OTF

Yeah he's on 8. Hasn't done enough to warrant extra attention from the ref so far, let's hope it stays like that.

Was a Jonas cross that their defender cleared along the ground straight to Nolan who had just finished whinging to the ref about a handball decision.

Kevin Nolan!!! Interrupted whilst cracking th shits about a handball when a clearance goas straight to him. Slots it across the keeper and into the corner. Hope we keep our feet on the gas.

Nolan could have played Best in there for the hat-trick. Our passing and movement is looking very good, West Ham not at the races.

Best at the double!!! Well worked free kick from Barton, Lovenkrands across the goal, beat cleaning up scraps.

Barton having a great game, passing has been pin-point accurate.

Enrique just skinned two defenders and forced a save out of Green with a chip. Enrique really pushing on. Leon Best!!!!!! From a Lovenkrands pass. Composed finish.

Lovenkrands touch has been woeful.

Best has looked ok so far despite wasting a good headed chance from a Barton cross.

That's a valid question. I'd have him play off Carroll as we've not got any other viable options up front. Has the skill and pace to beat a man, and should find plenty of space to run into off Carroll. Out wide we may not see enough ball go through him to fully utilise his ability.

With what they've said about signing Ban Arfa they can't turn around now and sell Carroll without looking like bullshit merchants. Whether or not they care is what we'll find out. Signing Ben Arfa to a permanent deal is a good move and a good sign that there is intent to improve the team. I'm still worried that everything they do is down with the intention of being able to sell down the track. A couple of good seasons from Ben Arfa and I could see him being sold on for a profit.

Good luck getting Mike to pay the wages of those three! If he sells it will be for fat amount of cash.

I doubt we were ever even in talks with him. Reckon Ashley wanted to make the most of the talk so told Pardew to be non committal about out 'interest'. Would make a difference to us, but for the wages we'd pay and the short period there's no way it would represent good value. If it clears the way for us to make a permanent move for Bentley it could be good, though I have a feeling that they'll be stubborn and won't move much on his price.

Christmas is over, can someone take the tree down and throw it out, please? It's stinking the place up and dropping shit everywhere.

Harper Simpson Taylor Coloccini Ferguson Ferguson/Lua Lua Tiote Barton Ferguson Carroll Ferguson mong

Agree, i thought he was the one weak link at the back. Rushed in possession, every clearance was a long ball where the others tried mostly to play it out. That's always been Taylor's game, he has pretty poor vision on the ball which thinking about it really would preclude him from being a decent fullback. Williamson is more or less the same. Coloccini loves to play it out, a little too much for this level where he can't outskill the opposition like he did in the Championship.

Steven Taylor wasn't bad, but didn't have a lot to do. Should have scored that headed chance. Compared to Shola's miss 2 minutes in it was respectable. Jonas but in a good honest shift and as a result it was his best game in some time. Still lots to improve, but the effort was there and he was taking on and beating his oppostion like he used to. As soon as he knows he's got the beating of his opposite player with pace he has a much more positive approach. Nolan was quiet all game which pulled Joey back in to the middle a lot more, but I think that's where Barton is at his best, where he has the option to play in wide channels or to come through the middle. As everyone else has mentioned Tiote played very well. He was mildly lucky to get away with a cynical foul in the middle of the pitch early on, but rightfully pulled his head back in after that and consequently finished the game without a card. The nonsense rolling about screaming clutching his face was embarrassing though, not even Jonas would have carried on like that. Lovenkrands wanted too much time on the ball on a number of occassions, a sign of a player out of touch, other than that his runs were decent and the effort was there helped contribute to our goal which was the result of applied pressure from a number of players, always good to see.

Bentley is a good shout but it's definitely a see it before I believe it signing. His wages wouldn't be that bad, as I'd say Tottenham signed his before their wage ceiling was obliterated. Plus we can't be held captive to wage limitations forever because of Smith and the likes. Certainly our wages are substantially lower than when we went down in 2008.

Just scored his sixth in as many games. So you're saying Wellbeck is better?

Fair comment Noelie. Kadar could have played, we know Perch isn't good enough, maybe Pardew will see it too. The real problem is, as you insinuate, we are badly short on cover for Enrique which is a disgrace tbh, even Keegan said when he was manager that he wanted competition for Enrique. I'm guessing Perch was played over Kadar because he's quicker and agaiunst Lennon that would be important. He didn't have a bad game by his own standards. Pace [catch-up/recovery speed] counts for little if the FB allows too much of a cushion/creative space between himself and the attacker, particularly if the delivery/final ball equals that of the running & dribbling ability - and Lennon's end product has greatly improved over the last two seasons. A pertinant point considering the amount of central options Spurs [and other top-of-the-table outfits] had at their disposal ie. the blokes who cash in on the outstanding wide play of Lennon & Bale. It's why Perch is such a liability at this higher level of competition. Even a hatchet-type challenge early on to give his opposite number to think about would suffice - Griffin was great for that. Surely Kadar offers more, on both counts - both in terms of physical presence and a suffocating pattern of defensive play. I don't disagree. But when you think of reasons for Perch to play, the fact that he appears to be decently quick, fit and agile must be why he was played. The fact that he isn't a good defender and likes to hide from responsibility (or give too much space) was lost on Pardew, despite him apparently having watched all of our games this season. The sooner Enrique is back the better, though I'd prefer if Kadar or Ferguson were used in the event that he's not available. Perch we should be looking to get rid of back to the championship. There's no point having cover if they're likely to be a liability when played. Another option would have been to more Steven Taylor to right-back and move Simpson over to the left. Would work better against a less pacy opposition.

Hopefully after seeing a full game from Smith and Perch Pardew will look to put them on the market (along with Best and Xisco).

Sounds like Allardyce... then come match time he'd set it all up for route one.

Fair comment Noelie. Kadar could have played, we know Perch isn't good enough, maybe Pardew will see it too. The real problem is, as you insinuate, we are badly short on cover for Enrique which is a disgrace tbh, even Keegan said when he was manager that he wanted competition for Enrique. I'm guessing Perch was played over Kadar because he's quicker and agaiunst Lennon that would be important. He didn't have a bad game by his own standards.

Not shit, but is going through a shit patch. I really do think a large part of that is the shitty cold weather.

Can't remember who it was but relatively early on Smith actually looked decently quick and motivated as he motored back to block their players shot. Could be wanting away so was putting in his best effort, normally don't think he'd be that enthused.