Johny1982

It is over the course of 130 games, so a yellow card every other game/other two games - which is no different to someone like Matic. For a striker? How many goals did he get in that time? 70. Not bad for a 20 year old. In s**** leagues, but that's not the point, the point is he's almost as likely to get booked as he is to score and since refs in this country have him marked and the quality of the league is higher, then that ratio will catch up at some point. Its ridiculous. Why ask how many goals if you've already decided their worthless. You thought it was going to be less than cards didn't you? I wasn't sure and why i asked, however before it being pointed out i'd have thought a 20 year old striker would be on around 20 cards in total, not 47 yellows already. Even more stunned no one seems arsed. Cnt really judge on that surely given that most 20 year olds, especially in our leagues would played a handful of games! I'd be more worried if he was getting bullied out of games like cisse does away from home. You can control aggression, but you can't teach desire! Give the lad a chance!!

Could that not be because how the team is set up? I don't see any players in the team looking comfortably positionally and one misplaced pass and the opposition is running at our defence whereas we have to grind teams down (doesn't happen) I think colback is a decent player and looking at performances one of our least problems with our biggest problems being a slow, positionally piss poor cb's (again pardew because they have such a high line for no pace), wingers that don't create, some players who don't care (sissoko) and strikers who look frustrated. The biggest problem is colback is trying to actually get on the ball but doesn't have the ability of cabaye so does a lot of simple stuff because he can't drive the team forward. Hardly worst player ever, just not world class

Amazing typo

Bruce is massively better in fat he can set a balanced team up, doesn't play half the team of of position to shoe-horn in his favourites, and isn't an arrogant, obnoxious prick. He does look like a emotional dinner lady though.

You can't fake how poor he was towards the end

This is really starting to wind me up. Gosling turned out to be s*** so we are accepting players who just aren't s*** now? Should we sign Nicky Butt back because he is better than Alan Smith? Gosling never needed replacing. He did need replacing, he wasn't good enough to be in our starting line-up at all. Colback is better, but shouldn't be ahead of what we have, just squad cover. How/why did he need replacing? He needed replacing because being a squad player isn't about playing 3 cup games a season, it's about pushing players in the first team to perform to their levels. Tiote has went through spells of shite because a 50% tiote is still better than a gosling. Think jonas is a good example of a player with no pressure on you, performances dip over so long and can never get back

I was far more depressed under souness but then again he could be sacked and there was hope. Ashley isn't going anywhere so though its not as bad, we're not even in the tunnel let alone seeing the light at the end of it

Really? Seems pretty obvious to me. We've clearly offered too little for him, both in terms of fee and wages. Am I getting this wrong but I got the impression he means he doesn't want the pressure of succeeding cabaye? Surely a fee is between two clubs and shouldn't affect a players ego! Might be wrong but I got feeling he bottled it. Mind club should've known all about this before Christmas let alone cabaye bid coming in.

I think the club over the last few years have made me care less, and ultimately as you get older players just come and go. Cabaye as great as he's been this year will ge replaced. Maybe nt with an individual as good but the team will move on and fairly quickly. Carroll replaced viduka, martins and Owen fairly easily, ba replaced Carroll and now remy ba. Difficult to say who's best of the last 3 because the team plays a different way each time and the point is either some1 will come and step up or we'll change our style. In terms of cabaye what more can you do? The fans loved him, manager loved him and give him a free role in the team, he was the heartbeat of the team in the best league in the world and he's traded up for a team who sign him because he's French and seems canny. Yeh they're ambitious but hope he doesn't watch a great team from the sidelines like Ba did.

Seen a tackle like that a million times when you take a yellow card to stop a counter attack - unfortunately nasri twisted his knee. If you get locked up for that then de Jong would still be doing lumpy porridge now for his 'tackle' on Ben arfa years ago

Anichebe isn't likely to start. Long is nothing special and I fail to see how Willo would deal with him better than Colo. Colo suddenly seems to be one of the worst CB's in the league according to N-O. It isn't about how good or bad Colo is its about horses for courses as I said. MYM would deal better with Long and Williamson would deal better with Anichebe. If Anichebe doesn't start that changes things as I trust MYM with Long. I just don't fancy the thought of Long, Sessegnon and Amalfitano running against Willo on the counter. He's done extremely well but IMO he should still be a backup and I see this game as a real possibility for his form to drop. I would also like to try and keep possession as much as possible on Saturday and obviously Colo would be a big boost in that. West Brom are also pretty handy in the air at set pieces with olsson and McCauley so Williamson is important there.

2001 he made his debut, didn't he? TWELVE years we've been starting Shola and, barring some physical 'enhancements' and the odd hint of form, he's never changed. I think he has charged a lot. He's ten times worse than the raw teenage we seen.

You're wrong on so many levels, I can't even be bothered to get into it! (Unless you're trolling) I don't understand all the hysteria either. Look at the squad- we've got an excellent goalkeeper, in colo the best cb since woodgate or arguably ever in modern times, 4 senior cb's, 2 international attacking fullbacks, 2 young fb's, 4 international central midfielders, one being linked to the best/richest clubs in Europe, Ben arfa who'd pretty much get in most teams in the prem and champions league and cisse who is a pure goal scorer. Remy has good very good at qpr in this league and hopefully continues for us. We'r one striker and some decent tactics away from having the best group of players we've had in years! Yeh pardew has a lot to prove, along with tiote etc but its a new season, all get a clean slate and see what happens

With or without Shola, there's a problem with the lack of creativity in the midfield. Too often, we seem to be trying to open up a defence with one pass. Other teams seem to be developing a style where the midfield and striker(s) are combining to open up defences with a series of short passes. It feels like we're getting left behind. Yeh but other teams have movement upfront creating space. We have midfielders in cabaye and sissoko, marveaux, Ben arfa who can pick a pass but we are far too condensed in midfield and have poor movement upfront, apart from cisse. Those are creative players, signing another one wont make a difference if we play the same way and have limited movement up top

Although the creativity in midfield wasn't great V braga, there were times through balls were played and because of Shola's lack of pace he gave up. If that was a remy then he'd have reached it. Because of the limitations of someone like shola and his lack of movement, xavi would struggle to create in that team, the way they're set up. Prob why he wants bent, though totally not the type of striker we need, at least his movement is good

Similar to perch. Not a problem is upgraded and replaced but absolutely pointless if not

I hope we do - good player, we'r desperate and why should we show dignity to signings when we show no dignity in any other way

Disappointed a quality player is leaving but his form has been poor over last few months so that cabaye and not the one who was running the show last year is sellable! I just think that after relegation I care less about individual players because they're all replaceable and more about the club

IMO A bank ain't worse than a company that prays on poverty? (See: Dresden's comment) Plus see the posts in the other thread RE: SW/Bolton. IMO these lot are worse than gambling/drink companies but I may be on my own there. Just because the bank manager smiles and shakes your hand doesn't mean he doesn't work for a bunch of crooks! Barclays constantly send me letters to get into huge debt with them, at least Wonga only want to do me over small amounts IF I'm stupid enough to go them

When he says he under-achieved I hope he means in the sense of how he's absolutely been tactically shocking all season! Last year we mixed the formation much more and adapted to the opposition. He tried players in different positions until he found a formation that worked - this year he has blindly stuck with 4-5-1 and since Ba got sold its been toothless. When Ba was here him and cisse used to swap positions, something he should be doing with gouffran, if players weren't fit or working hard he'd even play likes of obertan - this year cabaye has looked wrecked/sick at times and he's in, sissoko looked fucked, he's in, Ben arfa not fit and waiting for him hamstring to ping and he's in - he's went against everything he stood for last season, all the stuff he waxed lyrical about last year about his 'fluid formations' as if he was a master tactician. Dnt dislike the bloke and want stability at club but has to be right person. Something has to give and he either sorts that shit out and finds some common sense or he needs sacking, he's back tracking now because he knows this is the biggest job he'll ever get unless he consistently has progress with his teams. Board are to blame for not backing him but he needs to explain the crap of the last 6 weeks. Worry is the likely idiots of curbishley, o'leary, graham, and Hughes waiting around the corner. Rant over...

Low level negotiations has Steve stone rang text their kitman or something!

I think he's a 4-4-2 rb, in sense he will stay back and expect rw to attack and he waited around admiring his tattoos on the half way line. Him and obertan had a good partnership down the right, Expecting him to bomb on and be like a right wing back just isn't his game and is where he falls (massively) short. Same as Williamson, he's not a cb that can play ball out from the back and when they ask him to it massively exposes their limitations! Back to partnerships their is none in the team and it shows. Last season we had Simeon and obertan for a spell, jonas with santon/taylor, colo and taylor, tiote/cabaye, best/ba - this year we'r losing as individuals and I think injuries are just a part of it. I think in a well drilled back 4 Simpson will be fine, a spell last season when he performed well and we kept a load of clean sheets was an example of that! We rarely have this and our game has changed so he's no longer the rb we need, no hard feelings and never give him abuse he's one of the players that got us promoted and secure in prem (sort of) playing with knocks along the way.

His ideal club is anyone who will pay the most, simple as! Nobody wants him to leave but his reps have been pimpin him for 12 months now whilst pushing for a new pay day here. I suspect he will earn a shed load at Chelsea and then end up with his mate moussa sow in turkey and earn more there - and I dnt think he'll cry himself to sleep at night dreaming of SJP

True, all we need to do is point to our captain marvel to show we need to give the foreign guys a little more time to bed in. that was very lucky for us as, imo, if anyone had offered us close to what we paid for him and were prepared to match his wages, he'd have been away. also, does that idea mean we should have kept rozenhal, boumsong, guivarche for longer ? Rozehnal probably would've developed but when he wasn't playing he wanted out because he was a regular for his country, boumsong didn't have the mental strength of collocini to get over criticism (IMO) and guivach was, well, terrible and completely not suited to partner shearer! Youv got to judge each player on their merits when you say give them time. Anita seems to be working hard in training with right attitude so yeh give him time, if he had the attitude of ranger I'd pack him off on the next DFDS out of north shields

What do you think the club has been doing for the last 2 years since he's been here then? It's only his second red. Granted he's been on a thin line quite a few times but that's ow it goes in centre mid, he's hardly a scumbag like cattermole