Parsley

They were definitely the more organised and the classier in possession. Purely in terms of chances though, I thought we were unlucky not to come away with a point.

Marveaux and Obertan made reasonable attempts, Shola tried as well. The thing about Everton is they didn't need to rely on individuals trying to change a game on their own. Baines' 35 yard free kick was a bit of a game-changer surely?

Yep. Give Rafa his dues - putting a great string of results together after a bad start.

I don't think Ashley will gamble against relegation for a second time. I think we'll spend.

There was contact to be fair.

Was a fantastic effort from our boys against a full-strength Arsenal side fresh from having Boxing Day off.

The amount of times that Gibbs has got in down that right-hand side is ridiculous.

What an unbelievable pass from Marveaux.

Fantastic assist from Obertan. Made up for Marveaux.

Tiote is fast becoming a liability in our final third.

Nah, if we keep our performance up a goal will come. Ba and Cisse look to have the better of their centre-backs. We've passed it well and got into good positions but are just lacking that bit of end product. One good final ball and we'll be in the money.

Cisse didn't trip Evans up though, Evans tripped himself up worrying about Cisse and clearing the ball. Again this makes things make no sense, as Evans was thinking about Cisse so therefore Cisse must have been active. See why i hate the rules as they are. How can you prove that Evans tripped himself up because of Cisse though?

It's a sad state of affairs when this needlessly complicated offside rule is being used to divert attention from what was a defensive fuck up from Evans imo. He goes to ground to clear the ball, not because of any pressure applied by Cisse, and sends it into his own net. It is a poor clearance. Even if Cisse was onside, there's no doubt in my mind that Evans would've also gone to ground. For me, Ferguson is splitting hairs in what is a notoriously grey area.

+ Very well put across, that, fair play Pards Manager is asked a question in a press conference, answers it fairly. "Needs to learn to shut his mouth!" If you watch the actual interview, he's being dead jovial about the discussion bit, everyone's laughing. He's hardly launched a scathing attack on baconface. His incredibly smug/sarcastic reaction at the asking of the question was probably enough on it's own to warrant a repost from Ferguson. Unbelievable. It warranted a response, yes. The response it actually ended up getting was disgraceful. As guarded as Wenger was in his interview, his comments were on an equal footing with Pardew's imo.

Florian Maurice Sunday Oliseh Sonny Anderson Christopher Wreh

Fulham have been absolute dogshite.

Wasn't a good performance at all but I thought we were still the better team by a distance. QPR offered next to nothing in the second half. Huge, huge win nonetheless.

Not a red for me. Yes, studs were raised but Adebayor's foot wasn't above the ball.

If we do go in for another striker in January, then it has to be a quick, busy type with a good engine who can run the channels. Ba and Cisse are just too similar and too static in their movement to keep defenders on their toes in this current system. Poor performance and Villa deserved at least a point - by far the more fluid and cohesive of the two sides. Anita and Bigirimana were both excellent though. Marveaux and Obertan had a positive impact when they came on and I'd genuinely consider bringing one of them in for either Ba or Cisse for the Everton game; Marveaux in particular distributes the ball well which can only help from an attacking perspective.

I think he's been excellent all things considered. Very mature display so far.

Marveaux on for Jonas please.

Jonas. This is the thing with Marveaux: technically, I'd argue that he's better than Jonas but I think Pardew will favour Jonas every time for his defensive qualities. Marveaux is first XI quality imo and, while I love Jonas to bits, I'll be frustrated if Marveaux remains on the bench just because he's naturally a more offensive type of player.

If you're Pardew though, do you favour Marveaux's flair and quality on the ball over Jonas' tactical discipline and work rate?

I think an important point to note is that the more active clubs (Chelsea, City and QPR aside) such as Swansea, Spurs, Fulham, Liverpool and Everton have either benefitted financially from selling one of their better players (Dembele, Modric, Rodwell) and have been able to use those extra funds to buy more players, or have changed manager fairly recently. Under a new manager who is wanting to implement a new style of play such as AVB or Laudrup, I'd guess that chairmen and board members are more likely to make money available to let their man put his stamp on the side. I am disappointed with this window fwiw. I think Anita is a good addition to the squad but we are looking very short up front and I'm annoyed that the whole Debuchy saga was allowed to drag on the way it did without any meaningful conclusion. However, I look at the likes of Spurs and Liverpool with their significant player turnovers and, for this season at least, wonder if keeping a consistent squad together might work in our favour while our rivals experience short term transitional periods. I may very well be clutching at straws here, but the benefits gained by our rivals from an influx of new players might well be offset somewhat by new managers and the sheer number of new players in key positions. Spurs, for instance, have a brand new midfield near enough and it will inevitably take time to click. In this regard, arguably January and next summer will be more significant windows for us in terms of keeping up with the teams around us.