IndianMag

It makes my p!ss boil, whenever I see this thread being bumped.

What was Pardew thinking? Cisse can't play RW and Shola can't play football. It's like starting with 9 players. Shola is so frustrating. Constantly fouling, constantly giving the ball away. Can't play 5 yard passes, can't control a ball. Half of the time he was strolling at the edge of the box when a ball was put in I've not panicked so far about relegation but after today's dire performance and effort, I really think we're in the shite! We cannot afford to start with Championship footballers like Perch, Williamson and Shola. Also, Tiote is currently playing like a championship player. can't pass, can't shoot, can't even break play up anymore. Williamson, other than that QPR fellow, surely he's one of the worst defenders in the premiership currently, if not the worst. He's right up there with the Boumsongs and the Brambles for me. Why was Obertan taken off? He had an ok game and looked like far more a threat than the others, except Marveaux. Our defence is woeful. Colo looks like half the defender he was last year. Santon's had a rubbish last few games. We don't buy a few players, and start picking up points in the next 3 games, we're in for a relegation battle.

Still think he tries to do too much around the box. Also his passing at times is woeful. He didnt have any energy left at the end of the game. Just have a look at the fourth goal. Bigi on the other hand was still putting in the miles in the 60th minute.

I'd like to take positives from this game. Sure, we capitulated in the last 15 minutes but we looked exhausted as well. Let's not forget Arsenal had the extra few days to prepare themselves. We played really well and if we play like this in the next month or so, we'll be picking up points for sure, provided we can keep it tighter at the back. Marveaux, Gabby, Ba and Bigi had good games for me. defence had complete stinkers. Tiote and Cisse average I don't understand why Cisse plays out wide. He can not and should not play in a wide position. It's high time Pards had the balls to drop him, along with dropping the likes of Jonas, Tiote, etc as well. If you don't play well, you shouldn't play at all if there is a replacement waiting in the wings.

And if we had to sacrifice a midfielder it should have been Tiote, not Bigi. Tiote has been a complete liability this season. Bigi looked like twice the player today and if Anita's fit next game, I'd get him in for Tiote instead of Bigi

I honestly think most of us are being too presumptuous. More than half of us thought he was gone in the summer as well. Let's wait for it to happen before jumping the gun. I have a feeling he'll stay for a few reasons:- 1. If he moves, he will try to make a step up. If he makes the step up, how much first team action will he get? Manure, Citeh, Tottenham don't need him. That leaves us with Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea. Don't think Arsenal will take a punt on a player with supposedly weak knees nearing 28 who will cost far more than 7 million with the agent fees. Chelsea need a new striker but they'll probably get a more high profile striker than Ba( Falcao, Negredo, etc.) . Liverpool maybe, but will that be a step up? He also probably won't get first team football at Chelsea, Arsenal(if Giroud starts firing). 2. Exorbitant wages he'll be asking for at new club (around 90 k). How many clubs will be ready to spend that amount? Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham maybe. Arsenal? Not too sure. Citeh don't need him, neither do Man United. 3. He has stated time and time again that he enjoys life at Newcastle, and even though we've heard that before from several players only for them to slap in a transfer request the next day, I truly believe that Ba does like it here especially given the fact that he is banging them in. 4. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The likes of Torres, Carroll left for pastures greener recently, but struggled to make much of an impact. If I was Ba, I definitely wouldn't want to take a risk with a transfer, given that he probably is in the form of his life. Having said that I could be completely wrong, but there has been so much b0llocks written about so many players in recent times, that I'd only believe it when it happens.

All in all, I felt we played quite well. Movement was good, passing was much better, defending was shambolic however. Positives - Ba - Once again a real goal-scoring threat, worked his socks off, won a lot of headers, grafted. Anita - He's getting better with every game. So calm and relaxed on the ball and hardly ever gives the ball away unless he tries something expansive. Colo, Willo, Perch = all had good solid games Average - Santon - poor defensively, quite good attacking wise. If Pards wants to stick to Jonas in the team, I'd honestly much rather play Jonas at the back and Santon ahead of him in midfield. Reckon it could work against a team that doesn't have a strong right side. Cisse - looked bright, worked hard, some nice touches, but still his end product was disappointing at times. He would have buried that chance last year in his sleep Tiote - fannied about quite a lot on the edge of the box, lots of hollywood shots attempted. Having said that he was still decent at breaking up play. Poor - Simpson - he is just about ok defensively, but he can not attack to save his life. Why doesn't he ever close his man down FFS? Jonas - Jonas is having a terrible run and I know a lot of people disagree but he needs a spell on the sidelines to show that he's not undroppable. He can not cross, misplaced quite a few 5 yard passes, doesn't work as hard as he usually does, cannot beat his man, has lost his pace. Zabaleta embarrassed him today in my honest opinion. All in all, play the same way and we beat QPR next week but please for the love of God if Ben Arfa isn't fit next week, start Marveaux ahead of Jonas. On a separate note, I never thought I'd say this but I kind of miss Obertan. We were so slow on the break today. We could really do with a little more pace upfront.

And the worst part is how much time he needs to cross the ball. He literally waits to trap the ball ( 1 second gone), sets himself up for the cross( another second gone) and then by the time he crosses, a defender has closed him down. When he doesn't take too long to cross, he doesn't even look up to see who he is aiming the ball to in the box. He just blindly punts the ball which is unforgivable at this level.

Anita is having a bit of a stormer! Played his role in both goals. Would be very tempted to play him on the right side of a four man midfield

Haha! No, I wanted to add one more point to my post. A simple edit would have made more sense I guess.

I'm not quite sure about that. We currently have only 2 proven central midfielders in Cabaye & Tiote, and if we are indeed going to be playing a 4-3-3, we will need some more quality in the position given that we are also in Europe. Anita so far hasn't been very impressive and Pards has even placed more faith in Bigi & Perch than Anita off late. Bigi is one for the future, Perch is back up at best, Vuckic is out for the season and Anita still has to prove himself.

I agree Ant, but still feel midfield has been our weakest link this season and wouldn't mind strengthening the position if it's not at the expense of a defender and wide player.

Hatem for me is class but should not be playing wide right in a 4-4-2 and should not be given too many defensive duties. Either play him wide or give him a free role in a 4-3-3.

Sissoko looks to be on the brink of signing. After seeing our displays this season, I'd rather we go in for a wing forward capable of playing upfront as well, instead of a striker. I wouldn't mind a wide midfielder either, who is capable of putting a good ball in as we don't currently have a single player other than Shane who is capable of putting a cross in. We've lacked natural width this season. I'm losing faith in Obertan, Guttierez doesn't do much when attacking these days, Hatem for me is more of a number 10 and should play that role to get more involved, Marveaux seems to be nowhere in reckoning for the first team. If we are going to persist with a 4-4-2, we need better players in wide areas.

From Toulouse. Apparently among the best box to box midfielders in the French League and has been chased by the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool in the last 2-3 years. Tottenham were put off by the 15 million price tag a few years ago. He is also a French international player. Not seen much of him to be honest, but reports say he's a lot like Diaby. Good defensively, strong in the tackle, likes making forward marauding runs, has a good pass on him. Can't see it as much of a risk since it is going to be cheap but I do hope this isn't going to eat into the funds saved for a defender and possibly a good wide player.

This. Can't understand why people think he was shit. His role obviously changed after the sending off. He did quite well defensively, played a few nice balls, ran rings around their central midfielders a couple of times.

I'm not quite sure to be honest. Time and time again I've heard a whole lot of rubbish being spouted by experts when it comes to Newcastle. I could tell the minute Taylor walked onto the pitch that the commentators wanted him to make a mistake, and no surprise to see one of them actually saying 'How ironic, that Taylor got a touch for the goal.' No he didn't.

Absolutely unlucky to come away from that without 3 points. We were creating the better chances even with 10 men. We were solid in defence today and credit must go to the lads for a spirited performance. Still gutted that we couldn't get the 3 points when the scum barely created one clear cut chance. The refereeing today was shambolic. It wasn't a red card for me, especially when Atkinson was so card-shy today. Also, I just don't understand why some of the punditry and commentary is so anti-Newcastle. Is there a specific reason behind that? Listening to some people's biased expertise makes me cringe,

Not seen much of Elliot to be honest, but he looked a lot sharper vs Maritimo than Harper did vs Everton. Harper's reflexes seem to have slowed down. Having said that, it could have well been a one-off. Guess Pards knows best and he'll pick the player who is doing better in training.

Yes, I think some of the criticism on this forum is harsh on Gosling. It was definitely the best I've seen him play.

Thanks Tooj! Going to be spending majority of the night watching these vids.

All in all, I'd say we should be disappointed at not taking 3 points, but it's not the end of the world. Positives - Elliot looked very steady in goal today. Also looked fast off the blocks and seemed to command his box well Santon just gets better with every game he plays How good is Bigi? I think he's the only fringe player who is currently good enough to play in the premiership. Fantastic defensive work, great distribution. However, his set pieces need a bit of work Shola was fantastic. His trickery was ace, held the ball up well, won a lot of headers. Only his finishing let him down Meh - Amalfitano was so-so. Wasn't much of a threat but didn't do too much wrong either. Vuckic needs to get involved more. When he gets involved I think he really looks class Sameobi looked bright and threatening, but he really does need to release the ball faster and work on some of his decision-making Taylor looked off the pace a couple of times. I don't think he has looked the same since his injury. He has looked a lot slower on the turn, doesn't get tight enough to strikers. Early days since his comeback, but still. Obertan is quick as fook, but still can't cross the ball to save his life. He doesn't even look up to see where the attackers are, he just blindly crosses the ball in. Having said that, he was still a threat. Poor - Perch is notttt a Right Back. He looked scared to put in a tackle and he looked even more scared to attack. He was effectively playing as a CB. He didn't support Oba or Marveaux even once Williamson - Slow, made a few mistakes, punted a lot of useless long balls when there were easy passing options to be made What pisses me off the most is why we continuously played lump ball, when we looked good when we kept the ball on the deck. There were countless times when a player (mostly Williamson and Perch) lumped a ball forward blindly when they had simple passing options. I also hope we mix it up a bit and don't put out a second string team in all European games. We should look at playing Ben Arfa and Cisse/Ba. Let's be honest, if we were a little more clinical, we would have finished these lot off.

Also, Marveaux has always looked more comfortable on the left. He hardly got the ball in the first half as well, and has never looked comfortable defending, so I guess it's a little unfair to say he was bad.

I agree too. You'll were the better team by far in the first half and should have had 1 if not 2 goals in the second half. Having said that, you'll should have also seen out the game after scoring the second.

Someone's quite bitter, I see.