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As it would be if any other player when into hiding. But they don't. Only Smith and Nolan try to hide, and it's unforgivable because they play in such an important position.

Yes because we're a ten man team when he goes into hiding, so of course our play is affected.

No way, man. Smith is worse than Butt. There's no doubt about that. At least Butt was brave enough to spray passes around, even if a few them were errant ones. Smith hides and does it so successfully.

He's scored recently so no one has a right to moan, but his overall contribution to our team is still very, very limited. Quoting your own post is a dick move, I admit, but nothing that Nolan has done this season has changed my opinion of him: he contributes nothing to the game, except when he scores. It's all well and good when he scores, and we do need his goals so I'm not just moaning for moaning's sake, but we just can't afford to carry such a passenger in the games where we need to knuckle down and play as a team.

The thing is: I'm sure Derek Wright who is our physio is also your NT's physio. If Carroll gets injured on his watch then he should be sacked the moment he gets back to Newcastle. Carroll should also realise that he'll have plenty more opportunities to play for England. He doesn't have to be Superman and play in a fucking friendly today to prove how committed to the cause he is. Let's be honest, you're not exactly loaded up front so he'll get his chance sooner rather than later and there's still two years until the Euros for him to earn his place up front.

And suddenly Arsenal are right back in the thick of things. Roller-coaster of a season so far.

Cahill scores. 1 minute plus injury time to go.

What a run by Nasri. He's quickly becoming one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. LOL Chamakh.

Hopefully he offers something that our other midfielders don't.

I'm not sure about Keane. He's always been a 'reaction' type of striker. He's not pacy, strong or particularly skillful but he's got good technique and movement, which hasn't been in evidence for quite some time. I'm just not sure he's the right fit for us long term. I wouldn't mind a six month loan deal to see what he has left in the tank, though. One of the things that has been so refreshing about Hughton is that he's never targeted has-beens, like Duff, Parker, Emre etc.; those players who were dropping down to come to us, the players who showed a noticeable lack of fight and hunger when the going got tough. We've got a team filled with players who are motivated to do better and it's been reinforced by all of Hughton's signings. I would prefer it if Hughton followed the same pattern re: a new striker.

If it was an elbow that felled Williamson then surely he's not to blame, and instead the ref is for not spotting it. Either way, Colo's minor error (letting the ball drop) would normally never be punished by a goal. I'm not sure about why Williamson went down so easily but that's irrelevant in this thread.

Yep. Colo's mistake was letting the ball bounce. He didnt get turned by Roberts because Roberts never had control of the ball. This shit happens from time to time. It was a minor error that in normal circumstances wouldn't have lead to a goal.

Agree with ronaldo.

It was 24C earlier in the morning today in Bangkok and I felt like I had to put a sweater on because it felt really chilly

When is he expected to play again?

It's like Michael Vick taking the starting spot from Kevin Kolb, innit, dan?

He's scored recently so no one has a right to moan, but his overall contribution to our team is still very, very limited. You're not seeing the wood for the trees. I don't see what else he offers to the team that someone like Guthrie or Gosling (when he comes back) doesn't, except goals, of course. And he's scored a ton recently which is why I said that no one has a right to moan about him starting every match. But, I'm just saying, he doesn't offer much else and I think it's obvious to anyone who watches us play.

Nixon the sage posted something on the first page about Nolan which is still very accurate: He's scored recently so no one has a right to moan, but his overall contribution to our team is still very, very limited.

womblemaster

He's cheap as chips and he's scoring points! My gut said I'm throwing 4 points away but he's been in decent form so I went ahead with it.

Shola doubtful? Of course, the cunt is doubtful now that I've just wasted 4 points transferring him into my fantasy team.

Hello Martin O'Neill. It's not the 70's anymore. Tell me how many games does Messi, Ronaldo etc play a season. 60+ I remember shearer playing 58 games for us one season, and this was at the latter of his career. Which season was that?

Shak can piss off We've gotta rotate the team eventually. True, we played 46 league games last year but a majority of them was done by 60 minutes. We won't be afforded that luxury this season. And of course, the players aren't tired now, but the point is that you don't wear them out now because they'll tire later on in the season. No one is saying that it's the end of a hard season and the players are tired, but the way you protect and keep your players fresh throughout the season is by resting them throughout the season, not just when they are tired at the end. Players get worn out gradually throughout a season. A rest every now and then keeps them fresh, and a rest doesn't need to happen just because they are extremely tired. I'm also sure our players can play 45-50 games a season and we won't be playing that many matches unless we have a cup run, but our fitness levels will be different than the top sides because of the style of football that we play (we don't dominate possession). Anyone who's played football will tell you it's more tiring when you don't have the ball, hence our players are likely to get tired and need a rest faster than the top teams' players. I'm also not saying 'let's change half the team', but merely saying that switching one or two players will help keep the whole squad fresh, and it'll give the subs a game, which will be helpful if there's an injury; you don't want to stick a player on in a big match when he hasn't had a game in 3 months. The last factor is the fact that we've just had two very tiring games. The players were up for it against Sunderland and adrenaline must have played a big part, then on Sunday we played against an Arsenal team who keep possession very well (I'm sure they had more possession than us). Blackburn aren't the toughest opposition and we're expected to win. If we're planning to use the squad then there aren't many better games (on paper) that we should be doing it in. Saying all that, I still expect Hughton to keep the same team until the Chelsea match because we have a really good chance to extend our winning run to at least 5 matches, which would be the first for god knows how many years.

When Nolan doesn't score, he's one of our worst players, and definitely our worst midfielder. I don't think there's any doubt about that. However, he's scored often enough so he merits his place in the team but it should by no means be guaranteed just because he's the captain.

Tiote also deserves a rest but I suppose he can get one when he's serving the inevitable suspension.