acrossthepond

Cabaye scored the winner against Wigan, had a truly brilliant game against Man U (actually he was great against them in both games), was good against Norwich, and has had many games where he hasn't stood out but has been solid and better than our other options. Guthrie has been great in his absence but Cabaye is the better player and has contributed much more to our success this season. Guthrie is more in the "engine room" mould (funny as that was always seen to be his weakness before this season) while Cabaye has that engine too but is also a reliable provider who our strikers obviously lacked against Spurs. I like Guthrie and he's a good option to come into the side when our main two are out for whatever reason but it has to be Cabaye.

Your post refers to Ben Arfa setting foot on the pitch. Doubt that will be happening. We'll see Cabaye and Tiote in for Guthrie and Perch but no other changes imo.

Astonishing. Well done Zambia. Another catastrophic failure by CIV though to not overcome a far weaker side. They're overreliant on a fading force in Drogba but still should've had far more in terms of quality. at Gervinho, Drogba too.

Atrocious. Let's put that behind us - it was never going to be anything but a loss with Perch and Obertan starting but I was hoping for a bit more passion than that. It's in the books now though, so we should look forward to the Wolves game.

Can you explain when exactly you think he should play then, if at all?

He won't even put HBA on when we're losing 5-0.

Class defending by Williamson there. League One class, I mean. This is dreadful.

"I was there when Shearer missed that one pen...."

Good result. Our defence is still weak to pacy strikers trying to bypass the offside trap ("running in straight lines") but I can't single out a poor performer. Strong showing from the lads and goals for both of our returning strikers. What a belter by Cisse too, that's how to introduce yourself lad.

I hope we utterly batter this boring set of wankers.

You're right. Pennywell is so much classier. Blue pop, cheesy chips, lager cans...the cultural wonder of Sunderland.

The All-Africa Pool Party has ended 2-2. Zambia look a good, pacy side with a good striker in Mayuka although disorganised at the back, potential dark horses. Libya are decent technically but are slow and old. The pitch has dried up a bit but is still a raw mess. Looking forward to seeing Ba and Cisse in action together - both start up front for Senegal. Kickoff in about 45 minutes.

FFS, what does she sound like.

And now Libya and Zambia are underway at the Bata Swimming Pool. Libya lead 1-0 in the 6th minute.

He's been badly mismanaged under Pardew imo. I don't care if that makes me a fanboy. Anyone of his class would be a bit cheesed off if they were sat on the bench watching dross like Obertan and Shola getting in the team before them and rightfully so. That said, those quotes don't really look like he fancies a move at present. Sounds like he's saying the project isn't quite off the ground yet and that they'll struggle to attract top players, and the rest of the French league isn't quite up to standard either, so he's not interested. I could be grasping at straws like.

You may not be aware, but football is kind of a big deal in Africa, and most Africans care just a bit about their national sides. That's without even addressing the rest. The African federation wants to hold it in January - that's their right. End of tbh. Nah, they're too busy starving/losing limbs/being terrorists/ruining other peoples' countries/fleecing us/committing genocide to care about football. You don't learn, do you? I'm guessing you want your new avatar to be something along these lines: Perhaps with some helpful links to African football websites in your sig. Ant? Do the honours?

You may not be aware, but football is kind of a big deal in Africa, and most Africans care just a bit about their national sides. That's without even addressing the rest. The African federation wants to hold it in January - that's their right. End of tbh.

Excellent. Cheers Ant!

I use Firefox to view this board and since the switch to the new forum, I used to have a sidebar on the right side of my screen that included things like what new topics have been started, when our next match is, etc. I quite liked it. Yesterday I clicked something by accident and it went away and I can't figure out how to get it back. Thanks in advance.

Excellent.

Very, very happy with this. The right player at the right time. I wouldn't mind another striker on loan too though, doesn't have to be anyone expensive or superb, just someone who can help cover while the two Dembas are at the ACN.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. cwarr can't even boast that level of accuracy.

Some very classy touches and passes in there. He can light up a dull game, but he does need to work on his passing. Sad that he and Ba have played together so rarely this season - Ba could've done a lot with some of the half chances HBA created in the last game, especially the through ball to Best. (Not that Best didn't do a good job with it.)

Disappointingly predictable that HBA isn't playing. One week he scores Pardew's 'best goal', next week he isn't starting against the league's fourth bottom team. Yawn.