Pilko

Wonder if we'll get some quotes from Pards talking him up after this.

Get him on the bench on Thursday. Man in form!

New deal pls

Never thought I'd say this but we need to get him a nice long contract sorted out. He's proven himself as a very capable utility player. He might be ever so slightly iffy at right-back but his displays at centre-back and centre-mid have been largely fantastic and he's put in a few good left-back showings too. There's also nobody else I'd rather see come off the bench and be hoyed into the midfield battle, especially in a mental game like the derby, because he just gets stuck right in from the off (remember that yellow card at Stoke anyone? ) and wins tackles like nobodies business. Perch and Ryan Taylor are two absolutely excellent utility players to have in the squad, like.

How is it a red "by the letter of the law"? Raised his hands? Absolutely. It isn't red by the letter of the law. That post show no knowledge of the rules. Howay then, enlighten me. He raised his hands and made contact with the player, above the chest, in an aggressive manner. I haven't read the referee's comprehensive rulebook but as far as I can remember that results in a red card, no matter how petty or pathetic the contact is. What? He got sent off for a late tackle on Fletcher. What were you watching? It speaks volumes for the alleged recklessness of the actual 'tackle' (i.e. the bit he did with his foot) because I thought the red card at the time was because he led into the tackle with his hands up and struck the guy in the face.

Agree with all that.

He was minging today. Really disappointing.

Agree with this.

He's mint and I love him.

What a horrid cunt he is. Hope he gets cock rot.

How is it a red "by the letter of the law"? Raised his hands? Absolutely. It isn't red by the letter of the law. That post show no knowledge of the rules. Howay then, enlighten me. He raised his hands and made contact with the player, above the chest, in an aggressive manner. I haven't read the referee's comprehensive rulebook but as far as I can remember that results in a red card, no matter how petty or pathetic the contact is. I'm not taking the piss, but I really think you should watch it again. I've seen it a few times and I haven't changed my mind. I still think it was a red, although I think Larsson should have been sent off for the mackems and the fact they got no bookings shows what a shite ref Atkinson truly is.

I'd agree with that, we looked superb compared to the sleepwalking starts we've had all season long.

Krul 7 - did everything that could have been expected of him in the game, good on crosses and recovered from his rick where he spilled the ball adequately. Can't have been easy for him coming back in for the derby but it was like he'd never been away. Simpson 7.5 - best game in our shirt so far, and I can't stand him as a player. He was economical with the ball, managed to limit the number of hoofs (even with ten men!) and was tight to his man, stopping the cross fairly consistently. Coloccini 9 - our man of the match, an absolutely superhuman effort from our captain. It was like he'd never been away, he has such fantastic footballing ability and awareness and it showed today. Superb. Williamson 7 - would have been given a higher mark had he not been beaten by O'Shea for the equaliser. Prior to that he stood up to everything the mackems were throwing at him and I particularly liked his piece of 'professional' defending that earned him a booking. Santon 7 - didn't get forward as much as he has been doing lately but still a useful showing. He seemed to communicate better with the other members of the back four better than he usually does today and I think that helped him. Ben Arfa 6.5 - a few fantastic bursts with the ball, particularly in the first half, and an excellent bit of play laying the ball onto Shola for the build-up to the goal. He seemed to tire a bit and fade as the game went on but we shouldn't have taken him off, particularly when anything we were gonna get was on the counter. Cabaye 7.5 - best performance of the season so far and looked back to somewhere approaching his proper self. Class finish early doors and was an absolute terrier in midfield, covered so much ground and grafted like fuck. Short passing seemed to improve too. Tiote n/a - was doing fine until his moment of stupidity. You can't give a cunt like Martin Atkinson any reason to send you off and sadly Tiote lost it for a split second and that's precisely what happened. Frustrating that he goes out of the team, again. Gutierrez 5 - fairly solid for parts of the game but absolutely minging with the ball, he looked tired and weak when he had it today. He's normally prevalent in big/away games as a stand-out performer but he was the opposite today. Shola 6 - did well to get a shot on target prior to Cabaye's goal and was doing some good work before he had to be sacrificed. Two words - nuisance value. I felt sorry for him when he went off. Ba 7 - superhuman effort grafting away all afternoon on his own, utterly thankless task and he handled it manfully. He really needed taking off after 75-80 minutes though, he was absolutely spent and it really showed. Really didn't deserve to register an o.g., just hope it doesn't knock his confidence. Perch 6.5 - slotted in fine and made a few excellent blockbuster tackles. He's a very reliable player to bring off the bench and shove into the midfield battle, because he acquits himself well every time and gets stuck right in for the team. Taylor n/a - seemed to win a few headers but I think we missed Colo's leadership for those final minutes. Not his fault though ofc. Obertan n/a - pointless sub and I can't even remember him having a touch. Not the sort you want playing in the derby, you need guts and he has absolutely none at all. The ref: was shit and gave the mackems pretty much all the small, niggly decisions all afternoon long. Then again, we know that he's a fucking biased cunt. He couldn't have flashed that red card any faster, and Larsson not getting booked after so many bad challenges is an absolute mystery. The linesmen weren't as bad, however, they were areet I thought. A word on 'Sess' too - absolutely shit and 'HAULED OFF!!!1!' by O'Ziff after 60-odd minutes. He was absolutely invisible and I can't wait to see the mackems claim that he's better than Ben Arfa again because today proved that he's vastly inferior as a player. We all saw what Ben Arfa did last season at home against ten men in the derby - Sessegnon barely had a kick. He's crap. Overall - we didn't lose which is very important and it's a decent point (although a bit disappointing after leading for so long) to take from this sort of fixture. We should annihilate the horrible bastards in April, they looked such a piss poor side. For Bent, read Fletcher - one man team.

Oh, did we send him on loan there?

How is it a red "by the letter of the law"? Raised his hands? Absolutely. It isn't red by the letter of the law. That post show no knowledge of the rules. Howay then, enlighten me. He raised his hands and made contact with the player, above the chest, in an aggressive manner. I haven't read the referee's comprehensive rulebook but as far as I can remember that results in a red card, no matter how petty or pathetic the contact is.

I thought that was Danny Simpson's best game in our colours, btw. I'm one of his biggest critics but he was excellent today.

Working during this so won't get to watch it properly. Krul Anita Taylor Perch Ferguson Obertan Tiote Bigirimana Marveaux Shola Cisse

Ba's fitness is one of his worst attributes but he put in one hell of a shift today. He did need replacing after 80 minutes but he worked his socks off all afternoon and managed to burrow through their backline on his own a few times. Fans with half a brain like NAGAS might not appreciate his contribution, but his manager will.

He raised his hands and lashed out, after the whistle too. It looked like nowt but by the letter of the law it is a red card, and Tiote should have known better. Atkinson is a fucking shit ref mind, gave the mackems everything all afternoon and the dopey cunts still couldn't win the game.

The mackems, for all their huff and puff, were totally garbage against ten men and were fortunate to equalise with their only attempt on target. 'Must not lose' was the overriding mantra from this game, and we didn't. Oh, and Tiote is a moron. He should know better.

Obertan for Hatem was fucking daft, Ba was blatantly flagging after some hard, hard graft on his own and needed to go off.

Shola!

2/3 ain't bad. Those are the two I'd have chosen if I had to pick out of the three.