Mick

Jonas is nowhere near as bad as some people make out.

Agreed, our weak link now isn't on the pitch although not far from it.

I thought that he was excellent against Villa, losing Ba doesn't really mean we've lost everything that his goals brought us because of the others we've brought in. Sissoko and Yanga-Mbiwa can do as much as anybody to ensure that the loss of the goals from Ba isn't the negative that it could have been. Strengthening the defence has got to be worth a few of the goals that we've lost and Sissoko has already shown what he could do for us.

Gouffran isn't going to get the goals that Ba did and it would be unfair to even expect him to. I think he'll graft his nuts off and has enough skill to bring something to the team. I wouldn't go as far as offering to drinking any bodily fluids if he matches Ba, I just don't expect him to unless he massively improves on what he's done in the past.

We've had a good window when looking at what we've brought in but losing Ba was a blow unless others come up with the goals that we've lost. I hoped we'd bring in a right back, we have. I hoped we'd bring in a centre half, we have. I hoped we'd bring in a forward, we have. Sissoko is a massive plus for us and Haidara is a bonus that I didn't think we'd be looking for. In short, players in 9/10, Ba out knocks between 1 and 3 off that depending on others getting the goals that we've lost.

Knowing Pardew, you might be right.

We've got very little chance of getting anything from this game, realistically I think we'll lose by a couple of goals if he starts Ba.

I'm out.

Coloccini normally covers the left side of centre, tonight he was trying to cover both left and right.

I like Taylor most of the time, I still wouldn't play him when he's clearly not up to it because of his lack of fitness and we have fit and probably better options.

I only remember seeing Taylor involved in anything twice, the first was a clearance that could have went to anybody but luckily dropped into space in our box, the other time we has talking to the ref and laughing about something. Coloccini was having to cover acres.

Taylor would have been my first change, a poor winger is less of a problem than a poor central defender.

When he made his second change tonight I thought he was trying to sneak a midfielder on in place of a forward in the hope that we hadn't noticed he'd taken a midfielder off for a forward.

Bordeaux at home.

The answer is in the thread title.

The defensive change should have been made though, Taylor was blowing out of his arse and had done very little. Instead we take off a defensive midfielder and put on a shola.

Of course we have, how long do we have to be dreadful before it becomes consistent?

It's a bastard isn't it when all of these crafty managers change games and we can't react to them.

While I understand where you're coming from I can't give him and credit for the way he's been using excuses as if they were being plucked from "Excuses for Dummies." You've mentioned injuries and we have had some, we've still had enough to get something out of West Ham, Swansea or Southampton instead of 3 league defeats off the bounce. Tonight he's used Ba leaving as an excuse for heads dropping, Ba was here for those games and he just used a different excuse. Towards the end of last season i thought I might have been wrong about him, even though large parts of last season wasn't as good as the results might suggest. This season though, he's dropped more bollocks than a doctor in a vasectomy clinic. He doesn't only drop bollocks which most people recognise, he repeats them and that to me is beyond being accidental, it's a major flaw and one that he's unlikely to put right at his age and after managing for so long. Last season was as well as we'll ever do with him, I don't think we'll qualify for Europe again if we keep him and if we accept that then we probably are accepting mid-table.

Horse plop.

I'm not sure that Pardew does suit Ashley's ambition, I think his arse licking suits Ashley though.

Do you think Pardew is doing a good job?

He's won the same professional accolades as Joe Kinnear and George Burley, would you want one of them running the club because of that?