Great game and very happy with the result - My thought on the Liverpool game

I've watched it since getting back. It was a blatant pen. Not sure what Cabaye was doing. Maybe he felt the sending off was too much punishment. He was wrong.

 

I think they all thought it was offside, hence the protestations. They kept looking over and talking to the assistant.

 

They appear to be asking him to consult his lino. Like you say maybe that was for offside but it may have been in the forlorn hope he would either have seen it differently, or didn't think was a sending off. You cannot grab and pull someones shoulder when they through on goal. When they replay it in slow mo it looks slightly more of a dive, but at full tick you see how much he is impeded and why he goes down. If that happened to Remy and we didn't get a pen, I'd be livid.

 

Absolutely. We would all have been calling for a pen if were at the other end.

Anyway, nuff said now. Not going to change the result, which was a very decent point against an in-form team.

 

Brilliant result. Not many give us much hope. The biggest plus for me was them showing a bit of fight. Got to have a bit mongrel in them if they want to survive in this league. Impressed the way Pards has revamped our style of football. Some lovely passing and movement, a much better watch.

 

Pards, Pards, Pards. All we ever hear is Pards this, Pards that.

 

Did I tell you he is longer in the shower than Loverman and Tino put together?

 

I guess if anyone would know that, you would!

 

A great result in the end. Personally, I think the team look like they are really working hard or each other. We are for sure looking much better. No sending off today and we could be in 8th right now. Always feel we are on the edge of a disaster but I think that's just part of life as a toon fan!

 

This!

 

And you know this because ....................................................?

 

This.

Would add that the reason you feel we are on the edge of a disaster is that we always are on the edge of a disaster. And that is part of being a Toon fan

 

We're very close

 

Williamson had a good game today, do we forget all the **** games he played? Taylor I could get my scroll out for the amount of times he has embarrassed himself playing for us and Colo's first season wasn't that impressive at all. Yes Mbiwa had a poor game against Everton but so did most of the team and if Tiote hadn't been so lackadaisical in running back up the pitch Suarez would have been offside and Mbiwa would have stayed on. Also it was a sublime ball with an amazing touch by Suarez, the guy is a **** by sheer class and he can make most defenders in the Premiership look daft. I thought Mbiwa looked solid before his dismissal anyway.

 

Does Pards know? He could find out!

Of course for a little consideration, he may not.

 

I think we're nearly there. I'd like other opinions on this, as I've been thinking that we could have buried Liverpool, IF.......we'd played Remy CF, Benny RW, Gouff LW. I think some of us said it. I understand the principal of a "false 9", but we didn't need to. Gouff works so hard, and Remy's movement is so good, that we could have simply had those 3 lads in different positions and given the team at the top of the table a complete runaround.

Dare I say it....we also have something approaching an identity. And, I have to bow to Pardew here, we're as close to an "entertainers" team as I've seen in 10 years. Still a way to go, but the green shoots are there.

 

Remy didn't look fully fit. Personally I think it will be a huge error to move him from the left side. He causes so much trouble coming from deeper. I think HBA is a big problem as he only works in spurts. Very impressed with Gouffrans form. His workrate shames HBA. I just wish we'd got a Bony, Lukaku etc type signing. If we had a proper centre forward who could make it stick, we'd look pretty good. Fletcher if the mackems go down? I'm not sure what the answer is through the middle but I think shifting Remy will alter the dynamics of what looks a very effective identity. Cisse, HBA, Ameobi, its not right. Wish we'd kept Best, he would have thrived in this team. Ba even better but not realistic.

 

HBA just didn't seem to be at the show.

 

Remy has to be fully fit. I wondered about the body language whether Remy fancied the middle job and didn't get it, you know how the French like a good sulk. Seemed like the CF pos was up for grabs and Remy didn't get the nod, maybe that's me getting it wrong. That said, I don't know we need someone to make it stick like a Bony, there was rarely a pass that warranted it - and, to be fair, Ben Arfa has an exceptional first touch, so if it needs to 'stick' on the floor, he's your man. The problem's almost just a case of how many fcking weetabix did Hatem manage that morning. To be fair, Liverpool hounded him when he got the ball, they have a higher standard of fitness and collective ability than, say, Cardiff. So it's harder for him to find the space. He's like a modern Matt Le Tiss. Can take apart any side from 12th downwards on his own.

Gouff seems to have needed the run of games, he gets it now. He's quick and has now got that level of fitness needed, a real asset to the football club. He lacks that bit of quality, but he's a good player, better than I gave credit. Maybe his work rate is there to offset Hatem - if you have HBA and Cisse in the side, you're struggling on the defensive.

Like I say, at least it feels like it's close. I'd be more than happy to see the same team who finished the game (though eleven players is a preference) take on Sunderland. Krul, Debuchy, Willo, Dummett, Santon, Tiote, Sissoko, Cabaye, Gouff, Remy, HBA. It feels like a tactic that could get results at home, but that could be fcking devestating away from home. Throw into the mix the fact we can offer serious options from the bench in Anita, Sammy, Cisse, Jonas....we seem to have quietly crept up on the league and I'm gettin' a little excited about the season now. Though the league just can't yield a finish better than 8th or 7th, roll on Man City!!!

 

Remy reportedly missed a bit of training with us and France due to his knock then car accident. I assume he is enjoying the left wing. He should be, it suits him in a Henry type way (not saying he is that good mind!). They don't seem sure how to pick him up, who is responsible. Quite clever from Pards really. Started to look really tired towards the end and the two gut busting breaks seemed too much for him. Bony looks to be a big regret, we are crying out for physical presence through the middle.