Neil

Fuck off Pardew you smarmy, lying piece of shit.

It was a rare moment of thickness from him. I can forgive him for the Stoke penalty as I think it's questionable albeit reckless. Last night was sheer stupidity and he really should have known better after the Stoke game. Very lucky to get away with it.

There it is again. "We're a tough nut to crack." Media is fucking obsessed with painting us as hard to beat when we're so easy to score against. A good performance from Howard tonight isn't going to change that.

As poor a decision as it was and as terrible as it would be if it was true the ref could be convinced so easily, as a manager would you applaud Schneiderlin in that case?

Can someone just put Motson down? Put us out of our misery.

Class from Ayew. Absolutely atrocious decision to send Naughton off.

Not a single goal, assist or clean sheet. Nice.

That would be a bargain IMO. Napoli this season have looked really good. I think in past seasons they've flattered to deceive too often but they look the real deal this year, not least with Higuain being fucking mint.

There's Giroud not being a very good striker again.

Can't agree at all. I'd agree McCarthy hasn't done much but Barry's the root of many of our problems and gets by on the whole 'veteran' tag. Admittedly recently he's been better, but the point is our defence is struggling because of the total lack of protection they're getting, combined with Martinez's insistence on playing it out.

We were bloody good tonight, the first 20 minutes aside. And yeah, Besic has a lot of talent, just prone to stupidity. Sadly this performance means Barry will still be in our team for a while yet.

Wasn't gonna have a nibble tonight but that's mental.

Also, yet more evidence today Alli is going to be top class and is already a strong contender to start for us at the Euros. He has the decision-making/maturity Barkley should have by now but infuriatingly doesn't.

Well after all, Mane rode his luck with Southampton recently.

Deulofeu and Mirallas on the bench Man I hate Martinez Wonder how close he is to getting the boot, that's a really fucking weird team selection. League cup semi cup semi midweek. They're doing nowt in the league so it looks like that's been prioritised. Don't blame him tbh. He should be doing better. Atrocious keeper aside Everton have a ridiculously strong spine to their team. Can't really agree. Under Moyes we did because of the emphasis he as a manager put on having a strong spine. Martinez wants everyone to play football, and he's asking players who can't play good football to do that. The way we play, it's hard to see what spine we have - in a players-on-paper sense or in a team sense. Take Gareth Barry. Had a very good season when Martinez first took over, and has been a lumbering disaster ever since who contributes more to opponents attacks than our own. For every ball he intercepts, he gives it away twice. However you then consider our style of play and you have to ask why the fuck he's being asked to do things he can't do (e.g. quick one touch passing, quick movement with the ball) because he's never been able to do that. Our defence is getting criticised - sometimes correctly so - but the problem lies in the midfield. They offer zero protection to our back 4 who are therefore consistently exposed. Compare that to Tottenham's defence. Yes, the centre backs have been impressive, but part of that is because they're not being overworked due to the tenacity of players like Dembele, Dier and Alli in front of them. They're allowed time to be in position and assess the danger. Whereas our lot are constantly having 3 or 4 players running at them. Of course they're going to look disorganised. We're not working as a team defensively, that's why we've got an embarrassing amount of goals conceded. I felt sorry for Lukaku today too, no-one gave him consistent support. Kone would be best replaced with an actual cone while Barkley is frustrating as fuck. If he had a few brain cells he'd be truly top quality but until he learns to make the correct decision more than 20% of the time, he won't fulfil his considerable natural talent. All in all it's a bit of a mess at the moment. We're close yet at the time so far away from being a really good team and that's on Martinez and no-one else.

Happy New Year to all, hope everyone gets what they wish for in 2016.

There's something majestic about this post.

Who else could it be? Pablo Angel, duh.

McClaren's face, man.

No idea what formation this is, Garth can work that out. Butland - clearly Alderweireld - been class for Spurs, looks very dangerous from set pieces too Smalling - one of the few bright spots for Man Utd. Improved a lot in the last 12 months. Rose - seems to have tightened up a lot defensively and is a constant outlet for Spurs whenever I see them Mahrez - aye Ozil - aye Alli - 19 years old and bosses games. Could be a great player for the next decade if he continues like this. De Bruyne - haven't been as blown away by him as others seem to have been, he's just simply a very good player who they paid a fuckton for, and is performing as such. Ighalo - has to be. Newly promoted team and he's scared the shit out of every defence he's played. Vardy - interesting to see how he does 2nd half of the season. Lukaku - utter fucking beast All worthy of consideration: Lloris, De Gea, Cech, Stones, Dann, Koscielny, Kante, Deulofeu, Payet, Arnautovic, Giroud, Kane

Wright inexplicably started talking about Berahino being sound and loving his mother, think Lineker quipped that Ozil wasn't only a player of the season contender but that he also loved his mother. Was a real comic highlight.

What a pile of fucking shit.

Had over 1.5. Between 2 bets they let me down for 450.

Gillingham you utter fucking cuntbuckets, couldn't manage a 2nd at home to bottom of the league who've conceded 19 in 5 away games. Fuck off.

Anyone explain Gillingham's odds tomorrow?