tmonkey

IMO what Pards has done well this year: - Handling of Ben Arfa to get him motivated/fit. - Dropping Obertan after eventually realising the bloke is turboshit. - Use of substitutions to close games out. - Giving Coloccini the captaincy. - Getting rid of the twats weighing the team down (Nolan, Barton, etc) - though possibly this had nothing to do with him. - Utilising Jonas in a new CM role. - Sticking with Krul once Harper was fit again (might be wrong there, can't remember). - Best use of utility/squad players, i.e. Raylor, Perch, Shola. - Integrating Cisse into the team so quickly. - Overall best use of a relatively small and weak/thin squad. IMO what he hasn't done so well, or needs to work on: - Sometimes overly negative tactics. - Initial suspected bias towards his own signings/recommendations (mainly Obertan). - Poor movement and ball retention. - Seems to have turned Jonas into a winger who does nothing but defend on the wing. - Tendancy to tinker with formations, e.g. when this new 4-3-3 system looks tailor made for our players he is still opting for a defensive 4-4-2 at times. - Some baffling substitutions when we've needed to chase games.

I know this is hopeful thinking (as we all want him to go), but I think it's a possibility that Pardew is quick to bring Ben Arfa off because he wants to keep him fresh for the Euros. The idea being that this is what Ben Arfa (and/or someone connected with the French FA/Blanc) wants and will have agreed with Pards. I remember reading about French clubs doing this with some of their star players prior to WC'98, specifically Henry and Trezeguet being kept fresh for that tournament (and being frustrated at the time), and clearly that worked out very well for their team.

Monica's younger brother.

He should be starting on the left. He has put in more good crosses from that side of the pitch in about 10 minutes of time there than he has all season down the right.

Take the shot. Remember the Cisse.

Malouda, those pink boots won't make you play like Hatem. Take them off, knob.

Nice composure there Andy. FFS.

Please score. Tire those fuckers out.

FFS. Here comes the debate about goal-line technology all over again.

Blanc would be mad not to take him. At the very least he should be used in the same way Denilson was used in the 2002 Brazilian WC squad.

We'd be mad not to cash in on him whilst half the country still thinks he's a quality fullback and possible England material. There's probably quite a few right backs in France we could nab for half the wages Simpson wants and half the fee Simpson would bring in, ones that can actually defend competently and look decent going forward. Beye for example cost £2m...

Mikel = absolute cunt of a human being.

Highlights on SS1 now.

Best striker in the Premiership.

Just needs to score/relax. He's clearly a confidence player, which is undoubtedly a big criticism in itself and imo it's a tad unacceptable that he's managed to get to the stage where even controlling a football is a major struggle, but at the same time let's not write someone off who was clearly a class act only a few months ago. Once he gets a goal and/or some confidence back he could easily be a £20m striker again. Bit like Diego Forlan. Either that or he's basically an Andy Carroll we didn't manage to sell at the right time (during the height of a purple patch).

He's a decent player as long as he's not tested, put under pressure, or required to do something with the ball. But yeah, otherwise he's decent.

Really, really, really, want to see what he'd be like on the left wing on a more permanent basis (and with Santon behind him). His wingplay on that side of the pitch in the past month or two, when he has ventured over there, has been nothing short of phenomenal. It has been like an advert for where he should be playing. Maybe he'd score less goals than on the right wing (and that might explain why he's reluctant to play as a left winger), but I'm sure we can all see that some of his ability is wasted on the right flank because of his own limitations, i.e. he might skin the left back down the outside but because he's not comfortable crossing it with his right (and isn't in the right position to cross with his left) the promising situation he has created is wasted. Whereas down the left, as we've seen, he can just whip it in dangerously after beating his man, and we have two pretty damn excellent strikers ready and waiting for that kind of service.

Oh ffs. Amazing from HBA, So unlucky.

Tiote and Jonas have looked knackered from the first minute.

Comical defending.

That's a cracker to be fair.

Game over.

We can't defend crosses.

Pass the ball to Ba = pass the ball to Wigan. Come on Demba, sort it out.

Bad clearance from Coloccini.