Heron

Hatem Ben Arfa not as selfish as he used to be...

It's an Ashley/Pardew wankfest as expected. It is all going to be geared to make us look fickle or stupid. One thing that wont be mentioned is the fact that so many of us stuck by the fuckers when we went down in the first place.

Is the Steve they're talking to Steven Taylor lol?

Excellent post.

Well, well, well...what do we have here.... http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/8845/toons.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us You can smoke me if you think we cannot do it.

Quality Wullie.

The fact that money from the shirts/poppy symbol is going to support a military body is enough for FIFA to say, "Like f***". They can't afford to set a precedent. It's nowt to do with international football which is what this boils down to. Sometimes matches occur that are played in politically-charged circumstances: matches with Israel, the Koreas, some African games, etc. FIFA has to ensure that ultimately the game is simply a match between two football sides. I wonder what Spain think about this? Think they might get their owld Armada oot...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-24007829-defy-fifa-play-with-a-poppy-england.do Personally I think it's a load of fuss over nothing. I didn't think anything could be as dull as the Terry story this week but I've been proven wrong. Also, what if - for whatever reason - a player didn't want to wear a poppy on their shirt? I'd think that was fair enough, we have a freedom and democratic view in this country. Regardless of this though, they would be shafted by the media and football fans.

Again - he's a quality player but is still yet to find the form he could be at, imo. That will come with game time and confidence, I'm sure. For the time being, I just hope he keeps things simple.

Politics and football cross paths plenty of time to be fair. I've seen Macedonians burning England flags outside the ground before qualifiers, I've heard our players racially abused on the continent, I've seen footballers going to war torn countries to show support, etc, etc. Like it or not our soldiers more than likely love sports, and more specifically football. This will be a hugely televised friendly I would imagine, and some lads and lasses will more than likely see it in Afghanistan or Iraq and I'm sure it would raise morale, to see something so simple as a poppy on an England shirt. Football is tribal, and has been for many a year - people use it as a way to represent who they are, and where they come from. We come from a land that is free, and has fought and died for this freedom, why shouldn't we be proud? Whilst I agree this isn't the be all and end all, and will be quickly forgotten, FIFA have been totally embarrassing by not allowing it to go ahead. I'm sick of the double standards we receive for being English. Nee wonder Black people got pissed off with racism. It's millions time worse and this irritates the shit out of me.

We're still at war and still losing lives of true heroes. These supposed 'heroes' that many look up to, either as children or as grown men, are role models for thousands of the population. Wearing a poppy on their shirt therefore urges children to understand it, and embrace it, as they rightly should...IMO obviously.

To be fair, if this whole poppy on the shirt thing was commercialized - with all the proceedings going to Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion, etc I would happily buy a shirt. Think it's beyond a fucking joke that we couldn't have a poppy on our shirts. I actually think if this had have been another nation it probably wouldn't have been a problem. FIFA are a bunch of total and utter wankers and need to fuck right off. Corrupt twats.

Very rarely do you score goals by doing the simple things, there's no set formula to scoring goals, In actual fact theres no difference between someone trying to play a risky ball through the defence and someone trying to take on the fullbacks on a regualr basis, they both can come up with the same results yet one way of doings things Is frowned upon more than the other. I'd personally encourage Ben arfa to dribble as much as possible in the final 3rd, the more a player has the ball the quicker the oppossition loses shape trying to regain possession, its these finer details which win matches. I don't think ill ever have a problem with HBA losing possession in the final 3rd because i know what he's actually capable of. Said it before but lionel Messi loses the ball more than any other player in the barcelona team, its the nature of the beast. Arsenal have won trophies by doing the simple things exceedingly well, and Barcelona are arguably the greatest team the world has ever seen because they do the simple things well. Occasionally, moments of brilliance win games, but these are usually few and far between in my opinion. We've scored goals and won games this season from doing the simple things right. Whilst I appreciate that goals win games, keeping possession, shape and clean sheets provides the foundation to win games, by at least securing a draw. When Ben Arfa, or anyone for that matter, loses the ball in key areas this effects our ability to keep clean sheets, possession and shape, and until he gets his head up and does the basics right he is removing the chance for us to be in the final third and ultimately for him to get the time and space in the right place to do what he does best and commit defenders. I wholeheartedly agree that a stupid pass, or dicking around with the ball in defence is just as much, if not more dangerous, but how often have we conceded due to an error of this nature this season? I agree that Ben Arfa should be encouraged to run with the ball in the final third, but Kieron Dyer could do that, and Hatem has more talent in his little finger than Dyer had altogether. Therefore he should be pushed to make the right decisions and do the right things at the right time, as opposed to a headless chicken with lots of pace. a leg break may change the way you need to play, but not the basics of being a professional footballer. For the record I think he'll have a blinder vs Everton, regardless of the above. He's due one.

The longer we're seen as an underdog and laughed at the better. We seem to excel in this role, as opposed to that of the high flying, top of the table side who should beat the shite in the league like Sunderland.

Put £20 on both, cheers.

Will certainly be chanting for him on Saturday - absolutely ridiculed Stoke on Monday by using professional preparation, thus preventing a p*ss poor performance. (Which is exactly what Stoke rely on to win games imo - f***ing horrible shitty little poxy club.) We're living by the "6 p's" and it's working extremely well. Every decision and risk is well calculated and it's proving that both tactically and as a man manager Pardew knows what he is doing. I was as unhappy as anyone when we got him, but f***ing hell the bloke has done wonders. At the same time Hughtons work should also not be undervalued. I get the impression that Pardew sees this task as his biggest in football management to date, and possibly going forward. If he had the opportunity to manage England, he would most likely take it, but just like the England job, if you fail at Newcastle your football management days slowly seem to fade and die - and he seems to know that. Between him and his staff (both in playing and non-playing capacities), and finally the fans, the footballing side of this club is going in a steady and right direction. Financially, Mike Ashley is seemingly doing the business, despite making mistake after mistake on the PR side. When the financial report or whatever it is called is done this should clear things up. I thoroughly expect to be breaking even and/or miles up by now (not that I fully understand finances). The key going into the next 8 games is that we don't expect too much from certain games and that the squad/club achieve points where we'd expect. If we take a greater amount of points than set out at the start of this 8, we'll be flying. I reckon it's not too unrealistic to say we could get 16 points from the next 8 and any more would be f***ing sweet. Imagine if we're on 38points after 18 games going in to play José Enrique and Andy Carroll...

Laugh it up bitches - When we beat Everton and scrape a draw away at Shiteh you'll all believe.

You paid the £5 membership? No just the 3.99 per month bs Nightmare. It's free on www.audiobites.co.uk/dontbedaft

You paid the £5 membership?

Hatem is gonna spunk on them.

Ah - okay. Cheers.

Scrape a 1-2 tonight or murder them 0-4.

I'm struggling to see peoples reason for debate here. From what i've read (which isn't everything), no-one has said he is s*** or even average for that matter. I think we all accept he is a talented footballer. All people are saying is that he needs to get his head up and play it simple a bit more often, yet the majority jump to his defence about not being sharp enough. Whilst I understand that this is a reason for lack of fitness, this isn't a reason that effects the brain. To look up and notice your team mates and/or the opposition is not something that is effected by a broken leg. Also, it's just constructive criticism - yet people make it out that it's like Ben Arfa is above any form of criticism because of his talent. Well I can only remember one "superb" thing he's done for us so far and that was his goal vs Everton. He has to prove himself in Black and White for me to class him as a fan favourite, not just our world class injured man. Because he's some what of a favourite people make countless excuses - which I could understand for someone like Shearer towards his end here, but for Hatem, he has more to do and I actually really think he will tonight.