AyeDubbleYoo

Lion Beast

Wound Ben Haim up a treat.

You are our wonderful mon ami.

The Best. Credit where it's due, great performance. Also won a number of awesome flick ons and things.

Immense today, his passing is beyond what anyone else on that pitch was capable of.

Sweet! Only slightly worried about Tiote, hopefully just a precaution.

Time for a muthlovin chicken dance!

Shola has a lot of failings, but a lack of heart isn't one of them. Lack of fitness is definitely one of them. Oh aye, totally, but that's not the same as failing to 'stand up and be counted' - that's just being injured.

Shola has a lot of failings, but a lack of heart isn't one of them.

What has Ranger done wrong?

I would take Keane, Modric, 'arry's beamer and the keys to White Hart Lane.

Taking a punt for worst post of 2011 already, good thinking.

I think he was. Still, the point stands!

Have you gone mad?

It makes me a bit of a nob for not waiting til next season, when he'll probably have a different number.

Would be harsh on Lovelypants to drop him after the Wigan game.

Noble's back in contention according to the BBC, that's a bit of a shame.

You forgot about last season as well. And next season, and the 10 or so after that!

I can remember quite rating him at West Ham, not sure why now like!

TBF, slowly watching your mother sodomised by Mike Ashley would be better than watching us in the relegation season.

Selling a club Andy Carroll in return for loaning David Bentley would have to go down as one the stupidest transfer deals ever agreed. It would make signing Owen look like a masterpiece.

More likely the press just concocting a vaguely plausible deal.

I would be tempted to put the slight drop-off in form down to the moral-lowering effect of Hughton's impending sacking, rather than the fact the players weren't playing for him anymore. That might be tempting, but how does that fit in with the apparent shock from the players when he was disposed of? TBH it doesn't really, although we never know how much faith to put in public statements. Maybe Hughton knew he was about to be axed and his own day-to-day motivation slipped a bit. Couldn't blame him if that was the case.

As he first comes back, we should have plenty of time to introduce him as a sub in a few roles as well, that should help assess how he affects the team.

Pretty much my view. Ashley has done some things that observers consider mistakes, and quite big ones. But either by luck or judgement, those things haven't effected us too badly on the pitch. As long as he realises our true position (still in danger of going back down if we don't strengthen) and doesn't gamble too much then we should keep moving in the right direction. Debatable how many wonder transfers like HBA and Tiote we can keep finding, but Ashley's pig-headedness and unwillingness to play the game with clubs and agents asking over the odds for average players might turn out to be a benefit to us.