Gallowgate Toon

People are simply underestimating how hard it is to break a team like Stoke down, as if it's as simple as saying 'we should pass and move more'. We have a very physical team, who are brilliant on the counter attack but are lacking in the creative department at present. We have 2 genuine flair players in the squad, who can open compact defences up with close control or a pass, but one of them's out injured at present and the other has deficiencies to his game. This tiki taka talk is rubbish anyway, it's not an infallible style of play, just as we saw last week at Swansea, and you need a certain style of player to execute it. We shut Swansea down for long periods because of our physicality, Stoke did exactly the same to us yesterday, they executed their game plan very well.

Playing Perch at home to Stoke would be a monumental waste of time. I don't agree with Tiote starting matches like that, but at least he has a degree of ability on the ball, the same can't be said for Perch, as much as I think he's a very useful player.

He's missing a true wide man at the minute, his movement in and around the box is brilliant, he just needs someone else other than Cabaye to supply those dashes in the final third. He'll score plenty with HBA in the team, but it just shows how much we need some alternative wide options.

He's been hitting the byline recently but didn't try it yesterday, disappointing as he's been getting some joy out of that.

Usually when he went on a run yesterday, he'd burst past a few but there just weren't enough players around him. Only Cisse, and Gouffran occasionally. I think if he'd have been played a little deeper, those marauding runs would've been more effective with more options around him, instead the lack of options meant some form of killer ball had to be played, which invariably played into their defensive system. It may have been a different story if Hatem were fit and starting instead of Jonas (who seems to get increasingly deeper) mind, but I'm not convinced he suits AM every single game. The beauty of our midfield is the sheer amount of options we have, we can truly set up for a variety of different matches.

Struggles from deep when his passing options have been shut down due to a lack of space.

I'd play Sissoko where Tiote plays and Marv where SS plays. Quite agree. We have options in midfield, it should be horses for courses.

Perhaps the opposition were just very good at stifling us today? We have good footballers, yes, but it's not that simple, as different players suit different scenarios and styles. I'm not convinced Sissoko suits the AM role in matches like that for example, I think he's an excellent player, but his talents don't always lend themselves to such tight scenarios. I think he'd have had more joy running from deep with more options ahead of him. My only criticism of Pardew today was keeping Gutierrez on over Gouffran, in fact starting Gutierrez at all.

Should be starting matches like today, best option we have out wide currently (bar Gouffran), despite not being a wide man.

They came with a plan and executed it well, but we played into their hands a little bit. It's matches like that where Gutierrez just isn't necessary, Marveaux came on and provided something that wins football matches, attacking ability. He should be starting games while Hatem's out, not away from home but definitely on our own patch, I thought it was harsh on Gouffran to go off. Pardew did well with who he brought on though, it was great to see him try and get a result without the usual Shola move. A great win, these kinds of ground out games simply happen. Chuffed for Cisse too, that's what happens when you give him service on the edge of the box.

We'll have to be very careful next week, they're obviously very dangerous on the counter with Eto'o's pace, Traore's quick too.

It would have been very hard for him to be exposed in games where we've been so defensive. We'll see how good he is positionally when he's required to do more. He will be very good, excellent athlete and good footballer, but he's not quite Santon's level yet.

Loves an interception!

Very bold today, credit to him for it.

MYM vs. Eto'o should be very interesting.

And you don't think there's another reason that these 'inferior' players might have gotten more goals? The fact that the managers might play to said strikers' strengths? Wigan and Southampton play open and attacking football, I bet they've created more clear-cut opportunities over the course of the season than we have. I'd say Villa are more attacking too, they're another one let down by a poor defence. Let's not forget that Benteke and Lambert also take penalties too, as well as free kicks for the latter. I think there's blame on both sides, Cisse's poor form is partly down to rubbish management and partly down to him. We are 12th for GS. Way more goals than Villa and Wigan. 12 more than Villa ffs. We've 1 less than S'hampton. Maybe Kone's pace in behind has got him a few goals? Benteke's strength a few goals. Lambert ability to take a penalty etc. you understand? I didn't realise that goals scored was simply an indicator of how many good chances a team creates. All of those strikers, bar LeFondre (and he's not far off at all), have had more shots a game than Cisse, telling you all you need to know about them getting service, which will no doubt correlate to the way their team plays. And yes, I understand what you're saying, Cisse is a worse striker than Ricky Lambert and Adam LeFondre I'm done with this, it's boring everyone's tits off and you're blinded by an agenda.

Can't disagree with that.

And you don't think there's another reason that these 'inferior' players might have gotten more goals? The fact that the managers might play to said strikers' strengths? Wigan and Southampton play open and attacking football, I bet they've created more clear-cut opportunities over the course of the season than we have. I'd say Villa are more attacking too, they're another one let down by a poor defence. Let's not forget that Benteke and Lambert also take penalties too, as well as free kicks for the latter. I think there's blame on both sides, Cisse's poor form is partly down to rubbish management and partly down to him.

Facts are facts, 2 shots a game this season (I bet the majority of which weren't even decent chances) isn't enough service for the majority of strikers and it's completely irrelevant trying to compare him to Ba, a player with a different style and strengths who can profit from different situations. Cisse's had a poor year, eveyone can see that but it would be complete lunacy to put all of the blame on him, not all of the factors are within his control. He's still a very good striker, who can score a variety of goals and thrives off good service.

I wouldn't disagree with the first part of this. I do think he of course has to take some blame, but I don't think he's now a poor striker and there are a lot of different factors that go into his overall season. Basically, I sympathise with his lack of chances, he's not really being given a good platform to work with and I'll call him out on it if he gets that but doesn't take said opportunities.

Thank you. Suarez, Bale, heck even Demba Ba get themselves into positions either with skill, pace, movement or just sheer strength and they get their shots off. He's shown he can score in this team, as has Demba Ba. Now all of a sudden, we are so crap creatively 6 goals in 20 something games is "about right"? The same amount of goals as Yohan Cabaye? Less than Lambert. Probably around the same as a couple Reading lads. Aye, "about right". People moaned and cried for months from him to be the head of a 4-3-3 type system. We've done that. We've added some pace and movement to the left. A better outlet from deep on the right. Real movement, strength, power, pace and quality balls from our #10 type player and #4 deep midfielder. Now these guys aren't doing enough FOR Cisse. Maybe Cisse isn't doing enough for them? You are completely missing the point. I don't think 6 goals is where he SHOULD be at, but considering the complete lack of service and consequent lack of decent chances, it's not really a surprise and regarding Demba, he's a different striker who scores different types of goals. You mention Lambert but he plays in a very creative team and takes their free kicks and penalties. Cisse's had a couple of games at most this year where he's had more than one decent opportunity and there's been lots of others where he's had absolutely nowt to work with. Are you genuinely calling us a creative side here? Like I said, I don't think Ba's goals this year were really because of great or even decent, inventive service, he's just first class at getting on to stuff and making something out of very little, that's his game. And as if it was going to be as simple as moving to a new shape. You cite new players, but how have they helped him in the last couple of games? We've improved as a team, but you're unbelievably narrow minded if you think we're getting the best out of Cisse in any way, shape or form. This doesn't mean I think he's at all blameless here, the offsides are annoying etc. but I still don't think we're doing enough to help him out, we're not playing to his strengths as a striker and we won't until we attack with more variety.

His main asset is his movement, that's something we certainly don't play to. To complement that, we need to give him service quicker, both in terms of crosses out wide and balls through the middle. His goal against Bordeaux was class, it came from a left-footed left back that can whip in a ball early, something we've not seen in the league. Last month's link up with Cabaye and Sissoko showed exactly what he'd really been missing, someone with vision who could supply early through balls as he hung on the shoulder of the defender. Lastly, get some people and movement around him in the box, we don't get enough players in there and he just doesn't have the power (like Ba) to get extra bit of space while battling with defenders. It's simply too slow and predictable and there's consequently too much of an emphasis on physicality getting goals, there's no intelligence there and he's not going to thrive like that. In terms of general play, use him as a target and link up man as little as possible, and if we do, keep it on the deck because he's useful with one touch passes etc. Sissoko's pretty much a centre forward for us, he's the link man between midfield and attack, his presence should allow Cisse to play on the shoulder, where he's most effective.

It's more than just a system Unbelievable, it's about playing to his strengths while in that system. He's getting very little service, as Wullie pointed out. It did improve initially after the new signings but over the last couple of games he's again had very little to work with. Our crossing is abysmal on the whole, he's had little in the way of passes behind defence all season. Where the hell is he supposed to get goals from? 2 shots a game for a striker is horrific, and people wonder why he's not getting more goals. Let's not agree with facts though, that's simply an excuse. Just on a sidenote, he and Ba have around the same conversion rate this year.

Says it all. Those first couple of months I really felt for him, he just didn't get a sniff. Ba's gone but we still expect the same results from a completely different player, we've got to play to his strengths more.