alexf

I don't think his physical attributes have changed all that much. He was never particularly fast or physically imposing from the beginning.

Think that Nigeria is fake. There is pixelation on the badge but not anywhere else.

Speed wasnt being linked to the top teams when he was witn us so you'll never know what he would have done.

Just a beautiful site when in full stride. Such a powerful runner.

I agree. We were fairly comfortable but we definitely retreated deeper, quite noticeably, once Remy went off. Taking him off for a defensive midfielder was an obvious signal and leaving the immobile Shola upfront alone gave us little in the way of an out ball. Fortunately West Brom, who had shown very little but for a 5-10 minute spell second half, had very little to throw at us and Williamson basically headed away everything that came in the box in the final 10 minutes. It's working at the moment as a tactic as we are obviously more comfortable (or Pardew prefers) trying to shut up shop even if we only have a one goal lead going into the late stages of a game rather than go all out for another goal. I mean even though we scored the 2nd on about 60mins, I was pretty confident we wouldn't be scoring any more goals. There is a reason we haven't scored more than 2 for so long.

Short term I don't think Europa League is an issue as realistically I can't see us finishing any higher than 8th. Arsenal, Man C, Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, Spurs, Everton will most likely finish above us. But it would be nice to be the best of the rest and it would mean we would probably have had a very good season, and there is already a gap opening up between the top half and the bottom now. However I think if we can keep this run going and perhaps invest in January, then we can possibly rival Spurs, Everton and Liverpool for those Europa places, like we did Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea two years ago. Oh and not forgetting Southampton either, who are similar to us really. That's about where I would expect us to be competing really. No one thinks we should be going for the title like the press sometimes like to pretend we think. But we should also be no where near the bottom like we were last year.

If we don't beat these in the next derby

Agree with that. Been many times where the team has been out of form and just give it to Ben Arfa every time and don't move. At the moment the midfield and strikers are interchanging quite well, they have to else it won't work in this system. Sissoko and Gouffran in particular. I think where the frustration is coming from is I think some feel it would be nice to now drop Ben Arfa in to a team in-form and functioning well. Problem is for who and in what position? From Pardews point of view he's obviously worried it would effect the balance of the team by putting him in. I can accept him being on the bench at the moment because we have won 4 in a row!. But I'd like to see him introduced at some stage when Shola gets tired for example, instead of Cisse. Can't say I wasn't a little disappointed when he didn't get a single minute against West Brom but you can't really argue after 4 successive wins. Feels eerily similar to 2 years ago when we were going strong but many still wanted him in the team. Difference was then that he has Ryan Taylor or Obertan playing ahead of him. Now he says Sissoko or Gouffran who are far better players. I guess you can argue Shola if you want to play him as a striker but clearly Shola brings the better out of others in the team at the mo, despite not having the talent of Ben Arfa ofcourse.

Be interesting to see how they get on in the next few weeks without Sturridge. Was starting to annoy me that they had been 2nd for so long.

Exactly. Bloke claimed he'd signed Krul etc.

Think he meant those three came to England and did well but fair comment.

It really does follow previous examples doesn't it We've been known to happily wait til the next window for cheaper deals in the past.

Whole thing is a bit of a mess really. I mean the money isn't enough to interest the Prem teams to really want to be in it. Also when you grind it out and find yourself in a quarter final like we did, you end up playing Champions League drop outs like Benfica and Chelsea, who went on to win it that year.

fair comment.

Probably a fair few Newcastle fans who still feel the same way. Type of player who will always be generally under appreciated because they don't grab the headlines like a Remy would. Same sort of reason why it's unlikely he'd ever be considered for the national team.

have swansea rested a few for this game?

Wife spilling shit on twitter. Why? I really don't get that? Why would you want to reveal personal stuff like that to strangers on the internet. Like saying it to her friends etc fair enough but putting it on twitter when you know you're husband is a well known sports star around the world is crazy. Surely puts into question playing Colo at the moment while this is all going on. Not sure how he can be fully focused on his football.

Shola did ok against spurs but don't think generally he will have anywhere near the same impact as he does at home. Not to mention the fact he can't normally play two games in a few days. Big call to change a winning team though, which Pardew doesn't like to do

Just a beautiful sight when he gets into full stride.

Ofcourse. Said I'd reluctantly swap Shola for Soldado if he's desperate too

Notable how much Gouffran supports the strikers when the ball is about to be crossed. Spurs supporting mate I watched the game with kept commented on the fact we always had 3 in the box when we crossed it. Seemed quite bitter and jealous because Soldado is often all alone. Felt quite good to be envied by other teams fans

I completed forgot he was due another 3 year contract why can't he just have his last hurrah and go out in blaze of glory.

It's very much like the 5th season at the moment. The team is functioning well in a 4-4-2 and Pardew can't and arguably shouldn't find a postion for him at the moment because the team is winning games. Lots of us complained about the fact he wasn't getting any games and shit like Obertan was but it was hard to be too mad while we were winning. Eventually Ben Arfa had a few cracking sub appearances and played his way back in with quality and showing he was willing to work hard and track back. If that can happen again and we kick on once more after January then fantastic. I do fear though that there may be some vultures lurking in January and if he doesn't get back in before then he may be happy to move on somewhere else. Would be a shame and I hope it is more like the 5th season and we eventually blend him back in to a hard-working, winning team. Which will add that bit of flair and magic that he can bring.