Shak

To his credit he's said nothing and caused no problems, publicly at least. I don't think it's a stretch to assume that he'll get pissed off eventually though, given his talent. He wouldn't find it hard to find a team who'll start him if he does go.

Can just imagine Tiote intensely insisting that we'll finish ahead of him and Kalou being too scared shitless to make any sort of response.

Looking forward to Pardew's sly little comment in his post match press conference if he does start Raylor and we win. On the whole I think Pardew has done brilliantly but I really hate the direction this Ben Arfa business seems to be heading. If HBA goes in the summer without getting a fair shot here it'll be a disgrace, and Pardew will be solely responsible.

Obertan is probably the most consistent player we have tbh.

More importantly, it looks like he won't be starting on Saturday. Really disappointing if that turns out to be the case, will be gutted if he moves on in the summer without getting a fair crack. I'm all for Sad Taylor being a cult hero after the goal against the Mackems, but honestly having him starting ahead of a talent like Ben Arfa is an absolute disgrace. This game would have been perfect for him to get a shot starting on the right, nobody will ever convince me that Taylor starting is the right move here, even if he goes out and scores a belter and has a great game. There's something we don't know about going on, has to be.

This is marvelous for someone who can't really stream games at the moment and relies entirely on the games being on TV. Feel bad for you locals though, and changing so late is crazy.

What's particularly disappointing about the Ben Arfa situation is that he hasn't done anything wrong since he got here. For all his reputation about being difficult, there hasn't been a problem with him at all since he became a Newcastle player. Pardew dropped him after a few games, said Ben Arfa needs to work harder. Ben Arfa responds by working much harder, but as soon as he has a couple of bad games he's dropped again. Looking more and more like Pardew just doesn't like the guy, unfortunately.

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing Ireland play in the Euros. Xavi/Iniesta vs Andrews/Whelan is a mouthwatering prospect. What happens when an irresistible force meets an easily movable object? We're going to find out.

You won't be laughing when you see us play at the Euros. Nobody will.

He was never going to be good enough to play for the Republic, be better for him to get some caps for a country more at his own level.

NEVER!!

And I thought your NFL related postings were bad. Fuck off. 555

To be fair Neil, that post back in August wasn't actually inaccurate.

Most people are perfectly capable of having a reasonable debate about it as far as I've seen like, no reason to put silly little disclaimers at the end of your posts. The Wolves game will be definitive for Ben Arfa's future, I think. If he doesn't start I reckon he's gone in the summer. I honestly don't have a clue how Pardew feels about him. On the surface his treatment of HBA has been pretty shabby, to say the least. However he did change the formation of the team to 4-5-1 to fit him in, and I do think Ben Arfa has worked harder and harder defensively with each passing game so if it's a motivational thing it may be working. Ben Arfa has also been very quiet in the press, which at least isn't bad news. I can't honestly say I have a good feeling about it though.

I don't think anyone is crowning him to be fair. There's still work to do and plenty for him to prove, I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.

And I thought your NFL related postings were bad.

He was a liability at right back for Argentina in the WC as far as I recall. They were a mess in general though. Physically he has the attributes to play there but I don't think it'd suit him at all tbh. Now probably isn't the time to try it out in any case.

There's no way I'll be able to not cheer for Cardiff on the day, seeing Liverpool blow it after all their guff this year would be fantastic.

http://media.steampowered.com/steamcommunity/public/images/avatars/ff/fff42edcbf301998b19edb45b38e024be37bf7b6_full.jpg Pardew just needs to sack up and give Ben Arfa a shot on the wing in a 4-4-2 for this. I know we'll probably concede 15 goals due to his horrific inability to defend (despite the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet away at Everton last year and in the second half at home to Blackburn in the cup, the only two times I recall HBA playing as part of a midfield 4) but he deserves a chance IMO.

Aye, it's miserable that they've charged him. Could the club not have stepped in? Create some sort of positive image for a change, just make it clear that the next person wouldn't be let off so easily.

Aye, love it when teams I don't like get tuberculosis, fucking result!

I do agree that calling them the best ever is a bit daft, there's pretty much nobody on the planet qualified to give an opinion on that. Best I've seen though, and no other teams since the turn of the century can realistically compare. The last three years they've won two Champions League titles and three domestic titles playing some wonderful technical football and scoring marvelous goal after marvelous goal. Madrid are the only other team to win the CL twice in three years since the turn of the century, and they were nowhere near as good in the league in that period as Barca have been.

I can't get as interested in them as I was when Bruce was there. Honestly think I hated that guy more than I've ever hated Sunderland themselves as a club. O'Neill has always come across as a decent bloke, and as a non Geordie I don't really have to deal with any real life Mackems so it's not the same for me. Hope they don't win the cup though, obviously. This place would turn nasty. As for O'Neill moving on, after his tenure at Villa it'll take more than 6 good months at Sunderland to earn him a shot at a place like Liverpool, Spurs or Arsenal. The only way he'll leave is if Harry doesn't take the England job after the Euros. Actually think O'Neill's style would be perfect for England. Always been a great motivator, his weaknesses as a manager are in the transfer market and his inability to rotate his squad over a season and keep people fresh. Neither of those are an issue at international level. Think he'd be good in the role.

http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Xzibit-On-Planking.jpg

Paul Scholes is actually an extra terrestrial being from the planet Jinjah and is considered the single most dangerous lifeform in the universe. However, he is very sensitive about this and anyone who brings any attention to it is effectively sealing their own demise. In the course of his career he has crippled over 4,000 footballers on the field with awful tackles, however these are all repaired on the spot using space age technology and extra terrestrial doctors. 'Men in Black' style technology is then used to wipe clear the memories of all those who have witnessed the act and the game goes on as if nothing at all has happened. The Premier League and UEFA have paid a combined 14.6 billion pounds over the last twenty years covering up and rectifying his various misdeeds. This is the reason why when over the years you've watched Man U games and seen Scholes commit dangerous, terrible fouls only to have the referee take no action whatsoever and have the commentators chuckle and casually make jokes about how he "never did learn how to tackle, did he?"