Lush Vlad

Anyone see how bad it looked on Saturday? I'd totally forgot he went down TBH, remember him being helped to his feet (by S.Taylor I think), he hobbled a bit, before appearing to run it off, didn't even get treatment did he? Would suggest it isn't too bad as he played on with it. Hopefully just a knock or a slight sprain.

fuck sake. Hopefully not serious, but if he misses Stoke and Everton, the good news is we haven't got a game after that until the 19th November. The bad news is it's against Man City!

Taylor might still play though, doubtful I know. Lovenkrands didn't even make the bench Saturday, no reason to suggest he will start. Personally, I'm hoping Pardew is just talking him up, same with Smith. Although it is a bit worrying that Smith got a place on the bench Saturday, is he better than Gosling or Guthrie? NO!

Full strength side? You've got Lovenkrands, Abeid and Perch in there???

Yeah, so I think what we can draw from this is that he has good games and bad games like everyone else

Aye, good point. Not sure how he'll play it, but they play on Saturday and we have until Monday, so maybe he will rest a few. They're also away to Norwich, big game for them, as you would expect both teams to be in the bottom 5 or 6 come the end of the season.

Really think we will lose this, don't think they will rest many as Kean desperately needs a win, few Spurs mates that came up for the match the other week. They also went to Ewood Park on Sunday and from what they have been saying, Blackburn actually did alright. Can see us making 3, 4 maybe 5 changes, but nowt too drastic. Marveaux, HBA and Santon will all surely start. Hoping Lovenkrands and Smith aren't considered, would also like to think Tiote will be rested for this one, him and Cabaye are on 3 yellows each and Cheik always seems to be on the verge of getting booked.

Good post, he was shite against Blackburn and Wigan at home last year, games we should have been winning and dominating possession. Yet he looked unstoppable against Arsenal away and Man U at home. This season, he looked quality against Spurs, one of his best performances in a black and white shirt, yet he was pretty ordinary against Wigan. Think you're right and it's more than just a coincidence. The bit in bold tickled me, good description TBH :lol:

Does Baggio sit behind you? You have to bear in mind that at every football ground there are going to be supporters who fail to see the bigger picture. We were going nowhere with best and Ba up front, and Best in particular was having a fairly poor game. Ben Arfa when he came on immediately started dropping into spaces between the midfield and the front man and started pulling the midfield defenders out of position. Yes he over dribbled it a couple of times but if we'd kept passing it sideways, backwards, then launch 50 yards long like in the first half we would never have won. Not every fan has the ability to see past his nose so seeing a few dickheads getting frustrated should be expected. I take it you were not at the game then as Best was quite a bit better than Ba the first half. Actually agree on this one!

Do the majority of the crowd unfailry criticise him, or is it just my area? In particular me mates Dad has a massive agenda when it comes to Besty. Anything good, it's 'about time he done something worthwhile, he's been shite' etc. Any tiny mistake, fuck up or missed chance it's 'get him off he's shite, disgraceful, atrocious, terrible etc etc. Similar comments from most around me as well. Not trying to sound like a sanctimonious know it all tosser, but do people not actually realise what he brings to the team? He wins so much in the air for his size, his holding the ball up and link up play is usually tidy and he gets in goalscoring positions. Don't get me wrong, he can be frustrating and he has his faults, but the amount of stick he gets is a bit OTT, it borders on abuse, he's hardly Alan Smith FFS! Ba doesn't help either, I know he's instructed to drop deep and help out, but at times against Spurs and Wigan, the nearest NUFC player was about 30 yards away and Ba was off playing left wing. In time I would bloody well hope he becomes 3rd choice, I only really see him as a 5-10 goal a season back up striker, but his all round game is very underrated.

This

Yep, that's his trademark when we score, just stands there with his hands in the air. Sure he did it against Forest and Spurs.

Shame, it seems as if Best and Ba aren't the fittest and usually start flagging after 70 odd minutes. As others have said Lovenkrands coming on is hardly ideal. Would also like Shola to try and get some kind of form for January, as he's going to be needed during the ACN. Might not be back until mid December.

Good post, particularly the last bit. He's been here for a few months, he's part of an unbeaten team that are sat in fourth place. Probably been our worst player so far granted, but I can't believe some felt the need to jeer him. I can see the reasons he was deemed good enough for a crack at Man U, he's just too indecisive and scared for the most part though, his crossing is utter shit as well, Jonas managed to sort it out though, so why not Obertan? He was frustrating as hell like, but thought the reception he got was a bit harsh. I thought the whole crowd Saturday were a bit nervy and it was a tense atmosphere, lots of groans and shouting at the tiniest mistakes. The fact everyone turned up expecting to win by 2 or more (myslef included) didn't help matters. Stuck up for him a lot, even so I would have liked to have seen Marveaux playing instead of him weeks ago. Should certainly start from now on.

"FUCKING SUPERB"

Does Baggio sit behind you?

So many MOTD/highlight reel fans at the match these days. People having a massive go and almost jeering because he lost the ball on the edge of their box, or ducked a 50/50 fucking pathetic. Do we expect him to create a chance, get an assist, a shot of or score everytime he approaches the other teams box? Do people genuinely expect him to slide in like Cheik Tiote for a 50/50 challenge against Mohamed Diame? He's an edge of the seat player, a risk taker and the creative spark we've been crying out for, yet still some like to twist and moan. Add to the fact he's coming off the back of a year out with injury and has still barely played any games in the Premier League. I don't think he looks unfit or slower, just his touch seems a bit out and he is understandably lacking match sharpeness/fitness. He also looks to be operating on a different wavelength to the rest of the team at the minute. Nowt that concerns me, with more games all that I have just mentioned will obviously improve. Changed the dynamic of the game when he come on, gave us some urgency.

Went fucking nuts when he scored, then was reminded by me mate we had gone 5ers in for first scorer, bonus. 14/1 in Lads, one of the bets of the day in Racing Post. Love this bloke even more now!

They've lost their last 5, not sure why but that stat makes me nervous! Still, I don't think we're as one dimensional as we were last season and don't think we will struggle to create against these.

Missed training yesterday, BBC saying minor toe problem and should play tomorrow. Bloody hope so!

Not in a million years. He would be the epitome of trolldad with that grin / smirk of his.

Blue, yellow, brown, black and blue I think. Got quite a few mates that wear Panofola's and swear by em, got realy wide feet though and never buy boots unless I've tried them on. Only ever seen these online.

Yip, absolute beauts them boots, better in black.

I quite like Obertan. Think he will be useless against the Manchester clubs and Chelsea though, doesn't look after the ball well enough and his tracking back has been a bit hit and miss compared to earlier in the season. Wigan is the kind of game where he should shine, same as Blackburn, which was his best game for us.