Monroe Transfer

Not if he plays on the left. When have you seen him play on the right? He's right-footed so I'm going to assume he'll come inside much more than Enrique did. Enrique was comfortable staying wide and putting balls in. In terms of actual assists, you'd assume Enrique > Santon. Not saying he's isn't a significant attacking threat.

Not if he plays on the left.

Definitely needs a source.

Yeah, there's been so much business going on at the other clubs after all.

Thought Ant was just a coke addict. My mistake.

Fantasy ruined.

Except if he comes in then you can assume that Modric is off.

Unsubstantiated nonsense.

Notorious BLT is a stroke of genius if I do say so myself.

Same. Wasn't just that we beat the champions convincingly - it was also the first time we beat a top 6 club this season, which is something we really needed to do to push on. And even more so, we needed a performance like that after stuttering for so long in the previous few games.

Mediocre Dave

Trying to work out which is the tattoo that he'll regret most in later life - 'STFU' or 'sperm'.

Big 5 page interview with him in this months FourFourTwo. I'd scan my copy but I don't have access to a scanner. Could end up on their site anyway. Might type up some choice quotes from it tomorrow.

Ant is Norwegian?

What I also like about Ba is that he seems so calm. Like I said he lacks Shearer's aggression but he's so strong that he doesn't need it. Defenders just bounce off him.

Having one player dominate the goal-count isn't a problem unique to us, luckily.

Yeah, I'm interested to see how they handle Ba because he's not really gained much international recognition yet. Sow seems to be their main man if I'm not mistaken. Sow and Ba are clearly their best players, the likes of Niang, Cisse etc are decent too.

Spot on. I think Santon is a real talent - an opinion I've gained across all of his games for us that I've seen and I want him to stay at LB. His only flaw in that position is that he cuts inside more than Enrique would as he's right-footed. Keep Taylor at RW. With Santon, Simpson and Jonas we do still have a fair bit of pace in the team - and Ba is no slouch either. It's not what Ben Arfa is known for but he's hardly slow himself.

Did you watch it wearing your Sunderland top?

Best since Shearer at the very least. The complete package. He lacks Shearer's aggression, if anything - but he doesn't really need it.

Looked really tacky in the post-match interview with Shola and Ba as they'd clearly just ripped the Northern Rock logo off the tracksuits.

The further into the season we go, the more I'm liking the shirt. I imagine a lot of the hysterical lot who moan about every new kit are used to it by now too.

He absolutely loves himself doesn't he? When the club's PR person visits the training ground I bet he's always the first to put himself forward to get in front of the camera. "Ooh, me, me! Pick me!"

Welcome to a few pages ago

I should probably point out that Pardew did mention Ben Arfa - without being directly asked about him - in his post-match interview with NUFCTV. "No Hatem tonight, but they'll be a day for Hatem soon enough for sure"