Parsley

Probably our best player today, as shit as his end product might have been.

Rank bad.

Patently clear that the squad simply isn't good enough. Wafer-thin and woefully unbalanced.

Didn't Parrish essentially sign Sako off his own bat anyway?

Agreed. Drives his teams forward be it carrying the ball or passing it, provides goal threat and holds position very well. Good to watch as well, so difficult to knock off the ball. Fantastic dribbler.

I'm not saying Cisse is, but he's better at contesting long balls at height than Perez is. If you're going to take Mitrovic off - which was a baffling sub in the first place - Cisse is probably a better choice (although obviously a poor one in the grander scheme of things) for a target man than Perez.

As w*** as Cisse is, he's more of an outball than Perez is like. why do we need an outball? no one who plays against us needs one When you're playing deep and trying to defend a lead (not that I'm condoning this as a way of playing), it goes without saying that you need some sort of focal point up top. As much as I like Perez, he's too small and not strong enough in the air to lead the line by himself. Mitrovic is the ideal choice but Cisse, shit as he is, is more suited to the role than Perez. FWIW almost all teams in the league have a striker for this purpose - Pelle/Southampton, Gomis/Swansea, Costa/Chelsea, Giroud/Arsenal, Benteke/Liverpool.

Was quite refreshing to see a Newcastle player drive at his man, hit the by-line and put a cross in for once. Decent little cameo.

As wank as Cisse is, he's more of an outball than Perez is like.

Although I understand why he kept us as what essentially was a 4-4-2 after recent performances, it was almost definitely the wrong decision in hindsight. With that extra man in midfield, Bournemouth absolutely bossed it for the first 55-60 mins. Once we reverted to a 4-5-1, they ran out of ideas - was the right change by McClaren but should've come sooner. The Cisse sub was baffling mind.

Where the fuck is the advantage there ref.

That's a fucking shocking sub like.

Next goal will decide the game.

He's been our best player by a mile

This has been the polar opposite of recent performances. We've barely strung a pass together.

We've been shite like, but give over man.

Ayooooooo

Cracker from Dembele. Scarcely deserved mind, Anderlecht have battered Spurs since the equaliser.

Not a pen like, but ours wasn't either. Agreed, but the lack of consistency is infuriating.

Shoulder barge from Larsson on Kone in the box...no pen, no red

Are Stoke really that physical these days? Colback and/or Anita should be able to run rings around Whelan and Adam. Bojan, Arnautovic, Shaqiri and Diouf are another issue mind. They are more physical than us, and the only way Colback will run rings around anybody is if his legs are chopped off and replaced with bionic ones. He's up against Charlie Adam and Glenn Whelan for Christ sake. Stoke aren't a bad side but their centre mid pairing is every bit as bad as ours, arguably worse in some respects.

Are Stoke really that physical these days? Colback and/or Anita should be able to run rings around Whelan and Adam. Bojan, Arnautovic, Shaqiri and Diouf are another issue mind.

How do McClaren's first 10 games compare with Keegan's in his second spell just out of interest?

We'd have had another man back in the box though surely? Or potentially someone else tighter to Johnson before he gets his shot away? Not disagreeing with you per se but you can't say that the red card didn't influence the match.

We were down to 10 men man