Papa Lazaru

Could well be, its just so annoying that we got so close to the win! Still at least we're not the team who has another club's striker (Ba) as our second top goal scorer in the prem!

Possibly, it just seemed when his number came up that he looked surprised as if to say, he was fine and hadn't indicated to the bench he was in bother, usually with cramp its always fine once you get the treatment. But it has to be said he was so far ahead of everyone on that pitch, MOTM by a mile.

With 11 men we'd have walked that game, i'd expect that that challenge to be a yellow alot more often than a red from referees, but Tiote shouldn't have given him any choice, it was a stupid tackle, but most times he'd have got off with a booking. And the mackems are every bit as shite as i've expected them to be, 60 mins against 10 men at home and you manage 2 efforts on target, one of them a deflection, they are an embarassment really. I would like to know why Colo was taken off when he seemed to just have cramp as that cost us, while was on the pitch they could have played another 90 mins and i doubt they have scored.

Very impressed with Tavernier, Bigi was good yet again and Elliot is looking decent as well which is a big plus and having Cisse score and look confident and full of energy could be massive for our season as well. On the down side Obertan playing against manu with a point to prove was a waste of space throughout, absolutely clueless and at one point Tavernier taking a throw had to shout at him to turn round and face him to give him an option, he just isnt interested. Gosling doesn't look good enough either and Vukic didn't really get into the game, though he didn't get many passes to him in decent positions to be fair, but he wasn't invovled enough either way.

Read in the paper that he appreciated the reception he got before the match, and happy to be back and briefly in the first minute or so there was a chant for him then on with supporting the team as you'd expect.

Behind Ben Arfa he's probably been our best player for me, does his job in attack and defence and will only keep getting better i think. And he's technically playing out of position as i'm sure he'd play RB if given a choice.

I think Tiote's absence is showing quite how much he brings to the team, he just doesn't let other teams dominate us in midfield and when Colo and Krul are back that's the spine of the team and they are vital to us. Also hopefully we have just seen the start of Cabaye returning to form and that Cisse can get himself up and running soon as he really needs a goal now.

Sums up the game perfectly, he's so pissed off with our performance and the continued aimless punts up to Cisse he's come to the edge of our box for the ball, its woeful and whilst he shouldn't do it again, i don't blame him. What Cisse is supposed to do up on his own with long balls like this i don't know, even if he did win it he has no help. The whole point of playing the players we have out there is to pass it around, but we aren't doing it at all.

Have i missed something over Colo as the only stories i've found through newsnow nufc etc still haven't put a time on it and only have him as an injury worry at the moment? It is getting bad now as i've just read Krul is heading home with an elbow injury and missing the Holland match, we really need that to be minor as we haven't got cover anywhere near as good as him.

Just read this in an article about Ryan Taylor's injury: Taylor's team-mates ran out for the Barclays Premier League clash with Aston Villa wearing tracksuits emblazoned with the message 'Ryan Taylor over the wall', a reference to the song the Toon Army sing about his derby-winning free-kick at Sunderland last season. Pardew said: 'It was Colo's [skipper Fabricio Coloccini] idea, he called me yesterday. We didn't want to say "Get well" because there are people in a lot worse positions than Ryan as a professional footballer. 'It's just nice to have that sort of spirit within the group, and it was just something to say: "We support you Ryan, good luck and come back quickly".' Great stuff from Colo as captain, he really seems to be loving the job and could be one of the best and most deserving captains we've ever chosen.

Pardew left the changes way to late today, the system wasn't working or we were just playing badly, take your pick, but there was nothing happening and we had players on the bench to change that or could have went 4-3-3 (or variation of that) and got Ben Arfa into it and given their defence something to deal with as the 2 up front were struggling. I'm not one of the people these days who think 4-4-2 is unplayable and that you can't win with it, but today we were static and Villa were untroubled most of the first half, and they are not a good team at all. Thought Santon was the pick of our players, had an impressive match defending and attacking and Ben Arfa rescued us with the sort of thing only he can do,but there were some sluggish performances out there. Also thought Bigi did really well on his introduction and we looked a bit better in midfield with him there, whilst Anita settled in nicely at fullback considering he's just started in the premiership and was moved mid game.

Fancy a good win today, Cisse is due a goal and i think Ben Arfa will tear them apart today the way he's playing.

Liverpool may be losing but they've had some lovely possession on the edge of their own box so its almost as good as winning! Gerrard has been shocking today as well and agree about Diaby, he's running the game.

Anyone know if any pubs in town are likely to be showing this match?

I think if Campbell is impressing Pardew then he will get a chance sooner rather than later and i think europe may be the way to go. Put him on the bench in europe and if we're comfortably beating some lesser opposition put him on under no presure and give him a brief taste of the first team. If it goes well then put him on the bench more often.

Not as big as they think but i agree, when he's talking about Everton beating manu 1-0 at home as being a famous victory and major upset he's talking bollocks to be honest.

Manu apart from the Japanese lad were shite tonight, but they were piss poor alot of last season and somehow got away with it. Everton will be a genuine threat to us now that they've finally started a season well unless they get injuries as their quality in reserve might be lacking.

As much as everyone has had a bit of a laugh about it, and it wasn't bad like Di Cannio's effort years ago it isn't acceptable and a ban is correct. Though if its more than Wenger got the FA need to explain why.

He seems to have games/spells where he covers every blade of grass, gets stuck in and plays really well except his passing goes to shit. Today with his passing miles off and Cabaye struggling we were losing the midfield battle, but we still won, so when those two start firing we will be looking good!

I think Santon can do a good job for us at left back, though i'm sure we'd see the absolute best from him at right back, but after the saga with Debuchy i still want us to get him, he is exactly what we need in a position where we aren't strong enough, but failing that i'd take signing a quality LB and moving Santon to RB.

To be fair i thought Spurs were the better side for alot of the game, but that is worth nothing compared to who takes their chances. Ben Arfa was class throughout and also put in a hell of a shift in terms of effort and he's had no pre-season to speak of. Jonas worked his arse off and even without the goal i thought Ba had put in some effort, but the rest of them at times looked a bit sluggish and the passing was pretty bad, particularly Tiote, but they stuck at it and won, that's the sign of a good team. Thought Taylor looked impressive coming back from a serious injury and Anita after his early touch gave the ball away looked very good and i can see what Pardew means about him being something between Tiote and Cabaye.

I can see anywhere from 4th to 8th for us so should go for the middle of that at 6th, but am feeling optimistic so will go with 5th! And considering that is with the fixture pile up we could have from europa league and tiredness coming into play in games after we've played on thursdays it shows how much confidence the manager and players have brought to the fans.

About where i am as i don't think he was £35m player but i also think he's way better than he showed for most of the season at Liverpool. Also whilst he offers the option of long balls played up to him its a myth that once you sign him you have to play that way as i think he's accomplished with the ball at his feet and quite an intelligent player on the whole for use of the ball. We need another quality striker even if Ba stays, because 1 or more of them will get injured, suspended, lose form or be away for the african cup of nations and we will potentially be playing alot more games this season.

I'm sure it probably been mentioned on the board somewhere but i haven't seen it, but have people read that Senegal and the Ivory Coast have been drawn against each other in the African cup of nations qualifiers, so only one of them is going to be in the main tournament, so we can't lose all our players to it (if they're still here anyway!). That's quite a boost really as losing all 3 in January would be a big issue with us having Europa league games as well as prem matches to fit in.

Something is written that these bastards are going to win it and probably fuck us up as well, the run of luck they've had in CL, league and FA cup has been scary, although you do have to give them credit for their efforts tonight. But Barca want shooting with shit, how many times do they need three passes to get it wide to Alves, for him to cut back and pass it to the edge of the box for somebody to not shoot! In the last few mins they suddenly looked like scoring as didnt do that every single time. And the worst thing is as Catmag said, this night and tomorrow should have been all headlines proclaiming Terry as the complete fucking prick he is for costing them it. It will be some small satisfaction if they do fluke the trophy that he won't be part of it.