper. Just another typical display of Pardew getting his players all wrong. If he's going to insist on playing this static 4-4-2/whatever the hell it is, he could at least get it somewhat right: Ba Cisse Obertan Marveaux Anita Tiote We could even play Obertan and Marveaux on their natural sides if we really wanted to go fucking wild.

Plays. What, you didn't see that post route he ran? Awesome bootleg to get in position for the goal http://www.gifsforum.com/images/gif/i'm%20out%20of%20here/grand/seinfeld-George-Costanza-im-out-of-here-eccbc87e4b5ce2fe28308fd9f2a7baf3-345.gif

And Anita and Jonas. Four defensive midfielders, only one of whom has any real composure on the ball and can make strong passes forward. At least Anita is a creative player, someone you can give the ball to and hope he'll make something happen. You could also make the argument that Jonas is a winger and might cause them problems out wide. You'd be wrong, but you'd at least have some sort of leg to stand on. Perch and Tiote though... they're pure ball winners who don't do anything else. And we started both of them at home to the worst team in the league.

Plays.

Starting both Perch and Tiote in this game man, fuck sake.

Love the idea that he's furiously trying to find ways to keep excluding him.

Aye, thought Santon was very good today tbh. Didn't have a whole lot to do defensively, he did snuff out one dangerous break QPR had in the first half though. Going forward he looked one of the most likely of our lot to make something happen and ultimately the goal came from a good run infield that he made. Given that he had Jonas standing next to him, adding nothing of note and in fact hindering the play more often than not, all day I don't think Santon could really have done a lot more.

He's rubbish. Can see why he wanted Carroll back so badly, the only way we seem capable of mustering any offensive threat is when we have a big lump of a striker up top to win long balls.

Take any three points in our situation. Wasn't pretty, but fuck it. Wonderful goal from Shola, top class.