Nobody

Wasn't Barca's record under Tito something ridiculously good, one draw in the league and the rest wins?

Cheers

Can he play for Boro in the cup tomorrow against Chelsea?

Gibson :lol: Naismith coming on. Should be about his level, this

As long as QPR go down, I don't really care. Would be nice if Southampton stay up, I suppose.

Hadn't seen that before, class

Villa obviously didn't equalise Point still stands, and surely you can't agree with the way we sit back and invite pressure once we go ahead? It's frustrating as fuck because we have been showing that we can be a decent side when we're losing/drawing, why stop that when we're winning?

Pardew, just after he arrived here, said (and this is 100% genuine) that we, the fans, would have to get used to the team protecting a lead, rather than trying to go on for more goals. This, as a philosophy, goes right against the grain for most NUFC fans I would have thought - it does for me. I have not wanted him from day one. I have never felt any different. However, I hope he goes on to win cup after cup etc in his time here and ram my negative feelings down my throat. There is a massive difference between protecting a lead and doing what Pardew does most of the time. Most teams who take the lead protect it with an intention of picking the other team off and get more goals. We don't ever seem to have the slightest intention of doing that. Towards the end of games, Metalist being the latest example, Pardew rather puts out a third defensive block up front, often consisting of Shola. The idea is to win the battles around the box and hoof it up to him at the first attempt, rather than play it out to someone who can actually hurt the oncoming team. In my opinion that's not protecting a lead, but rather inviting an equaliser. If you constantly give the ball back to them it's asking them to have another go, rather than kill the game. It's by far my main gripe with Pardew. It's almost got to a point where us taking the lead before half time can be a bad thing, as you just know that we'll come out and try and "defend" it. Twice in recent weeks we have conceded an equalising goal in the opening minutes of the second half, it's not acceptable for me that. Later on in the game, when the losing team is starting to become desperate and starts throwing more people forward, Obertan is the one that should come on, not bloody Shola. Shola is useless at winning and holding the ball up in those situations anyway, it would be much better to try and use Obertan's pace to try and hurt the opposition.

Which is all we could have hoped for tbh

Thank fuck Alan Pardew don't agree with you then.

:lol:

Thought he could have done better for both goals yesterday, but wouldn't say either of them was "his fault".

I can't remember Ba taking a single dive during his time here, but that's the third blatant dive since he's arrived at Chelsea. Surely it can't be a coincidence?

This. Can't believe the shite I read about Santon here, he was great yesterday. People can fuck off with this "caught out of position" bollocks as well, if you want attacking full backs, they won't always be back there to defend, you simply can't have it both ways. Yes, he should have worked harder to get back for their second, but Gouffran was the closest player to Lallana and he covered for Santon there.

Yes. Throughout all of the shite, too. I might have been up to a 2 for a short time, but not worse than that. How anyone can be more than a 2 now is beyond me. Look at the team that is likely to start our next few games after Swansea (Hatem won't start that), there is absolutely no chance that team will be even close to being relegated.

All three were terrific strikes, think Rafael's is the best out of a great bunch for me. Going to be close in the "goal of the week"-polls like.

The return of Hatem Ben Arfa

Thought he had a great game, apart from going missing for their second goal.

Back five of Krul, Debuchy, MYM, Colo and Santon and that team is the fucking shit.

Very clever the way he moved into the space after he realised that Gouffran wasn't going to pass it back to him.

That was class Think Saylor's lost his place today if Colo is fit for next week. Aye, loved that

I'd be pretty fucking furious with the Shaw-Fox substitution if I was a Southampton supporter like. His handball for the penalty, his fault for the own goal and should have been booked for his tackle on Debuchy, that's pretty bad going for a 30 minute appearance

Ridiculous btw that we haven't had a player of his ilk for fucking ages.

Am I the only one that thought Santon had a great game, with the exception for him going MIA for their second goal?