He didn't put a foot wrong. Will Warnock (please!) give him some decent playing time against Sunderland?
Agreed but unsurprising given his long absence. It's all about getting his respect working. Plain for even him to see, he's a squad player who needs to earn his place in the first team. Must be clear to him that his arrogance and disloyalty last summer have cost him dear - and that he's nowhere near good enough for us atm - let alone Toon or the top four / six. Having said that we saw signs of the more mature performances he put in at the start of this season. Instant passing and the odd track back. The one time he tried a bit of dribbling, he ended up dispossessed pretty quickly. Couple of nice crosses though.
Taarabt should definitely start against Sunderland - Barton should be the one warming the bench, where he deserves to be after his performance today.
Agreed. I only caught the second half (the game started at 6am over here), but Barton looked woeful. Although I might be tempted to play Derry in place of Barton, and switch Adel in for Bothroyd?
I may be wrong but it seems to me we have lost our ability to contain teams without Derry. Taarabt then picked up from there and away we went. I know Derry hasn't got a lot of pace but we were more solid at the back with him. I agree R we should play Derry and Taarabt against Sunderland because it is not happening as we are right now. If Taraabt doesn't do it then we know that he is on his way, but it can't be any worse. If Anton is fit and plays I want him to score against his old club.
I am very confused. We had more chances with Taraabt on the pitch than the rest of the game. Neil, by all means get Defoe, Johnson, Samba etc but please get Adel's head right and working for the team again. If that means dumping Barton, fine by me.
Would Neil dare drop his two high profile signings? ------------------Cerny------------------- -Young-- Ferdinand-- Gabbidon-- Traore Mackie---- Faurlin---- Derry------ Taarabt ------------ DJ -------- HH---------------
I wouldn't mind seeing that starting line-up against Sunderland, with Bothroyd, SWP & Barton on the bench
I'd go with that Coldharbour. Given the publicity associated with his transfer, Barton has been a major disappointment to me. He thinks he is better than he is. Lots of bad passing by him today, bad set pieces and gave them a goal. He lacks sufficient creativity and that is something we desperately need. he doesn't seem to care. Derry does. Taraabt gave us that extra dimension when he came on and he even made a header (his one for the season probably). But could he maintain his modest contribution to our defence for longer than his 20 minute cameo today?
Mackie is offering nothing. Give smith a chance. Mackie has had a few games now and other than running into dead ends, he has done nothing. He is just not able to cross a ball.
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of: Cerny Young, Gabbidon, Ferdinand, Hill SWP, Fraulin, Derry, Traore Tarrabt, Helgusson That way, hopefully Adel will have it drilled into his skull to drop back into midfield when we've not got the ball and push on when we have it to give us a little and large combination up front. I'd be happy with Mackie in place of SWP, but I think Shaun's got the pace to worry Sunderland. And Traore's crosses can be knocked in or knocked down by Helgusson for a bit of Tarrabt magic.....
North try not let your (very weird if I must say) obsession with COLIN cloud your judgement. Barton is pants
