Lush Vlad

Cattermole for Eriksen's first goal Fresh from towing a caravan, when trying to chase Ayew in midweek. I think he's still looking for him now. Do some of their fans still think he should be in the England squad?

Yes, I rate Lamela as being a much better player than Townsend. Every Spurs fan I know seems to think Townsend is shit. Most seem to like Lamela and have said he has actually started to produce. He just has a hefty price tag hanging over him.

Just to weigh on the Swansea v Sunderland debate. The second offside goal was actually very marginal, even if it did look miles off in real time. What I couldn't understand was, was that the linesman was about 5 yards too deep. So there is no way he could have made an accurate judgement. I know they can't always be in line, but he has no reason to be that far off the last man. There have been some shocking refereeing decisions in the midweek games.

Said this a few times, so I won't harp on, why do you care about the fee? Only question is will he improve us or not? Surely? I don't give a f*** about the fee, if the player is half decent. Hence why I didn't care what we paid for Shelvey. It's nice to see us actually spending a bit. But for £12m, could we not find someone better than Andros f***ing Townsend? I don't think he'll improve the team that much and considering we've always been tight f***ers. I'd imagine it will put a big dent in whatever our budget is. Also, what Wallsendmag said. I can see us signing Townsend and then not buying a decent striker because of it. Or settling for some 4th choice, no hoper.

I didn't give a toss about the £12m spent on Shelvey. As I think he's what we need and it wasn't actually a bad price. But £12m for a Spurs reserve player, who isn't even that good, is just ridiculous. Is Charnley looking at Cabella and Thauvin, thinking that we can't afford to get anymore wide men from abroad? So he's settling on a shit English player, for the same money. All because he's 'proven' in the premier league. Don't like the idea of signing him. Think he's a bit of a headless chicken and has always been wildly inconsistent.

I don't think Anita was that bad at doing it. There have been times when Anita has done it needlessly, though. Like there is no need for him to be dropping deep and just taking away another forward pass option, from the defence. Colback just hides and passes sideways for most of the game. I hadn't even noticed he did this as well!

Yeah it was a good job Tiote was there because some of the time Tiote was having to drop so deep to cover the massive gap between them we looked like we were playing 352. Lots of teams do that now. Full backs have to be able to play a bit and are more important than a lot of people give them credit for. The full backs push up, the centre backs split and the holding mid drops a bit deeper in the gap. We've done it loads this season, with good and bad results. A lot of teams do it, it's nowt to worry about IMO. Doesn't work that well with Dummett, mind. Janmaat basically plays as a wing back every game. What was worrying, was Mbemba going on his mad runs. I like it when he does it. But Colo also likes to go forward with the ball. Plus he breaks rank to go and press higher up the pitch and in wide areas. So with Mbemba now keen to break forward, as well. It means we end up being really disjointed. Our back 4 is all over the show at times

He looks slow for a winger. He's not fast at all. Nowhere near as fast as Obertan, but not as bad, either. He just seems unsuited and he hasn't had much of a chance for whatever reason. When we signed him, there were constant reports about him turning us down a few times previously. I'm sure there were a few articles saying the owner decided the offer was too good to turn down and was basically told he was leaving. I may be wrong, mind. French fans laughed at us and said he was crap. A lot of their reporters said he had been poor and would be ill suited to the league. Seems as if a lot of what was said, was actually true.

Agree on that. If Tiote is still here. He should start. Annoying that he's back to some sort of form, just before we sell him. But it can't gloss over the years of shit and injuries.

If true, what a fucking waste of money. Pay HBA to leave. Spend £25m on two players to replace him. Both players end up back in France after a year The main reason I will never let up in my hatred of Pardew. What a colossal fuck up.

I would agree in most instances. But when Colback proves to be an absolute waste of a shirt on a weekly basis. I would advocate drastic changes. It could be a bit of a problem, starting two new centre midfielders. Which is why I don't think it will happen. But I wouldn't be against it.

You just know it will be. Minor injury or another yellow for Wor Jack is what is required. Just so Saivet can get in the team and then prove he offers more than Colback. If he doesn't, then we've wasted £5m on a terrible footballer.

The 1-11 numbering debate, has been done about 30,000 times on here. But just to let you know, your numbering system and team selection is abhorrent.

Same here. He looked awesome against Spurs when he came off the bench, seems to be a bit laboured when he's starting games, although that might have a lot to do with being asked to play so deep. Think you've nailed it there. Spurs fan I was watching the game with said how much he rates Perez, but he'd been shit and looked knackered. I did then point out that he seems to be getting the ball in his own half, or 40+ yards from goal, on a regular basis. Doesn't suit his game at all. But you can't really switch him with Wijnaldum and we're not a good enough side to carry him and leave him higher up the pitch. Not yet, anyway.

Sorry. I just meant in terms of what was going on and how confusing it is. He was out for ages, then back, then back out again. I know reading the article clears it up a bit. But there has clearly been a bit of confusion, as they've never put this information out there until now. As for who decides on whether or not they're having surgery. It should almost always be the player who makes the final call. Hopefully, this means we pursue a striker. As we're fucked without a decent backup to Mitrovic, at the very least.

Who's in charge here?

We have Riviere and Toney Plus Perez (sort of). Cisse is allegedly not that far away, either. I just remember reading they're supposed to be happy with the defensive options and I worry they might feel the same regarding strikers. I'm probably just worrying over nowt. But we need another striker. Problem is, we often just play one up top and we have to convince someone to come here. Are we going to get someone who regularly plays ahead of Mitrovic? It's kind of like Arsenal needing a new striker. Who are they going to realistically get, that will play ahead of Giroud? Who is decent enough, that will sign, just to sit on the bench. Obviously, our's is the poor man's version. Hope they don't gamble on it until the end of the season. Mitrovic is never going to be prolific and Cisse is shit.

Maybe after netting 3 goals. We'll settle down and think we don't need a striker Two centre mids will do. Of course, we've struggled to score all season and only one of the goals last night, was from a striker and it was a penalty. But I'm worried/paranoid we won't get a striker in.

I'd rather we invested £18m on some foreign player that may be good. Than £18m on Berahino, who I really don't rate at all. Not saying that's the only option, like. But we keep getting linked.

Yep. Have a horrible feeling that Colback will be even worse than usual. As he'll be hiding even more than normal, to make sure he doesn't get a yellow. He must realise, that if he gets a ban. It is highly likely that Saivet will come straight in and outperform him. The fact Saivet has a pulse, pretty much means he's an upgrade on Colback. I hope Colback gets booked early, gets a niggle and then Saivet comes on.

I went for 6-10. I'd be disappointed if he didn't bag 10, seeing as he's already on 4 and seems as if he's on pen duty. Hopefully we haven't used up our quota of penalties for the season.

I'm sure it's been mentioned. But four league games in a row without a goal. Sounds familiar. The complaints from Palace fans sounds awfully familiar, as well.

Absolutely love this guy. You can see why many on here were saying he's our best player really early in the season. Seemed a bit early to make that call, but it seems the right one IMO. Has he scored all 8 of his goals at home? I see people are commenting on his away performances not being up to scratch. But he was class against Arsenal and whilst not great against WBA, he still had a chance or two. Hopefully, he's back to number 10 for good. He is really thriving there now. I'm sure early on, when playing more centrally, he was blowing after about 60 mins? Now, it seems like he's the fittest bloke on the pitch. Still making lung bursting runs in the 94th minute. It was the same against Liverpool. When he plays like that, it makes watching us enjoyable.

Looked gassed and a bit off the pace. Should have came off earlier, as he wasn't really offering much towards the end.

Was absolutely class for his first 12-18 months. I remember his debut at Everton and being beaten to the MOTM award by HBA. Somewhere along the line. He started getting constant injuries, he looked to have put a bit of timber on and his form nosedived. Teams figured out his little pirouette routine and he stopped playing so disciplined. I mean positionally, of course. He'll never learn to not pick up cheap cards and I can kind of accept a lot of them, due to the position he plays. He's almost always looked good against the bigger teams, TBF. Suits his game and you realise how important he is. In home games against 'lesser' sides, he often tried to overplay and he was completely redundant. May have been something to do with Pardew wanting him to be 'our Michael Essien' I wouldn't be against keeping him, if he wasn't in and out the team with injuries and if it wasn't for the fact we've just signed two centre mids. In an ideal world, Colback and Anita would be gone before him, but that won't happen. For a start, someone would actually need to be interested in buying them. It looks like it's farewell, Cheiky. That Arsenal goal