David Kelly

Thought it was a shame Mitro came on for Thauvin last night. I'm sure Mitro would have loved to get the chance to get on the end of some of the balls Thauvin put in.

I saw that last night but after a quick google, I can't see it mentioned anywhere else. If he's a good player, I do think it's a position we could improve but I also don't see it as a priority.

I suppose I can see why they wouldn't be massively excited about the draw (other than to get out of their home town shit hole). We're never going to be as glamerous as Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea etc and with the other ties it's not likely to be televised and they're likely to get beat. If I was them I wouldn't be thrilled with it either. Anyone get to the game last night? I had the bairn so I missed it but in addition to Thauvin obviously making a big impression, I've heard that Perez was excellent and whenever he got the ball SDJ was a class apart. Even considering the quality of the oppostion that's good to hear if correct.

Aye pretty much. I wouldn't advocate us playing like that in many premiership games but we shouldn't have to worry about needing more than that in the middle of the park against Northampton.

It was interesting to listen to them going on before the match last night about how arsenal have developed (or not) since they had that team of invincibles. It basically comes down to them losing Viera and Wenger refusing to try and replace him for me. You need some powerful players like that in the middle of the park if you want to win the league but for some reason Wenger thinks he can do with the likes of Fabregas, Ramsey, Arteta and Wilshire. Wenger also seems to be almost as intent as Pardew in playing players out of position. They'll never win the league again with him as manager unless he can change.

I would go with Darlow, Janmaat, Mbemba, Lascelles, Haidara, Tiote, SDJ, Thauvin, Arrons, Perez and Mitrovic. That's assuming Dummett isn't fit yet and SDJ hasn't broken down again. Would like to see Toney and Kemen on the bench. Can't thin of anyone else worth giving a game.

The end was the best. When I was able to get up and leave the theatre and inform wor lass she was never picking the film we were going to see again.

I just think they'll think he's not needed so best to give him a bit more time to recover.

Seriously doubt Sissoko will play after not being fit for the last game. I'm fairly sure they'll hold him back for the weekend.

Why does anyone bother responding to him at all?

Well that would go with the romance of the cup!

I'd keep Perez in with Thauvin and drop Obertan and Sissoko. I think we can make a few changes without weakening the team too much for Tuesday. Bring in Darlow, Thavin, Tiote, Aarons, SDJ and maybe Lascelles (although I am concerned he can't get on the bench ahead of Williamson) and give more game time to Perez, Mitro, Mbemba and play whoever else around them. That should be more than strong enough to beat Northampton, give a few player who could be important and run out and give a few others a bit more chance to settle in. I think it would be daft to expect a full first team against a league two side and we really shouldn't need one.

In the Sunday Sun marks he got a 4. I was staggered by that as in the game I watched he was superb. He looked ready made for that position supporting Mitrovic and helping out Haidara on the left. Tbf I couldn't fault anyone on Saturday. Yes we looked like we were going to get murdered in the first fifteen or twenty minutes but after that we held onto the ball much better and defended in a manner I've not seen for years. Two promising games out of three so far. Hopefully Mitrovic will start on Tuesday and get a goal to set him up nicely for Saturday.

We have Colback, Anita, Tiote, Gini, Sissoko all ahead of Abeid for a central position so for me it's no loss to the squad at all. We had a full squad before his departure so it would be very unlikely that we would sign anyone else without him leaving so it's a no brainer really.

Or the heart.

We do if we want to sign anyone else. There's no point in having a massive squad that is full of shit. Which is what he have currently.

Abeid's gone to Panathanaikos permanently. Good news, he's not good enough imo and certainly didn't look like McClaren fancied him so it free's up a squad space. Gouffran and Williamson next please.

I'm happy with the spending we have done this summer but I'm not sure we have had our priorities right. Surely the first thing we should have done was to address the defence. And if we think we've done enough on that score now we're clearly deluded. I also agree with Alex in that this should be viewed as nothing more than the first step to try and redress the balance and I have very little expectation of it continuing in the future. More likely we will go back to (or rather continue with) the same only invest if we are right in the shit policy

The problem selling him leaves us with is having to play Obertan. Much like the situation with Williamson, any transfer window that ends with us having him in the first team has to be considered a failure. Other than that I'd be more than happy to get rid of Sissoko.

It looks like we've gone for someone who actually can fill a position in the team rather than just someone we like the look of. Cabella may well be a good player (he certainly showed glimpses of it here) but it's hard to see where we ever thought he was going to play for us. Even last summer he arrived after SDJ who Pardew made vice captain. They both want to play the number 10 role so the only way to fit Cabella in was on the wing. Mind you even when SDJ got injured we didn't have the faith in Cabella to play him in the middle. Now we've added Gini who can also play that number 10 role too there seemed even less chance of Cabella getting a regular game. Thauvin does seem a risk but at least he can apparently play in the position we need him for. He can also play either side it seems so if Aarons can push on this season we could potentially see one of them on either side which would be more exciting than Squidward and Sissoko providing the width.

I heard some Matthew E White on six music this morning and was thinking of giving his album a listen. Apparently he runs some sort of music commune in Virginia. Not sure if that's hipster or not but he looks like a hippy Kevin Smith. The Blur album is good.

Can't say I've even heard of him but I'm guessing you could get more for your money if you went foreign. Which I assume will be what Brentford are thinking too!

Spot on there Gemmill. If we had the chance to do better I'd take it but we have bigger fish to fry before we get to improving on him. He's a player I'd be happy to see retained for the squad if we had the resources so that he didn't have to play every week too.

I think he's a better player in the middle than on the wing but other than that I agree. Sell him and bring in someone who wants to play.

Born On The Forth Of July. I've been a bit blocked up!