captainhaircut

The real shame will be when Pardew inevitably forces Ben Arfa out by refusing to start him over players like Obertan and Vuckic, then Pardew gets the sack and we bring in a manager who might've given him a proper chance. Talk about filling in the blanks with whatever fits your debate. Nobody wanted Pardew so this is an easy stick to beat him with. There is no sign they've fallen out. The pictures of Ben Arfa and Pardew after the Bolton game show there is no issue with him. I would agree that we can criticise him for cautious use of him whether it be tactically or with his fitness but to suggest there's an issue between them is just speculation with no basis.

After the Stoke game he's started to think he can get by on just running around a lot. His driving runs are absolutely crucial to us and I can't remember the last time I saw him do one. Starting to piss me off massively.

He's shit but I hate that Fergie is infallible shit. He sold Rossi for 6m and Pique for 5m. He thought Jonny Evans was better than Pique ffs.

Bellers will fuck him here. EDIT. Respect.

I'm sure the Simpson defenders will be out in force again. Utter, utter wank of the highest order. Obertan gets stick but this guy costs us goals on a regular basis and offers 0 positives.

Simpson can fuck off too.

Fuckin shit referees.

Can't believe so many people are getting worked up at a little thing called management. Perch, Obertan and Taylor are the sort who need building up. A bit like Best, confidence doesn't appear to come naturally. Ben Arfa on the other hand needs some grounding to prevent over confidence.

That would be really satisfying to see tbh.... Routledge pissed all over him, who knows? I love the revisionist history. Routledge troubled him. He didn't create or score a goal.

These 'stats' could mean anything though. He could be talking about acceleration or speed endurance. Those are things that are quite key to Ben Arfa's game.

He actually made a few good runs off his wing that was promising to see. With his pace, he could make really effective runs in behind a la Walcott.

Its his right knee not his 'dodgy' left knee so hopefully nothing too bad.

The thoughts with Vertonghen might be for him to play left back when Taylor returns or possibly even replacing Tiote in midfield. Kills a couple of birds with one stone.

Krul Simpson-willi-colo-santon Cabaye-tiote-vuckic Ben arfa. Ba Best Please. Demba scored plenty from the same position for West Ham so not to concerned. He tends to naturally drift to the left anyway.

I have missed tonights game due to the work Xmas party but one thing to consider is how tight the early season games were. We could have easily got worse results against arsenal, Sunderland, fulham , villa (bent missed an open goal at 1-0), qpr, wolves, everton, Blackburn (they hit the post at 2-1) and man u. I may have even missed one. I think it's pretty clear that luck was with our side then and it's probably disappeared now with the Chelsea, norwich, Swansea and tonights game. I think we're clearly mid table side who had some results go our way earlier in the year. It's becoming more even now and we'll slowly slip down the table.

He really is a rent-a-quote. Wish he would just shut up.

Giroud has a release clause according to the Montpellier chairman. It'll probably be him.

Tiote goes and we spend the money on Samba, Cissokho, a striker and a tiote replacement. Is anyone happy with that?

He also put Ben Arfa on at half time against Wigan.

Funny Taylor managed to look bad alongside Coloccini last season. As usual it's always somebody else's fault. I'm talking about progress being stunted from a young age due to not playing with a quality defender. As Tomkins is still 22, he has time to develop still. When I was referring to Taylor, I was referring to his ability to be top class. For example, at 20 he was probably as good as Terry was at that age. However, Terry played with Desailly at a young age and this helped him develop. Taylor didn't have the opportunity to play with anyone of any quality or experience. I'm not suggesting Tomkins will be world class, but next to Colo he has all the tools to be a good player. A bit like when Bramble played with Woodgate and just got ordered around and used his physical quality. A lot of development is due to the person of course as you refer to. However, having someone to learn off and guide you when you first come into the team, is also vital.

He'd be excellent with Colo. An example of a young, talented centre half struggled by being paired with shit. Steven Taylor being the classic example.

Depends on offers doesn't it. Those who left in the summer we down to different circumstances that don't exist for the current squad. We didn't sell Tiote or Colo then so we'll see I guess. If stupid money gets thrown around, we'll sell.

No one on the line. Are these people fucking retards? I could have marked off where that was going to go.

Best thing about Demba is that no matter how good he is, no one will buy him because of his knee.

Shola will start and will captain us.