Deano

That's it with Gosling in this game. Marveaux on the other hand really valued possession and seldom gave it away. The sign of a composed player, playing at a comfortable level. Of course it would be foolish to write anyone let alone Gosling off after such a small amount of time on the pitch after coming back from injury, especially when they've been moved around so much they've probably forgotten what their preferred position is. Everyone can have a bad game as well. Worth noting that Raylor would have finished the game with a goal, an assist and a penalty win if the officials were competent. He's not a defender, least of all a left sided one, but with Barton's exit imminent his delivery could come in handy from the right when deployed in midfield, somewhat restricting the negative impact of the lesser aspects of his game. I thought that tonight. He is as close to Barton we have in the squad in terms of delivery from the right. I'd give him a go on the right against Fulham if we get Pieters in.

Thats what struck me tonight as well. Ideally thats what we need. Apart from Willo we have no-one else at CB to cover Colo and Taylor. Kadar isnt getting a look in. Simpson really is shit. He's like Williamson and does fuck all with the ball. If we get Pieters and a decent striker in then i think we will get by just fine but if FMA showed the level of ambition as us and got two strikers, a right back, a centre back and a left back that we need then we could seriously be confident of a top 7 finish. That latter is never going to happen so we really need to just hope we get the bare minumim (LB + ST) and have another look in January.

Agreed. On that showing Best and Lovenkrands are wank. If only we could get rid but also replace AND get a quality striker in. Not a chance. Vuckic and Sameobi should be on the bench for Fulham thats for sure.

1st half we were absolutely shite! Gosling had two chances and missed and his overall play was poor. Backwards and sideways. Vuckic made a real difference when he came on. The lad looks good! Was through pre-season as well. I hope Cabaye gets the praise he deserves tonight because he was quality through out. Great strikes from Sameobi and Raylor but MOTM cleary was Tim Krul. Absolutely outstanding tonight. Young Van Der Sar. Lessons to be learned from tonight. But alot of positives too, all coming in the seconf half. A nice home draw on Saturday would be good. Gives the young lads another run out. Lets have Fulham at the weekend and then a nice break! Well done lads.

Bit harsh on Best, he's been good in the air with what he has got. Service has been a problem because we arent on the ball enough and Lovenkrands has been anonymous on the right. Gosling moved out there on the right. Vuckic on for Lovenkrands. And lets get Cabaye on the ball and a bit of leadership at the back from Colo and Taylor. Marveaux needs to get on it more if he is gonna make an impact. We can still do this.

Not going to plan then. AP needs to make a few changes now. Lovenkrands has been awful albeit out of position. Get Vuckic and Abeid on. Get the ball down and start bossing the game.

Strong team. Good to see a bit of Ba and Marveaux. Chance for Williamson, Best and Lovenkrands to prove their worth too but its Cabaye and Gosling im looking at to see them really dominate the game. 3-0 Come on boys let do these!!

Jak Alnwick on the bench maybe? Or Soderberg.

Fuck off tecato. Joining the little bitch fest are you? My mate who is from holland got it wrong. Move on. Kitman...Basically if the agent is to be beleived and a deal is close then surely the club would be trying to get this nailed for the weekend? We'll see. All our transfer activity lately has been fraught with difficulty. The trickiest aspect has actually been agreeing a fee with selling clubs, something we don't seem to have done yet with PSV. I also find it strange we're reported as making a concrete offer for Cissoko if we're serious about this transfer. As ever the tea leaves are hard to read but I'm not taking it as read yet just because the agent is talking it up. I understand what your saying mate. If other dealings are anything to go by then there is genuine reason to doubt the validity of what his agent is saying. To me it sounds like a deal is almost done. First bit of positive news regarding Pieters for a week or so. At least we have direct quotes rather than shit just being reported. I agree with the Cissokho thing though. Its gotta be one or the other. Cissokho is the better player but would cost a canny bit more than Pieters. The sooner this is sewn up the fuckin better....like the Jose saga, this is draggin on.

Fuck off tecato. Joining the little bitch fest are you? My mate who is from holland got it wrong. Move on. Kitman...Basically if the agent is to be beleived and a deal is close then surely the club would be trying to get this nailed for the weekend?

Seen this coming tbh. I thought on MOTD that they were really bigging him up and being very complimentary.

Its not really his place is it? I mean transfer fee is between clubs. The selling club pays a % to the player and agent.....hence not knowin "exactly" what the figures are. Really hope this gets done and dusted this afternoon or thmora.

I think we will see quite a experimental side tonight and a good solid 2-0 win. Vuckic and Ba to score. I'll be watching this one on skyplayer.

Always the cynic ay? I reckon this could get nailed before the Fulham game.

Exactly. Could be argued that the team spirit is one of the things holding the club together at the moment. Removing another major part of it can only cause problems. How many leaders do we have on that pitch now? Taylor? Shola? Coloccini? You think Barton is part of what creates the good team spirit? Someone who's moaning in and around training as well on on twitter. Cant do any good for team spirit in my opinion. Let him go and lets see Marveaux and Jonas on the wings.

If the influx of £45m in transfers & Campbell, Carroll, Nolan etc off the wage book isn't going to ''free up funds'' I doubt Barton's wage is going to be. True.

Well....im not suprised by this nor am i too moved by it either. Of course i'd like him to stay. He was one of our best players last year but with only a year left i cant blame the lad for looking at what he is gonna get offered anywhere else. Its his perogitive to do so and i think most of us would too. He openly hates our ownership and he has a chance to get out. If he goes then it is a loss, the fault of the board, but im pretty sure we will get by just fine. No actuall need to replace him in my opinion. Jonas, Marveaux, Obertan and Gosling can play there but i'd be happy gettin Jonas on the right with Marveaux on the left. It WOULDNT be the end of the world if Barton leaves. Plus its 75kpw off the books. That could release funds to make better offers for either Pieters or Cissoko.

Reported.

Wigan 0 QPR 1 Villa 2 Wolves 0 Blackburn 1 Everton 1 Chelsea 3 Norwich 0 Swansea 1 Sunderland 2 Liverpool 3 Bolton 1 Newcastle 4 Fulham 0 Tottenham 1 Man City 3 West Brom 1 Stoke 2 Man Utd 2 Arsenal 1

Apparently AP was sat with EP's agent at the match. Im sure he was trying to do a deal. Sturridge on loan still looks possible. where do you even get this nonsense? Its an opinion. He isnt starting at Chelsea and would probably want 1st team football. Why not?

Deadman is your name Ed?

Apparently AP was sat with EP's agent at the match. Im sure he was trying to do a deal. Sturridge on loan still looks possible.

Spot on... Lack of creativity is worrying... Results have just papered over the cracks... Could come back down to earth with a bump against Fulham... I agree and disagree. We havnt created much and we all know we need a new striker, but we are also a new team finding our way together on the pitch. That will come. Marveaux, Jonas, Cabaye, Barton, Obertan and Ben Arfa are all offensive players, Marveaux, Cabaye, Barton and Ben Arfa are creative. Jonas and Obertan offer us pace and directness. Backed up defensively byt Tiote or Gosling, who can also offer goals and creativity. It will come good once settled. The fact we have kept two clean sheets is another positive. We will fucking hammer Fulham at the weekend. They look wank and on the back off a 2-0 drubbing by Wolves. We will be another week stronger. More understanding amongst the team and on the back of two VERY good results in the league, hopefully a confident run out and win at Scunny and then back infront of our own fans with probably a new LB. 4-0 S.Taylor, Cabaye, Barton and Ba

I think by Wednesday there will be a decision either way. I mean they know theres limited time in the window left and negotions must be concluded midweek. Or you'd like to think so wouldnt you? Pieters is our number one priority, he fits what we need, plenty of experience in a "decent" league, europe and international. He is "open" to the challenge" and at 30k a week it would work. Simple fact is they want 6mil, we only want to pay 4.5mil max. Didnt he have a release clause? How much was that for? Are PSV demanding more because they know our situation, our need for a LB quickly and the fact we have money? I'd go in with 5mil and if they dont accept that we go for Cissokho. He WILL cost more money but i also think he is a better player than Pieters. Either way....We do have money, or we should have money available. It would be pretty easy for the club to just get this done. Take a gamble Mike and pay what they want. Show a bit of faith and ambition for the club. Some intent.