Ally

Quite why people keep bleating on about HBA I don't know. Clearly a talented player but just doesn't fit into our team / ethic. Our success has come from 442 and he is a liability (IMO) on the wing. We tried a different formation to accomodate him more and got raped by shit teams. The system we have works well and if that means enigmas like HBA have to miss out then so be it

I know I had planned to buy some winter tyres and put some heavy sandbags in the boot but never got round to it. Oh well i can always get the Peasant Wagon to work on Monday if I'm stuck. Ace car though!

Right bad snow in Leeds so doesn't look like I'm going to make it tomorrow annoyingly. Don't think my BMW will get off the culdesac, not the best in the snow. Cisse to come on and score the winner btw 1-0

Getting Ba back will be a massive boost we are dreadful upfront without him. Hopefully Cisse can integrate quickly and Best/Shola can fulfill a role of 'run the clock down' substitutes. I think we'll have done well to finish 6th or 7th. As good a season we're having I can't see Arsenal or Liverpool not having a good run. Fair play to Pardew's comments though, if we're sitting 5th he can't really come out and say 'i'll be happy with 7th' can he? European football should be the target to keep the squad motivated, if that means aspring to finishing 4th then so be it.

Best & Shola would look poor in Burkino Faso's team. Fingers crossed Senegal flump again and we can resemble a football team again!

Defending from the front is lost on Shola.

Taylor does a lot more pointing

Watch him get injured at the ACN

I'm giving the owners the benefit of the doubt here that we're actually looking to build on our initial 'success' and make sure it doesn't peter out. Ba may be sold in the summer, who knows, but I genuinely think this is an attempt to pair them together. Never seen the guy play but enough journos saying he is class to get me a bit excited. Plus I can't see Ashley spending £7m unless he really felt he was worth it.

Good result today. The back 4 were excellent, Santon very quietly looking awesome. Ryan Taylor is looking comfortable in every position he plays him, like a 2012 version of Steve Watson. I'm a Shola fan but he was shite today, 2nd half he looked injured but Best was knacked as well. HBA did well and looked dangerous. Ray Wilkins....my word what a twat! How many times did he tell Cabaye to get up and get on with the game when he was clearly injured. He was so QPR biased, slating HBA yet loving SWP who was terrible!

I love how everyone is ITK on Twitter this time of year. Mostly just rehashs of the same rumour phrases differently

Regardless of whether the clause is true, Redknapp is so out of order here. I can half let him off for the first interview IF the journalist tripped him up but he should have the sense if asked again to shut up. Should get fined for it

I don't get the confusion with HBA and the fanboy fascination. Remember the obsession some had with Luque?! I rate HBA and he's clearly a class player but one who is tricky to fit in the side. Not a fan of Obertan but you can see why he gets a game ahead of him on the wing with his tracking back, pace on the counter etc. He's not very effective at either but he replicates the leg work done by Jonas on the left. Pardew clearly isn't convinced by HBA's defensive abilities to play there and his fanboys would be the first to complain when Simpson is getting raped cos of a lack of cover! For me he plays on the wing in a 4-3-3 where it's almost a forward position or in the 4-4-1-1. Players like him are difficult to fit into a 442 which is the problem Pardew has and given our success so far had been on that 442 system it requires a whole new game to accomodate him.

Apparantly Balotelli went to Nandos tonight and paid for everyone in there. man is a legend!

To think 'Harry' will be the next England manager. Corrupt twat I hope the courts find him guilty in that tax evasion case. If I was Pardew I'd be straight on the phone to the twitcher asking him what the fuck he's playing at!

It will be very interesting whether the club release a statement denying it or whether Pardew does in any match interviews later. You'd think if it was bollocks someone would say so, otherwise no news is probably bad news....

Seriously if we sell Ba for £7m then I'm done with football! If the clause exists then we should chase him to Gabon with a new contract.

Has such a mediocre player as Bent ever commanded such high transfer fees? Dedent poacher but I'm struggling to think of a game when he's played well or scored good goals. At least if he goes for 25-30m it only rockets the asking price for Ba when people come knocking!

Great half. When was the last time someone other than Ba scored? We're going to struggle when he's away at this rate.

I often wondered how different Kluivert would have performed if Robson had stayed. He is a million miles from a Souness player but if SBR had him, Robert, Bellamy etc motivated he could have turned out very differently. The writing was on the wall as soon as Souness came

I bet they won't be wearing those tshirts again.

Half way in the season and on 30 points. Who wouldn't take 60 in May? The unbeaten run has raised expectations among some ridiculously so.

I think Pardew likes the idea of Obertan's pace on the counter attack but it's just counter productive as he's so shit with the ball

Apart from a 10 minute spell on the second half we've been so sloppy. Constantly given the ball away and Ba has been so isolated. Simpson an Overtan very poor.

Bellamy really is a horrible person