OTF

I was mighty close to getting a Ben Arfa shirt. Went with Carroll instead. Not a good day for either.

Nolan off, Carroll on. Have a feeling we'll have plenty of in the box defending to do particularly now that adebayor is on.

Barry straight through amoebi in the bid and the biased cunt commentators don't say a word and the blind cunt referees don't see a thing. See no evil hear no evil. Jonas having a stormer of a game.

Fucking cunt de Jong. They're having a field day exploiting our high line, particularly perch but we're looking pretty decent with the ball. That is until the ball gets to Nolan the magician who turns attack into defense just about every time. Did I mention that de Jong is a cunt. Sue the cunt. Hopeless blind bastard refs. What is it about man city that turns a great last man tackle into an incorrect penalty. Ben Arfa straight to hospital. No surprise that moron commentators hack diagnosis was well off the mark like most of his 'analysis' of the game.

Only if Nolan moves about and does some defending. In a 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 Nolan has to do plenty of defending to be of any value given that he's got no pace to threaten on counter attacks. If he's not going to get about defending I'd have Lovenkrands in a deeper role, but positioned up front with Routledge for their set pieces with Carroll back defending. With Guthrie not available I'd even consider Vuckic behind Carroll. Certainly don't want Smith out there as he turns the ball over too often. All said and done we'll likely see the same formation again, the only change could be in the wide men if he decides to start Jonas.

He must have nightmares about Heskey. Remember that horrible arm grabbing red card he copped against him for us...

OP obviously forgeting that Xisco has served his suspension.

Or he'll be given a chance too early, be heaped with pressure, will underperform and everyone will write him off.

This made me chuckle. Magpies land French starlet

Was he fuck. Jonas passed the ball square to him standing in that position and he wasted it. He can get into whatever position he wants but there's no point in being there if you can't even put a shot on target. Kevin Nolan started 47 games for us last season (was a sub in 1) and scored 18 goals. Counting all appearances as full games that's a goal every 2.67 games. Peter Lovenkrands started 21 games (came on as a sub in 11) scoring 16 goals. Counting all appearances as full games that's a goal every other game (2.0 games). Shola Amoebi started 12 games (sub in 9) and scored 11 goals. Counting all appearances as full games that's a goal every 1.91 games. Let the numbers do the talking. If you go back to their last year in the Premier League: (Apps/Goals/Average games to score goal (lower is better)) Kevin: 22/1/22 Peter: 12/3/4 Shola: 22/4/5.5 PS - Damien Duff averaged 1 goal per game for us last season!

EVEN when we put Shola on... like he's some sort of secret weapon! If we're playing two 'wingers' then we're not playing a 4-5-1 Nolan you moron. If we're playing two 'wingers' then it's a 4-3-3, however with you out there it would have been a 4-2-1-3, with that 1 doing sweet fuck all. We weren't though, we were playing a 4-5-1 which is essentially a defensive formation where a lot of your attack is on the counter, just how kevin Nolan fits into a counter attacking formation mentality is beyond me. We see on numerous occassions the ball is played ahead to him on his own and he's flat out getting to the ball first with a good start let alone turning it into a quickfire scoring opportunity. A 4-3-3 is a different kettle of fish altogether and perhaps something we should be playing. Nolan thankfully doesn't fit into a 4-3-3.

If Nolan reckons that winning a game on the back of the brilliance of one players strike represents the whole team being brilliant then he's sadly mistaken. Several players in that game were very good, but Everton came mighty mighty close to at least equalising with a very good chance from Yakubu hitting the post, and Fellaini missing (though I think it was blocked by Willo) an excellent chance in injury time. Were both of those to have gone in we would have been looking down the barrel of a defeat - despite Ben Arfa's strike - in a match where we largely dominated. By my definition that's far from 'brilliant'. We need to be scoring more goals when we're on top of other teams as much as we were against Everton and were in the first half against Stoke. Of course Nolan is going to come out and say this, as he knows outside a 4-5-1 he has no chance of making the side. He'll be a handy player to have at various stages of the season, perhaps used as a sub late on in matches where we're equal or behind.

Time to trot out Sol Campbell? ...and Ryan Taylor for Perch.

Can play there but doubt he would be any good. Simpson is back training again so hopefully not too long before he is match fit. Sad isn't it that I'm eagerly anticipating the return of a player who I think isn't good enough, because he's still better than our other player who is an apparent stalwart in the side. Ryan taylor must be wondering what he needs to do to get a run in the first side, or moreover what Perch needs to do to stop getting one. Taylor's dead ball ability would have no doubt come in handy.

True that, I thought the same thing. He was blatantly taking the throw-ins wherever he liked as well. The one where the gap was should actually have been taken where the boards were.

Don't disagree with you that that is what we'll see, but Nolan doesn't deserve to hold onto his spot.

We have a team that's good enough to beat Stoke at St James'. Perch is a big weak spot that will be exploited. Williamson and Coloccini lacked the physicality in this game. Noone blames Hughton for not having a team of superstars on massive wages but we can rightfully be concerned about the way he made changes today. it goes without saying that if a player is ineffectual they should be taken off, or if a player is influential they should be left on. Hughton's changes today went wildly against this. Nolan did nothing all game and yet stayed for the full match. Tiote was again looking good, good movement of the ball and made some nice tackles yet he was removed. Ben Arfa looked lively in attack and had them constantly worried yet he was subbed. Routledge was a headless chicken yet he stayed out there. There's no sense to be made from those moves except to say that it indicates that Hughton is making substitutions not on the merits of the players in the individual matches, but on the influence of the players (perhaps off the pitch). He was probably justified in starting the same 11 as the Everton match, but substitutions shouldn't only be made when you're behind or even needing a goal, they should have been made earlier in the piece where we weren't making use of our dominance of possession and territory eg. bringing Nolan off and putting a forward on. It will be interesting to see what happens in our next match. I can't see Hughton suddenly growing a set and dropping Nolan, but I can at least hope.

Nolan must have way too much influence off the pitch. Watch the games Chris, he doesn't offer value over 90 minutes. He spent most of the game today feeding around behind Carroll for scraps that never came. When he did get a chance to put a shot in after good lead-up work from Jonas he sliced it well wide. No value = No point. The area in which he plays also prevents Joey Barton from pressing higher up the pitch, A Joey Barton who's actually looking relatively potent either having a shot himself or picking a pass through for someone else. Really really disappointing to get exactly what you expect from a side (in the second half) and to still lose to it in 45 minutes with a goal head start on our own pitch.

Routledge need a rest to revitalise. Jonas will give more value over a full game, and Routledge can add some punch off the bench with his pace. Always seems to start games brightly but then burns out quickly and becomes frustrated and frustrating. Amdy Faye/Cheick Tiote WTF?

What a spectacular capitulation that was. It was almost like Stoke were employing the rope a dope tactic from the start. Letting us get a false sense of security despite having a largely toothless attack. Really have to question the tactics behind the substitutions. Why Ben Arfa instead of Routledge. Ben Arfa was clearly the more potent of the two, unless your measure of potentcy is ability to run into empty channels. And Tiote, why take him off when he'd been one of our better players? Substituting an attacking player for a defensive one does not mean that you'll get more attacking play. It was Tiote's movement that helped to facilitate the movement of the ball from side to side in the first half allowing our wing men to penetrate. If he was kept out there we might have seen the benefit of having both Ameobi and Carroll out there. Carroll had a relatively poor game, didn't get into it early and his touch looked poor in the second half. Nothing more needs to be said about Perch - There's a point where effort isn't enough, he's found that point and continues to forage well past it time and time again. Our defenders looked weak against their set plays time and time again. Maybe this would have been a handy game to have the physical presence of Campbell out there? In the end that was some very critical points that we let get away from ourselves from a team that effectively played the exact tactics that anyone would expect from them.

I'm liking the way Ben Arfa moves from the left across the centre and over to the right, he looks comfortable in all channels. Could easily accommodate him with Jonas and Routledge. Routledge would have to improve on his current form though! He needs lots of space to run into, so in a game like this where they're playing for their own counter attack be doesn't get the space he desires. Them being one down may help him out there.

Stoke have been horrible, but thankfully not dirty. Hope that continues in the second half though you would have to think that Pulis would make some changes. Routledge for mine has been weak, maybe get Jonas out there early in the second half if he doesn't improve. We should have created more chances for all the ball we've had. I think having two strikers out there against thus Stoke side would be smart IMO. Lots of balls into the box with Carroll our only real target we're making it easy for them to mark him (with the exception of Huth for the penalty). Ultimately I'd like to see us creating more chances from open play. Canny game from Enrique.

Nice cross/corner for the winner against Chelsea.

How interesting. Maybe there's some off-field reason why his injury has taken so long to heal.

Yeah, best goal on the day for mine. Anelka's finish was pure class but very different as he was under no pressure at all.