Gallowgate Toon

He can be tired in games if he's being asked to work hard. I wouldn't say he's naturally the fittest.

It wasn't that noticeable when he absolutely burned 3 WBA players, in particular Mulumbu, who's no slouch. It's simply a tiredness issue, I'm certain.

It must be said mind, that he very rarely gets the ball in that position where he set the goal up. You could tell they both thought he was going inside but he's actually got a competent right foot, very nice bit of skill.

Stupid pass led to their goal, he's not exactly a calming influence in the centre at times.

Think he did alright, can see why he thought it'd be best to shut up shop for a bit but our boys aren't really the fittest to always hold on.

He is looking leggy atm, the little fizz he had in his step at the start of the season is gone. Perhaps he's being overworked defensively but even his decision making is looking a little lax.

Although he has his faults, Hoillett could've been a really useful squad player for us.

I hope we go 4-2-1-3 for this (I think we need to compete man for man in the middle to have any chance at getting a result) and that we have Anita, Jonas and Cabaye in midfield. I know Jonas has been poor so far but I think he has what it takes as our box-to-box player, we can use Anita as a sitter (I think he’ll be able to cause Suarez some problems when he drops deep) and Cabaye as the more advanced ‘playmaker’. Up top, Ben Arfa on the right and Cisse in the middle. I’ll get stick for suggesting this but I’d have Obertan on the left. I don’t think Sammy’s really ready to play from the off, Shola should be nowhere near our starting XI and Marveaux appears to have gone missing. This is the type of game where I think Obertan could be useful though, I think our best chances will come from counter attacking and while his productivity can be hit and miss, his pace could cause them all sorts of problems and he’s a little less predictable on that side too. I never really expect anything from Anfield but think we could get a point with that line up, I think that’s the system that would really get the best out of Cisse too. Saying that, I fully expect some bullshit 4-4-2 with Cisse and Shola up top and lopsided wings, we’ll be outnumbered in the middle which suits their passing style and we’ll change it round later on, only for it to be too late, resulting in a 3-1 loss.

So we basically surrendered possession to West Bromwich Albion What kind of ridiculous comment is that, we're at home man, we should be looking to dominate teams te majority of the time.

He's looked shite this season but I agree that it looked like he'd been told to hold yesterday, which doesn't suit him at all. A shame really, he looked very promising last year as a box-to-box midfielder.

I couldn't believe how he set up yesterday after he's pretty much outright refused to go 4-3-3 with Cisse and Ba all season, instead shoe-horning them together. He had the personnel for a potentially effective 4-4-2 yesterday and went 4-3-3 with Shola and Simpson making up our right side. Absolutely comical management, Mike Bassett-esque.

Unbelievable this plank managed to waltz straight back in to the team despite Anita looking far more capable at full back. Simpson and Jonas need dropping asap but I doubt that'll happen as they're both 'hard-working' favourites.

I can't get my head around his decision making this year, today's set up was laughable. I really don't know where he's trying to take the team.

Completely papered over the cracks with that winner. There needs to be some serious improvements made, for one not starting Shola Ameobi as a right winger, what an absolutely crap tactical decision.

I think it's incredibly harsh to say he's out of form, he's still providing some excellent creativity and drive for us. He had a good first half, created 2 very good openings but was far sloppier in the second but he is only human after all.

Finally goes with 4-3-3 and starts Shola as the RW Fair enough play the lad in a 4-4-2 but I don't see why Cisse wouldn't have been a much better choice today considering he's actually a good and physically fit footballer. He has some serious work to do, he doesn't appear to have a lot of control at the minute.

Krul Santon Taylor Colo Fergie Anita Jonas Cabaye Ben Arfa Cisse Ba 2-0.

Unlucky.

Need a little more creative spark.

Obertan looks really up for it.

So close!

Quite a few of their lot hanging round town at half 8 this morning, one of them shouting 'suck my balls' at some woman on Northumberland street provided an interesting start to the day.

Completely agree. I miss the days when Cheik was simply our destroyer, it's like he's now the heart and soul of the team's 'fight'.

Just depends on how we set up, we tried to play the offside line in that one and got punished. We rectified that in the return leg mind, hopefully we set up the same.