Jack Flash

Hughton played it perfectly with the short, boring answers. Pardew's ego won't allow him to do that sadly.

They probably went straight to the agents. NUFC is essentially only the middleman with no say in any of it.

A win or draw today only papers over the abyss.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4709879/Demba-Ba-snubs-80000-a-week-offer-to-join-up-with-QPR.html DEMBA BA has snubbed an £80,000-a-week offer from QPR. The Toon striker turned down the Premier League strugglers — knowing Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs are queuing up to grab him in the January transfer window.

Incredibly embarrassing.

I don't know the answer and nobody does. YOU don't know if YOU think he'll score tomorrow? Such a pedantic child

I don't know if he'll score or not, hopefully he will and I can't say anything other than that. You can, like, say if you think he will or not? like I asked? Or just avoid answering again.

I hope Ba scores tomorrow, than again I hoped that he would score against West Ham and that didn't happen. Didn't really answer the question so I take it you think he will score. 33/1 for a hat-trick if you're that sure.

We're not guaranteed to score either way. I agree that we should look to change anything for tomorrow but playing Ba through the middle doesn’t mean he is going to get goals. Do you think he'll score tomorrow? I'm sure even the people who want him moved/sold think he'll score tomorrow, which says a lot.

The wheels are in motion apparently. He needs a goal or 2 tomorrow more than he ever has because after that it's not getting any easier any time soon. Buying a striker without selling one would be very helpful as well There was a lot of "he's getting chances but he's not taking them" as well, ironically. There's a myth going around that swapping Ba and Cisse will make us a much better team but that ignores that our defence and midfield were playing infinitely better last year and we were brimming with confidence and self belief. There's more to football than tactics, as the ol' Flasher says.

How's that ever going to happen, though? Ba leaving? How is Cisse ever going to start scoring again? Come on, man. Had an absolute sitter v City which is absolutely fluffed. If he isn't scoring chances like that then he doesn't deserve to be our main striker. That's it. Ba is taking his chances and Cisse isn't taking his. The difference between them on the wing is minimal.

How's that ever going to happen, though? Ba leaving? How is Cisse ever going to start scoring again? Come on, man.

If Pardew isn't changing his formation/style (and he isn't) and Cisse can't play out wide or in the centre then...on the left maybe?

Maybe we should be selling Cisse if he's so limited then?

"It's an affordable chance"

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/mar2011/4/3/hatem-ben-arfa-489965615.jpg Coldplay - Fix You

I wonder about this as well. I still don't 100% believe that Pards is playing Ba central just to keep him happy though... there must be actual football reasons that he believes in as well. Goals, bro. Pardew probably has as much confidence in Cisse recently as Cisse does in himself, which is understandable. It's a self-fulfilling prophesy though isn't it? You play a pure frontman wide and he won't get any goals, and he won't have any confidence. Same would happen with Ba (despite the clichés thrown around on here). As he's blatantly not going to change the formation, I can see why Pardew is backing Ba over Cisse in such desperate times.

"I want you to know, Alan, I'm always here for you. If I'm not around just slip a note under the door..." http://i47.tinypic.com/2w7361j.jpg

Probably because he said nothing of note. That is sooooooooooooo not the point. The rule is there for a reason and if Ba is allowed to ignore it with impunity, how can the club enforce it with the other players? It's not a rule, it's a procedural thing that they'd rather the players followed before giving any quotes to the press. Probably just notifying them. There's one at my work, and probably every company worth its salt. If he'd said something out of order then I'm sure they'd have fined him, but he didn't. Aye. Pardew said "there was 1 procedural matter where he should have informed the club but that's neither here nor there".

Marveaux's wages are high/very high apparently so shifting him would probably pay the wages on Remy while Ba's fee would pay for Remy himself. We'd be getting a highly valued player for free! http://i46.tinypic.com/2uh1gdl.jpg

I wonder about this as well. I still don't 100% believe that Pards is playing Ba central just to keep him happy though... there must be actual football reasons that he believes in as well. Goals, bro. Pardew probably has as much confidence in Cisse recently as Cisse does in himself, which is understandable.

Nothing to do with Simpson being a storm drain then?

The lower body injuries are slowly ruining him. If you see the highlights of that first 6 months in the PL with us and compared them to his 9 West Ham games you'd think he'd had a severe stroke. In the 5-1 game in particular he was sensational.

Paying anything for Carroll at this point is a waste of money. When he hasn't been injured, his form at West Ham hasn't been much different to his Liverpool form. We dodged a massive bullet last Summer.

He said the quotes were not correct and he's happy with the content as it's about turning things around. It'd be disappointing for him to leave but it's Ba's decision.