It wasn't a red card - My stance on Tiote.

the foot landed exactly wear the ball was like a half a second before - Fletcher rolled over athousand times and there was nothing the matter with him. Anyway Tiote should have pulled out of the tackle and thats the lesson.

 

Karma ey.

 

No

If Karma existed we would see our clubs with something

 

Tiote was high but being pulled backwards didnt help, he also didnt go in with the studs and to me seemed to try to pull back his foot at the last second so the contact was minimal. Nowhere near a red card. The ref was abysmal. He didnt call it to the rules as Cuellar went through the back of Ba's legs getting nowhere near the ball. I think the rules has that down as a red yet Atkinson with a better view of that than the Tiote incident didnt even give a free kick.

 

!

 

Pretty much. Cheik fell for the trap it has to be said, just like Sausagejockey the year before.

 

You've watched different footage to me. Pretty simple for me. Ball was in the air, Fletcher nicked it away and Cheik kicked him on the shin (which ended up where ball had been)with insole of his boot. I think Cheik kicked him on purpose in frustration. Yellow card.

 

Nope as Fletcher had nicked it away. Terrible refereeing, yellow card at worst.

 

Bit off topic but is that meant to be a nickname for Sessegnon? If so its probably the worst ever nickname i've seen.

 

I wouldn't worry about it mate, its for our amusement not yours.

 

I think much of the red card came down to reputation rather than the challenge itself. Personally I can see why it was given but what irks me is the chest high challenge on Shola wasn't even given a yellow. The bottom line though is Tiote's tackle was needless, the whistle had already been blown (which I thought at the time - how can that be a card if it was after the whistle and therefore not in play....but apparently that doesn't matter). He should have stopped and we would have gone on to win the game. We all love him for his hard tackling game but he seems to be getting carried away with it and doing it in a reckless manner now seemingly trying to live up to the hype, but he needs to be a bit smarter with his tackling and know when to pull out of a lost cause. As everyone has said, i've seen Gerrard get away with a lot worse tackles than that one....and it certainly was in no way as much of a studs up lunge as some pundits are making it out to be!

 

So it wasn't near Fletcher then. An own goal so good Ba could have scored it.

 

I think you are misinterpreting, that's exactly what I was saying, the ball was long gone hence he deserved to be booked.

You should not be knocking Demba either, he's your second top scorer

Massive own goal for you then..........

 

I'm not knocking Ba in any way. We have been poor all season, and he got us a point in a game we should have lost. Well him and Tiote anyway.

 

I think you will improve. O'Neill always starts out at clubs like this, solid foundations. He won't change the style of play, direct counter attack with hard work and pace. Its been that way from year dot with him and he sticks to the Cloughie priniciples. my mates who are mackems have said they are bored ****less with his tactics. They don't like the "score, defend like mad approach". They described it as "creeping death"!

Reality is though he has had one window. He'll know better than anyone that your centre midfield is not up to scratch. Much maligned as he might be I think Cattermole can do the defensive role if he calms down a bit and concentrates on football. Its the playmaker in the Cabaye mould you desperately need. You'll then see the likes of Sessegnon, McClean, Johnson in a better light. They'll get a better quality of ball and more space will be created with a bit of clever movement. At present they are a bit pedestrian in the way they move the ball and just go in straight lines. Gardner is the best of them and a decent player but lacks a bit of culture. In the games I've seen him he looks a good right back to be honest!

I expect you guys to make one really big signing in January. I think that guy will be O'Neills new Stilian Petrov. Who I'm not sure but he'll know what you need.