My thoughts on the Darlington game - There's always a few that have to spoil it.

At first i thought the pitch invasion was a laugh, but then when there was fighting going on i got pissed off. These ****ing plebs give us a bad name.

On to the game, my belief in Cabaye was justified. He's ****ing immense. His deliveries are excellent, he's got good pace and a brilliant FK ability.

Ben Arfa - He needs a bit of time to get some of his confidence and sharpness back. His passing and shooting were excellent, and his trickery at times was great, but his touch and confidence just weren't there. He got tackled too often, and just needs time to get his head back. He seemed to be a bit low on self esteem, because he wasn't taking many players on. He made a couple of excellent runs in the second half, but was caught in two minds whether to shoot or pass. The magic is there, he just needs more games desperately to get his touch back.

My ratings -

Forster - 4 - Complete disappointment. He's not a patch on Krul, and his actions lead to Ferguson getting injured. He doesn't know what the **** he's doing. I know he should be given a chance, but there's no way he should stay while Krul gets loaned out. I thought he looked average in the SPL, and my thoughts on him seem to be validated by tonights performance.

Simpson - 6.5 - Good performance, edgey start but good.

Taylor - 8 - Cracking game. One sloppy back pass, but apart from that, good.

Willo - 6 - Decent

Ferguson - 8 - Excellent. Some brilliant runs, fantastic pace and skill, quite a few good long balls also. Too bad Forster had to ruin his night.

Vuckic - 3 - I don't know what on earth anyone sees in him. He got bullied around and he's 6ft 4 and around 13/14 stone.

Cabaye - 8.5 - Excellent - Very creative player, very much like Barton, just not quite as aggressive.

Barton - 9 - Brill. We sung "Ashley, sign him up, Ashley, Ashley sing him up", and he was pissing himself laughing.

Ben Arfa - 7 - His dribbling and touch needs to get back to standard. He just not quite match sharp yet, and he needs a confidence boost. There were quite a few moments of magic. His passing and long balls were good, and his faints to help our creative play were cracking, and he had a few good shots, but he needs time. A bit of a let down, but 1st game back after 9 months, you can't expect him to be at his best. He seems to be communicating well and obviously knows good english.

Smith - 7 - Not bad actually. If he wasn't on such high wages, i'd keep him. His passing was great. He pissed me off a bit with some stupid tackles though.

Guthrie - N/A - Went off injured.

Best - 7.5 - Why the **** are the club trying to sell him? Great performance, unlucky not to have a goal or 2. Good movement, linked up well with Ben Arfa via knock downs.

Sammy Ameobi - 8 - Fantastic. Brilliant young prospect, he should probably be loaned IMO. He scored a cracker, and his crossing and link up play with the team is excellent. He's probably better than Shola!

Abeid - 6 - Tidy and quick player.

I don't know exactly who else was playing, i think it was Kadar and Tavernier but wasn't sure.

MOM - Barton, honorable mentions - Cabaye and Sammy.

The fans - Excellent, but those ****ing ******s that decided to fight should be banned from any future games. We don't need them giving us a bad name.

EXCELLENT NIGHT OUT - Why the **** doesn't fat **** Ashley not buy this many seats in the prem? It was a pre-season friendly, and the ground was packed full and loud. We had twice as many fans as Darlington!!

Final thoughts - We're playing beautiful football lads, but we need the strikers to compliment it!

 

so you're giving Forster a 4 because he had nowt to do?

like the rest of your article btw, but you have your prejudices against certain players (see Jonas-dribbling) so i can't take your opinion of Forster on face value i'm afraid*.

was Vuckic that bad though? from the few text reports from Ryder he was in the mix a bit (although he did balloon a shot or two. Also, Ryder's text updates are ****e.

(*you've got track record of slating him)

 

Good to get some info from someone who was actually at the game! We only had chronicle live to rely upon, and Lee Ryder didn't seem to actually want to give us updates most of the time..

Best sounded like he had a cracker of a game though, maybe he was out to prove to Pards he should stay! Hope Pardew took note too!

 

His positioning was ****, he didn't know whether to come out or stay on his line, and he was too slow to the ball and got Ferguson injured. He's extremely average.

 

From what I read Vuckic was one of the better players on the pitch in the first half.

 

Thanks but your ratings seem to be a popularity contest between your favourite and most hated players, as always! Although some ratings seem correct others seem high just because of your admiration for the player!!!

 

Cheers for the update! What sort of position was Abeid playing?

 

Hatem was always going to need some time to get back to his best, did you run on the pitch tash?

 

Seemed to be attacking mid. He's decent. His passing and touches are good, and he has good pace. He needs more reserve time though. I doubt he'll be near the first team next season.

 

I wasnt at the game but reports were that Vuckic was class in the first half, you gave him a 3? Also, what did Forster do wrong?

 

No i was too far up the stand mate.

 

He didn't know whether to come out or stay back, and when he finally made his decision, he slid in for the ball and knocked Ferguson over and hurt his leg.

 

Anyone have nufcTV? http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/TV/InterviewsDetail/0,,10278~2394025,00.html

 

How did Forster get Ferguson injured exactly? And is Ferguson okay now or what?

edit - nevermind you answered while I was posting this.

 

Like i said, Forsters positioning and instincts are pants. He doesn't communicate with the back four, and he slid in for the ball about 5 seconds too late and bumped into Ferguson.

Krul is much better.

 

Thought HBA and Best looked very good up front and Cabaye played well too, more defensive than I thought. Agree about Forster and Vuckic, disappointed :/

 

So Forster directly injured Fergie? Also, small point, any idea what squad number Sammy was wearing, thinking of getting him on my shirt haha ?

 

Yep, but not watching the interview now, i've got to cook a pizza.

 

btw. Cabaye IS number 4. Was angry when i saw he was 52 at first.

 

Well Tash do you have a further explanation of why you gave Vuckic a 3???