Gallowgate Toon

Didn't take Barkley long to turn into an utter cunt either.

He's the one Academy player who's actually been treated correctly and he's poor man. He got a loan spell to learn his trade, he got the odd game here and there, he's been given a run due to injury, but he's just rank. Oh, I agree that he's poor. I didn't think he should've started tonight as I don't think he's really looked very comfortable at all. I'd have Haidara in, he's got the raw materials and is worth persevering with.

He's been handled poorly. Confidence will be on the floor after that.

Made loads of good runs that were totally missed. Our midfield is fucking shit.

Not sure what his fitness was like today but he's got to be starting on the pitch for the next game. Great work on the left for that Anita miss.

What a load of fucking shit. Slow play, backed off them too much, no left side and naff all in terms of creativity. Absolutely woeful.

Shit.

Some nice bits of link up again but little speed with runners rendered it useless. No crossers and no speed and creativity in our midfield will inhibit him. I watched the shooting warm up and some of his finishing was fantastic, if only we could play to our strikers' strengths. Pardew's been spoiled by Remy.

How he wasn't hooked I'll never know. I don't ever want to see him in midfield again.

Some of his recent comments have been terrible.

What a mug

That doesn't sound too promising. If he means we have more patient build up play then I'm OK with that (to an extent), if he means sit back and make sure there are no gaps then that would be suicidal and pathetic.

He should still start if he's fit, of course, but he's going to have to work as Baines will be up and down and knows that he's just as much of a threat and will panic wide midfielders. There are times when he simply has to do his job, I think he's better with that responsibility anyway as he doesn't produce enough for a truly free role.

We all want him to have the ball the most, but they were definitely not ignoring him just because every pass didn't go to the right side. He made a nice little cameo, has to start tonight. He's not fit enough to start; that's the crux of most if this. He should be. If he does start he'll be far less effective than coming on with 20 to go. Bringing him on with 20 minutes or less left is part of the problem though, it leads to him forcing the game too much, rather than having time to work his way into the game. If he doesn't start he should be brought on with 30 minutes or more remaining like he was against Palace, even better just do it at half time.. Or just start him and don't force him to play RB counter-produce what they'll be doing. If we play Ben Arfa further up on the right, Baines will be forced to stay back a bit. Unfortunately our coward of a manager doesn't look it that way, he'll be playing Sissoko to defend Baines at home... Yeah basically the best way to combat Baines is pin him back. We won't do that though, like Baines won't stay back. That's why they play 4-2-3-1.

Henry's the best footballer the league's seen, in my opinion. If he was in his prime right now then I think he'd be absolutely murdering the division.

Exactly. He's obviously no long term wide man but he makes stuff happen pretty much every week from out wide. Gouff's done little but run around for the last 12 weeks.

Sissoko just isn't at all 'fucking shit', man. Becoming such an unbelievably underrated player, he's created loads for us this season.

Has Johnson sunk back to his generally poor level since that little run he went on?

you're thinking too much pal, our approach to scoring goals doesn't extend beyond getting the ball to one player somewhere near the other goal and hoping he can do something with it you're 100% right mind, either play crosses to de jong or get him to hold up and link with runners from midfield, don't f***ing do neither Yep. I mean, the lad clearly has some more mental adjusting to do but it's no wonder he often passed back to other teammates yesterday as he had little in the way of options for flicks etc. He showed his abilities as a footballer against Hull, he's not going to produce goods on his own so you need to set things up in his favour, just like with Cisse.

Haidara's got more in his locker, physically and technically, and will improve defensively if given a run of games. Dummett's a good lad but doesn't really look a Premier League footballer to me.

Also, no point using him as a link man if nobody's going to run past him. He often received the ball with players on his back and was expected to do something with it.

Time's up on the left. I love his attitude but he was playing as some sort of playmaker yesterday and it just ruined our shape with him constantly coming inside. 2 lads up top that like crosses and we essentially play with one wide midfielder. I think he'd work well with a target man up front but he's just not up to it on the left, doesn't even make any runs behind anymore.

We are going to need different types of strikers. If Shola goes then I think he's a decent target man option that won't cost much and is an improvement. The stuff about changing his game seems to ring true, in his first performance against the mackems he was making a lot of runs in behind defenders, he's far more static now and seems to be the guy to play it in to more than anything else. I still think it may be an adaption thing with him.

Like him or not, he pretty much always makes things happen in games. If there was more consistency in his final ball then he'd be playing at a very high level. Was it him that played Cisse through in the second half for a 1v1?

Today wasn't great from him. He has the ability to be decent but needs to get his head a second or two quicker. Probably needs a decent winger in the team, even more so than Cisse.