Mick

Rubbish, we weren't formed until 1992.

Ben Arfa is likely to take too many touches while trying to do something to keep him in the team, he hasn't the luxury of being able to do anything else.

Dalglish took over a team that had finished 2nd top and was on target to do the same, he left the club 13th. Sir Bobby took over a team which had just finished 13th and left a team which had just finished 5th.

Obertan tried to clear a ball just outside our box in our last game which ended up closer to our goal after his attempt at it, anything could have happened from that but he was lucky.

Ryan Taylor was mentioned in the post that I replied to and that's why I mentioned him along with Obertan who was also mentioned.

The games against Blackburn highlight the stupidity of how Ben Arfa is being judged, in the cup he scored a wonder goal and was rightly bigged up for it. In the league he tried something very similar which didn’t work out because he slightly over hit a ball while running towards goal, it went out of play and he’s dropped. If that had gone in he wouldn't have been dropped but nobody who has replaced him could do what he did. Obertan would have beaten the first man then done a few step overs until he had somebody between him and the goal, he would have then hit somebody between him and the goal. Mick i don't think he was dropped for trying to dribble and overrunning the ball, he was abysmal for the whole half he played, seemed to have been struck down with Sholaitis as it looked like he was playing with his boots on the wrong feet. Maybe one bad game didn't deserve to see him dropped but you can't say he was dropped for over running a dribble. After a okish start he offered absolutely nothing to the team either offensively or defensively from the time we scored till he got the hook at HT and it was full marks to Pardew for making the halftime sub and replacing him with Perch and making us more solid in the 2nd half. I didn't say that he was dropped for one bad dribble, I said that happened and he was dropped. I clarified what I meant when I said that if he'd scored it then he wouldn't have been dropped which is different. Also, most of the team were poor up until half time against Blackburn, only one came off at that time.

4 of the games Ryan Taylor started weren't in defence, that's 1 less than Ben Arfa has started in total. Ryan Taylor has been the free kick taker for 21 of his 21 starts.

To be fair to Taylor, whatever he was doing ended up with a goal and he put himself in where it hurts. I'm not too sure Ben Arfa would have gone in to that position.

The games against Blackburn highlight the stupidity of how Ben Arfa is being judged, in the cup he scored a wonder goal and was rightly bigged up for it. In the league he tried something very similar which didn’t work out because he slightly over hit a ball while running towards goal, it went out of play and he’s dropped. If that had gone in he wouldn't have been dropped but nobody who has replaced him could do what he did. Obertan would have beaten the first man then done a few step overs until he had somebody between him and the goal, he would have then hit somebody between him and the goal.

By your reckoning I could flick a coin once and claim that it would always fall the same way. The time played is based over hundreds of minutes and not one or two. It is 21 starts for Ryan Taylor, 16 starts for Obertan and 5 starts for Ben Arfa.

I'm yet to see a valid reason for either Taylor or Obertan playing on the wing in place of Ben Arfa. Taylor did very well for Ba's goal against Villa but I doubt he'd do that again if he played for the rest of the season.

It proves excuses aren't needed to make a case for him playing, excuses are needed to make a case for him not playing.

A one off occurrence proves what?

Here's a true statement, Ryan Taylor gets a goal every 913 minutes and an assist every 456 minutes, Obertan has a goal every 1253 minutes and an assist every 418 minutes, Ben Arfa has a goal every 290 minutes and an assist every 193 minutes. All are in the league and not cup games.

It's mind numbing.

Why does it bother you who is England manager?

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Simpson was closer to the opposition goal than ours so why can't you compare it? He was in the same area Ben Arfa would be in if playing on the wing.

I've just watched the Villa game for the first time since Sunday and I didn't realise how well he'd played or how much he controlled most of our good play. I hope he can do the same against Spurs because that would go a massive way to us getting something unexpected.

We've had two that I can remember who did it on a regular basis, Souness and Pardew. I seem to remember Shearer doing it with Barton after he was sent off and gobshite Kinnear may have done, I can't remember either way with him. Who is suggesting that we should be pandering to anybody?

I don't think he does it for shits and giggles, I don't think he can handle flair players and I've said that before. As for not having a pre-season, that was fair enough earlier in the season, it isn't any longer. And him losing the ball in dangerous areas or dangerous times, has he lost the ball which resulted in us letting a goal in? He may have done, I can't remember any. I can remember Danny Simpson failing to block a ball recently which ended up with the ball in the back of our net, I can remember Ryan Taylor doing the same earlier this year. I can remember Obertan trying to clear a ball on the edge of our box against Villa and him kicking away from our goal but the ball headed towards our goal because he somehow kicked it behind him. I could probably come up with a few more but the point is, others do it so why does it only matter if it's Ben Arfa? As for Pardew finding a system which wins games, Ben Arfa has been a part of a system what wins games. He was part of the system which went away and came back with a point from Man U, we wouldn't have got that point without him. He was a part of the system which got us to the 4th round of the FA Cup when he scored a wonder goal and was promptly dropped for the next game. He was part of the system which got us 3 points against Bolton having been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes, it was 0-0 when he came on. He was part of the system which got us 3 points away to Blackburn because it was 1-0 when he went off and it ended 2-0. So far he’s scored 3 goals and 2 of them have made a difference to the result, Obertan who gets no stick at all has one goal which made little or no difference to the result as the game was effectively over. Only Demba Ba and Leon Best have scored more goals for us than Ben Arfa, a few have scored the same but those who have the same number of goals have a lot more game time than he has had.

Why do you think he's not selecting him then?

Pardew being after a reaction from the player is rubbish, he could get that by talking to Ben Arfa, he doesn't have to broadcast anything. How would you feel if your boss was talking about you under-performing to your work mates instead of to you? It wouldn't happen in any other workplace as your boss would be disciplined for doing so. I suggest that you read up about bullying in the workplace. Here's a link for you http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/DiscriminationAtWork/DG_10026670 does any of that ring a bell? What purpose does it serve telling the press his negative thoughts on a player? What can he say to the press that he can't say to players face? The simple answer is that nothing good can come from it that couldn't come from the manager managing a player one to one instead of through the press. I've been managing people for years and wouldn't dream of treating anybody the way in which Pardew is treating Ben Arfa. I can't think of a better way of de-motivating people than slagging them off to anybody who would care to listen and it's bordering on that with Pardew and Ben Arfa. My guess is that sometime in the future Ben Arfa will kick off and the people defending Pardew will blame the player and not the manager even though it's going to be the managers behaviour towards him that will cause the problem. I doubt any of us would put up with what Ben Arfa is reading about himself in the paper. Why should we expect somebody else to put up with what we wouldn’t? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have no problem with Pardew wanting more from Ben Arfa, he should want more from everybody. I do have a problem with the way he is constantly talking to the press about things which should stay inside of the club.

I think the genuine reason is that he can't handle flair players and he knows the fans want to see him play so he's trying to turn the fans against the player, I could be wrong but I don't think I am. Surely he can speak to the player in training without going through the press, it's as if he's after a reaction.