Hughesy

No it didn't. By taking Anita off we started losing all the second balls in midfield. It helped defend set pieces, which i think was the point of it. Positive it wasn't but helpful it actually was tbf. Pardew in a nutshell. It helped us not concede instead of making a substitute to help us score. I can't wait for the day he finally leaves. Wanting Pardew to leave I understand - but it really isn't that odd that a manager might look to protect a 2-1 lead when the impetus has shifted rather than go looking for a third.

In my opinion we had actually lost our grip of the game before that Anita was taken off. We had lost our passing game and were looking for an outlet and for someone to hold the ball up for a bit. Shola did a decent job of that and allowed us to clear our lines.

Yep - I would suggest that this 'middle ground' re Pardew is pretty sparsely populated.

Bony looks pretty handy.

Saying he has the ability to score around 1 in 2 is such a vague statement. I imagine lots of strikers have the ability to score around 1 in 2. It basically means nothing.

Carroll a 1 in 2 goalscorer? Haha.

I don't think Taylor's been that bad since he came back. A bit rusty maybe. I agree that he needs to accept he doesn't have a right to a starting place.

Don't massively disagree with the overall sentiments, but had we taken our chances yesterday, we'd have been 5 up by half time and out of sight. Both teams missed chances.

That's just f***ing stupid. Rewatch the Aston Villa game where we beat them 6-0. That game was as complete a centre forward display as I've ever seen. On his day Carroll can be absolutely unplayable. He's just been ravaged by injury, he'll never find any kind of form again until he can play consistently for a 6 months or so. The only reason I wouldn't have him back at SJP is because of his injury record, nothing to do with his ability at all. Caveat caveat caveat. On his day, Kenwyn Jones is unplayable. Carroll was good against a poor Villa side. Any more examples of Carroll being 'absolutely unplayable'? Any against good defences? Really we doing this ? Off the top of my head, Arsenal away Liverpool at home that season. There was a reason why Liverpool paid 35 mill, others were prepared to go in 20 million plus territory, they guy was tearing up the league that year. We sold him at the perfect time from a financial point of view. Saying he's limited or not very good to use your words, is just plain stupid man. We can agree to disagree. If you genuinely think Carroll is not a limited player, no point continuing. I'll be absolutely amazed if he manages to score more than 60 league goals in the rest of his career.

That's just f***ing stupid. Rewatch the Aston Villa game where we beat them 6-0. That game was as complete a centre forward display as I've ever seen. On his day Carroll can be absolutely unplayable. He's just been ravaged by injury, he'll never find any kind of form again until he can play consistently for a 6 months or so. The only reason I wouldn't have him back at SJP is because of his injury record, nothing to do with his ability at all. Caveat caveat caveat. On his day, Kenwyn Jones is unplayable. Carroll was good against a poor Villa side. Any more examples of Carroll being 'absolutely unplayable'? Any against good defences?

Bias against who? I don't even dislike the bloke - I was surprised people booed him today as I see no reason to hold a grudge against him. I was actually saying to my brother at the game that I feel a little sorry for him. He just isn't very good.

Of course he's better than Shola - but he is just incredibly limited.

Shame that he can't control a ball, is immobile and isn't very good at finishing.

He can sometimes look unplayable in the air. Occasionally. That's it.

His technique just isn't very good - a huge limiting factor in any potential he might have.

Seemed an odd crowd there today. Saw one bloke coming to the ground with a small rocking horse - not quite sure what happened to him.

I am not Shola's biggest fan - he has no place in our team or on the bench. But you are letting your bias get in the way if you are actually regarded his performance today as being poor.

Not hard to grasp - he did a decent job when he was on the pitch. That's all.

Wrong unfortunately.

Spot on.

Wiki says 39 goals in 76 matches. I wouldn't say that 1 goal every 2 games is great by Dutch standards?

I have to confess to not knowing much about De Jong but looking at his career stats, it doesn't look like he has ever been a prolific scorer?

We had him for 5 years and theres no way he's been an awful player for that whole time. Last couple of years he's been poor to average but only a handful of games he's been 'awful'. When we signed him he was very highly rated across the globe. Both Messi and Maradona have publicly stated their appreciation of him in the past. Robert also had plenty of awful games for arguments sake.. Agreed - Jonas was rarely awful for us.

Bellamy and Robert, although better players than Jonas, were difficult characters that divided supporters with their antics. It isn't exactly a surprise that people might look to the character of the player in question when expressing emotions relating to the player's departure.

I think the point is that Jonas was a likeable player and someone who was nowhere near as bad as people like to make out. His performances certainly dropped off last season and I don't think anyone is sad to see him leave at this stage from a purely footballing perspective but it is wrong to overlook the contributions he has made.