John P

Janet Solano?

Sent off?

I know what you're trying to say...... Mimi is Ben Arfa!

I bet Adriano had a bigger portion than Gabi.

He wasn't thinking it through to be honest. The grenades are shit. Better to just go kamikaze, stock up on loads of spare paint balls and run around shooting the shit out of everyone.

Lad in away shirt to Barnett's right - Sunderland's very own Mick Jagger?

What struck me about them last night was a severe lack of pace in their side. We've seen in the last two games what a difference it can make to a midfield having mobility and pace (Nolan vs Cabaye, Barton vs Obertan) and whilst we may have missed out on Barton's ability on the ball, Obertan stretches teams and gives them different problems. Their performance last night was like one of ours at the end of Souness' reign of terror.

Brilliant. Should be made into a smiley or a meme

That works two ways though, I could count on one hand how many posters on here have gave Sunderland credit for signing very good players like O'Shea and Brown, I'm not bothered what anyone says those two are very decent footballers and all you get on here is people mocking them, refusing to admit that they are decent. At last, something to add to a discussion. I think people on here generally accept that they are decent players, but the problem is that they aren't getting any younger, and if im not mistaken they are on long contracts with massive wages. We went down that route for about 4 or 5 years and it ended with relegation. Not saying you'll get relegated but I think it's fair to question your transfer policy based on the signings of those two. Last season our squad was the youngest in the PL and it showed in certain games and towards the end of the season when we fell apart and I'd say 90% of fans realised we needed a few experienced heads and not just kids. Yes, they are on big wages but if the start that Brown has made is anything to go by then it will be money well spent, he wasn't injured at all last season, he just couldn't get in the Man Utd team. O'Shea has only started 2 games but we have kept 2 clean sheets in 2 games in the games he has played so again a good signing, only 30, got years ahead of him yet and defenders regularly play in the top flight well into their 30's. Fair point, I guess we'll see as the season progresses whether they are good buys or not. As someone above says, they could be a Phil Neville and turn out to be very good players for you, or they could be an Alan Smith (!). It's hard to tell with players bought from Man Utd, sometimes playing for them makes them look better than they actually are. From my memory Alan Smith started off ok with us, so I'd still be wary about Brown, despite him making a good start. Also, if O'Shea is going to play at full back then he wouldn't have many years left. Full backs generally don't play for as long as centre backs (taking aside the obvious ones like Maldini and Cafu who were just incredible players with incredible levels of fitness). From what you've seen do you think O'Shea could be a good centre back for you, as he'd probably prolong his career playing there?

That works two ways though, I could count on one hand how many posters on here have gave Sunderland credit for signing very good players like O'Shea and Brown, I'm not bothered what anyone says those two are very decent footballers and all you get on here is people mocking them, refusing to admit that they are decent. At last, something to add to a discussion. I think people on here generally accept that they are decent players, but the problem is that they aren't getting any younger, and if im not mistaken they are on long contracts with massive wages. We went down that route for about 4 or 5 years and it ended with relegation. Not saying you'll get relegated but I think it's fair to question your transfer policy based on the signings of those two.

Iv voted for 'delete the mong's account', sick of his pathetic posts and the responses from others

Just ignore him for God's sake. All he does is come on here once a week posting something about Sunderland being better than Newcastle and everyone starts a big slanging match. Maybe if he actually had something meaningful to contribute to a discussion then fine, but it's honestly so tiring getting the same crap out of him every week that it's not worth the effort.

They've got to get Shola to do the thing Stag parties do at paintballing, where they run back and forth between two buildings about 10m apart with everyone else shooting at them.

Also, notice who is our 2nd most advanced player when Best is brought down by Olsson for his second yellow. Love his little bursts forward that he seems to do once or twice each game.

Thought he was very good, second half in particular as a lot of people have said. Good point above about his crossing, he had a couple that he tried to cross in the first half that were completely mis-hit and went flying out of play. But he also had a few where he passed the ball into the box (such as the Best chance in the first half that went over the bar) and in the second half he picked players out in the box a couple of times by just passing it into them (one in particular to Simpson near the end). He also showed a willingness to really stretch them in the second half with his pace. A couple of times when Simpson or Tiote had the ball he made surging runs forward looking to get in behind Givet with a long ball over his head. It's as if in the second half it clicked and he realised what he could do to Givet if he just ran at him with pace. He absolutely destroyed him second half, he couldn't get near him, and if he can keep doing that he'll be a very dangerous winger for us.

Two moments of pure class from him on Saturday: i) First half when 1 v 1 against Hoilett. Was in the corner where I was sat, and Hoilett took a touch that put the ball slightly too far in front of his stride. Colo saw his opportunity and put in a perfectly timed slide tackle, taking ball and man. Then, he was the first to react and get up, take control of the ball and just casually play it off Hoilett for a goal kick. Just completely took control of a dangerous situation and took possession back for us. ii) Second half in the opposite corner of the pitch. I think he chased down a through ball under pressure from a Blackburn player. Most players would have put it out for a throw-in to them right in our corner, but he controlled it, held their player off, got his head up and played a pass out to Ryan Taylor. Was only a simple pass but the presence of mind and calmness to do that in our own corner with a player pressurising him was brilliant. I think that move then ended up with us either having an effort on their goal or a throw-in deep in their half. Just 2 little things that I think really set him apart from a lot of centre halves in the league. He can play it safe when he has to, but the ability he has on the ball and his reading of the game in tight situations just brings a calmness to our defending that we have lacked for so many years. Absolutely love the guy.

Im still preparing myself for the 'we're being quoted extortionate figures for players' line in January.

Ah ok, cheers. Hoping to see him on Saturday like for my first live game of the season! Good to hear that he still has his pace, means he can hopefully come back the same player and won't have to adapt his game, which was a bit of a worry.

Christ. How many deluded posts are there in that thread? What point are they trying to make there exactly? It's hardly as if 'Sess' is a huge powerhouse midfielder! If anything, I would say that him and Ben Arfa are a similar(ish) sort of player with similar attributes, ie pacey, good dribbling, creative. But, Ben Arfa is superior in all of these shared attributes. Even if they think Sessegnon is better than Ben Arfa, he's obviously going to fail in this 'hardest, strongest league in the world' anyway by his logic. Such utter mongs over there.

Could anyone post what Pardew says about Ben Arfa on the BBC audio ('Ben Arfa return delights Pardew')? I can't listen to it at work. Does he hint at what sort of involvement he'll have on Saturday?

You obviously didn't listen to the game against Columbus Crew in pre-season. The best audio experience of my life. :lol: That s*** was epic. I still call Tav Taveerrneeay. If Shola plays tonight I hope he whips out his lollipops again

You obviously didn't listen to the game against Columbus Crew in pre-season. The best audio experience of my life.

It isn't, off the top of my head we had 84% against Panathinaikos last year. Jesus Christ

Just seen that Barca beat Osasuna 8-0 with 82% possession. Absolutely crazy stat that. Surely that must be a near record, even for Barca?

It's just because you havn't seen me yet... I always knew you prefered men to women. But it is ok, everybody has his preferences... Ouch