David Kelly

My thoughts exactly, there's no excuse for not making the effort. If a player simply isn't good enough (Best for example) there's nothing he can do about that. But no matter how shite you are you can give 100%.

Would booing a player who wasn't putting the right amount of effort in and therefor harming the team (through inaction rather lack of ability on his part) not be considered contructive and as such a noble unselfish act on behalf of the booer?

I was making a generallisation rather than saying anything specific about the current circumstances. If for example I was inclined to boo the team at half time on Saturday after a poor first half, I would expect our current run to be enough stop those boos (which for the most part it was).

Paying your money doesn't entitle anyone to be a prick really I pay to see a comedian, it doesn't give me the right to heckle the act and spoil if for everyone else....though many people think it does. But if your paying for a product that doesn't come up to scratch you're entitled to be disapointed and kick up a fuss. And if it's a comedian that can't be arsed to tell any jokes then he does deserve all he gets. As I say it's not something I would do (although I did once to Parker when he bottled a tackle then had a go at the fans that chastised him for it) as I'm there to support my team regardless of which overpayed useless lazy twats are playing currently for it.

I don't think it's right to boo an individual and I don't do it myself but I find it hard to argue against anyones right to do so when they pay the money that they do to watch. I also think it's hard to not to groan when a player fucks up. It's just an instinctive reaction a lot of the time. It certainly won't help the players but I think it's very difficult to avoid. With more specfic regards to Obertan, the big worry for me is not that he looks like he lacks the ability to do well but the bottle which I don't think is something that can be improved on over time. If you are a lazy gutless twat at 22, I think it's unlikely that you will ever be anything else. I hope I'm wrong about him but this is certianly the impression he's giving me at the moment.

Reported Eh?

I'll be very happy if they rest a load of players and we have an easy night. Dont want to be having to drive back up here after extra time.

Looking forward to this as it's me first away game since the scum last season. Hoping and expecting to see Marveaux, Ben Arfa and Santon and would like to see Abeid although I think we need to keep a pretty strong team if we want to progress.

I think we should definitely be looking to bring these three in. Ben Arfa is clearly a better player than Worst, Squidward is looking inept and completely gutless and you would have to assume that we've spent the money we have on Santon because he's better than Wilson/Raylor. I dont buy that we shouldn't change the team just because we've done well so far (especially as substitutes have played a massive part in our last two results). If anything it shows a lack of ability by Pardew if he can't realise that we've got results despite players who are doing poorly rather than because they are adding anything to the team. That said I do think it would be a massive risk to swap all three at once against Stoke. Yes do it on Wednesday (Blackburn will probably do similar) but against Stoke I think we need to be a bit more considered and for my money Obertan is the most imediate concern.

I think the crowd are really starting to turn against him now. It's not too much yet (which will be being helped by our results) but it's definitely starting.

I'm going down Blackburn on wednesday so I'm looking forward to seeing what Marveaux is like from the start. I've been impressed with everything I've seen from him so far and it's looking like whether we use him on the right or left he'll be better than squidward.

I think every game is making it more and more clear that the answer to this question is a resounding yes.

I think our movement will be helped by Santon who by all accounts is strong going forward. It's a part of Raylor (certainly at leftback) and Simpsons game that's lacking. Both our wingers do have a tendency to stand still a lot also. Jonas gets away with it because he does move with the ball unlike mr heart of a pea on the right. Bests lack of movement comes from his complete lack of anticipation. Clearly we'd look a better team with four of these players out of the team and we certainly have better replacements for three of them.

I still don't think Raylor and Best are anything more than championship players tbh. I know it's a strange concept for us but it is possible that players improve whilst being under contract with us. Unusual I know but still possible. Not going to argue against the pov too much other than to say that's harsh on Taylor given his contributions this season as he hasn't done much wrong and played well on Sunday. Best will be judged on goals but i thought some of his hold up play on Sunday was spot on. I'll be happy to admit it if our players do improve but I really don't see it happening with these two. Taylor has scored a couple of important goals but we've been fortunate on a number of occassions not to have been punished when he's been tortured down the wing. He's done a lot better than I expected, I'm happy to give him that and I don't want to be too harsh on him as hes playing out of position but the simple fact is we need better. He's not really been any worse than Simpson like. As for Best I just don't think he's got any real strengths for a top class striker. He can jump well but his heading is more often than not poor and his hold up play isn't bad when he actually gets the ball but he plays the game on his heels all of the time and his anticipation is awful so he's prevented from getting balls that he really should. Again we need better and surely in Ben Arfa we have better?

I still don't think Raylor and Best are anything more than championship players tbh.

Another top centreback would be great but Best and Shola are still shit and with Ba going to be away then we still desperately need a striker. Both fullbacks look incredibly weak at the moment so we need either a leftback or a rightback (depending on where we want to play Santon). I have a big concern about Tiote being away in January too as we have no one to cover him while he's not there.

The midfield is arguably better and I'd rather have Ba than Carroll. Barton>Obertan Cabaye>Nolan (Cabaye offers so much more in allround play than Nolan the goalhanger). Guti and Tiote back to form Marveux and Bafra to come in. Marginally better I'd say on paper (much better on the pitch so far). Santon looks like he's as good as Enrique and miles better than Wilson. That's an extremely bold statement after ten minutes on the pitch. The second part of the sentence is accurate though

I have no need to find an excuse for that now do I

I'm just making a comparison between a player who's limited but at least puts a shift in and one who drops his arse and puts no effort in. I know your opinion of Best is different to mine but if anything I'm offering some credit to him.

I pretty much agree with NJS that Best and Squidward are shite but I wouldnt say we carry Best if only for his graft. The pair of them offer very little to our game though. Most importantly we have better players to take their places. To the match as a whole though, I think it was a very good performance with Cabaye and Colo in particular outstanding again (we must get Colo signed up to a new deal and Yohan is an absolute steal for what we paid). Great bottle shown which even more than the result bodes well for the rest of this season.

Yes he is shite. And more importantly he looks fucking lazy and gutless. Marveaux should come in on the left with Jonas on the right for the Wigan game. We are carrying a passenger at the minute. I've been as vocal as anyone in my opinion the Best isn't good enough and I stand by what I've said (I applauded him a couple of times today but I still thought he was generally poor. But that's another discussion) but at least he puts a shift in and we don't have to carry him. I fear squidward has something in his contract that he had to play and there's probably three or four players who should start ahead of him.

He's not keeping on top though is he. He's been generally shite but a combination of luck (QPR and Wolves) and Colo and Saylor have covered him. The fact that his freekicks got us two early results are neither nor there.

Don't really think he's a good squad player. Just think of how much weaker we will be with him in the team in place of Caybaye or Tiote. We would struggle massively with him there against anyone half decent. I understand that as a backup player he's never going to be as strong as our first choice or he wouldnt be back up but we really should have someone capable of challenging for a place which is something he'll never do. In an ideal world yes, but unless you are Man U then quality players wont sit on the bench for an extended period of time. Obviously I understand that and I'm not expecting us to have players as good as Cabaye or Tiote to bring in but we need someone who won't drop our standard to far and can hopefully improve his game to the point where he can push the two in possession of the first team places. Guthrie will never be able to do that.

Don't really think he's a good squad player. Just think of how much weaker we will be with him in the team in place of Caybaye or Tiote. We would struggle massively with him there against anyone half decent. I understand that as a backup player he's never going to be as strong as our first choice or he wouldnt be back up but we really should have someone capable of challenging for a place which is something he'll never do.

If their other options are so much better then why haven't they scored more than him this season? How many assists have they got? Why is their star striker playing in the MLS? Keane has scored the same amount as Best in 4 games (and has an assist and is the country's leading ever scorer) and Walters has also scored the same amount. Doyle has scored less so far this season but is proven in the premiership over a number of years. I don't see why any of this makes Best look like a better option? How is the MLS in any way comparable to the Premier League? Walters has scored a single goal in the league this season, as far as I know. That's nice for Doyle and all but clearly Best is more in form than he is. Keane can only score against the opposition he plays against though and as far as I can make out he has three in four games. Either way Keane has been performing for Ireland for years so I see no reason why he should now be discounted because he's playing in America. Walters also has two in Europe. And having watched nothing of Wolves this season I've no idea of his form but as everyone knows players aren't just selected on their current club form. And I certainly wouldn't consider Bests form as anything special regardless.