Gallowgate Toon

Tiote being played in his 'natural' Essien role, I take it?

Gouffran starting Fuck off, man, Pardew.

I still think we'll win, amazingly. 1-2 with Perez and Cabella getting our goals. I'd quite like to see a 4-4-2 with Perez and Cisse up top.

He offers something but he's behind Aarons in terms of his brain. A useful squad player that should be third in the left wing pecking order come the end of January. That bit of play at the end summed him up. Some good skill and pace followed by some absolutely abysmal decisions.

Cabella and Perez super combo.

All starts with Pardew being a fucking coward.

Bloke couldn't wait to get that piece of shit back in the side. Cunt.

He could play in any number of systems, to be honest, a player of his ilk can have a role in a variety of gameplans. He's the ultimate transition player, granted, but he's got far more in his locker than just being strong & fast. Consistency is an issue; but he's shown he's capable of doing a lot of different things in his time here, I wouldn't say he's limited in the slightest.

'barely looked a footballer' - come on, man. He's always looked a dangerous if inconsistent player for us.

He's a far better 'footballer' than the rest of our CMs and many in the league. He drives forward with the ball positively, can pass, can cross and can score. Sissoko is anything but limited. Erratic, inconsistent and possibly unorthadox maybe but not limited. There's so many midfielders in the league that define limited before Sissoko. The numerous number of safe passing/good in possession types that are in vogue for start. He can do pretty much everything, just not consistently (yet).

He's not got the same level of vision Sigurdsson has but his feet are just as good, touch is probably better and has more of a goalscoring instinct in the box. I think he'll be great foil for Perez. He'll be looking for that early ball a lot when Ayoze is on the shoulder. Looking forward to him getting games, I just hope it's at the expense of Colback.

Still a bit jittery in the final third but his build up play was improved against QPR. Releasing the ball faster and playing to his strengths (agility, touch, pass & move). I don't mind him slowing things down a bit at times. We have a few players who play at full tilt when attacking, I see no issue having someone in there who thinks things through a little more, assesses situations and orchestrates a move. His ball to Janmaat against West Brom, for example.

Their shape is weird & unbalanced and they're so slow to move the ball. Sterling is their most threatening player but Rodgers seems to have completely nullified him.

Good win, shit game, after the first half hour. Perez looks better when he has more support and space (shock) and Cabella was sharp. Pardew put himself in an unnecessarily difficult position with the Gouffran sub. Overall, it was OK but could be better.

It's just an issue of time. Hindsight's a wonderful thing but it's now very apparent that he's the type of player that would most struggle to adapt quickly to this league. No matter the league he's playing in, he's always going to be at a physical disadvantage, so it's his brain that's the get-out clause. Luckily, he's a very smart player and will understand how to get around his issues the more he plays. I don't think strength is the main problem, either, it's all about the speed at which he plays. He has a great touch and quick feet, the key is for him to get the ball when he's moving rather than a standing/slow start. Make sure he has players around him to quickly interchange with and he'll be cracking.

That one-two with Sissoko against Liverpool was also excellent, both vision and execution.

No way was Cabella the weak link yesterday, man. Sammy was dispossessed just as much, had far less passing accuracy (only 52% compared to Cabella's 81%), no key passes, no crosses and less of a defensive contribution.

Colback should make way when de Jong comes back, no doubt. Sissoko & Abeid in the middle with Aarons, de Jong and Cabella behind Perez. Long term, I think Perez will need an AM like de Jong. Someone who'll occupy defenders in the box and create space for others, as a result. I'm intrigued to see how they'd link up too, you'd think de Jong's preference for quick one-touch play and eye for a pass would be perfect for someone who likes to play on the shoulder.

Supporters shouldn't be apologising to Alan Pardew, some of the media should be apologising to the players. Gary Neville, for starters.

Getting better. He did some good things today and he works well with Janmaat when the other flank has more width to it.

Excellent recent run of form. I think he's a better centre half, to be honest.

Some player, this lad.

These tactics

I thought he was only a year or two off that when he signed for us