STM

Barton seems to really want to well for the club and that impresses me greatly.

I share your sentiment. It's a far too simplistic to say " smiths average and not worth 6m", there is so much more to it, as you have pointed out.

No Barton and Emre wouldn't work. In the centre or midfield it is paramount that the players have defined roles, which would not work with these two. Neither Emre or Barton should specifically defined as DM as they are not natural in this position, where as Butt, Geremi and Faye are. If these two were in the same team there are other ways it could work: Butt Barton Emre or Emre on the left: Butt Barton Milner Emre or if your crazy in the diamond: Butt Geremi Emre Barton or boring 451: Milner Barton Butt Emre N'Zogbia

Absolutely. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to being on the bench, when he returns.

What you get from Smith is: 1. Effort 2. Leadership (drives the team) 3. Ability to keep the ball and play the simple pass (which cannot be underestimated, considering some of the shite we have seen) 4. An ability to battle physically and aerially 5. To perform at a decent standard in about 4 positions 6. Relatively injury free For 6m was he a worth while signing? Probably not but that doesn't mean he can't be an important player for us, especially condsidering Newcastle's injury problems of the past. Sunday showed why Smith is a good player and why Fergy admired him so much. I think i've heard some people call him a poor mans Scott Parker but for me he's a FAR better player than Parker in every area.

Me too, he looked like left back was actually his position which is a rare treat at St James'. Got forward well but seemed to prefer the early cross as opposed to beating their fullback, which was interesting. His crossing wasn't bad, he did however have a few misplaced passes in the game but most did. Sam definately prefers his fullbacks to be big and this lad is certainly that.

N'Zogbia is the more talented but Milner gives as much to the team and is more consistant. This season N'Zogbia has been far more productive but i'd like to see what he's like when his form dips, Milner has reacted with some solid performances despite not being at his best.

We need an Elano, Arteta, Deco etc. Someone that can make us get on feet when they have the ball. A right winder would be nice but not before one of these. However, i still want to see how Barton and Emre are going to fit in.

Well i certainly wouldn't drop Cacapa and Faye after yesterdays performances. I was also impressed by Faye, in particular his footwork. Cacapa and Faye seemed to have had a very good understanding too. It's important that we keep a consistant back four and right now mine would be: Beye Cacapa Faye Jose Enrique

Late but here goes: Given-6 Should have kept there second out. Beye-6.5 Out of positi8on for the goals but made some good tackles and supported the wide players well. Cacapa-9 Outstanding barely put a foot wrong all game and led the back line superbly. Faye-8 Impressive, i didn't realise how good he is on the ground. Drove from the back. Jose Enrique-7 Made a few good crosses, which suggested he is good technically. A couple of sloppy passes but he made up for them, good home debut. Milner-7 Not one of his best days but he gave 100% and never lost possestion. Butt- 7.5 From magnificent to idiotic sometimes. Not the greatest passer of the ball but a good DM performance. Geremi-7 Didn't influence the game massively but work well with Butt. N'Zogbia-7.5 A couple of good runs and worked hard. Smith-8 Held up the ball brilliantly and his best performance yet for us. Martins-7 Should have scored, thats his job. Ironically he looked electrfying sometimes. Subs: Owen 8 Emre 8

Joey Barton was Man Citys best player last year.

I looked at the Baba one and thought, whos he?

Which basically just means he won't play the Everton game so that he will have a week hard training under and a reserve outing under his belt before our next fixture.

By far the best team i've seen.

If Sam gets Duff playing to his top standard we are different squad. Duff will fit in well with Sams plans IMO. Lukin forward to him and Barton coming back.

Just like he took Petrov out of the game on saturday? Thats who he was man marking you know.

What happened to predicted line ups? Seems these days people just type the team that they would play, which is pointless. I have no problem with the 433 but as long as we put someone more creative in the mix and move Zoggy further up. Team i'd like: Given Beye Cacapa Rozehnal Enrique Geremi Smith Emre Martins Viduka N'Zogbia Don't like leaving out Milner but he would be the weakest link, unless he could play in the middle. However, i expect unchanged team again. score: 1-1

I've said it before and ill say it again Barton is the key. His creativity, productivity AND workrate will benefit the team massively. Imagine this: Given Beye Rozehnal Taylor Enrique Butt Geremi Barton Martins Viduka N'Zogbia Very good side IMO, obviously some will disagree with certain areas but you get the picture.

Best one.

My team would be : Given Beye Rozehnal Taylor Enrique Butt Geremi Emre Milner Smith N'Zogbia Why? On current form i'd like to see N'Zogbia and Milner off the frontman and assuming Viduka can't make it i would put Smith in his place. Allowing Emre to return in Smiths midfield role, which also allows a little bit more creativity in midfield. Because of form, the defence picks itself. Obviously i would like to play Martins somewhere in the team but he isn't firing on all cylinders at the moments. However, i want to make it clear that i don't expect this to be our team. This is more likely: Harper Beye Cacapa Rozehnal N'Zogbia Butt Geremi Smith Martins Viduka Milner

Arsenal kids could do that to most teams. Doesn't make us crap, it makes them good. Just shows how far behind we are as a club but we are improving.

My first thoughts were about how happy this news would have made Fergi. I don't like anything that makes him happy.

I think Mourinho is an absolute genius. Anyone who believes Mourinho to be arrogant is shortsighted, the guy is an amazing motivater and fantastic (yet slighty annoying) character. As for Chelsea, they have made their biggest mistake in getting rid of Mourinho. There's only a few blokes in world football who can replace him. Fergi must be having a right laugh at this.

This will be the team: Given Beye Rozehnal Cacapa Zoggy Faye Geremi Smith Martins Ameobi Milner

:lol: :lol: Owen didn't perform because he couldn't. I give him a 4 because of his absence in the game butt was awful when he was in the game.