LucaAltieri

Is it Gomis?

Connor Wickham declared mayor of Sunderland.

I know Pardew gets some heat but I trust him to sort this situation out. Colo wanted away. Colo is still here and playing. To be honest i think that had very little to do with Pardew, Colo had 4 realistic options. Hand in a transfer request: No point in him doing this as San Lorenzo couldn't afford him even if they wanted to. Do nothing: see above Retire from football totally, which means we hold his registration so he can't play for them. Buy out the remainder of his contract: Again this would have cost him millions of pounds to do so. Right, and Cabaye has the same options. Where Pardew deserves praise is bringing Colo back into the fold. It could have dragged on and on like Tevez at City, but it didn't. Pardew had no choice, besides Colo didn't go on strike or anything stupid like that. Players are assets on a balance sheet no more. Which is my point.

I know Pardew gets some heat but I trust him to sort this situation out. Colo wanted away. Colo is still here and playing. To be honest i think that had very little to do with Pardew, Colo had 4 realistic options. Hand in a transfer request: No point in him doing this as San Lorenzo couldn't afford him even if they wanted to. Do nothing: see above Retire from football totally, which means we hold his registration so he can't play for them. Buy out the remainder of his contract: Again this would have cost him millions of pounds to do so. Right, and Cabaye has the same options. Where Pardew deserves praise is bringing Colo back into the fold. It could have dragged on and on like Tevez at City, but it didn't.

I know Pardew gets some heat but I trust him to sort this situation out. Colo wanted away. Colo is still here and playing. So Pardew is saying Cabaye is already sold - subject to a replacement being brought in in time? I don't think that's the deciding factor. I think the deciding factor is a buying club meeting our asking price. For me the situation is exactly the same as Colo wanting a transfer last season: - The player wants to move. - Buying club can't/won't pay what he's worth. That situation didn't change. The offer didn't come in, so now Colo is back in the side and playing. It will be the same with Cabaye. Either the right offer comes in, or the window shuts and he gets back to business. We've already shown how we intend to deal with this kind of situation.

Agree. Sat in on many team talks, have you?

I know Pardew gets some heat but I trust him to sort this situation out. Colo wanted away. Colo is still here and playing. No more terps for this man, i mean it. No really, he is. I saw him and everything.

I know Pardew gets some heat but I trust him to sort this situation out. Colo wanted away. Colo is still here and playing.

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doubt it I think we'd be looking at 15m+ before he'd even be tempted. There would need to be something more in it, you would have thought.

Don't worry about that. Old Joe knows all about McCarthur and all about tactics. He'll slot right in to Pardew's 3-5-2 system. Joe's got it scouted.

Joseph and Alonso are too similar to work effectively together in a 2-man midfield, imo. I don't mind that so much. We obviously set up to stifle the Portland midfield. We played Alonso, Joseph, and Evans - all defensive players - with just Neagle who is any good going forward. It made sense. My biggest issue is that Joseph can't pass a ball 10 yards. He did well winning the ball but it was ultimately pointless because he'd give it straight back.

Just back from the Sounders match. Timbers fans were pretty good, didn't stop singing. Still suck, mind. Joseph was gash. When Rosales came on we looked like a different team. Dempsey had an ok game, nothing worth noting. Still looks like he's trying to get match fit. Good feet, though.

Getting mugged if they pay anywhere near €10m. No better than anything they've already got.

To be fair to Ben Arfa, the majority of the time he had the ball he was being chased and closed down by 2 or 3 players.

He made some excellent headed clearances in the box late on. Linked up well with Sammy when he came on, too. Towards the end everything was coming down our left side.

Not a terrible game. Santon, Debuchy, Sammy, Hatem, and (in patches) Sissoko all looking good going forward. Some decent passing from midfield. Particularly liked Anita's contribution. The glaring problem is obviously up front. We know all about Shola but worse is that our main goal threat, our No 9, the guy who looked so dangerous when we signed him, can't play in the system Pardew is implementing. Long balls, with or without a Shola flick-on, are not what he wants and he keeps on showing it. He can't play that way. You either play to his strengths or get rid of him and replace him with the kind of player you want. The way things are going it's making everyone look shit.

How. The. Fuck?

Agreed.

Sammy has looked pretty class since coming on. Good sub.

Hmm. Why? Looks a bit championship to me... Don't know much about him, personally. Goal scoring record seems decent according to Wikipedia. Still... Brazilian striker! Almost certainly wouldn't get a work permit unless Serbia is joining the EU as he has a passport there. Don't know too much about that, but didn't the Tories change it all? Now you can basically buy your way in.

Hmm. Why? Looks a bit championship to me... Don't know much about him, personally. Goal scoring record seems decent according to Wikipedia. Still... Brazilian striker!

Don't know how much truth there is to it, but I heard we're in for Cleo from Kashiwa Reysol.

Depends which Ligue 2 teams have 18 year olds they're willing to let go for free.

We know he can't cross or shoot for shit. His main assets are retaining the ball and linking up with his team mates. My point is we have him doing that inside our own half instead of where he looked best: doing it out wide working with a raging full-back.