Game On! Newcastle v Aston Villa

St James' Park.

St James' Park.
Game On at St James’ Park
Good afternoon all and welcome to the ‘Game On’ article for our tussle with Aston Villa at St James’ Park.

Ordinarily I’d be banging on about home advantage and how we should be making it work for us but results since the turn of the year make any notion of home advantage redundant when it comes to Newcastle United.

Four successive home league defeats (or five if you include the FA Cup loss to Cardiff, although we did at least score a goal in that one) with ever increasing differences in the scorelines (0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4) paint a worrying picture. Mitigating circumstances could include the sale of Yohan Cabaye, a failure to replace said Cabaye, and the loss of a number of first-team players, three of whom should return for this match, but in reality we’ve deserved what we’ve got from recent matches.

To find out if those three players have returned you’ll need to check the team news which I will get up as soon as I can once it is released. You can find it at the bottom of this article but whilst you’re waiting why not cast your eye over the match preview and familiarise yourself with some history, some facts and some injury news?

The game is being shown on Sky Sports here in the UK and has also been chosen for broadcast by a host of overseas channels so picking up a stream shouldn’t be too much of an issue. If you do find a good stream then please share it by leaving a link in the ‘comments’ section below.

Which just about covers everything I need to mention ahead of the game. I just hope I’m left with something decent to report on come full-time. Actually, not even decent, just a win will do!

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Tim Krul; Mathieu Debuchy, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Paul Dummett; Moussa Sissoko, Cheik Tiote, Vurnon Anita, Yoan Gouffran; Loic Remy, Papiss Cisse

Subs: Rob Elliott, Massadio Haidara, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Steven Taylor, Dan Gosling, Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Jong

Aston Villa: Brad Guzan; Leandro Bacuna, Ron Vlaar, Nathan Baker, Ryan Bertrand; Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph, Karim El Ahmadi; Gabriel Agbonlahor, Christian Benteke, Andreas Weimann

Subs: Jed Steer, Yacouba Sylla, Grant Holt, Ciaran Clark, Marc Albrighton, Aleksandar Tonev, Joe Bennett

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

421 thoughts on “Game On! Newcastle v Aston Villa

  1. Dave , Yes you hit the nail on the head @297. I so want him to prove me wrong and really put the cash forward to build on the team, I actually feel a bit sorry for Pards ,sometimes I wonder if he gets made the same promises as the fans every transfer window only to be let down. The alternative is he’s complicit in the bullshit over players coming in which is totally depressing.

    Last chance saloon for Jabba this summer, stump up or sell up I say, we’re not asking for mega bucks players just decent solid upgrades.

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  2. Mark ,I don’t fancy Ba back tbh mate, would prefer we move on from him like. I do think we have to sell Papiss sadly and I hate to admit it as you all know I like him but he looks shorn of the gusto and instinct for goals he had on arrival, he didn’t actually do too badly today until he missed that sitter which will be all that’s remembered so for his own sake he needs to leave us.

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  3. @BIG DAVE

    I Don’t believe it one bit mate BFTSOTB I’m going to remain positive until the Summer..

    Keep the Anti-Realists happy for now. 😀

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  4. Kim I honestly believe that 90% of the time he thinks he is getting the players he wants, as he has came out before to spell out what players he needs and wants only to be let down and end up looking like a right knob.

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  5. Kim – Glad your back and feeling better. Why would Pardew be any different from any other manager we have had under Jabba? He and his regime have been shown to lie to his managers in court, so for that reason I believe Pardew is telling us exactly what he is being told. He’s better off saying nothing. But I think you’ll see him saying more and more about a positive summer window between now and the end of the season as season tickets need selling and at the moment I reckon they’re going pretty slow.

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  6. @Kim

    I’m being very selective. I like Ba but would prefer better. You have to assume we will lose a few players and spend very little. So Ba will be a good cheap option to line up with freebie C Cole. 😀

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  7. Mark the anti realist dont need you to keep them happy they can make anything happen in dreamland.
    Well in the words of Peter Jones im out.
    For a while anyway.

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  8. @JOHNO

    No, I think Pardews football is as stale as Big Sams, Mark Hughes and Pulis.

    We always look poor in the 1st half, defend too much & try and score with counter attack football.

    If we don’t score first we’re fooked. I want to chase the first goal instead of our cautious approach. I don’t see much difference to Chris Hughtons style of play. Latter is probably more organised.

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  9. Stu, I’m not surprised they are going slow, jabba is ripping the heart out of the club if you ask me , if cups aren’t a priority anymore and Europe seen as a pain in the **** then what’s the point, I can totally understand people wanting more than safety every year , you have to have something to aim for and you can’t have a parade round the Toon for finishing 8th 🙄 . Jabba has himself to blame for the flat atmosphere now enveloping a proud club, too proud in fact for the loyal fans to stay away when there is clearly zero ambition up for grabs.

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  10. Out:

    Cisse
    HBA
    Marveaux
    Colo
    Remy
    Strolla
    De Jong
    Ferguson
    Vuckic

    We have a poor squad as it is and I don’t see us bringing in as many as leave so we will probably have a poorer squad next season.

    A very sobering thought; Remy, Strolla and De Jong will probably be leaving. If we replace them we won’t even have improved the squad! That’s a whole lot of work on three players just to stand still! 😥

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  11. Well desperate times deserve desperate measures. We get a goal in added time from Remy. What would we have done this season without him? What will we do next season when he’s gone and Ashley won’t spend for a proper replacement? I wish I was more optimistic about Ashley but what has he done to persuade us? Nowt.

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  12. I think you would have to add Obertan and Gosling to that list Stuart mate @311. It’s amazing how poor we’ve become with no activity for 2 windows thanks to Joe.

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  13. De Jong looked ok 2day when he came on but reminds me of Andreas Andersson.

    I’m sure plans are in place with players already in mind 😯 they just need to dust down the last 2 windows lists…

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  14. Think we all know Remy will leave its up to him at the end of the day and IMO he will,what I do know someone at toon stuffed it right up,99%of loans a fee is agreed when the loan comes to end its then up to club and player to agree terms,this has just not happened with Remys club (QPR) its gone from 6mil plus 2mil loan fee now its up to 16mil,another balls-up by the club,good old Joe,at least a fee has been agreed for Jong if we want him

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  15. I think we would have had 20 points less without Remy and Cabaye’s goals if I calculated it right. That means we would have 20 points right now and be in the bottom 3. Of course their replacements may have scored a couple but still I would guess at least 15 points less. Think about that for next season mates.

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  16. Mark – Graham Carr will have a list as long as your arm of players, it’s just a shame there’s nobody around to do the actual deals.

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  17. We’re absolutely shocking in our squad building. It’s as if we’re just coming back from relegation. The squad is in tatters and it took 2 windows to get rid of Joe. Anybody who takes Ashley seriously as an owner should take a look at the mess we have now.

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  18. Asked if every additional strike takes the frontman further from his grasp, Pardew said: “I think that’s fairly obvious.

    “He is going to be hot property. He is going to get a lot of press tomorrow and I am going to leave him out of the next 11 (games).”

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  19. Joe stuffed everything up ice mate. That’s why he’s finally gone. But the damage is already done. We’re back to struggling again with a weak squad and several want aways. 👿

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  20. It’s all up to Ashley again now. Hire a decent football man at the top Mike or else pay the piper next season. It’s entirely up to you, you clown. Show us a pair or get out.

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  21. What Pardew actually should have said after the match:
    “Well Remy saved our jobs again. We were a bunch of sad sacks out there but he pulled us out of it. We have no chance of keeping him and we have nobody in charge who can rebuild the squad. The owner could care less so I’m left here making excuses. I’m sick of it so I’m resigning effective immediately.”

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  22. Pardew pulled it off again. He keeps getting the rug pulled and turmoil prevails in the dressing room. However, he seems to always have a tete a tete with his players and they always seem to come through the crises united.

    You can’t knock him for that. 😉

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  23. I would like to think the club have other plans for the strikers. Remy clearly not going to join permanently so hope they have others in their thoughts.

    It’s going to cost a hell of a lot of cash to “Move us forward” as Pards likes to say.

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  24. We’ll have a huge rebuilding job in the summer. Carr must be shaking his head with worry. So much dead wood now. Joe did nothing. I’ll bet Carr was furious through the last 2 windows. How much more of this will he be willing to put up with?

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  25. Yes Remy saved Pardew’s skin again Troy mate. But how much support to expect this summer from the owner? Any at all? How about some common sense from him to protect his own investment? He must see the crony method doesn’t work by now surely? I just don’t know what to expect as he continues to shock everyone with his actions.

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  26. One more crony hire at the top and we’ll be a disaster next season. We should all take a long look at Stuart’s list of players to go out @311. Not many of those players are worth much now after struggling with us. We’ve got a complete mess on our hands and we have no hand at the tiller. Madness, but typical of Ashley I suppose.

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  27. Aye it’s going to be messi all right ice mate. What do you bet we have Llambias back in charge? Who else would Ashley turn to. Derek will be laughing all the way to the bank.

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  28. If Dekka can bring in some dosh for a few of our players leaving we may get two or even three decent players in. It will leave us to try to repeat this season. Mid table mediocrity. No cup runs. I have to admit these last few seasons are grinding me down. I keep hoping for better but it never comes with Ashley.

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  29. I would say it’s the best we can hope for with Ashley. No decent football man would touch him with a ten foot pole now.

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  30. G2 got a feeling if owlheed comes back it will be to clear the decks to sell the clubs,jabba will what the last drop of blood out of club

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  31. God I hope you’re right ice, as long as it leads to something better. Look at the attendance again today. Over 50K. There must surely be an owner out there who sees that with a good owner we could be solid gold.

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  32. I just hate seeing the club mishandled this way. Shocking treatment. The owner doesn’t even bother to apologize for his mistakes anymore. It’s all water off a duck’s back.

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  33. Pardew actually said, this is a quote, “Remy will be a hot property in the summer”.

    He’s doing his usual sales talk about our players AGAIN – and this time he isn’t even our fucking player. I am sure QPR appreciate Pardew’s sales technique, especially as they are faltering a bit and not even assured promotion, which significantly weakens their bargaining power over Remy.

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  34. G2 we are one big advert for his ****,only the fans can shift him and some bad press,there was a protest outside sjp against jabba I counted 7 fans so what can you do mate

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  35. It’s a sad state of affairs ice mate. Cleary not many of us are satisfied with Ashley. He’s like a huge parasite on our backs. And that’s spot on FJ. Why is Pardew advertising Remy for QPR? Just keep the cakehole closed Alan.

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  36. The odd thing is this could still all be turned around. I wouldn’t have sold Cabaye but I think he really did want to go. But we needed to replace him or hold onto him until the summer. There do seem to be some decent young AMFs around but they will cost now, no doubt about it. It’s the striker position I’m really worried about. De Jong may end up being a decent setup man but he’s no lethal finisher as far as I can see. Shola is finished. Cisse needs to be gone. That much is clear but nothing more as far as the attack is concerned.

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  37. @solanostrumpet – 272

    How can you disagree on a stat 😯

    I said ‘He (Krul) was so good he set a record for most number of saves in a match.’

    You disagree & imply that i’m lying 🙄

    Here are the facts:
    The 14 saves in total meant Krul made the most stops ever in a Premier League match (or, at least, since statisticians OPTA began keeping records in 2006-07).

    To me, that looks like Tim Krul has set a record for most number of saves in a match.

    There is no one on record that has made more saves than Krul in a single match. Tim Krul holds the record.

    This isn’t even up for debate 🙄

    Re Marveaux
    You realise that when you want to do a like for like comparison of two players you need to account for the actual mins played, right? 🙄 🙄

    Even if you’re too lazy to do that the headline stat is the same with Marv having a higher % of tackling success.

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  38. Just happy to have won. It wasn’t a convincing win and I had my heart in my mouth a few times early on, but credit to the lads, they showed some heart and some fight, and stayed at it for the whole game.

    Good to see Colo and Tiote back.

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  39. Great win from the lads.. very happy with the 3 points. 🙂

    Look I know as a team we are supposed to dominate the full 90 minutes and play exceptional football butyou need to take into account that there is another team on the park trying to spoil your day! Villa came out at us hard and we did well to hold them at bay. You could see early in the second half that we had broken their spirit and they sat back. A lot of fans on here were calling for an improvement from the lads before the game and from my point of view we got it! Yet it seems that some are still not happy. We are playing in the pl and

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  40. … there are no easy games. We have a bunch of lads with their confidence shot to pieces and it will take a little time to get it back. I thought we played well under the circumstances. Villa had a very good away record and were never going to be a push over. I have noticed that Lambert has coached the skill out of Benteke! He looked hopeless.. 😆 It seems that Pardew is not the only manager with the special talent of coaching the skill out of players! 😆

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  41. Clearly the pressure on the Team and coaches, at home, was massive.
    Most of the Lads shouldered that pressure well and dug deep, to get the win.
    Cant say fairer than that really.
    3 points in the bag, job done.
    Cisse tho has become a major embarrassment
    All he has done is add to the pressure.
    Where do we go from here with this Lemon. He has gone from bad to worse.
    Not worthy of the number on his back, that’s for sure.
    Roll on the summer.

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  42. The club has a lot of problems right now, but Remy isn’t one of them. He’s shown that he’s another player of the Ba type. He wants a massive payday, and Newcastle is where he’ll showcase his talents to the giant clubs. By shopping him about, Pardew is backing his man, and encouraging him to keep up his good performances. Just what, exactly, will keep Remy motivated after he does sign his mega contract is another story! 😯

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  43. Pardew in “Remy will be hot property in the Summer shocker”…you’d think if he was going to come out with the truth he’d at least make it up! 🙄 😉

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  44. Pardew going on about us being only 5 points behind Everton, who are having a good season etc, doesn’t tell the whole story either.
    Everton have only lost 5 matches all season to our 11
    Everton’s GD is +10 to our -5
    They have scored more than us and conceded fewer.
    They have been consistently better than us all season, yet have only won the same amount of games as us (12)
    It is the consistency that we need to get sorted. The recent dip in form has really hit us hard, or we could have been up there with them and manure.
    I hope we have turned a corner now.
    Hull away next weekend will be very interesting.
    Toon Toon

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  45. “We can build on this win now and the way we need to build is by finishing strongly and then we can go into the summer and strengthen,”

    “We all know as much as we haven’t spent any money in the last 18 months, we have got a nice little kitty there and we’ve got to make good use of it. IF we make good use of it we can come back stronger next year.”

    Yes, the word IF has a lot of significance, I reckon Pardew is already distancing himself after being made to look like a mug in the past

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  46. Mark @354 , Yes you can hardly blame him either for the IF word, I wonder how he’ll react IF we don’t strengthen substantially come summer?. Will he just get on with it as always or just say balls to this and walk away, in his shoes I would find it utterly demoralising to have to work in those conditions yet again. One things for sure we will really see our owners intentions this summer on the ambition front, will he let more quality guys leave and if so will decent replacements arrive, what type of player are we looking to now as well ,more French, Dutch or are we going back to British?, so many questions to be addressed . If we do really strengthen Pards will have no cause for complaint and for many no hiding place next season.

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  47. On the positive from yesterday, the 40 points is great and I can relax now , always pleased to see that target reached and it’s all bonus points now, the team looked together when they celebrated which is good and the relief from all in the dugout was palpable. I think maybe some confidence will come back now what with Colo and Remy being back and I also think De Jong will be a great foil for Remy and hope we can sign up Remy though I won’t hold my breath .

    By the way my MOTM was Willo yesterday ,I thought he was very good all things considered, but that first half performance was shocking ,we have to be better than that.

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  48. I don’t quite understand, why everyone sees it as an absolute impossibility, that Mike Ashley could indeed sell the club in the not so distant future.
    What is to say, that he isn’t using the TV money to repay him self the outstanding loan the club have with him? He might be trying to get his money back, and then sell ..
    He’s already involved with Rangers, and the time to take them over might be just around the corner, as the price for doing so will only get bigger for every time they get promoted. At some point, they will be back in the SPL, and then we’ll probably be back to status quo – them and Celtic fighting for the title, and Rangers having every chance of getting into the Champions League, which is exactly where Mike Ashley wants his club to be.
    The price for getting there with Newcastle is just way to high for him, whereas the necessary outlay at Rangers would be considerably smaller.
    I honestly think, he could sell Newcastle as early as this summer, or the year after at the very latest.
    I would expect, that the prospect of getting the Sports Direct brand exposed in the Champions League with Rangers, is of such great appeal to him, that this switch of clubs, is what is going to happen ..
    What do you think, lads?

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  49. Aussie-I think some people are stuck in the entertainers/top 4 mindset where we need to completely batter sides to deserve a win. And even the batterings we do give out, excuses are made for them! Stoke only had 9 men! Yes they went down to 9 men because they needed to hack us out and give away penalties because we were cutting through them ffs it’s not rocket science! I just don’t understand how people can be so down after a win, I think i’ll have to stop reading comments after a match unless we win by a five goal margin.

    For me Pardew praising Remy is just obvious. People have a go at him for being a liar and will now have a go for telling the truth. Look, all players like to hear their own praises sung, there is always the possibility that Arsenal might look for a higher calibre player-or not go in for Remy at all! If that is the case at least Remy knows here he is loved, guaranteed a start and has a team that work for him. He’s still young enough to move again if he were to stay. I know it’s basically nigh on impossible but I’d rather Pardew try and get him on side or playing with a smile than look like a mug and say “Actually Remy wasn’t that great, he already missed that sitter and so he had to make up for it. I guess some people might fancy him in the summer but I don’t know why, he’s average”

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  50. Funkness, Yeah I think you make an excellent point and tend to agree that is his likely long term aim. He obviously is an astute business man when it comes to the SD brand and made it plain to Sir John that was what buying the Toon was all about ,promoting SD. So it makes perfect sense that the next logical step is a bigger platform to expose his brand ,a CL club, which is much more likely with Rangers than us. That said I’m not sure he’ll sell us this summer but maybe next as you say.

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  51. Also big shout out to Williamson. Thought he did well and had a fantastic tackle on benteke. He was coming in for a lot of criticism recently when Tayls came into the side and made him dodgy again but as soon as colo is back in he looks comfortable. Dummett looked a bit dodgy but still plumb for him or haidara over santon atm.

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  52. Newkie, We have a chance of keeping Remy if real effort is made to land him , show the lad ambition, pay a decent wage and sign some decent players and he can’t say he’s not at a decent club, fifty odd thousand every home game isn’t found everywhere and the grass isn’t always greener. IF them in charge get their act together we’ll land him unless he is totally desperate for CL and London again in which case there is nowt we or them above can do.

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  53. Newkie , yeah I had Willo as my MOTM, did well yesterday in an otherwise tepid performance save the last 15 mins.

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  54. Funkness-I agree in that I’m of the belief that Ashley would rather get his money back and if the opportunity arises he will sell up. Some people think he will continue to use us as a free advertising board but I think we’re a pretty big headache to him and he’d like to get shot of us.

    The only issue is a potential buyer. There’s been absolutely nowt on it and we’re an expensive outfit.

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  55. Newkie, I saw a couple of reports a couple of days ago saying he’d be prepared to sell us for £250m not sure if any truth in it though.

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  56. Kim-yeah, I guess the key issue is that he went to QPR instead of us to begin with, I would have said maybe money wasn’t that important to him as he is a bit of an emotional/shy character or was back in France. At the end of the day we are now paying him the same as he is on at QPR, surely with the big clearout we’re having we can afford a bit more? Colo’s 80k will probably soon be off the books and whilst that is a lot for a defender for a good striker it’s the going rate. A lot will depend on where Arsenal finish I guess. I don’t see them getting rid of Giroud or Podolski and Arsene obviously wants to bring Sanogo through as that’s what he likes best about managing. Walcott wants to play up front and they have youngsters in Gnabry and Chamberlain who can also play out wide. Not to mention Ozil will constantly want to start and Cazorla is now often on the wing because of that.

    Do they need to add Remy to that? I think they need a top class striker, Remy is great but he is not a title winning striker imo.

    Agree about Willo. It was just nice to see the defence looking a little more steady even if it wasn’t great, I was worried about Villa’s pace but we dealt with it alright.

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  57. Kim-I think he would assuming he got his loan debt back on top of that (if it isn’t already paid off by then)

    I don’t think he’s that interested in making a profit on the actual sale, it would be peanuts for him really. It’s all about the potential buyer and whoever actually wants to buy us 😕

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  58. Newkie, yeah mate, I had a chuckle at some of the negative remarks. Not even Man City are a shoe in to beat another team on any given day.. its a fuken competitive league and to dominate another team is a hard task. I posted the other day that if we won it would either be lucky or Villa played like ****!
    Some people are never happy, if they found 100 quid on the ground, they would complain that they had to bend over and pick it up!

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  59. Newkie ,I agree, I just don’t think Arsenal need Remy right now tbh, we just need to convince him we are THE club for him, all eyes on mike I guess come summer.

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  60. Aussie, **** right I would moan if I had to bend over to pick up the £100 ,you would too if you had a bad back like mine 😀

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  61. One thing that was terrible was our crossing though. We seriously need a coach for that, luckily dummett’s set pieces were ok but we need someone clearly to do something with it. Goof and Sissoko got in plenty of decent positions but failed to clear the first man. When we do clear the first man there is never any real pace on the ball. I’d much rather see Sissoko or Goof blast the ball through the six yard area and see if someone can get a foot on it. I think Cisse would prefer chances like that as well as opposed to ones where he has to think about it. Debuchy and Dummett were better but not by much imo.

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  62. Newkie – breath of fresh air buddy 😉

    Kim – Willo was immense yesterday, my MOTM as well 😉

    Funky – I think you’re right about the TV money, if not all then most I think will be paying that loan off.
    I reckon the kitty Pardew refers to is probably the Cabaye money plus whatever other money he might get from sales of other players.
    He could have around £30m to spend – Gomis and Hunt on a free transfer (maybe Tom Ince still) and the task looks difficult but doable

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  63. Aussie, on the serious side, I don’t think many expect us to dominate teams to be fair, it’s just to see real effort and an attacking threat , that first half showing was at times pitiful yesterday and it’s not the first time it’s happened really. I think we just feel starved of a bit of exciting play too often, when you look at the way some teams break at pace and create wonderful openings you realise how backwards we have gone since the KK and sir bobby days. I realise we are a million miles from them days but we could get there again with the right input and ambition .

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  64. Aussie , Sadly a long time since I had shaggers back mate 🙁 I always found carpet burns worse to be honest 😉

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