AyeDubbleYoo

I'd almost forgotten about this thread after today.

We all know how bad it is when a club is judged by a small minority of the fans, so I don't hold any grudge towards Villa really. The best thing was being able to get our new Premiership season started with that kind of performance and result after going down against Villa with a gutless, embarrassing performance that was typical of us at the time.

I switched him in for this weekend for a healthy 14 points Me too, result

Nice.

I don't necessarily agree with 4-5-1, but I can understand why he goes for it in a way. I've got a lot of time for CH, he's everything we haven't historically had much of around NUFC - knows the game inside out, quiet and understated, gets on with the job. Although part of it is probably because he's grateful for such a big job, he deserves a medal for the way he's handled himself during the Ashley regime.

Ah right, I stand corrected then!

On a serious not though, it seems he is now getting victimised quite a bit, including by referees. Someone who watched on TV, what was his booking like?

I'll admit it, I'm "getting carried away by today's result".

Er, do people not know that the fascist salute doesn't actually involve mimicking a moustache!

To be fair to him, he looked like a Premiership footballer today. He was given acres of space and time by Villa, but like the rest of the team he made the most of it.

Didn't have his best game today, he was frustrated and frustrating with some of his passing. He's definitely a valuable player for us though, and will play much better this season. I've got no problems with him in our side at all... he's generally quality.

He seems a canny player for sure, neat and tidy for the most part. Our defenders are a lot better than some people seem to think really.

I was bracing myself for a battling draw and probably a defeat. I need new underwear.

TBH, Milner wasn't worth £12m when we sold him, and he isn't worth £20m now. He's a capable central midfielder, the hype in the British media about him is staggering.

To quote Interpolic, "he's good at playing devil's advocate, because he's always 100% wrong about every topic." Genius!

If this is true then it's immense, just the sort of player we need, and never thought we'd sign.

I just can't wait for the poll results.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity to give him a clean slate as well.

He sounds mental TBH. The French Freddie Shepherd? Let's just hope that mental Dassier and mental Ashley/Llambias can get together and make sure mental Ben Arfa comes here.

Fair play, that is quite funny. Weird that nobody in the history of football has picked up the amazing benefits of the loan with compulsory purchase deal though. Dindane's loan to pompey was exactly that, play x number of games and they had to pay to make it permanent. Likewise Mensah's loan to Sunderland this season includes a clause to automatically trigger a permanent deal if he plays in 25 games. Don't think we should be using the financial dealings of Pompey as our template TBH. In the case of Mensah it might well have been to protect the Mackems from having to sign a perma-crock. Which seems sensible.

Something to talk about that's not Ben Arfa I suppose.

Fair play, that is quite funny. Weird that nobody in the history of football has picked up the amazing benefits of the loan with compulsory purchase deal though.

He'll bring the black power to our midfield. It is sadly lacking at the moment.

Not far from the truth. If it was left to some on here we would probably sign no-one but 15 year old kids who turn up off the street and they'd sit back and pat themselves on the back at the end of the transfer window for not wasting any money.