Gallowgate Toon

I definitely would have had Anita in there on Hazard, he's got the pace to keep up with him and then there's the added bonus that he looks very good in possession too but I think it'll come too soon taking last night into account.

In no way did he play well in the second half. He was just less terrible than in the first half.His crossing is terrible, I keep hearing that he's allegedly super skillful but he only ever runs in a straight line and is incapable of completing anything but the simplest pass. I'm pretty sure he created our 2 best chances with his 'terrible' crossing... Alright, I've had several beers and the wife spent the entire match trying to talk to me about shoes, but from the little I can coherently recall the crosses he put in were s***, but their sunday league defence flapped all over the place and the ball dropped kindly. Against any team with even the merest semblance of competence, his crosses would have yielded nothing apart from jeers. Let's not praise him too highly for what were effectively a couple of floated, lofted chips that broke loose in the box. (I reserve the right to retract the above opinion in the light of any evidence that I wasn't paying proper attention due to excess beer / shoe related discussions. It's been a long day.) His crosses were fairly decent in my opinion but I was more impressed that he actually chose to take on his man more than anything. He was finally knocking it past and using that speed and if we can harness it, it will be an incredibly useful tool. The lad's not a bad footballer in terms of technique and ability but he's lacking in other areas, I hope tonight is a turning point for him. He's not good enough to be a league starter for us, that's for sure but as a sub and cup starter he could be very handy indeed.

What a load of s****.

We'll definitely score, they've looked poor at the back so far. Think we could do them on the break a la West Brom.

Looked decent, a couple of mistakes but that's expected from someone so young.

Agreed, was genuinely surprised to see him drive to the byline. We can make a useful player of him yet, I wonder what the catalyst was for him to be a bit more adventurous in that second half.

That's awful to hear regarding Obertan, I hate fans like that. The only time players deserve treatment like that is when they are complete leaching wankers who don't give their all for the team. Obertan does have his limitations but tonight was promising, he showed some conviction and belief in his pace and it was useful, he caused problems. He's not a bad egg on the whole though, he won't be on a massive wedge, so isn't just here for money and he does try, it's not his fault that he may not be up to scratch. As for the game, a decent result considering the personnel we had out. I really like Anita, he looks a good footballer and was my MOTM, the rest of the starters were decent to poor. Amalfitano looked very useful, he seems an intelligent player with good feet and I was impressed with Campbell's link up play too. Things feel good at the club right now, it's great we can send out a young side and they can do a job for us like tonight and it'll be a fantastic experience for some of those of those involved too. It's simply great to be back in Europe.

Good footballer, should really have started tonight as he put in some good displays in pre-season too.

In no way did he play well in the second half. He was just less terrible than in the first half.His crossing is terrible, I keep hearing that he's allegedly super skillful but he only ever runs in a straight line and is incapable of completing anything but the simplest pass. I'm pretty sure he created our 2 best chances with his 'terrible' crossing... I don't rate him but he had a good second half, ran at opposition and created some dangerous situations.

Played well in the second half, much more aggressive.

Looks like Marveaux's gone central and Amalfitano our left, interesting choice, personally think Romain is made for that no. 10 role from what I've seen.

Good choice.

Amalfitano for Gosling would be great, he'd link things up much better in that role.

You'd have thought Sinclair would have learnt after Chelsea. Must just be for the money, disappointing.

I don't think a wide forward/winger role suits Marveaux tbh, he strikes me as a wide midfielder more than anything. Interesting comment from Beardsley but I don't think they're really comparable players. HBA is a forward, Marveaux is a midfielder and they have different skill sets.

He's not a one trick pony and even if he was, his left foot is so good at striking the ball it'd be a damn good trick. He is excellent at cutting in, very fast, can beat his man and deliver decent crosses. Really think as soon as he gets out of Man City he'll get a lot more respect You've just highlighted his only trick, all he ever does is cut in. Whenever I've seen him on the left he's been poor because he doesn't/can't make driving runs past his man, he's not a byline winger at all, he's certainly not very fast either. It's always the same story with him, receive ball on the right, move forward a bit, do a step over or seven, cut back inside, cross or shoot. It might be somewhat effective but only good enough for the bench with our current team and he would be an awfully expensive benchwarmer. I don't want him because we don't need him. I'm not advocating we buy him, but he will be a really good player for other teams. I don't think you can call him a one trick pony when his trick is beating his man/crossing the ball in well or scoring regularly. He doesn't make driving runs but he plays on the wing - he does most if not all the things you'd ask of a winger to good effect He's not good enough for a team going for the Champions League, he doesn't have enough in his locker but I agree he'd be great for a team like Sunderland. It doesn't matter if it's somewhat effective IMO, it's still a trick and his only one at that, I've seen him be stifled very easily. He's a good technical footballer, i'm not disagreeing that he has a sweet left foot on him but he doesn't tick enough of the 'winger' boxes for me. He very rarely beats his man, drives to the byline and whips a ball in and that's why he's almost always so poor on the left (whenever I've seen him at least), he doesn't have great vision, he's not particularly physical and he doesn't work hard defensively and to add to that he's massively inconsistent too. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of a more mobile Chris Brunt, a good footballer but a somewhat limited player overall.

He's not a one trick pony and even if he was, his left foot is so good at striking the ball it'd be a damn good trick. He is excellent at cutting in, very fast, can beat his man and deliver decent crosses. Really think as soon as he gets out of Man City he'll get a lot more respect You've just highlighted his only trick, all he ever does is cut in. Whenever I've seen him on the left he's been poor because he doesn't/can't make driving runs past his man, he's not a byline winger at all, he's certainly not very fast either. It's always the same story with him, receive ball on the right, move forward a bit, do a step over or seven, cut back inside, cross or shoot. It might be somewhat effective but only good enough for the bench with our current team and he would be an awfully expensive benchwarmer.

Not a big fan of Johnson, one trick pony, would rather we didn't get him.

I hope they're not pinning their hopes on Diaby to provide that midfield presence, good footballer but can't string 2 games together. I like the way Arsenal are shaping up to be honest, Giroud's a good player and with the sheer amount of creativity behind him he'll bag quite a few IMO. I'm less sure about Podolski, he'll do fine as a wide forward but he was played centrally on Saturday which just doesn't suit him at all.

Glad to hear Pardew say he wasn't exactly comfortable with some of the things HBA does on the pitch but he won't try to change it, the lad needs freedom and he certainly utilised it yesterday.

Simply

Think he's going to be brilliant, looks a proper footballer.

Agreed, came away feeling pretty positive myself. Thought they were fairly poor on the whole.

Suarez is such a poor finisher.