Dr Gloom

Where does the money come from? It's a very simple question. It shouldn't be forgotten that Ashley is the 7th wealthiest owner in the league. We're certainly not the 7th biggest spenders though. If he doesn't want to play with the big boys, it's his choice...and we can criticise him for that. If the figures are to be believed then the club has cost him over a quarter of his fortune. That's a lot for anyone. But I agree with what you say, no one forced him into buying us. He's definitely got the resources to invest more in the playing staff. Regrettably his heart isn't in it anymore. As tedious as Leazesmag is, he's right when we says Ashley has turned us back into a selling club. He doesn't care enough about the club succeeding now to reverse the transfer policy of recent years.

we are missing Steven Taylor. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't rate him. Agreed, I like Taylor particularly alongside Colocinni but Williamson/Perch are both poor back up and who knows when Taylor will be back with the injury he has. Williamson could do a job I reckon. He's not the quickest but he looked decent alongside colo last season and kept Taylor out of the side for long periods. I think Taylor's been brilliant for us this season but the problem isn't a fit Williamson offering cover - its James perch being anywhere near the side.

433 hopefully with arfa and ba buzzing around shola. Throw the kitchen sink at them ffs. We must score - all the good work in the early part of the season is going down the toilet

Some of pardews decision making is starting to irritate me.

Ba - best signing in the prem this year!

Could do with getting back into the winning habit tonight. The winless streak is in danger of starting to build a head of steam. We were all buzzing when we went all that time unbeaten but things can soon go the other way after a string of poor results.

I wouldnt be at all surprised if that money is never reinvested. Fair enough, a fit ba is a good replacement for Carroll but that isn't a good enough excuse not to pump a good chunk of that 35m back into other areas of the squad where we're weak. Besides, we needed an extra striker even before we sold Carroll.

When the fuck is Ben arfa ganna get a start in midfield like?

I'm not training until new year now. Looking forward to ten days of rich food, fine wine and port and cheese then back to the gym like a beast on January 2nd.

Obertan drooling like a gormless idiot out on the touch line is not something to shout about

Selling tiote is just another example of how short sighted Ashley's policy is. Yes he might turn another tidy profit but another integral player is sold just as the team looks like its starting to gel. It's infuriating. No point speculating at all on who we get in. It'll no doubt be some foreigner we've never heard of that could potential turn another profit in 18 months time, at the expense of building a successful team.

Seems bizarre that he wasn't even used off the bench and two kids were used ahead of him. Something's not right there. It shouldn't be a big surprise if he has thrown his toys out the pram and pardew is punishing him, when you consider the way he went on strike at his old club. Always had potential to be a bad apple. I just hope than be resolved - flair players like him don't grown on trees.

well, we'll never know either way, i promise that.

ben arfa must feel like scratching his head here

hate to say it but so far this season we've looked better with best or shola partnering ba instead of ben arfa. we just look better with a target man for ba to feed off. so how do we fit the frenchman into the side? 3 up top? or play him out wide? i dunno. he'd give us that creative spark but the only place you might argue he deserves a start as long as we play the current 4-4-2 system is out wide on the right instead of oberpants.

thought you were working today!

three times more than last time i seen him play. still frustrating, but he seems to be running at his man a bit more, which is a start.

santon's looked canny too tbf

dare i say it, obertan's looked much better too. much more attacking threat and intent to take his man on and put the ball in the box.

another good effort from ba.

we've looked pretty lively so far. solid at the back too. tiote's looked a bit sluggish though, unsurprisingly.

I'm in a great mood. Sorry to sound smug to those that aren't but it's hard not to be cheerful when you're an all day pissup away from two weeks off work. Boom!

Happy birthday old fruit

Which camp were you in? Got to say I always preferred Blur. Loved the first two Oasis albums but all got too samey after that, no real progression. Albarn on the other hand will be looked back on as one of the best songwriters of his generation. I love how every album had a different sound to the last but he consistently penned good tunes. His latest stuff couldnt be more different to Leisure. That said, I do quite like Noel Gallaghers new solo material.

Watched the repeat of the khan fight last night. After his comments I was expecting him to have been robbed. He didn't do enough to win it on points on away soil. Good fight though - he did enough to earn a rematch.