Pilko

3-0 to the home side. No matter how bad their form and how good we've been this season, it's written in the stars. We lose 3-0 here every year.

We will lose this game, absolutely certain of it now. Glad to see Williamson, but fucking hell man Pardew. Learn.

The official site says that the players trained today. That fills me with a bit more hope; our managers in recent years, to the best of my recollection always seemed to give the players Christmas Day off, and that might have something to do with the dreadful results every year.

It'll go to Aguero, officially. In terms of the FM style sum of price paid divided by average rating/goals/assists etc, he'd be far and away the best. EDIT: Ba would be, that is.

'Decent' is a shade harsh on Cabaye, imo. I'd certainly upgrade him to 'good, showing signs that he could/will be great'.

Man U Man C Chelsea Liverpool West Ham £2 wins £16.68

2-3 goals in: Liverpool/Blackburn Bolton/Newcastle Chelsea/Fulham WBA/Man City £1.50 pays £23.95

1-0 or 2-0 to Bolton.

We had the longest pre-drinks ever, from January to August, but then we had pardy time from August to November. Now we're getting the December hangover.

Had numerous small monies on tonight's game and ended up about three quid in profit due to having 1-1 correct score.

Dalglish will no doubt try and mumble his way out of any problems thrown at him.

Any good value on Spurs/Chelsea tonight?

Vuckic imposed himself fairly well, imo. There were five or six occasions he barged a WBA player off the ball or won a fifty-fifty and then surged forwards with the ball. He was direct and purposeful, and it was a very promising showing.

Please tell me you're taking the piss. His positioning is arguably the worst thing about his game. FAO Mick, this is what I'm getting at. ^

I've never said that Simpson was any better than he is, I defend him when he gets undeserved stick. Ryan Taylor can't defend and if people can't see that then they are barking mad. This post http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcforum/index.php/topic,66527.msg3401567.html#msg3401567 was laughable mind and far more an over reaction that anything I've come out with to defend him with. How on earth is that post 'laughable'? Simpson is constantly self-promoting, and clearly thinks he's a brilliant footballer. It gives the impression that he thinks he's better than he is, and has an inflated opinion of his ability; which is certainly a reason why he's disliked by many people. Tell you what is laughable though: the notion that Simpson is a better bet at RB than Ryan Taylor. They are both average-poor at defending, but Taylor can actually pass a ball and hit a set piece. Simpson offers absolutely zilch going forwards and yet is still always miles out of position.

My golden boy grow up man. You're always in this thread panning Ryan Taylor in a completely exaggerated manner and defending Simpson, despite his painfully shit performances. If only the man himself could defend with the same vigour and consistency that you're doing for him on here.

He was playing left back and as usual he was nowhere to be seen when required to defend, he's hopeless. Coloccini could have dealt with that, except he simpered over towards Long and was burnt for pace. It wasn't Taylor's fault. Your golden boy Simpson was fucking garbage tonight, as usual.

Couldn't describe it better, although the grief the crowd give him is beyond the joke. It's not, really. I don't agree with cheering a player being subbed but I can understand why the other fans do it. This isn't one bad game, it's about fifteen of them.

So could that prick who rolled back onto the pitch to try and time-waste just before Ba scored. (this isn't me having a pop at WBA in general; you played rather well and deserved to win)

West Brom are the new Southampton.

He was better than Tiote tonight, by a long shot.

I was so pissed off at the one we conceded today. It's one of the most basic ever set piece routines possible, and we fell for it hook, line and sinker. Absolutely shite defending and positioning.

Infuriating that he'd rather howk it out for a throw in than use his right foot. It reminded me of watching my dad's old Sunday team when I was a nipper. The manager used to shout 'red head on this!' everytime the goalie kicked the ball - that's what Krul managed to achieve today.