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I forgot that rules, laws, and practices the West disagrees with=an uncivilised nation. Qatar is a fully industrialised and extremely organised nation with a very high standard of living for its people and a very educated populace.

Russia is ranked higher than England, was in the semifinals of Euro 2008, has one of the better leagues in the world, and has a deep history of success dating back to the CCCP. If we are limiting ourselves to places that are more of a hotbed than Russia, not many places will be hosting. In what way is Qatar not civilised?

So his 26 goals and 18 assists in 42 games for Brazil don't count? Besides he's been consistently productive at club level his entire career. And yes it is outrageous to say Bale is a better footballer... Neymar is a better passer, more skillful, better technique, more intelligent, better vision, better close control etc etc i could go on and on really. You don't really need to prove anything or have stats to show whether you are a better footballer or not.... your ability on the pitch determines that and besides Neymar has been instrumental in beating some of the best national sides in the world.... but apparently it doesn't count because he's not PROVEN. I don't care what Bale has done in England.... Neymar has been consistently brilliant at international level you know the highest level there is? Also if you really want to go through this proven crap.... Neymar currently is joint top creator in Europe this season with Fabregas and only Ozil has assisted more goals in 2013. Eighty percent of Neymar's goals at international level have come in friendlies. This is a symptom of circumstance and not the fault of Neymar, but I will not be told that what someone produces in money-grabbing friendlies against the likes of China and Iraq has an influence on their standing in the football world. Even the ones against top teams I care little about, Ikechukwu Uche scored a double against Argentina, so what? I just cannot believe that you "do not care what Bale has done in England", but will happily take noncompetitive football as scripture in the gospel of Neymar. The Confederations Cup was fantastic and he showed well in this, but it is only six matches in one of the more lightly regarded international tournaments. This is like saying Gareth Bale is the world's best in 2011 because of one hattrick against Inter Milan. The Brazilian league is a much weaker championship than the Premier League, which for all its faults is one of the most well funded and competitive championships in the world. This is simply a reality. Despite this, Bale has been just as productive as Neymar and just as influential to his sides. Neymar has more raw ability, plays the game in a more beautiful and intelligent way, and definitely can pass him in the future, but Bale has been a remarkably effective player. People enjoy dismissing his accomplishments for some reason I don't understand.

Neymar has never had a period of consistent production in his career that matches what Bale accomplished the past two seasons. It is not outrageous to think Bale is the better footballer. Neymar clearly has the higher ceiling of ability between the two, but we must observe what he accomplishes in one of Europe's top leagues and at the World Cup before anointing him.

We still have a long way to go before Brazil and there are some great matches in qualification to look forward to. All five African playoff ties should be highly interesting, with Egypt-Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire-Senegal being the most hyped. As far as Nigeria, we should handle Ethiopia, but the prospect of the games still has me shaking. Jordan vs. Ecuador or Uruguay should be more interesting than people believe. There is still much to be decided in Europe. England is still in a perilous position along with Portugal, the much hyped Belgian and Russian sides have a chance to finally secure a WC spot and there are some very intriguing sides who look destined for the playoffs.

It is fine to say that, but at some point Gouffran will have to wonder what he must do to get on the pitch. He's played well at pretty much every opportunity this season, and contributed hard work and goals last season as well.

I'd agree with this, but not 6-8 weeks. If Debuchy doesn't make a marked improvement in the next 2-3 matches, he needs to sit for youth. I also don't understand the Santon criticisms at all. He had a poor second half of last season but was very useful in 2012 and has looked very solid and athletic thus far this season. As someone mentioned, he's the same age as Dummett and has made a big contribution to the team since his arrival here.

We need to introduce new words for human waste product if to describe Marveaux if Cabaye has been "s***". He is a far superior player to Marveaux, has contributed much more during his time here (the same time period), and provides a level of consistent effort that Marveaux has never achieved.

Marveaux always has been and always will be unreliable and flighty. He is a decent enough player to come in when there are injuries or the squad is rotated. The guy should never be a starter.

All the time mate. The home tie ended up looking OK for the closing stages of the game after we scored but we were lucky not to have conceded before then, we let them have the ball to attack us at will for nearly 3/4 of the match. I never meantioned anything about the first game, I thought we looked great especially in the first half and were obviously unlucky not to have taken the lead a couple of times. I preferred that mentality much more than I did the one at home. An all out attacking mentality at home when you are two goals down, but have the advantage of an away goal doesn't make much sense though. Especially if the team opposing has the quality of Benfica. I agree with Pardew's approach, but due to our personnel and his failings elsewhere, we didn't have ability or intelligence to play well enough on the counter while completely shutting them out. Still, it did work for all intents, and the introduction of a half-fit, slightly fat Hatem did change things.

We put out the full first team squad in Portugal, and then essentially put out the full first team with the exception of Ben Arfa (who came on late and was returning from injury) in the second one. We played very admirably in the first leg until we collapsed after Santon gifted them a goal, and Pardew's strategy, however misguided, saw us attacking at home with a chance to win the tie in the final twenty minutes against a team that was superior. People need to differentiate between not trying and simply not being good enough. Do you castigate dyslexic children for below average performance?

He is a rubbish footballer to be frank, but if he resumes scoring at a rate similar to what he has done in the rest of his career for club and country, it probably won't matter. You really need an alternative though, hopefully Pardew will try Gouffran if Papiss isn't playing well.

Fluking the way to a cup win would placate the supporters more than anything else, imo. At the end of things, all anyone wants is glory to accompany the stability, and this would provide some of that. The main difference being squad depth. Chelsea last night changed nearly the entire team and gave a debut to forth year old man, yet walked through. Gubbed Valencia in that cup we want nothing to do with too. The same cup Is this the same competition in which we easily qualified from the first round, beat Anzhi, and provided a stern challenge to Benfica despite our troubles in the league? Our approach to the cups is identical to every other team in the league. 1) Why are you comparing us to Chelsea? I'm not. 2) No it isn't, it might look the same but I'm certain that many teams around "our level" go further than the first/second stage in the cups every single year. I make the comparison because it is relevant. We have a squad that is not particularly deep and and youth system consisting of players who are either on loan or not good enough. Clubs such as Chelsea and even the likes of Swansea change their squads for these tournaments at a significantly higher rate than we do, yet go further every year. If you actually go and take a firm look at our exits from these tournaments under Ashley the reason is not generally the weakness of the team. I would pinpoint only the loss to Brighton and the league cup exit during our season in the Championship as extremely weak sides, and both were understandable given circumstances (Increased games/weaker squad in CCC and desperate league form coupled with obligation in a competition in which we had progressed much further). NUFC generally do not play youth players under Ashley unless pressed into doing so by aforementioned thin squads. It is generally a mixture of first team players and bench players. Our exits have generally been the result of poor performances and bad luck. The Stevenage match you mention included the likes of Coloccini, Tiote, Barton, Nolan, and Routledge along with only two "youth players" including Ranger who was heavily involved with the first team anyway. The draws have also been unfortunate, having bowed out to Arsenal three times and Manchester United once at very early stages.

The main difference being squad depth. Chelsea last night changed nearly the entire team and gave a debut to forth year old man, yet walked through. Gubbed Valencia in that cup we want nothing to do with too. The same cup Is this the same competition in which we easily qualified from the first round, beat Anzhi, and provided a stern challenge to Benfica despite our troubles in the league? Our approach to the cups is identical to every other team in the league.

We will play the unused first team players and the more interesting youth/reserve prospects, as we have done in every cup match for many, many seasons. It is not as if we are throwing out the u-18 team, most of the players will be highly paid and some internationals. If we manage to stumble our way to the quarter finals with this strategy, we will throw out the first team and treat it like the World Cup. This is the way most clubs in the Championship and above treat the League Cup. It is just the nature of things.

John Obi Mikel: Vastly under-appreciated Ludovic Obraniak Rainford Kalaba Luis Suarez: Pure Entertainer Obasi Ogbuke: Injuries have taken him Taye Taiwo Bakari Kone (The Ivorian that played for Nice and OM last decade, not the Burkinabe at Lyon) Gary Madine Jay Emmnauel-Thomas

There is a certain sadness when watching Cisse play the game recently. For all the capabilities displayed immediately after his arrivial, he is providing absolutely nothing for the team. Not one positive attribute. Cannot hold the ball up, cannot control the ball played to feet, cannot make runs that stay onside, cannot complete short passes back to the midfielders, cannot win headers, cannot out pace even the most pedestrian defenders, cannot hold off even the weakest of midfield challengers. When the good work of other players provides an opportunity for the great finisher to score he fails to convert. I feel the same way about him as I do about Debuchy in this moment. I think both players can potentially be very useful for us, but both also need to dropped. There is no question and no other option.

On what basis is Debuchy better than he is showing? Because he did well in the french league? Thats a poor league and getting poorer by the second outside of the artificial clubs of PSG and Monaco. Because he's a French international? Thats not much of a reference these days. The problem with Cabaye is he doesn't want to be here so why the hell would he put much effort in. Because I watched him several times and he could run, hold a position, put a cross in, and make proper decisions. I know people have decided amongst themselves that the French league is poor, but I don't believe it is the step up in class to Hull City that is making an accomplished footballer play like he has taken poorly cut hallucinogenic drugs.

I'm willing to persevere with Debuchy because I believe and know that he has the ability to be much better than he is showing, but at the same time, he needs to be dropped from the team at this moment. It has been useful to have a better ball player sharing the wing with Ben Arfa, but he is hurting the team on a far too consistent basis with his poor play and petulance. The man has not looked right mentally for some time and needs to fix whatever the hell is wrong. Santon has been our second best player this season in my opinion. Very solid in the air, rarely beaten in 1 v. 1 situations, and while his final ball has been disappointing at times, we've benefited from his ability and thrust in driving the ball forward. I don't understand vitriol towards him. Cabaye hasn't been remarkable in either direction. He's put in a lot of effort though, and I think he will improve. The comparisons I've seen to Danny Guthrie elsewhere are nonsensical.

Just the 10 yards away. At least the marking for whoever was marking Elmo fo the second was equally as tight. If I'm remembering the goal correctly, Mathieu is in the middle of the box, strangely attempting to mark someone who the centrebacks are responsible for, while Ben Arfa is standing still twenty yards away, leaving no one in that area of the pitch at all. Terrible.

Was it the last second victory, smash/grab win, or wasteful draws that convinced you of this?

I watched about five minutes of their match and Sunderland were completely dominating. They had all of the possession and looked dangerous whenever they came forward. I flipped away to find our match, and they immediately conceded.

His position is actually very similar to Pardew's, the only difference being that our buying spree came last January and there's over the summer. In both situations there is a team that played remarkably terrible football last season and purchased several highly rated players that have only increased pressure on managers that were performing questionably in the first place.

My head tells me 1-1 draw, but I will follow emotions and predict another 2-1 victory. Remy, Aluko, Gouffran.

Who says they cannot. There is no rule preventing them. They only obstacle preventing a gay footballer from unleashing himself is his own personal choice. This choice may be made out of fear, but there is no proven history of retribution. We should do away with most of these things. They are nonsense done to pacify interest groups and portray the sport in a better life. Also, I quite frankly do not have a problem with people harbouring homophobic and even racist views. It is there opinion and they can keep it, however much I disagree. As long as these biases do not affect public policy and people who these biases to assault others either verbally or physically are punished, society is fine.