BigWalrus

Vuckic seems to be forever struggling with injury.

I think in HBA and Jonas, we have a nice balance of the two.

I'm not saying there's no point in going past players, but it's not a tactic you should base your entire game plan around. It's exciting to watch, but it also loses you the ball 4/5 times. Then you have to expel energy getting the ball back. Then you end up tired. Then you make mistakes and lose games. It's about balancing the level of risk taking, and with Ben Arfa being our big risk taker, we need a safer option to support the midfield. Moving the ball forwards doesn't mean you have to pick out a killer pass. Keeping the ball and giving it to a player in a better position (such as an overlapping fullback) is usually better than trying to split the defence with a risky ball that's more often than not going to give the opposition possession.

Marveaux hasn't looked brilliant in any of the league games I've seen. He's looked pacey, but also a bit lightweight. What I do know is that he's injury prone and managed to make about 6 or 7 appearances for us last season (most of them as sub). He probably would have played more if he wasn't injured. Why does anyone need to go past players? Arsenal, in their prime, were one of the most breathtakingly brilliant teams to watch. Their football was quick, fluid and clever - but their players rarely took anyone on or skipped over challenges. It's all about ball control and being able to pass your way through and around teams. Jonas excels here, keeping possession whilst under pressure, whilst constantly moving the ball forwards. How can you be so sure that Anita, as an out and out DM, is going to be able to adequately carry out this role? The game has changed over the last decade. Unless you're playing in League One or you're Martin O'Neill, there isn't really such a thing as a winger any more. It's a right / left midfielder, keeping the ball and allowing the team to move forward as a unit. Having someone who can hold the ball while the team advances forward is priceless and explains why Keegan loved him, Hughton loved him and Pardew loves him. There is no room in the modern game for the Keith Gillespie type player.

It's not about "if you don't love Jonas you know nowt". It's about understanding his role in the team and understanding that there is nobody else who does what he does. There seems to be some idea that Jonas doesn't add anything to the team and we should just whack in as many flair players as possible. We have Tiote in front of defence and we have Cabaye linking midfield with attack. However, Cabaye plays his game at breakneck speed and is usually blowing out of his arse 4 or 5 times a game. Jonas covers every blade of grass, supporting both full backs and the entire midfield. It may be that, in time, Anita becomes that player, but if anyone can tell that from a cameo on Saturday then they must be psychic.

Football isn't all about "end-product". One of the biggest elements of modern day football is being able to last the game and manage the lactic acid build up. In Jonas, we have someone who either wins a free kick, keeps the ball or passes it to a team mate. He relieves the pressure massively and means we are less demanding on the rest of the team. Of course it would be exciting having a pacy winger beating his man and taking players on all the time, but then you need to have bodies bombing forward to support them...which leads to tiredness, fatigue, loss of concentration, mistakes, higher chance of injury and the conceding of late goals. Keeping the ball and making the opposition chase it is absolutely pivotal to sustained success and we'd be absolutely mad to drop Jonas. The old line reeled out by pundits of, "NUFC fans are some of the most knowledgeable in football" always makes me laugh.

He's Everton's Tiote, but better going forward and more likely to dive.

They're about delaying the payment of tax (avoiding paying it now). At the time, they were permitted, but there was some uncertainty over it. NUFC ended up paying a few million to settle their bill with the Revenue, but it was all above board and transparent. The problem with Rangers was they'd done it to such an extent (and they were otherwise buggered, cash-wise) that they couldn't afford to pay any of it back.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6094258.stm Krul and Carroll both made their debuts, although Carroll was on for only a few minutes.

So have we...several times.

Pace doesn't matter as much when he's standing in for Taylor. Williamson is there to win the first ball in the air and Coloccini is the sweeper, mopping up the ball behind. It's standard central defensive stuff, playing to each others strengths. I've not seen anything to suggest that he's that bad positionally. Every defender will get turned by a good striker every now and again - it happens. And I am almost certain Williamson would want to leave if he doesn't get enough games. A massive chunk of salary is appearance bonus and this will be even more significant for Williamson, who is on relatively little basic. It's adding up to the difference between earning £250k for the year and £1m, which is material. The same goes for any centre back we signed. Without the games that the CL can offer, they wouldn't come.

Williamson isn't too bad - as long as he's used sensibly. Stick a sweeper (Coloccini) behind him, and tell him to get rid of it as soon as he can, and he's passable. He's an able stand in for Steven Taylor, nothing more. We shouldn't be building our team around him, but equally there is no point in getting rid as we could do a lot worse.

Well, you never know, if they went on a good run. However, if they graft away like they did last night, they'll all need a month off in about 4 or 5 games time. There's no way they can keep playing at that pace for any length of time.

Being stressed can have a negative impact and worsen your physical health, as it can make you stop eating, stop exercising, stop going outside etc, which worsens the symptoms. So in that sense, a bit of positivity can certainly help. I would say it's more a case of being negative worsening the decline than being positive improving things. If you've got something serious, your time is still more or less up.

You're always going to get bother going to a pub to get your hair cut.

I'd challenge anyone to "shift Tiote". It'd be like trying to move a sleeping bear.

There's still over a week left in the transfer window mind. They could yet have a £50m double swoop for Cabaye and Tiote lined up.

Different players though. One is a towering centre back, the other a full back. I'd hope we were after both.

Mathieu Debauchery will be perfect if we want to penetrate the big lads.

Love it, class.

Follow the Jelavic road.

Can't agree. We're a decent set of fans, but so are most clubs' supporters. I know loads of lads who are fans of other clubs and the crack is the same regardless - even with mackems! We're all football fans. Every club has its diehards, its fair-weather fans and its complete knob-heads. There are enough knob-heads in SJP every week. Sure, there might be a few more of us than at other clubs, but we also have very little competition. There's not much else going on up here, and other than the mackems, there isn't another PL club within the best part of 150 miles around.

Aye, Clyne is a canny player, he was cracking for Palace. I'm not totally sure why we didn't pursue that one. I know we had put a bid in for him, but Palace were trying to hold out for £10m. Maybe there is someone else we're after.

Man Utd may have a cracking forward line, but their defence and central midfield is still the same. I can't believe Scholes is still playing. They have signed some new gadgie to play at the back and no doubt they'll spunk £25m on Tiote on deadline day.

The best defence is one that is protected, which is why Tiote is so crucial to us. Jonas works his knackers off al over the pitch. When Ben Arfa has a tired spell and needs to recuperate for 90 seconds, Jonas is there, covering. He isn't restricted to playing out wide. Ben Arfa and Marveaux are both risk-takers. You need a bit of risk-taking to create chances, but it can also mean the lads behind them have to work twice as hard covering for the times it doesn't quite work out. Unless we were playing against a side who were particularly weak in centre midfield, I'd be hesitant to play HBA and Marveaux at the same time.