Lotus

Don't think Marv will do much from the left, sorry!

Would Marveaux be at RB?

Cool replies, was interested to see what people thought. I think though, from what we've seen of him, Marveaux isn't as effective on the left. He's better in the middle. Possibly a better passer and runner with the ball than Cabaye but doesn't do half as much without it. I think Marveaux on the left may not work great. Didn't he even say so himself?

HBA is best on the right (imo), not his best in the left. Marveaux better behind the striker(s), seems to be out of the game too much on the left Anita & Cabaya are best as part of a midfield 3. Without shoe horning players, how would you line them up?

Utterly awful defending from Simpson. Terrible.

Feliz Natal!

Pardew, quite rightly, is more mindful of what a player can do without the ball then with it. Especially in midfield. He doesn't like us to player through the middle (not 'on the front foot enough') but it's imperative that we limit the opposition's ability to play through the middle. There's not natural place for Marveaux they way we set up.

Reckon Pardew will play: Back 5 Obertan Anita Perch Jonas Shola Ba

Completely agree with this. Cisse is a waste of purple ink. We'd be better selling him and putting the money towards a Kenwyn Jones type. I think, ultimately, HBA will also prove to be the wrong sort of player for us. We need someone who will get the ball early to the forwards, not someone who wants to dally about or look to take a player on.

Cisse doesn't fit for what we trying to do here. Wrong type of player.

We don't need width. What we use is length. Ooh err missus. Truew though.

He'll start the game .

Would be a shame if we lose Marveaux just as he's starting to show something but end up keeping Obertan.

I couldn't agree less if i'm honest.

It does make sense squad wise. We don't do 'squad'.

Think we'll line up the same as against City.

Just can't see us going for this bloke unless Ba goes. Doesn't make economic sense otherwise.

Think the other thing is that Cisse likes the ball passed into dangerous positions where as Ba can just hunt for mistakes by the defenders. For the type of football we play, if we're honest, Cisse isn't really the striker you'd want.

Is he saying that when HBA's been on the pitch the oppo's LB has felt totally safe to wander up the line ?

Aren't they Pards quotes in relation to the HBA interview?

HBA cutting with Santon providing an option would be awesome. Santon plays RB for Italian U21s so it's hardly like he's unfamiliar. He makes good runs with the ball from LB but can't deliver. He needn't make good runs with the ball at RB, he could pass and move into a good crossing postion, you know, a bit of teamwork, would make us very potent from that side.

If Pardew feels he needs a Carroll type then i'd rather he tried for Llorente (whom i believe is out of contract in the summer).

Why not? Dude, every time a bit of reality seeps into your frontal optimist lobe it clearly releases a chemical that completely erases your memory so that your fineanddandy cortex can carry on expecting everything to turn out better than expected regardless of precedent. I'm massively envious tbh. I was on really heavy tranqs for a while (due to an RTA) and i'm not sure i reached your level of 'at one with everything' even then! Anyway, we won't play like that because Pards wasn't scared of losing to city, he half expected it. He'll be turtling at the thought of getting done by QPR though so he'll approach the game very differently. We clearly have enough to win this game but don't be under any doubt, we're bad enough to lose it too. Righto, I just wanted you to explain your point. f*** off with all the s**** in the first paragraph though. Well, at least now i know my tranqs were better.

Why not? Dude, every time a bit of reality seeps into your frontal optimist lobe it clearly releases a chemical that completely erases your memory so that your fineanddandy cortex can carry on expecting everything to turn out better than expected regardless of precedent. I'm massively envious tbh. I was on really heavy tranqs for a while (due to an RTA) and i'm not sure i reached your level of 'at one with everything' even then! Anyway, we won't play like that because Pards wasn't scared of losing to city, he half expected it. He'll be turtling at the thought of getting done by QPR though so he'll approach the game very differently. We clearly have enough to win this game but don't be under any doubt, we're bad enough to lose it too.

A player of that calibre will insist on a relegation release clause. Bit of a risk for the club.