Shays Given Tim Flowers

In terms of ability I don't see why not. The concern is what sort of stand by will he be? Its one thing for him to come on at home with 10mins to go in a relatively low pressure environment but say Senegal go through to ACON and we are left with Shola and him its going to be a huge amount of pressure. It may work mind, he seems to make very clever runs that would enable him to get a fair share of chances and if he tucked a couple away well it could snowball. Its a risk management thing, you could throw him in at the deep end but it may harm his development if it goes wrong, conversely it may accelerate it. My own opinion is it would be too much of a risk if he had to do anything more than a series of cameo's this season. Interestingly though if we were to sign Carroll I wouldn't mind seeing him as our 4th Choice Striker as he offers something different to all of our other options. * * Assuming Senegal don't qualify for ACON and there are no major injuries.

He is a very good player and I have no worries about him over the season.

Both missed chances they should have scored. Significantly lessens the impact of whatever else they do if they don't do the job that gets them on the team sheet.

Aye, about as silly as suggesting 4-4-2 doesn't allow movement or running into space. http://www.hitmasty.com/data/media/41/1401.jpg

With Cabaye, who we all know is a very good player, it is all about where he plays and his tole in the team. Imagine asking Tiote to play on the wing... or Jonas as a striker. He needs to play in an advanved attacking midfield role where he can get on the ball and in and around the box, where he can dictate play and get among the assists and goals. Maybe we could chalk it down to a one off but he was phenomenal against Manchester United last season alongside Tiote in Centre mid. A terrier like performance which if delivered week in week out would make us exceptionally hard to play against. Different to his Stoke performance but of similar pedigree.

He managed to pass to Danny Simpson today. Noteworthy. He is a joy to watch. Gives a shit too.

Read this earlier but didn't post as I was on my mobile basically ad nauseum. Lets ignore quotes from Pardew about Tiote being an exceptionally important player for us this season. Let's ignore the many times Tiote has come out and said he doesn't want to move. Lets ignore the fact he was used and picked up a slight knock against Tottenham and the fact you cant be cup-tied for the premier league. Afterall caughtoffside did a sodding article about Arsenal's interest. You may even be right about the transfer, but if you are its contrary to all principles of sound logic and for entirely the wrong reasons. As for the game itself, the big problem for me is not the 4-4-2 per se its just the fact that the strikers just generally minced around in the middle. Neither ran the channel very much making it hard to retain possession. If we are playing 4-4-2 then there are two things that I believe need to happen, Ba needs to drop deeper allowing Cisse to make runs in behind and there needs to be a freer role for Hatem. I didn't think the wingers covered back enough in the first half on either side, notably Santon was left exposed far too many times. That being said Chelsea are a top side on another planet to us in terms of money spent and its too easy to be hyper-critical of the lads due to disappointment. On another day they wouldn't have scored and we would of said what a good performance a point was. Frustrating, sure. We still have some very good players (most some way from top form), 3 points on the board and a very winnable game next weekend. HWTL.

A couple of his second half blunders would give me reservations about playing him too often in the Premier League. All well and good when mistakes go unpunished but if those mistakes cost us 3 points it may hamper his development. Pards seems to have the right approach when bringing youth through so I'm sure he will be handled appropriately. Looks a canny player and a shrewd acquisition.

It seems Pards has tried to play Obertan as much as possible at times in order to boost his confidence I think this may be counter productive (I would've played him last night for a full 90 fwiw). I think he is more likely to develop the confidence he needs if he is limited to cameo roles for a while in games we are winning (preferably at home). I think if he was running at tired players with a crowd roaring him on he would start to gain confidence. Would also have the added bonus of someone who could carry the ball from defence to the opposition half with relative ease. In the first half yesterday he was making mistakes that a professional footballer shouldn't make. Its just a case of trying to sort his head out. By no means am I saying he's a world beater or that he ever will be. But I do feel he can do a useful job for us and if able to sort his head out he would be a worthwhile improvement on Routledge.

Are you Danny Simpson? http://www.themag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/BenArfa14.jpg

Only when he is supplying crosses. He passes the ball and controls the ball comfortably with both feet.

Regretting reading that whilst hungry. Am now desperate for some Beef in Aubergine sauce.

Boer off with these puns.

His Dad failed his medical. Deals off.

What's wrong with being gay? Taking a big penis up the chuff ? Fucking women is for poofs.

A text book lesson in supply and demand. The football season really needs to start soon. Also a two week transfer window would be preferable. If only to stop us all becoming basket cases. It's mental the amount we read into things and speculate just because we're bored.

I was being fairly tongue in cheek with that mate though Allardyce's highest Premier League placing is the same as O'Neils at arguably a less fashionable club with less money. I used the Allardyce example purely because the language being used to describe O'Neil in this thread is exactly the same as would have been used to describe Allardyce circa 2004. I do think that it is a valid point that he is reluctant to change and quite outdated in his approach, I think that there has been an influx of younger managers who are likely to take the jobs O'Neil would have been considered for. I think he has achieved a significant amount as a manager particularly at smaller clubs and the Celtic UEFA cup final is worthy of merit and he ought to be distinguished from bad managers. That being said I really can't see him getting a job at a club better than Villa, he will have never managed a top-level side and I think after he leaves Sunderland he is likely to be slipping further down the ladder.

http://images.clicklancashire.com/admin/article/articleimages/1265970285-Sam%20Allardyce%20(laughing).jpg

Would I have to be 'on call' 24/7? Or a straightforward 9-5? its nearly $3000 a poo. Do I still get paid if it's a no-wiper?

After seeing he paid 10m for Curtis Davies and 8.5m for Nigel Reo-Coker i refuse to be surprised by this man's transfer dealings anymore. I've had this argument at work with an Arsenal fan who loves Artie He is an overated manager with little scouting knowledge, he plays god awful percentage football. Consistently buys poor players for ridiculous prices. Also something else i dont get about him, he is charmless, totally boring too, why the hell is he on TV so much baffles me. Arsenal fan says thats not true. Im guessing it's the Clough connection that sees him held in such high esteem by the media (TV). Think he is living on borrowed time too, can't really see him ever doing better than he did at Villa. It will be interesting to see where he ends up after Sunderland. I suspect he is more expensive than a lot of managers.

Just wanted to say that he was very pleasing to watch in the Cardiff game. Seems to have a very good footballing brain, very direct and keeps the ball close to his feet. Seems very much a number 10. Cardiff really couldn't handle him.

Went to this. We conceded 3 crap goals and in the first half just looked disjointed and disinterested. For at least 2 of their goals the defence appeared to not even be trying and everyone seemed prone to little bouts of stupidity. Our match day focus against spurs will be far better and we will have a more cohesive midfield unit as well as an actual outlet and goal threat in the form of real strikers. Disappointing scoreline but hardly the end of the world.

Just a shame that they don't seem to be able to get screwed over by the ridiculous amounts they have wasted over the past few seasons.

It's like they're in a bidding war with a club that doesn't exist.

Erratic is the perfect word tbh. He'll always have a place in my heart for that goal against Spurs like. I will never forget him rattling the crossbar at Anfield from a fairly innocuous throw in about 40 yards out in the right channel. Consistently inconsistent, which became more and more of a problem as we slipped down the league.