OTF

We've not even strung together a decent run of passes this half...

No changes for the second half.. What game are you watching Pardew?

Bassong's penalty on Suarez Elbow chop...

Horrible Perch tackle earns him a yellow. Reminiscent of his early days at fullback. But then he saves the day with a scrambling block/interception with Pog... only having Harper to beat.

Williamson winning the ball and setting things up from the midfield...

Our crosses have been shite.

It is. They've picked up a bit, but we look like it's pre-season.

Stand by for Williamson winning the ball but doing nothing from this corner Didn't quite get to him... Bigi taking the corners.

We're really lacking any direction out there. Very ordinary to watch at the minute.

Should definitely be looking to change things up. We've been the better side, but that's saying nothing. Ba and Cisse wasted and Ben Arfa too restricted on the right. They've just created the best chance of the game forcing a decent save from Harper - who made it look better than it was.

4-4-2 for both sides.

Reading look a very slow side, going to struggle this season. Where did their goals come from last season?

Bigi looks like being an excellent deal, such composure and sensible play for someone his age.

Tiote down, looked like it hurt but thankfully he's back on his feet. Beware the revenge tackle...

Let it be said I'm watching on the Australian sky equivalent (ie on TV). Hope the intensity of this match picks up, it's a bit casual at the moment. Just saw right then why it's better having a left footed fullback on the left - Santon trying to control a Ben Arfa switch with his right foot and the ball subsequently went out. Poor left footed cross from Jonas straight after - two right footed players down the left.

No fluidity to our passing as yet. Early days, but atm Cisse and Ba not involved.

Would rather Anita at RB also. Perch off the bench to close things down if need be.

What's the story with Coloccini? Pulled up sore? Guthrie not even in their first 11.

Does not compute. He was dropped from the starting team. Scored from the bench. I didn't vote.

We finished fifth with Jonas as an everpresent playing side midfielder. CT is jealous of Jonas' hair. He sees Ferguson as a slight version of his pasty self. Whether or not either of them are good at football is largely irrelevant, though he'll try to convince you otherwise. The hide of him in criticising someone else's football knowledge!

Who was impressed in any way shape or form apart from at the odd personal standout (Ben Arfa and Harper)?

I can only think with Anita and Perch that Pardew wanted Perch's extra height in defense against a team like Norwich. We have played poorly but results wise we're doing ok. We know we have the talent here so if everything clicks we've positioned ourselves well to achieve our goal for the season - injuries and the thin squad aren't helping. The poor feeling from the transfer window in many ways has come across into the season. If we manage to pull out a good performance and solid win I think we'll be able to put it behind us - until January at least.

Firstly, untwist your knickers. Last season coming to a new league Cisse had to prove himself. He did it in no small way and was a revelation. This season he has played a little like a 'made man' not as interested in doing the tracking back and closing down that he was last season. The competition wasn't there last season either (though it has thinned out his year further) but he had strong motivation to play at his best. It's certainly not crisis time by any means, but a good bit of man management could help to see him back to his best for us. Part of that may be making him play for his spot in the team. The only feasible option to that end is ba on his own (which he is quite good at anyway) with Ben Arfa free roaming and Cabaye afforded a more advanced role. Pardew already hinted at dropping Cisse before this match, perhaps that was an attempt to bring the best out of him.

Agree he was excellent. The 7.5 was more top do with the limitation in his ability with the ball, than his performance in defense.

My player ratings FWIW Harper - 9 - May key saves when required, and also commanded the box well making the right decisions when one needed to be made. HIs best game for us for some time, could not have done any more apart from pop up with an assist. Santon - 7 - Was solid and did well to push up the pitch particularly int he fisrt half. Defensively was ok. Williamson - 7.5 - Worked hard and made some key interceptions/header as well as getting a crucial block just off the line. Our best defender in this match, though still looks very limited with the ball at his feet, Taylor - 6 - Failed to assert his authority in this match. As the senior of our centre back pairing more is expected of him, Perch - 6 - As a fullback he was pretty poor, as a closing midfielder a lot better. Pardew was worried about playing Anita in defense because of his height. Jonas - 7 - Covered plenty of ground, was solid in possession but didn't do a lot in the final third (only Ben Arfa and Ba did). Cabaye - 5.5 - Wasteful with chances an with the ball in general. Some good tackles/reads but seemed to be trying for the spectaculor far too much. Not a good choice when you're struggling to get the simple things done coherently. Anita - 6.5 - Looked quite decent in wide options, though doesn't make the greatest options in the atacking third. Was a better option at fullback than Perch. HBA - 8.5 - Had their beating everytime on the dribble. Worked some excellent passes. Faded in the second, but the whole team did and as a result he didn't see a lot of the ball. Ba - 7.5 - Good game took his goal very well. Had another decent chance or two but did his job and put the ball in the back of the net. Cisse - 5 - Looks out of sorts at the moment. Was renowned as a hard worker when he arrived but now doesn't seem to be doing the little things like closing down etc anywhere near as much. As a result he seems off the pace of the game and doesn't get invovled anywhere near enough. Of the subs TIote bears the biggest mentions as he was atrociously bad in terms of his application. Actually looks to be relatively sharp given how long he's been absent but made continual abysmal decisions both in possession and defensively. He's not te kind of player you really want to bring on for a cameo as he'll be wanting to make an immediate impact and will be outside the first few minutes of the match where there seems to be an amnesty on silly challenges.