John P

Nolan's first and second are the wrong way round and Shola's pen went into the opposite corner. Poor attempt to be honest.

I can't stop laughing at this "I can't heaaarr you!" Christ, it's like something out of Phoenix Nights

Hopefully Simpson's

Loved the Vaughan own goal, the man's got a face like a Space Raider

Same here, was just waiting for the drop of the shoulder, cut inside and hit it. Defenders know exactly what he's going to do but they still can't stop him. He was absolutely unbelievable today, and loved the interview.

Thanks for the replies, think we might try out Sports bar then

Could anyone recommend a bar to watch this in Leeds city centre? Cheers

I've had it with Simpson, he's just such a poor footballer. I used to think he was a solid but limited full back, but after seeing him live every week this season I've completely changed my mind. Bar the occasional goal line clearance he's a terrible defender, constantly backing off, is poor in the air, weak, no great pace and an abomination with the ball at his feet. The point in the second half when Ben Arfa laid the ball to him to put in first time and he took a touch, drifted in an aimless floaty cross and then berated Ben Arfa for the pass had me fuming. If he had any ability he would have been able to put that ball in first time. Every time he gets the ball I expect us to give it away, usually with one of his clipped aerial balls forward that make it almost impossible for our strikers to get down because it's in the air for so long, and just allows defenders to either get a run on the ball and win the header or get really tight to our striker and force them backwards. If he's rejected the contract then good, get rid, stick Santon at right back and put Ferguson / Raylor / new left back in.

Pardew pretty much said in his press conference that Cisse and Ba are unlikely to start the game together. If that's the case, how about: Krul Simpson Willo Colo Santon Perch Guthrie Obertan HBA Jonas Ba Essentially the system we used at Fulham and Brighton, but with Jonas moving over to replace Best, Ben Arfa coming in behind Ba and Obertan playing on the right. Also means Pardew can use Obertan to double up on Bale when we defend if he doesn't trust Ben Arfa to do it.

If Super Hans was a Newcastle fan, I imagine he actually would write just like this.

What a moron you are.

What did we pay for him? £2m? I'd rather keep him but wouldn't be aggrieved if we got our money back on him this summer. IMO Best is the best we can hope for from 3rd/4th-choice striker right now. Ideally buy someone young on summer and keep Best and Shola as back-up, as everybody knows Shola isn't going anywhere. Agree with this, we aren't going to be able to get anyone who is willing to be 3rd choice striker and who is much better than Best. Best always puts a good shift in, has the ability to score most types of goal and realistically isn't going to be able to play for a bigger club than us, so he's ideal for 3rd choice (as long as he doesn't mind accepting that's what he is).

When you're paying £20/30 to see someone not put 100% effort in; i can forgive the odd bit of jeering. I can't say i've noticed any real booing anyway, though i could be wrong. Don't want to keep banging that drum though. He deserves plenty of credit for last night's cameo and apparent change in attitude. I don't think he lacks effort, as I remeber him tracking back into our half and putting tackles in a fair few times this season. I think that his confidence is very fragile and sometimes he just looks unsure of what he's doing, which people see as a lack of effort when really he's just scared of making a mistake.

Would he not have played with McCarthy for Ireland at some point in the 80s? If so he's probably big pals with him, because there's certainly no other explanation. Wolves in 8th with 36 points from 23 games for Christs sake!

Assou-Ekotto not facing any charge for his studs over the ball, shin high tackle on Di Santo last night because the ref saw it and took no action. I'm hoping this is some sort of sick joke? The rules have got to be changed for these incidents.

6'1 tall, looks fast and calm under pressure (utubetastic) priced around £1.3m Like the look of him... Reminds me of Enrique in a funny way... Seemed to enjoy the battle with Hazard and Sow... Stoketastic throw on him also... I was also reminded of Enrique in some ways from his Youtube videos (which admittedly aren't a great indication of a player) - looks quite aggressive in the tackle, barged the opposition winger off the ball a couple of times in 50/50s and got good pace by the looks of it. Also looked quite decent on the ball and naturally left footed, which would be nice.

Quite a few people on here saying they hope he can do it against the better teams and defences in the Premiership - the Bundesliga isn't some crappy league full of nobodies, it's one of the top 3 or 4 leagues in Europe. And outside of the top 3 or 4 teams in England, the Premiership isn't exactly full of top class defences.

Seems like he would be the ideal signing at the minute, ie someone cheap to cover in case of injuries to Colo or Williamson. Some quick Dennis Wise scouting suggests he's more of a Colo style defender - doesn't look particularly tall or strong, looks more like a defender who reads the game well, fairly quick and looks decent bringing the ball out of defence and even playing some nice long balls (as in a long ball that is aimed at picking someone out in space, rather than a lumping it forward long ball). Would be brilliant if we could get him in and the Cisse deal finalised in the next couple of days, then hang a 'Do not disturb' sign on all club offices and training ground doors for the rest of the month.

If clint hill is playing left back for them and pardew plays ryan taylor instead of ben arfa, he is clinically insane. Ben arfa would tear hill to shreds and we wouldn't need to worry about his fucking work rate as hill would be shit scared of moving out of his own half.

That mean owt in German? What - Demba Ba, Obasi?! Obasi played for Hoffenheim at the same time as Ba.

Should maybe go in the new songs thread, but we should sing this song by a German band, replacing Obasi with Ben Arfa. Listen at the start and then again at 2:30:

Agree with all of that.

The defensive work of Best consists of putting pressure on the opposition centre backs, he pretty much never drops off to pressurise the deep playmaker or holding midifelder. So it could be argued that Ben Arfa would do more defensively than Best, as he would sit a bit deeper and pressurise the playmaker (and from what iv seen, he does put pressure on players to defend, it's just that his style makes people think he isn't doing anything). Pressuring the playmaker is probably more beneficial than pressuring a centre back too as they are more likely to do something creative with the ball.

I don't have a problem with Gosling, just would hate him to start at the expense of Ben Arfa.

Can just imagine the team news coming through now - 'Leon Best does not start tonight for Newcastle' 'So Dan Gosling comes into the midfield'