The Prophet

A dive to win a penalty during play is nothing like dropping to the ground after being slapped. The fact is Gervinho raised his hand to Barton. If Barton went down or not Gervinho had to be sent off. I'm not disputing that. I'm highlighting Barton's hypocrisy. How is it hypocrisy? Barton didn't cheat. Gervinho did hit Barton. Gervinho did dive during the game. Gervinho did the cheating. Barton got stamped on and then slapped. Maybe he went down to make sure the slap was noticed but it doesn't change the fact that he was slapped. A distinction without a difference.

He backed off really well today, Gervinho didn't get much change out of him.

It was pretty obvious this was a side that had just been put together with little to no understanding of each others games, dis-jointed to say the least. It will come with time and experience but it merely serves to highlight our pathetic pre-season.

The people who actually pay money and watch Barton respect what he brings to the team. The rest hide behind forums and listen too much to the media.

Why exactly, let him speak his mind, I've no problem with freedom of speech personally, it's a breath of fresh air in these days of people in all sports towing the party line all the time. He just has to be careful for his own job security what he says about his employers, just like everyone else in this world. We've banned Twitter, he might be on the transfer list but he's still a club employee.

Still needs to pack the Twitter lark in.

Didn't look match sharp, think he'll need a couple of games to sort himself out.

Good overall but had a couple of moments. The run he tried to go on was an absolute joke.

Absolutely

p*ss off, man. He lost the ball time after time and was offside needlessly on about 4 occasions. Shola is crap and I completely agree on the offside point, but people are massively exaggerating how bad he was today.

yep, had Gervinho been sharper and Arsenal more fluid in the box we'd be talking about how Raylor had cost us at least one goal. he was lucky, but he did get better as the game went on.

I'm not having any of this Shola shit like, he was fed on scraps and won a decent amount of knocks ons and free kicks with little to no support. People just lay into him because it's Shola.

I thought Gervinho tore Taylor a new one in the first half, went past him time and time again, Jonas had to double up in the end. I know it's not his natural position but still...

Seriously man Tiote, Cabaye and Shola were far from poor. Some people need to have a word.

Unbelievable. He was far from shocking today like, knackered by the end of the second half but nice and tidy on the ball. Some people man.

Jonas was especially shambolic. Miss him carrying Taylor for large chunks of the match then? No,Otter had Jonas down twice. Thought Jonas did well myself. My bad

Jonas was especially shambolic. Miss him carrying Taylor for large chunks of the match then?

I think some people were watching a different match like, I didn't witness any 2/3 rated performances.

Ball still in play, Song stamps on Barton. Why wasn't a free kick and red card given? Wasn't seen, retrospective punishment will be handed out. The man handling was clearly seen by an official since Barton was yellowed. Ball still in play, Gervinho clearly dives. Why wasn't a free kick given and yellow card issued? It's debatable whether it was a dive. What a delusional plank

Overall thoughts: You can tell we were a team with an unsettled pre-season. A lot of dis-jointed play and a couple looked off the pace but we battled well and though we deserved a point in the end. However our lack of forward options are dire, bringing Lovenkrands off the bench to try and nick you the game, christ. Match Ratings: Krul 6 - Barely put a foot wrong. Looked a bit roped from a few arial deliveries but his handling was decent. Simpson 6 - Solid. Defensively though he did really well particularly when Gervinho switched flanks, dropped off well and didn't let a tricky winger get in behind. Taylor 7 - Did really well and I'd love to give him an eight but there were two really brainless moments that could of cost us the game, namely the crap clearance which he smashed at Coloccini and the run to the half way line where he thought he was Pele reborn. Coloccini 8 - Textbook Colo, cool and calm. He's an absolute classact, I might even cry when he leaves. Taylor 5 - Unsprisingly struggled to deal with Gervinho, did better second half but not convincing at all. Barton 6 - Mixed bag from Joey today. Some canny play along with some crap set pieces and poor passes. Cabaye 6 - Got stuck in and kept things ticking over. In future he probably needs to push up the field a bit and support the forward play. Tiote 7 - Did his job well. Got stuck in, broke things up and moved things on. Jonas 6 - Not great going forward but grafted really well and protected Taylor pretty well for the most part. Ba 4 - I really don't want to to lay into the lad due to missing large chunks of pre-season but he was completely off the pace and was rightly brought off. Still believe with more match time he'll bang them in on a regular basis. Shola 7 - Thought he did really well up front on his own. Got stuck in, won knock downs, battled for free kicks. Fed on scraps with little to no support. Obertan 7 - Thought he looked really bright when he came on. Quick, direct and a real threat. Pardew 6 - Personally wouldn't of picked Ryan at left back and at times we put no where near enough pressure on Arsenal but he got his subs right and on the whole his starting line up was decent. A side note: arsenal man, what a horrible bunch of dirty, diving bastards. Song has to be banned for that sickening effort on Barton.

Seriously, why do I watch this s***? It gets me angry, they don't have a f***ing clue

Wish someone would tear the throat out of Merson

Fucking hell Thompson Clueless, absolutely clueless

Thompson, Merson and Nicholas are all absolutely clueless, don't bother with GSS very often these days

Didn't fans fc break the Obertan deal then RMC picked up on it a couple of days later? Fans FC