The Prophet

f*** knows who on here. Just I heard someone last night say something like "imagine how good we'd be if Carroll was still here". Really annoyed me, we would be much worse off because he's crap. Aye couple of blokes in the boozer yesterday produces some gems. Apparently our start to the season is 'alright' while his mate accepted it was 'OK'. There was also a moment when Ba had the ball and was surrounded by three defenders and he went backwards they shouted 'what are you doing man!? That's crap' I too was expecting a Messi-esque dribble and a finish from the edge of the box. To be fair to them, I love taking the p*ss when I'm watching in a pub, was screaming for a penalty yesterday when Ba had that slip in the 2nd half when about to shoot. The thing is they were being deadly serious, worrying.

Wilkins really is a cretinous human being.

f*** knows who on here. Just I heard someone last night say something like "imagine how good we'd be if Carroll was still here". Really annoyed me, we would be much worse off because he's crap. Aye couple of blokes in the boozer yesterday produces some gems. Apparently our start to the season is 'alright' while his mate accepted it was 'OK'. There was also a moment when Ba had the ball and was surrounded by three defenders and he went backwards they shouted 'what are you doing man!? That's crap' I too was expecting a Messi-esque dribble and a finish from the edge of the box.

Ray may as well whack Lampards kecks down and give him a good pounding. Sickening stuff.

A Bosingwa goal would go down nicely now the silly bastard has lost his clean sheet. Oh he's going off, fuck off AVB you handsome cunt.

We don't have the team to be playing a diamond, plus as Chelsea discovered it's a formation that isn't suited to Premier League football. It would be very harsh to drop Best at the moment, so the only option would be to stick Jonas on the right and Ben Arfa on the left. Where does that leave Marveaux though? Nice problem to have mind.

I'm going to stop betting against Leyton Orient, hope they go into administration.

Could be a cracking game for the neutral. Spurs always play some good stuff and we're in cracking form. They generally don't enjoy their trips to the north east but I'd still take a draw.

He's lazy at times He bottles the challange He lack's intelligence His end product is unreliable Apart from that he's alright

I'm just hoping it's Udinese that is going to ruin Neil's bet.

At least half time will give Bolton fifteen mniutes to lube up to prevent anymore discomfort.

The dilema with Ben Arfa is that Pardew has clearly earmarked him as the man to play behind a lone striker. However it would be incredibly harsh to drop either, both are scoring and both are playing well. At the same time it is frustrating to have such a talented player sitting on the bench. We could either wait until one of the pair up front put in a poor shift or two and drop them, or accomodate Ben Arfa on the left where he played a bit last season.

And against QPR ? And Scunthorpe... And Fulham...Even parts of the derby... We were by far the superior team against Fulham like, particularly second half.

Swansea DNB Spurs DNB Barca -1

Second half it looked like we tried to sit back and hit them on the counter. It worked at first but we just ended up getting trapped in our own 18 yard area.

Remind me a lot of the Liverpool game at SJP the season we went down, Given was man of the match.

Bolton are getting rinsed, could be a cricket score if they're not careful.

The Chelsea physio, woof.

Absolutely woeful goal to concede from Bolton's point of view. Before that they gave Bosingwa the freedom of the Reebok to whip in a cross as well, poor.

Genuine question....do we? We don't usually have any momentum to lose.

I think the guy who dished out the match ratings on Sky was on the disco biscuits.

I saw that too.

So far, so bloody good. In terms of points on the board fifteen is a staggering total, I don't think any fan will dispute that (although I did hear some wolly in the boozer today describing our start to the season as 'alright'). However it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, there are still some issues to iron out and it's better to address them while morale is high and the results are flowing rather than waiting until a downturn in form. The first few games were a concern. While we were getting results and dominating games in parts we weren't playing well. However I feel there's been a marked improvement throughout the Villa and Blackburn matches and the first half of the Wolves game today. The new signings are beginning to settle and Cabaye and Ba in particular look to be absolute bargains. I do however have reservations about Obertan. He has little intelligence as a player and an unreliable end product. As well as this he tends to bottle the challenge, no matter how hard he may get clattered. For me Pardew would be better served switching Jonas to the right and playing Marveaux wide left. Marv has looked absolute class in his limited playing time here, and Pardew would certainly be justified in giving him the nod over Obertan. The defence also boasts some impressive stats conceding a meager four goals in seven, again though improvement could be made. I've been massively impressed with Steven Taylor so far, he looks to of come on an absolute ton following his rightful omission from the side under Hughton. The full back on the other hand have looked far from convincing. Ryan has looked shakey in parts in a position he quite clearly can't play and while I don't buy into the Simpson criticism following just about every game, he has had his fair share of poor performances this season. For me his problem isn't his backing off as some like to claim, but his positioning. The amount of times the opponent picks it up on the left wing and he is no where to be seen is frightening. Obviously in time Santon will come to fill the left back roll but the right back position has become a problem. Perhaps it is time to give Ryan Taylor the position, if for no other purpose than to give Simpson a kick up the arse. The other selection dilema is what to do with Ben Arfa now he is back in contention. It would be incredibly harsh to drop one of the front two given their recent performance but it's frustrating knowing we have such a talented player sat on the bench. It's for Pardew to be ruthless in his selection but personally I'd leave things alone in the forward department while both Best and Ba continue to perform at a a high level. If we continue to play the way we are and avoid any performances ala Wolves second half I see no reason why we can't take four points from our upcoming home games. However some valuable lessons should have been learnt today, namely: We shouldn't sit so deep, keep-ball is always more effective than hoof-ball and that Lovenkrands is a waste of space. Anyway, it's nice to get some early points on the board if nothing else. Onwards and upwards.

Another assured performance on the whole, however I felt part of the reason behind the second half performance was how deep he was dropping.