Lush Vlad

Should start Saturday. Which means he won't. Or if he does, hell be at left back or right wing.

Only see the second half and ET. But I thought he was very good again. What he lacks in pace, he makes up for in fitness. Constantly up and down the flank and loves to get stuck in. His keenness sometimes gets him in trouble. But I'd rather him try to cut things out and intercept passes, as oppose to standing off like most of our defenders.

Agree with this. After last season, despite all of his excuses. It seems to me like he'll be able to get away with almost anything except relegation. Perhaps if we're in the bottom 3 with 10-15 games left Ashley might roll the dice and hope for an instant change in fortune mackems style. But he might be wary of that after attempting it with Shearer. Is it wrong that at his moment in time, I would genuinely rather have Kinnear as manager over Pardew? That's how sick of him I am.

Eh? What's that got to do with the price of fish? No he hasn't been terrific for them. Ba has been played out of form and used sparingly. He went there for money and to win things and he's no longer the main man. What's your point here. Try to stay on topic please.

Well Kid Icarus' meltdown has cheered me up slightly For the record, I tend to agree with him. Every thread seems to have plenty of posters claiming a player is shit, or inconsistent. Yet we have seen a lot of said players perform well elsewhere, for their country and when they first signed. Oops it's that theme again.

Strange that all of our players are inconsistent. Apart from the ones that are just consistently shit. Have these players always been like this? There's a theme here somewhere...

Well I hope this fucking 'false 9' experiment is now over. Just like his constant change of tactics and formations. It was a typical Pardew knee jerk dropping him and then shifting him into the middle. We don't play the right way for it to work and I'm not sure I want to see him with his back to goal, getting swamped by 4 players every time he gets the ball. Another player to add to the 'He's shit, inconsistent and overrated' list? Or is that the 'You've been Pardew'd' list?

Anita getting games ahead of him and then getting the armband seems to have worked wonders. He still dwells on the ball too much. But he was almost like the Cheik of a few years back that we grew to love and appreciate. Hopefully he can continue, as we're going to need players like him this season. We look so disjointed on the pitch and we'll need all the battlers we can get to pull through.

Even without the goal. He was our MOTM behind Tiote. Although they were probably the only two players that deserve credit TBH, so that's not saying a lot. I like him and I'm glad he's hit a little bit of form the last 2-3 games.

I thought he was pretty crap myself. Seemed slower than I remember, didn't look great in the air, albeit against Distin and challenging for pointless long balls. Seemed lazy and uninterested as well and his touch was off. Still managed to score and be one of our better players mind Fuck we're bad.

Played well. Showed pace and the odd bit of skill. Was unlucky not to score. Should be starting ahead of Cisse from now on and I'd rather see him through the middle than Remy.

Krul Debuchy - MYM - Colo - Santon Anita - Sissoko Ben Arfa - Marveaux - Gouffran Cisse No way we'll play those 3 behind Cisse though and it probably wouldn't work with our tactics anyway. Fully expect 4-4-2 with Strolla starting.

Liked how fired up he was. Celebrated both goals, was always talking to the ref and he was first in to calm Angry Shola down. Also clapped the fans at the end. Sounds like nothing, but I've often seen him looking disinterested during breaks in play, ignore celebrations and just stroll off the pitch after the game. Even when we've won and all.

Meanwhile you continue to ignore that Cabaye has wanted out all summer unlike those two. Unless you think Pardew and just about every French journo around are all lying its a totally different situation altogether. This is maybe true but we can't forget that the club have been actively looking to sell him all summer too. You dont think there is a connection in there at all? Its hardly out of the box thinking Connection or not it doesn't matter. The club could have just came out and said Yohan Cabaye is not for sale any price. At the end of the day, the only way Cabaye can leave is with the clubs consent. Erm what box are you looking at? Player tells manager he wants out amid rumours big clubs want him. Manager tells owner that he could make big money, owner tells manager that he would only be given something to spend if it happens(looking pretty likely atm). Clubs with money want him so we set a price, manager touts him about as player wanted and therefore both parties win. Or if nobody will pay the fee then we win. Sounds about right. I don't think we've been actively looking to sell Cabaye until he's made it clear he wants to leave. We'll find out just how desperate we are to sell if he goes for less than £15m, which is a fair price IMO. Totally agree, said last week €18m was a great price. 18million euro is not a good price in this market. It is for a player whose not very effective under this current managerial set up. Agreed. But it's only a good price if some of it actually gets reinvested. If it doesn't (highly likely), then I'd rather we just kept an unhappy Cabaye until January at least. The squad is threadbare as it is. After the first 13-14 players, there is no really quality or class backing up the first team. The window 'slams shut' (copyright BSkyB) next week and I don't hold out much hope of us getting a suitable replacement, or any other players for that matter.

WTF is he on about here?

I was watching his pre match presser last night and laughed at this too WTF?

Not much to get excited about TBF.

Well done, you named 2 players out of hundreds who have been s*** and turned it around. Actually Enrique wasn't even crap when he first signed so he can come off the list, so that leaves you with one. He wasn't shit no, nor is Debuchy. Naïve at times and suspect positionally yes, but Debuchy has proven he is a good player at International level and was/is highly rated. Admittedly Jose was younger, but there is no reason why Debuchy can't adjust here. As for 2 players out of hundreds that were shit and turned it round? WTF are you prattling on about here? I've not called either of them shit to start with? I was naming two defenders that we have signed in recent times, that came from abroad and took time to settle. Think it's pretty relevant personally. If he's still making all of these riks and fuck ups come Christmas time, then perhaps I might advocate a sale come January. At present, shipping him out is utter lunacy. Unless we have a replacement waiting to sign on the dotted line, that's proven in this league. Then what is the point? Not much more to do other than back him and hope he turns it around. He showed promise in games last season and I was really impressed with him in the Southampton game.

Pards to finally revert back to the 4-4-2? Or perhaps Anita, Sissoko and Bigi as the midfield 3? Would rather not have Gosling in there and I highly doubt Pardew will start Marveaux. For whatever reason, he really doesn't seem to rate him. Pretty much forced into playing him, but he'll still manage to shove some round pegs in square holes and make a pig's ear of the game.

Exactly. Even if you're not a fan of his. That leaves us with Santon and MYM as options for right back. With Dummet and Santon our only viable options at left back. Great idea.

Should have sold Colo and Enrique 6-12 months after we signed them, as they were pretty shite then too. People wanting to sell Debuchy is mental IMO. As Ryan said, we'll do well to get another player in. Never mind replacements for Cabaye and Debuchy as well.

My thoughts exactly. The more I look at it, the more it looks obviously photoshopped. Surely he can't be that bloody fat!

Quite surprised how many he scores with the head, pretty good.... I was more surprised at how two footed he is in those clips. I knew he had a go on both, but there are a lot of goals there on his left. Also like you say, loves a header! The standard of goalkeeping and defending did look a bit wank mind. Either way, it's refreshing to see. Always infuriates me how so many pros flatly refuse to take on a chance on their weaker foot.

Any watchers of Ligue 1/Frenchies given their insight on him yet? Sorry if it's been done to death, but I've missed the last 112 pages Feel pretty meh about this. I usually get excited by prospective signings and I've been desperate to see us get anyone in TBH. But I just don't know much about this guy and I'm sure the few times I have seen him, he's looked a bit slow and average. Still, we need at least one more striker, so I'm glad we look like we're getting Gomis and maybe Remy too.

you don't ride work on one of his horses do you? Ronaldo, I'm about 5ft 10" at a push with my Sunday best shoes on. No way is he 5ft 11"