themanupstairs

20 minutes to salvage our season!! Come on!!!! ffs!!!

Absolutely no need for the reaction he had though. Sure, be pissed off that you're coming off, but no need for the petulance. Sucks.

Wow. Did he just tell Pardew to fuck off?

What did not get talked about enough was Cisse's movement just before that fluke goal. The way he ghosts away from his marker to create that straight line for Cabaye to pass through was masterful. That's just amazing vision and reading of the game.

Has just done his little jig routine in front of the PSV fans having just won the Dutch cup.

Just seen the Derry pen and sending off. What an absolute joke. This referee has been shocking all season. Complete and utter disgrace.

The only time to scoff at European qualification is in hindsight, when you've just missed out on it and you can say, "well at least we can focus on the league" etc... Definitely for me.

Agger being fit again is huge for them - they defend much better when he plays. They even attack better when he plays. When we played them at Anfield earlier in the season he was the only one attacking and creating something by running out of defence. That was before Gerrard came on. Yup. IMO he is their most influential player. Lucas has only come good recently, and his injury layoff might place question marks on his ability to return to his previous form for now. Agger is an excellent player and a brilliant defender.

f*** me is this for real? You're actually comparing the two clubs in that way? New forum trend: Swansea are s***, Barca are good. And to think most of us would have been happy with a point before the match started. No, don't get me wrong, i'm not comparing them as teams, just the style of passing game they play and Barca were naturally the first ones that popped into my head. They both play a passing style of football but Swansea's passing seems to be more focused on keeping the ball away from the opposition than penetrating and scoring. You could compare them to many teams who play a passing game but a different kind of passing game. Maybe a comparison between the Arsenal invincibles and the Arsenal side of recent years might serve better. The invincibles played some lovely pass and move football but the passing had a penetrative purpose whereas in more recent times Arsenal have seemed to be passing it for the sake of it. Again, it's not a great comparison but I hope it illustrates the point a little. Yes, but you've got to think of it in context. From their point of view, they are a small club, first go at the big time, and now that they are here need to make the most of it. Playing their passing football the way they do is IMO primarily a form of defence. If the opposition can't get the ball off us they can't score etc.. They couldn't breach a very well disciplined and determined defensive unit yesterday, as our back 7 did not give them the space or the time, hence the sideways and backward passing. But I don't think anyone can deny that they are a well drilled side, who have played football in the right spirit all season long. They are lively and spritely, and have scored some lovely goals. They have not resorted to dirty tactics either. That's got to earn some respect IMO. I'd agree that we can hardly blame them for playing to a style that suits them and has helped them to stay in the division. But it's not great to watch. Part of its effectiveness lies in starving the opposition of the ball, but because they're quite slow in getting it forward, we end up watching a lot of passes between the midfield and the defence. Despite the fact that they had 75% of possession, the stat for possession in the final third was fairly even. I wouldn't say they were a particularly 'clean' side. I felt they did a lot of diving and holding etc. What club does not resort to that nowadays man? At least it's not a part of their game where they are under clear instructions to rattle the opposition physically or through cheating. And again, they did not do much with the ball yesterday due to the way we played! I think it takes credit away from our defensive performance when you say that. They had no ideas because we didn't let them have any! Watch the games where they beat some of the better sides in the league, and see if they haven't been incisive, or too slow to get it forward. They just couldn't play through us yesterday and we hit them on 2 lethal breaks. Simple.

f*** me is this for real? You're actually comparing the two clubs in that way? New forum trend: Swansea are s***, Barca are good. And to think most of us would have been happy with a point before the match started. No, don't get me wrong, i'm not comparing them as teams, just the style of passing game they play and Barca were naturally the first ones that popped into my head. They both play a passing style of football but Swansea's passing seems to be more focused on keeping the ball away from the opposition than penetrating and scoring. You could compare them to many teams who play a passing game but a different kind of passing game. Maybe a comparison between the Arsenal invincibles and the Arsenal side of recent years might serve better. The invincibles played some lovely pass and move football but the passing had a penetrative purpose whereas in more recent times Arsenal have seemed to be passing it for the sake of it. Again, it's not a great comparison but I hope it illustrates the point a little. Yes, but you've got to think of it in context. From their point of view, they are a small club, first go at the big time, and now that they are here need to make the most of it. Playing their passing football the way they do is IMO primarily a form of defence. If the opposition can't get the ball off us they can't score etc.. They couldn't breach a very well disciplined and determined defensive unit yesterday, as our back 7 did not give them the space or the time, hence the sideways and backward passing. But I don't think anyone can deny that they are a well drilled side, who have played football in the right spirit all season long. They are lively and spritely, and have scored some lovely goals. They have not resorted to dirty tactics either. That's got to earn some respect IMO.

f*** me is this for real? You're actually comparing the two clubs in that way? New forum trend: Swansea are s***, Barca are good. And to think most of us would have been happy with a point before the match started.

Agreed. Some absolute stupidity been posted about the Swansea team in this thread. What a f***ing joke! You'd think they have scored 0 goals this season the way some people are going on. Yes their personnel are limited, that is pretty obvious. But I'm sure they have had better games than the one they played yesterday, hence their league position! It's a lot of sideways passing etc..., but at least there is a decent base philosophy there! Their way of playing has kept them up at the first attempt (), and maybe they will work to improve on the personnel in the off season! The same people branding it s*** football are also critics of Big Sam and Tony Pulis and now Rodgers! I know which I'd rather stayed in the league.

Absolutely sensational performance, and HUGE 3 points!! What a start to the weekend. Can't be arsed to post now. That is all. PS: majestic finish from Cisse

IIRC you're a chubby doofus

IIRC Man United are the only team to win there this season so it's not such a winnable game. Neil would disagree there like

It wouldn't surprise me if we sign a right back, a left back, Simpson being sold and we send Santon out on loan to an Italian club. Why would we send Santon out on loan? to Italy no less?

GM - Julian Dicks Hard on the outside, soft as shite on the inside

They really are! What an experience it must have been, and what a great afternoon they picked to do this.

None.

Shaved his head apparently?

Good performance yesterday, but I would like to see him as the more advanced of the 3 in midfield. Tiote and Cabaye can exchange places and patrol the lines in front of the defence, and Guthrie should be the one in or around "zone 14" or whatever it was called. I think he can get a few more goals from that position as he can certainly hit them. I have more faith in the engines of Cabaye and Tiote to be able to do the running to defend or help in attack, than I do Guthrie's.

Agreed. I fucking love this place, and really would like to donate for the next set of payments. Where do I sign?

why is Shearer in there though?

If only he'd been fit all season! It's funny cause Gerrard has more quality in his big toe than the whole of the Newcastle team. Also your sig is wrong, he isn't a legend, he's a c***. What the fuck's going on here? Must hurt to see Everton above the irrelevant Reds in the table.

Hilarious today. Didn't even look that good. Suck on it son.