timeEd32

This looks better to me than Cisse on the wing.

I like that MYM gets a chance at CB. Simpson will get slated, but he's plenty good enough for this game. Cisse on the wing (or Shola on the wing) is fucking ridiculous. Obertan should be in there.

#NUFC (4-2-3-1) v #Metalist: Krul; Simpson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini ©, Haidara; Anita, Cabaye; Cisse, Sissoko, Marveaux; Shola Ameobi. #NUFC substitutes v #Metalist: Elliot, Perch, S.Taylor, Gosling, Bigirimana, Gutierrez, Obertan. #EuropaLeague #newcastle

I'll be annoyed if Shola starts, but I'll be furious if he plays Cisse on the wing.

We just have to win. No reason why we can't be in the QF of this competition. Giddy just thinking about it.

Yeah, those look kind of cheap. The look and feel of the Umbro kits was perfect.

Ah, shit. I totally missed the fact that Balotelli is cup-tied. That sucks.

What if they are the holders of both when he takes over, which is a near certainty for the league and very possible with the CL. Of course, that brings its own challenges, but not the same as what others have pointed out. I don't begrudge the top managers taking the top jobs - they've earned that right - but it would be nice for one of them to go out on a limb just once.

By 2018 I think Gus is going to be pretty damn good at this.

Before the knockout round started I thought Bayern would win the whole thing. Feeling good about that at the moment.

Arsenal gonna get bummed.

I emailed them last week and told them they should offer both. Glad they listened.

They are fucking mongrels.

I knew I could count on you. Agreed, but I still think it paints a decent picture. I think it's most useful comparing players in the same position.

The lack of action this weekend led to some boredom, which eventually led to this. For those that don't know, +/- is a major stat in hockey. A player gets a +1 if they are on the field for a goal scored and a -1 for a goal against. Simple as that. I've seen a couple people translate it to football, but it's not very prevalent. There are some flaws, primarily the fact that it's common for players to play an entire game which can skew the numbers. However, it still gives some interesting insights with a large enough sample size. I know a few people cringe at the "Americanized" statistical threads, but hopefully some of you find this interesting. If there's any interest I'll keep updating this throughout the season. (Ignore the Excel cursors - too lazy to go back and remove right now) http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8378/8482982779_8bea2c8647.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8369/8482982731_4b8fc57889.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8482982907_ff06f3cb05.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/8482982837_1c0745f977.jpg A few observations... Overall, Santon doesn't fare well because he's played the largest percentage of PL minutes and missed out on the best EL outings. Cabaye is really f***ing important Bigi and especially Jonas look pretty good by this measure Tiote looks like the weakest link of the regular PL players Cisse and Obertan have killed it in the EL. Ba was -9 for us in the PL, but he scored over 50% of the team's goals while he was on the pitch. You could conclude that this is a flaw in the metric or that he was detrimental to the team as a whole despite his goals.

Yeah, that's a ridiculous way of calculating away support.

It doesn't need to be good. It could even be slightly below average. But he needs to make an attempt to get the endline on some of his attacks. He's becoming far too predictable. AVB and Spurs had him sniffed out. On a couple of occasions it seemed like there was a midfielder (Lennon) spying him and just waiting for him to cut in.

Not worried about his positional sense or decision-making. These things will improve in time. A little more worried about his left foot and final ball. He's becoming very predictable going forward, yet he's still somewhat effective which underscores his strength, pace, and ability on the ball. With some proper development he could legitimately be a world-class LB. Hope it happens (and hope it happens here).

He's going to be a truly scary player once he adjusts to the pace and has the stamina to be a true box-to-box midfielder, which is what I think he wants to be.

Yup, expect Stoke to surpass us by May. We have a sizable lead though.

Is there a screenshot floating around of the first?

Worked hard and "scored" twice. Basically, we'd be praising him and laughing about him living offside if it wasn't for the linesman.

Completely fucking robbed.

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

False.....again.