ExiledGeordie

Having someone at the back with real pace gives us another dimension in defence, great stuff.

Fair forgot that chasm of a mistake, owned etc. Still think he's class though

Not sure how you can give Mbiwa 6.5, I don't think he put a foot wrong all night.

At the moment Perch does that role better keeping it simple

Santon right back, Haidara left back, confirmed Cabaye, Tiote, ANita midfield Marv and Sissoko either side of Cisse

Same here

I remember going to see them twice when Mirandinha was playing. Once was against West Ham and the other time I actually went with my Stepdad and his friend Tom Watts who played "Lofty" out of Eastenders remember him? He was a massive Arsenal fan, can't remember where we sat though. Can't remember which match was the first one. Must have been 87 or 88 for both games though at a guess.

Well put that

2 week break between Wigan and City away so you'd have to hazard a guess that that's when we'll see him next if it's short term. Edit, Pardew has pretty much said City is the target in the interview on total sport

Spot on that's exactly how I see it. Any appearance is a bonus really so I'm not getting worked up about it. He'll be back when he's back so to speak, no point stressing about it or wondering what we might be able to do with him in the side.

:lol:

He's a natural finisher, will get goals. He hasn't been bang on but I don't think our play recently has had enough for him to feed off really. A lot of the goals he scored last season came with him running onto balls across/through. Love to see him smash a couple in on thursday!!!!

As good as MYM is, we're in the shit again if Taylor gets injured and his problem is he doesn't do niggles for 2-3 weeks. He does months out with injury and this applies to next season. If as it seems Colo will be gone in the summer then we'll have to get a really solid centre half in as cover/competition. Williamson should be the absolute last resort but even Perch showed composure playing with MYM so maybe even him before Williamson.

He's not my type but I suppose he's attractive enough. Simon Bird on total sport quoted Hiddink as saying he thought a hamstring injury would keep him out

Agree with you, his style wasn't ideal for Stoke but in general he'll be a great weapon for us. Well said and especially as Stoke were hardly coming to have a go at us. Negative, spoiling tactics to go with most of our players being slightly off contributed to a frustrating day. I noted a few runs where Sissoko got into full stride but there options weren't there with runners and there were too often simply too many Stoke players to cut things out. I've always though HBA's return will really help the likes of Sissoko because you can tell they'll be on a similar wavelength when they break into attack. They'll create space for each other. To be honest I think some people over anaylse performances too much.

Pretty much this. He had an off game like most of the team v Stoke and taking into consideration how good he's been since he's arrived you make it sound like there are gaping holes in his play. He had some storming runs on Sunday and sure some f the passes went array but howay man put it in context, he's been a revelation since he arrived

Ashley must know he has a prize asset in HBA so why he'd sell to Liverpool is beyond me. I suppose every player has their price but it would take a massive bid to get him and after recent financial reports about Liverpool are they going to have money to throw around. It's not even a priority position for them. Anyway any updated news on HBA yet regarding thursday or the weekend?

I think he looks really commanding at the minute but his problem is whenever he gets on a good run he gets injured and they're always really bad injuries that keep him out for months. I just hope he can stay fit for a while this time.

I get the impression him and Sissoko are being boxed in a bit because teams have shag all to worry about in terms of threat from Jonas irrespective of the effort he puts in. That means they can concentrate on trying to nullify Gouffran and Sissoko. And Cisse for all his natural ability doesn't have the pace to test a back line. A fully fit HBA totally opens things up because immediately he draws so much attention. That should also create space for players to run into and onto balls from Cabaye - Debuchy, Sissoko, Cisse, Gouffran etc

I did actually ask him what the plan was mate and he said only the lower half. I guess that might change though if there's the demand surely?

Just been down and picked up a couple of tickets, selling out fast. North west corner is the only place you can get two seats together.

I did laugh at the thought of those who left early missing the winning goal

Definitely and like Sissoko he'll benefit from the potential more space created if we ever see HBA back on the pitch again. We paid less than 1m for him too

What do you mean trying to do too much? Holding on to the ball too long silly attempts on dribbling, all that twisting and turning bullshit and trying to pick out cutting edge passes. His role is to get the ball and then get rid of it, preferably a simple short ball to his nearest team mate. As above pretty much, that's what I mean. From what I've seen watching him live this season he seems to get caught out of position too much and caught in posession by being in the wrong position. When he first arrived and when he's at his best he patrols that space in front of the back four laterally, mopping up balls and breaking things up. When he starts heading too far down field with the ball that's when things go wrong. That's when he's move likely to lose the ball by being tackled or giving up possession by putting in aimless balls. Sure have the occasional blast from outside the area if the chance presents itself but I hope they coach him back into what he does best.

It's almost by doing less on the pitch and sticking to the simple stuff before he had far greater impacts on games for the better yet now by trying to do too much he's having an impact alright but it's detrimental to the side. Still think he was alright yesterday apart from that challenge. But Cabaye really got him out of jail with that goal because I thought Stoke would frustrate and hold on for an annoying win. The equaliser then changed the game again.