leffe186

No, they're all at it. Bloke dived about half-a-second before the guy who got the yellow, too.

Looked pretty good against us like That was probably the best he's played. Capoue holding gave him a lot more freedom to go forward, which is his natural game.

Can we name any manager at the very top level who has won things who isn't? There's a difference between not taking defeat easily and being generally a c*** like Wenger does. Fair enough if you do it in hi-octane rivalry matches when passions go wild, but he's even p*ssed on lowly Hull FFS. Hasn't he refused to shake hands with the rival manager on several occasions when losing? Yep. My all-time favourite was when two Arsenal players ran into each other, and we played on and scored. He went apeshit at Jol, who looked like he could have casually picked him up and slung him into the crowd, if he could stop laughing.

Not always .

BEIN (the channel) has the Championship in the US. The upside of being in Ohio is the same - when there's a shitty result I can hide from it a bit. I miss out on the good times though. The real danger is that distance makes me see the Premier League, Champions League and clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City etc for what they are, and what they are doing to football. That more than anything is driving a wedge between me and the game I love. What are Liverpool doing to football that Tottenham aren't? I understand the Chelsea and Man City part but the Liverpool one just smacks of jealousy because they've improved and probably will cost your lot Champions League football. It is jealousy, of course it is. I'm jealous because it doesn't matter how much better we are than them over a sustained period on the pitch, they get more money through their name and large following in Asia etc. The relentless promotion afforded to them by the media in the UK and abroad gives them a competitive advantage that ensured that they would eventually get back to the select group at the top. There's a "tournament of champions" or some such happening this summer that will give extensive exposure over here to the usual suspects...including, naturally, Liverpool. Thus, casual football supporters in the US will be restricted - by and large - to Liverpool, Man U, Arse, and Chelsea. I just find it frustrating and depressing, and living in the US makes it all the more transparent. I realize that there aren't really some halcyon days for me to look back at with longing - I remember all the glory-hunting Liverpool twats in my North London school in the 80s. I just find the whole exercise increasingly pointless and divorced from what I love about football - about supporting your local team, rooted in the community, that can approach each season thinking that this could be the one.

That was all a bit tl;dr I guess . One thing did strike me. It may just have even a quirk of the NBC coverage, but the contrast between the way the teams behaved while Kaboul was injured seemed marked. The Spurs players and coaches were focused, happy, involved and together - geeing each other up, pointing out things to work on, and engaging in animated discussions. The Newcastle players and coaches seemed disengaged and listless. Like I say, that may not have been the case, but it certainly seemed like that on camera.

BEIN (the channel) has the Championship in the US. The upside of being in Ohio is the same - when there's a shitty result I can hide from it a bit. I miss out on the good times though. The real danger is that distance makes me see the Premier League, Champions League and clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City etc for what they are, and what they are doing to football. That more than anything is driving a wedge between me and the game I love.

Is it safe yet? To sell your best player halfway through the season is a major error. To do so for less than, say, 20M is, at this level, willfully negligent. To fail to replace him is criminally insane. I saw our team sheet and was very nervous - no left back (again), the under-performing Lennon still on the pitch, and Dembele in a front three, of sorts. As it turned out, this was the most AVB performance yet under Sherwood, and in a good way. Capoue showed his value, Bentaleb had probably his best game yet, and Adebayor showed AVB what he was missing. As one or two have said, we won comfortably without having to raise our game. That is the first time in a while I have properly sat down to watch you play. I think Pardew has actually got more criticism than he deserves based on this game alone. He's not very good, but was crippled by Kinnear and injuries/suspensions. The decision to go 442 with a big guy and a quick guy showed his limited imagination, but he didn't have too many options. De Jong actually looks like a half-decent target man to me. Decent touch, good in the air, nice awareness of what's around him. He's slow, and clearly not match-fit yet, but has a chance to bed in for half a season, getting used to the Prem. I think his game suits an orthodox 442. Cissé is clearly a problem though. He's like a s*** Defoe at the moment - not really contributing much to the game, not putting chances away, living offside and disappearing from view at times. De Jong and Remy has more potential. That midfield was a cluster-f***. There was a massive Cabaye-shaped hole in the middle of it, which Anita struggled to fill. Sissoko could be a valuable player with a strong game-plan and better players around him, but with everyone doing their own thing his limitations are dreadfully exposed. Gouffran is decent, but his role is a bit unclear, Marveaux is a useful squad player but not the answer. Tiote was a big miss because of his presence if nothing else, but the worry is that without Cabaye he will be asked to do more than he's capable of. That's exactly what has happened before. Those players need well-defined roles and a leader - and with Pardew as manager and Cabaye in Paris I don't see where either is coming from. I think the defence is adequate, or would be with a defensively-focused Tiote in front of it. Krul had as much of a mare as he had a great game at our place, but the real liability was Santon. His confidence seems to be shot, and even when it wasn't he always seemed fragile, and capable of really silly mistakes. Now he probably needs a couple of games out to get himself together. Maybe the few days off will help. Debuchy looked the one really classy defender, but he was clearly frustrated throughout. Williamson and Taylor are useful backups, but if (of necessity) both are getting an extended run in the team then you will ship goals against most teams. Colo coming back will make the world of difference. So what could Pardew have done better? I thought Sammy Ameobi's use of the ball was really impressive, and a proper 442 with him and Ben Arfa out wide would have made more sense. Ben Arfa just does not look fit though, which is presumably why he's not starting games. If I were Pardew, I'd have both Sammy Ameobi and Ben Arfa starting against Villa and just go for it - Villa's defence is so poor. Either 442 with them out wide, or 433 with De Jong, Remy and one of them up front. It's ironic that the fact you're probably safe seems to be making Pardew's game plans more turgid - you'd think that it would be an opportunity for him to throw caution to the wind. Something has got to change, because the apathy from top to bottom is poisonous, and in players like Remy, Ben Arfa and Sammy Ameobi he has the pieces to at least have a go. What has he got to lose?

Truth be told, I think your line-up is quite dangerous. Particularly as Sherwood seems to be making it up as he goes along. Good try Leffe, good try but i know a hustler when i see one. Genuine reaction, honest! I really liked our team sheet for the first four names, then it went tits up. Absolutely no idea how that lot will play, but given how we've been starting games I just hope we don't let in an early goal.

Truth be told, I think your line-up is quite dangerous. Particularly as Sherwood seems to be making it up as he goes along.

Means you've got two more than me, and counting...

four CM's? okay Nobody at all on the left side of the pitch either. Nice to see Kaboul back, although he's not going to be match-fit. It just seems that Sherwood wants to shore up the middle of our midfield by putting everybody there.

Our team sheet is absolutely bizarre.

Playing my wildcard actually made my team worse.

I love that your soopa doopa offensive structure has a CB at CM and a relatively orthodox CM at #10. I mean, I know you have a lot of players missing, but it says something about the lack of depth.

... Look at his hair ffs, the bellend.

They've been around for longer than Liverpool IIRC - were even formed three years before us. I like Fulham. "Proper club" .

Well I hope so, but they get a free stadium with fantastic infrastructure. There's a reason why we were interested too.

I'd hope that you'd get more than 3000 there.

Suarez.

No chance will they have same attraction without Ferguson and CL football. They won't be able to compete with the the best clubs like they used to, infact they'll have their best players like Rooney and Januzaj taken from them. They have a shit-ton of money available, so no. Just look at Liverpool - despite squandering a fortune on shite and finishing behind us for years, it was only a matter of time before their income meant they overtook us.

I'm biting my tongue cos you're a good guy, Leffe. That was steaming f***ing horseshit on all fronts. That b****** has taken 2 games to f*** us over again, the horrible corrupt piece of s***. You were there for the taking and what did we do about it? Absolute square root of f*** all. 0 strikers on the pitch. Incredible. Oh, look. We're 6th. Again. Isn't that just swell? By jeez, it's great progress. f*** off Bill you sanctimonious t***. Yeah, sorry, but I just couldn't leave that post of yours untrolled . As I just posted on a Spurs board; we're what you'd expect to see with a new (in every sense) manager taking charge of a mixed bag of players halfway through a season. Not particularly well organized and reliant upon players' individual ability and nous to get through...and we don't have all that much nous. It's frankly unbelievable that we're fifth, and I think we'll be lucky to get Europa this year. Rodgers and Martinez are far more experienced and established with their teams, and so is Moyes, despite all the problems he's had. Liverpool have a weaker squad on the whole but a better top-end, Man U are stronger on both counts, and you guys have some useful loan signings to help out. With every game, it's clearer that Sherwood will be a place-holder until we can get a heavyweight in. I'm hoping that we will have enough to attract someone good - we've certainly got a good squad and youth set-up and should have plenty of cash to spend. As for now, we are performing entirely to my expectations.

We're fucking rubbish. It's kinda hilarious that we're fifth tbh.

He's all right, but needs time to develop. Not a defensive midfielder though - he's an all-rounder, and it's pretty clear that that's what Sherwood expects from his CMs. I don't think he merits his place right now tbh, with Paulinho back, and Sandro returning from injury. We're definitely not getting top four this year though, unless something clicks soon, and I'd fully expect us to be seventh if we carry on like this. We just look like a bit of a mess, and really need the same team to play more regularly together. Dawson is staying in the team because he's the one real vocal leader on the pitch and he's the one centre-back who's been consistently fit, despite being our fourth best CB. Walker and Rose are being asked to do a little too much for their capabilities, I fear. The midfield under Sherwood just doesn't seem coherent at all, although we rarely play the same one twice, so it's not entirely surprising. Ade is Ade, and Eriksen is the one really consistently classy player going forward. So, naturally, teams (like Everton today) will single him out for treatment. I think Sherwood has been trying a few things out, and fair enough, but that will mean that we fall behind. Rodgers has been working with his team for a couple of years, Martinez has had since pre-season (and a team that has been - for the most part - together for a while), and Moyes has a handful of world-class players to bale him out. Sherwood is starting mid-season with a team that is full of strangers.