Howay

I'd give Santon 10 minutes there and see what he can do - as Pardew's original gameplan seemed to centre around pace and athleticism. Aye I'd be happy if he did the same like, it's canny depressing to have 2 full backs that can deliver a better ball than our starting (aye ana only until marveux's back) winger .

I'd rather have R.Taylor on the right tbh, that way we get the positives of his game (the decent crosses and free kicks) without having to worry about his defensive side too much and he'd also be an improvement over Obertan in the assisting with defense aspect too.

This should be good.

Oh dear. Agree with Ewerk that it's not sustainable at all. The Tiote comment at the end is a blatant example of this, if we sell Tiote does this bloke really see us going out and getting another player as good as him for a similar low amount to what we brought him in on that can slot right into this league the way he did?

Agree Manc, I think Marveux is preferred to Obertan but since he's injured I'm assuming Pardew wants to keep the shape of the team similar. That and lack of other options are the only ways I can somewhat rationalize why he's still a starter.

If Aguero has had his foot off the gas the last ten matches I'd hate to see when he puts effort in.

Advocating sacking Pardew is laughable, howay man we're 7th ffs we're in a bad run but today was always going to be tough today. I agree the constant omission of Ben Arfa is odd but we don't know what's happening behind the scenes maybe they're wanting to make sure he's fit when Ba leaves? who knows. Obertan is shite but we don't have too many options tbh.

This, thoroughly disappointed today. We never pressed like we normally do and they always had time (the Gerrard cross to Carroll being a good example), Tiote give the ball away a fair bit and Obertan proving yet again he needs to be dropped I think he passed to the touch line more than any of our players.

Did we fuck. Guess you never saw it?

They'll all be using the same computer at their local library the scummy arseholes.

Dalglish is a cunt, does that upset you some more? The fact that it upsets them to the point where they want to delete that thread really amuses me, honestly DutchRed you and your muppet pals need to get a grip imagine if we reacted the way you just have anytime people give Keegan abuse ffs in the same thread about how we're disrespectful there are people abusing Keegan . You lot need to wake up you're not media darlings, I'm not from North Shields for the mug that said we are I grew up in Benwell and there's fuck all wrong with Shields anyway it's far nicer than the vast majority of what I've seen of your hellhole. Aye we could have been nice and civil about Dalglish for your precious feelings but the fact is even if we know it's going onto your forum you came onto OUR forum we can say whatever we want on here, people have very different opinions of the same people because of the side they're on it shouldn't bother you what we say or think about your manager. The bloke calling us deluded cracked me up, pot calling kettle.

Aye I think if one post ever made defined scousers, it was Pacinofan's just there. Come over ter arrr boards la shoutin der odds ayym and we'll give ya what for ye little blehhhht! Fuckin arsehole. Anyway win lose or draw we'll always be geordie and 20% of them will always be scouse. Class And aye if they think we're going there looking to nick a draw like at Old Trafford they're having a laugh they just drew 1-1 with Blackburn at home, we'll have a good go at them I reckon.

But regardless like Tom said why does it matter? it's not like if you went on there and called them all scum it'd make you a hard man it's not like they can do much about it aside from ban you .

Aye he's a canny lad in all. It was either him or some lad from Whitley Bay (think Lee was at Newcastle Blue star at the time).

Didn't we give a similar trial to Lee Novak or someone a few year back? I doubt they're seeing this as a replacement for the Maiga deal, even Ashley wouldn't be that mental surely

He's not a forward for a start so no he wont cost as much but he's still a top Brazilian talent, the top European clubs are possibly just waiting for him to mature a bit or move to a top division side in any case we'd never get him.

Brazilian clubs demand big fees now that their economy has improved, plus the lad is on the radars of big clubs may as well go for those Neymar and Ganso lads while we're at it.

This. Think it was the Swansea game (nowt sure) and he was at times just having it lugged up to him and he was constantly keeping his man away long enough to control it and shoot on the turn. He's got strength, decent pace, very good finisher, good touch and most of all is a very intelligent player the injury issue is the only question mark but luckily it's not been a problem so far for us. Aside from the ramadan/finding his feet period I cant remember ever feeling any frustration with him in a game for us.

But even if he is a flash in a pan (which he isn't btw) we paid nowt for him. In any case you just have to watch Ba to see he isn't comparable to someone like Zaki

I prefer to pretend he doesn't exist, one of the biggest arseholes in the history of football. The youtube videos of him singing in the car before driving to games say nee more.

So a deal collapses 6-7 weeks or so before the end of the January window and we're done We're only capable of looking at one target at a time it seems despite the fact we've been searching for a new striker for 2 year and they acknowledged we needed a defender with the Ridgewell interest in the summer. We needed a striker before Carroll left which is why it surprised me last year that they seemingly had no interest in loaning Sturridge when Bolton were in for him and like a few on here have mentioned a loan deal would be a logical move if you think the prices are too steep and you've not got 2 year to scout someone. Even a 1 month loan over February just to cover the time Ba is away as I shudder to think what it's going to be like with just Best (out of his purple patch), shola, lovenkrands and Sammy (who's really a winger).

Agreed, players like them warrant inclusion simply because when they turn up they can destroy a team (like Robert vs Spurs when he scored the 2 screamers) or create something out of nothing in a game that is heading for a loss or draw. I agree with Mattm4 that Best did deserve to be included as he was playing well in the system at the start of the season and like Mattm4 also said I think the tactic has been found out and he's become pretty unaffective now.

Was just about to say this myself. Seriously man they may as well let Kermit the frog talk about football if they're going to give this doylem air time. Well, can't really argue against attendance stats from the 70s can we? Nice find this one pointing to 'celebrity fans' sums them up man Tom Hanks ffs. Villa fans love owt like this because it makes them relevant for 5 minutes I'd be ashamed to have their accent I SERIOUSLY would. Think he's forgetting that we were loaning Milner out to them and he wasn't all that preferred at the time.

Neither Best nor Obertan contributed anymore than Ben Arfa defensively yet Ben Arfa made us a threat on the attack as opposed to looking like there was nothing about us in the 60 minutes preceding him. Obertan looks disinterested when he has possession let alone without it. Why comment about this when you've not watched the game? it was clear as day we were a completely different side when Ben Arfa came on, before he come on they were marking Ba very heavily and not really worrying about Best as he was squandering every chance that come to him which made Ba drop deep to get the ball and made him ineffective. I said to myself after just 10 minutes of the game it was exactly the sort of game Ben Arfa would excel in, we were controlling possession and the ball was in Boltons half constantly yet there was nothing about us. If you think Ben Arfa can only contribute as an impact sub you're wrong.