Exiled in Texas

On the surface I am worried that we have lost a big-time goal scorer and lots of goals - but as long as Ba is replaced with Remy (or that other French guy whose name I can't pronounce) then I think this has the oppportunity to free up Cisse to be the player we have previously seen him to be. So this may very well turn out to be a blessing in disguise.....clearly the intended plan to play Ba/Cisse as a dynamic-duo was an abject failure, so I see this as the opportunity to free up Cisse and set him loose on goal path.

Thanks for the reminder. I'll unfollow him now. Haha - I unfollowed him this morning. Not that losing a few NUFC fans will have any difference when he picks up a few thousand fans from Asia/America etc

He can ask the referee for permission to temporarily leave the field, he can be substituted or he can go in his shorts (which probably leads to temporarily leaving the field for equipment change).

Politics 101 - never answer the question asked - always give your own statement regardless of the question

I see what you did there

Not their job - and if they do it for one then why not the next when it's a bit further away...and so on etc. Soon you'd hgave them chasing down all balls out of play. Not their job.

As you can gather by my name, I am living away so I don't get to see/hear much except for the game broadcasts or what I read on here. Work was quiet so I thought I would try and stream some radio coverage of the game from BBC Newcastle. They had an interview with someone, a player, and a local geordie lad by the sounds of his voice. As they went through the interview and his accomplishments I still had no idea who it was. I'm trying to think which NE player it could be........it was frikkin Shola. I had no idea that his accent was so Geordie......but funny as ever to hear him speak.

So Dwayne Dibley

David Pleat was commentating on the match for FoxSoccer in the US, and he mentioned how he is nicknamed Perchinio. Even called him Perchinio when he mad a few tackles. very unexpected, but very funny.

It's a case of timing. From a referee perspective you don't want to get your cards out too early (unless you absolutely have to) because then you have nowhere else to go. Once you have gone to the cards, you don't really have the no option to manage the game by talking to the players. So referees want to talk first and then move up to cards if that fails. At the time in the game of the "Foot to chest" there had not really been much for the referee to deal with. So he elected to keep his cards in his pocket and talk to the player. He would keep the cards for any escalation in incidents. Unfortunately, Tiote saw red with being held back, and then saw Red for the late tackle on Fletcher. Definately a card - just a decision of which color. And I think that reputation tilted the decision to Red. At this point the next violent tackle really will come under scrutiny, however there was nothing else really close to either the Larson or Tiote challenges. And so the remaining cards all went for niggling fouls and dissent as the referee wants to keep a lid on emotions/actions. (I thought he missed a foul and a card for the challenge in the back of Ba by Cuellar but seeing as he saw no foul, there was no card). It's a shame that these events in the game unfolded where they did - a change in order would have had very different reaction from the referee.

FYP - Thit ! I mithed it.

And the only part show on MOTD was the One......Magedia!!!

Or "9-1 .... then we won the league" "9-1... a hundred years ago"

I still think it was a harsh decision, and the referee didn't have that clear a view of the actual contact...but I think he was thinking that Tiote should have eased up, he didn't, and then he sees Fletcher crumple like the had been hit by a truck.

The problem was that this was committed after the whistle had gone. I think that during play it's a yellow but because he whistle had already gone it went red If that's true it's f***ing gay. Just because he followed through a milisecond after the whistle blew, it's a red as opposed to a yellow? Doesn't ring true with me, tbh. Was just a classic example of a s*** referee being swayed by circumstance. In the replay you can see the whistle blown while Tiote is being pulled back...then he loses the ball and lunges. He didn't ease up after the whistle.

The problem was that this was committed after the whistle had gone. I think that during play it's a yellow but because he whistle had already gone it went red

Very lucky for SAFC that this happened before Tiote's challenge. When this happened the game was fairly calm but I think this would have Been a definite Yellow and maybe Red had it come after Tiote. Sunderland did a great job of committing niggling minor fouls that go unpunished, which drew Newcastle into committing fouls that got punished. McClean did a fantastic job of getting inside Ben Arfa's space and slowing him down without getting caught for any fouls.

It's called "outside Interference or outside agent". And it would be a Drop Ball due to law 8 - If, while the ball is still in play, the referee is required to stop play temporarily for any reason not mentioned elsewhere in the Laws of the Game, the match is restarted with a dropped ball.

Rodgers as Lolerpool

Wow. How did he get from the Radisson in Durham to Spain so quickly? Surely he was about to sign for Artie. Or was the man at the reception desk telling porkies?

But Saylor didn't get down on his hands/knees just so that he could head the ball to Krul. He was down on his knees because he slipped stopping the ball.......then he headed the ball the Krul. No deception or trick play there. The rule says that the keeper cannot handle a ball that was deliberately played to them by a team mate. So it's about intent, and the referee has to determine the intent of how the ball was played to the keeper. Was the player under pressure? Did he need help from the keeper because of pressure on the ball? Did the player have an alternative play to make but chose to pass to the keeper? You have to answer YES to those type of questions for it to be considered a "back pass"

Mag koi-nt

Let's be honest here. Where we live/lived in London probably doesn't compare to where Douglas might live. He will be living in one of the nicer parts of London

Gallas' girlie defending.....did he drop his handbag?

Pretty much my read on the game too. Spurs closed us down very quickly in the first half forcing us to give away possession very quickly and cheaply. And yet we gave Spurs all the time in the world when they were on the ball. Our midfield was flat footed and static all through the first half...both when we had the ball (no supporting movement to open up for a pass) and when they had the ball no pressure on their ball carrier or closing down the passing lanes. We looked as static as we did during the Nicky Butt years. Thank **** that they changed up the format as we were getting overrun in the first half. Second half was much better.