Gallowgate Toon

We spoke to him in October, the club tried to recruit one of the language students from Northumbria to translate.

Somebody shut these daft sods up about Gouffran. Keep banging on about 1 in 4 without realising he's been in and around 1 in 2 for the last 2 seasons.

Marveaux operates much the same way as HBA in that he consistently cuts in from the outside. We can put him out there, but we all know he'll just be a "winger-in-name-only." Our wide forwards are meant to collapse to allow the fullbacks space to get forward anyway. I'm just not sure replacing Marveaux with Gouffran out wide will produce any drastic changes in what we're expecting from that position. Another threat in the box and progressive off the ball movement. He's perfect foil for Debuchy's famed crossing on the opposite side.

Not sure there are enough goals there. It's pretty clear Only one player in the team consistently capable of getting double figures there. I don't think Marveaux is a wide man either. Not really. Considering our options, that's not gonna change no matter who you put there. Switch Marveaux for Gouffran and it doesn't change a whole heck of a lot. Unless you'd rather have Shola... One's a goal scorer, one's a creator, we need the former for balance. There's already plenty of creativity but not enough potency.

Not sure there are enough goals there. It's pretty clear Only one player in the team consistently capable of getting double figures there. I don't think Marveaux is a wide man either.

Not sure there are enough goals there.

Aye. Marv > Gouffran for me at the minute like. That's nothing against Gouffran either. Don't agree with the comparison, Marveaux's a central player for me.

There's a place for Marveaux in a lot of home games, he's a great little player.

MYM is the best footballer we've signed, and if all other reported deals go through, he'll still be the best one of the lot. Incredible player.

Anita is like a tailor - he threads everything together. Him, Cabaye and Sissoko in the middle looks to be a well balanced midfield to me - as currently we don't have a real box-to-box who can drive us forward on the ball like Sissoko can and that makes the gap between midfield and attack quite glaring, especially when bringing it out from defence. Often the onus to do that falls on Tiote and he just ends up making mistakes. They can all tackle and put a shift in too so you don't necessarily need a dedicated Tiote type destroyer in there for most games. That is a good midfield, I agree with that, but when breaking a team down for instance, I'm not sure there's enough attacking ability there. That's where Marveaux enters the debate for me, he's the only true playmaker we have (bar HBA), as Cabaye's creative abilities come from a little deeper. Marveaux has lovely feet, he can create an extra bit of space for himself in close situations and is a sublime subtle passer, he will be massive in certain matches.

Tiote is a defensive midfielder, Sissoko is not, it would be a real waste of his talents to play him as one too. Anita can play all over the midfield, but he's shone as a defensive midfielder above all else. I do not particularly see Anita as a player who breaks up play and wins the battle. Sissoko has the physical presence to do that even if he isn't deployed in a ancorman role. Anita on the other hand is the most modern midfielder we have. His passing and movement is/will be vital for our game if we actually adapt a 4-3-3 permanentley. The way in which he links defence to midfield is such a vital part of building play, I reckon he will revel with Yanga-Mbiwa/Coloccini in behind him. We could probably sacrifice Tioté who's more one-dimensional than any of the other CM's. While I think it's a common misconception that defensive midfielders need to be particularly physical, look at Makelele for example, Anita's primary roles would be to harry, cover, help us keep possession and use his good passing range to help break teams down, hence why I suggested certain games. He was excellent as a defensive midfielder for Ajax, it was the form of his life, I see no reason why he couldn't replicate that here.

I think it's more circumstantial than that, the only player that has a spot nailed down, in my opinion, is Cabaye. I think the rest are all interchangeable depending on the opposition, I quite like this squad malarkey

Tiote is a defensive midfielder, Sissoko is not, it would be a real waste of his talents to play him as one too. Anita can play all over the midfield, but he's shone as a defensive midfielder above all else.

He's solely competing against Tiote for me, if used correctly then they should both get plenty of starts with us. Anita should play games where we're looking to be the team on top, his pace can cover breaks if full backs push up, and he's a better player on the ball to help us break teams down. Tiote should be playing games where we're looking likely to have more of a battle or will be under the cosh. Simply put, if I was manager, I'd be looking to play Anita in most home games and Tiote in the majority of the away matches. Sissoko is wasted as a defensive midfielder, he's pure box-to-box and should be playing higher up. For me, he'd be competing with Marveaux and again it depends on the team we'll be playing.

Who's the lad next to Debuchy? Edit: Turns out Bigi just has another new hair cut

Excellent news if true. He wouldn't displace Anita IMO, Sissoko's wasted as a DM. Hopefully by the weekend, we could have Tiote and Anita vying for the defensive midfielder spot (with Perch as back up), with Cabaye, Marveaux, Sissoko and Bigi going for the central places. There's some good options there for different games, which is key. All of those players have different strengths and will suit certain circumstances, the only sure starter for all would be Cabaye for me.

If Shola starts ahead of Gouffran man Even Ryan Taylor said a few months ago that Shola can barely play 60 minutes, I know we've had a lack of options recently, but there's no excuse now.

Gouffran's the player we need for the position we're in, we have enough flashy players, we need some more effective ones. Remy's a better overall player in my opinion, it's just that he has that added ability on the ball but he's not particularly more effective for goals, and he's a lot more work shy. Gouffran will be full of running, both forward and back, and he'll be a nuisance in and around the box. With the creativity we have in the team, we need someone else with the instinct to put the ball in the back of the net and to make space for other players.

Probably Giggs, but going off the NUFCTV interview, Cabaye's tapped up another one Gouffran's words were 'Cabaye had been telling me how great it was to play for Newcastle, for quite a while'.

As long as there's a firm set of rules regarding speaking in English to each other, and encouraging everyone to mix, then I see no issue. I'd prefer to have a bit more balance but we seem to be getting good footballers, so I can't complain really.

If true, I think he's simply cheated on his missus and she's gone home. If it was homesickness, then he surely could have waited until the summer. If it was illness, then the parties involved would have been much more respectful, especially his Dad.

He can't wait 4 months? What a dickhead if true.

Fingers crossed, I feel quite the same really, hopefully he works better for the team, individually he'll not match what Ba offered, but this was always going to be the case whoever we brought in. My feelings exactly.

This is a great signing, adds a much needed potency to our team, and has a good attitude. We just need him to be Ba in last year's 4-3-3, where I think he's actually a better fit as he'll work harder, will add more pace and will most likely nab a few goals. I think he'll be our most important signing over the coming months, I can see him getting 5 or 6.

Just walked past him and his agent going into YoCabs' house, there must be about 10 people sleeping there tonight Plucked up the courage to say hello and good luck.