Segun Oluwaniyi

Scotland should have scored about 7 times, though.

That goal didn't count. Ejide threw the ball into his net because he is a basket and fat. Maybe it is a rigged game, but it wouldn't need to be. Under Keshi we have a starting XI that has developed into a competitive and close knit bunch since ACN and collection of hey-yous that look like they haven't ever met after that. Did you watch the Confed Cup. It was the same. This is just the way of things. The defense has just been terrible. Odunlami and Egwuekwe look clueless and Yobo looks like a grandfather.

OG Egwuekwe.... Odunlami :lol: I hope he enjoys the free trips to London and the United States. Anya has made him his wife every time they come into contact. The players playing in the Nigerian league just don't look ready for this at all.

Will Shola make the final 23? I really think he is in Keshi's plans, and there have been nothing today to really push him out, imo. I'd be mildly surprised if he was not. Who do you mean? Ejike? Babatunde? I think Ejike has some promise, but as a general rule all of these attacking players are in poverty in terms of football talent. This Anya is decent, btw. Maybe he just has extra motivation for obvious reasons.

All of these boys are playing for a place and so far it looks as though 9-10 of them need to be cut and replaced by superior players that have not been given a chance. The reverses on this team are a shambles, but they are "Keshi's boys" so everything is fine. Na wa for my country if there are any injuries. Because Nigerians are in London and the venue is attainable. We have played there and the home of Watford and Charlton several times.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab319/naijaman/SuperEagles-88.jpg The thing is in two weeks and the guy is still there. The world can be so cruel. You want to hate this man, but he is a survivor. He has skated around in the upper echelons of football without showing that much promise or producing much for a decade and a half. In a month and a half, he will be searching for a new club with a startling number of Premier League appearances and a World Cup Bronze/Gold medal to accompany it.

Swindon is hundreds of mils away from Newcastle. Why would he travel such a long distance with the express intent of breaking his bail conditions in a city where he is easily noticed? Why not go to London, which is much closer and has many more women willing to entertain the advances of an irrelevant footballer?

Eden Hazard is athletically in a much high stratum than Hatem Ben Arfa ever has been or will be. I actually would say that our own player is a better technical dribbler, but that is all. Hazard can beat other players just by changing speeds. It is incredible the number of times he leaves a defender rubbished just by accelerating into a different gear. This is something people under estimate about him, (and Messi, tbh) his lower body strength and explosiveness is just ideal for his position.

-: Swansea Hull Stoke West Ham Norwich West Brom Cardiff Fulham +: Ipswich Leeds Nottingham F. Bournemouth Wolves Millwall Boro Wimbledon

Santon could play at any position on the pitch outside of striker and keeper and look fine, because he is a good footballer and a good athlete. I thought he looked fine today. The problem will still be a certain intelligence, aggression, and confidence lacking from his game. I don't know what has happened, but he has become very passive imo, and this trait has become more and more pervasive since his drop in form around the turn of the new year last season. He is around the age where he should becoming more and more sure of himself as a top level player, but is instead playing scared and in danger of losing his position. As with many of our players, I hate what has happened to him from his arrival until now.

In typical Pardew fashion, it was his first ever match in that position (that I know of as a professional) and he was being made to track the likes of Hazard, Willian, and Oscar. It was not exactly a League Cup match against Gillingham when you try new things.

Not that I disagree about, but NUFC have finished higher than 8th exactly twice since Sir Robson was sacked and five times since 1996. This would represent a decent season, if their was any hope to build on it.

Honestly, Chelsea are very impressive right now. I'm not unhappy with the result too much. They have a full squad now, strong XI, strong bench, strong philosophy. Without doubt favourites for the title, and a striker away from being fairly dominant. Hazard is turning into the player I thought he would become after leaving Lille. Strong/fast, intelligent passer/mover, incredibly skillful, and a good finisher. So, I am not necessarily in agreement with the vast negativity. If Newcastle approached the first half last Sunday, the way they did the first half here, things definitely go differently and they don't get embarrassed. The players selected today didn't fit the plan at all, imo. We were trying to sit back and absorb pressure, but the personnel was wrong. Sammy Ameobi and Ben Arfa just are not wide players that are going to provide very much from deep. Neither of them have any idea of how to defend, and neither has the lungs and physical attributes to make themselves a dangerous weapon when they receive the ball 15 yards into their own half. HBA was atrocious in our own half, but alright in Chelsea's. I thought he would score when Azpilicueta let him cut inside that one time. On form, he probably does. Sammy is very talented in terms of running at defenders with his languid style and skills, but not much else at this point. Hopefully, it comes because he is a prospect. Tiote and Cabaye's physicality was definitely missing in midfield as well. I understand that Anita played as a holding player in Holland and is comfortable there, but he is a different species compared to what Chelsea have in front of their defence with Matic, Mikel, Luiz, Lampard, and even Ramires, all physically strong and competitive players. He can't compete in the air, and is brushed aside too easily. Like most of Pardew's players, he is better when the team is on the front foot, which they rarely are under Pardew. So it goes. Santon in midfield was actually very interesting, and I was quite impressed when he had the ball at his feet. Composed, fairly intelligent, and I don't recall him losing it once. Easily our most progressive player in the centre, and played a perfect ball to Sissoko that should have resulted in an equaliser if the Frenchman had any guile about him. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to defend as a central player, and this was not an occasion to learn. Caught too many times following a man and vacating dangerous spaces, committed himself too much, and didn't recognise danger quick enough (especially for the goal, which stemmed from him committing too early on Hazard and then losing him). Still, he was decent, imo. I like De Jong. He's not at all physically explosive, which is a problem, but has enough about him to be dangerous. The first two matches have been the wrong ones for a new player. Look forward to seeing him in different ones. Back five was fine I suppose, except for Yanga's idiocy and Krul's slip. Nothing remarkable.

I don't think Ba is clearly any better than Bent or Yakubu in their primes (Johnson only did it once). Both of them were genuinely great goalscorers. I really don't think Ba's all around game is that much superior to those payers, either, especially with Yakubu's hold up play and work until he took up biscuit diet. I really don't think Ba is the striker Chelsea needed and I don't think his movement and workrate would be good enough for Wenger. Giroud is a better player.

I don't care what any says. The top placed team for the whole season to this point and theoretically one of the best attacking forces in Europe should not be limited to THAT because the other team is negative. Really disappointing from them.

Hazard has easily been the best attacking player on the pitch and he's off. Determined to make the game dull.

Arsenal haven't even had a shot at goal. They've been by far the worse team, tbh.

This is another match where you question for the thousandth time why Lukaku isn't at Chelsea. They've been very disciplined and shut out Arsenal pretty well, but Lampard and Mikel keep knocking these diagonals when they win it toward Torres like he going to do something.

Sheyi has a strange vocal tic with his shoulders. Maybe it is just his attempt to stop and breathe as words fly out of his mouth with uninterrupted rapidity.

Looking at this Premiership season, I think the bottom 5-6 teams are much weaker than usual, and the "upper midtable" sides (5-10 or so) are slightly stronger than usual. I believe the league will be more stratified than usual this season, and the teams at the bottom will all have very low sums. A vicious dog fight between poor, diseased dogs. Also, once Malkay goes, all of the bottom six teams will have replaced their manager, with the exception of West Ham. Sam's ridiculous wage may keep him employed, but you would think Hughton and Lambert are very vulnerable if they continue to languish just above the bottom group or fall into it.

No players played particularly poorly. A few were top class. Crystal Palace were not a challenge at all. They couldn't compete.

I honestly cannot imagine Palace putting enough pressure on us for this to happen. They seem inept.

Palace are horrendous. They have offered nothing other than a few periods of decent pressing and effort. They aren't even particularly physical.

He was booked, then kicked the ball at someone.

Really harsh, ffs. It is just a quick template for a superior kit.