Recent matches between the two sides have been soured due to comments made by Alan Pardew, comments which weren’t exactly well received on the blue half of Merseyside.
However this time around it would appear that the wounds have started to heal as neither manager have brought it up in the pre-match build up. Instead the run up to the match has been dominated with transfer gossip and whilst it looks like Demba Ba will be away and Mathieu Debuchy should be arriving at Newcastle, Moyes has already had to concede that he has little cash to spend and is looking for loan deals only. Hardly the most satisfying news to hear when you are chasing European football. We know how it feels…
Onto matters tonight and three points are at stake once more, three points that both sides need for their own reasons. Everton will want to keep the pressure on the top four by gaining all three points whilst Newcastle want the three points to ensure they can start to make a bit of a gap between themselves and those at the bottom of the table.
The match preview is online already and can be viewed by clicking here. It features injury news for both sides plus some stats and facts and a look at the history of meetings between the two sides. One thing it doesn’t cover is the news about Demba Ba and his permission to speak to Chelsea meaning that he won’t be involved this evening.
The game itself is on Sky which is fine for me as I’m not at the game tonight and have Sky, but for those who don’t have Sky then a stream will be needed. Once again normal rules apply and if you find a good one please share it by leaving a link to it in the ‘comments’ section below.
Which just about wraps it up. Will United come unstuck against the Toffees? Or will it be the Magpies flying away with three points this evening. We’ll soon find out…
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Tim Krul; James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Davide Santon; Vurnon Anita, Cheik Tiote; Gabriel Obertan, Papiss Cisse, Sylvain Marveaux; Shola Ameobi
Subs: Rob Elliot, Shane Ferguson, James Tavernier, Mehdi Abeid, Gael Bigirimana, Sammy Ameobi, Nile Ranger
Everton: TBC
Subs: TBC
Just lost 9 out of 11 games ,what chance of winnin g 7 or 8 out of 17 🙄
KIMTOON(Quote)
Toffeesend.
Gota say i agree with you mostly, but come on you lot are just as bad smacking it up to fellaini. and that ref did have a shocker tonight
Alex(Quote)
Kimtoon, we must be in danger of breaking an EPL record with the most consecutive defeats or summat.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Stiff upper lips seem to be in a dreadfully short supply tonight. One must take comfort in still being a big enough club to attract trolls – it’s a pity they’re of such poor quality!
Wellington(Quote)
Toffeenosed@298, MORE CLASS 😯 you did see what fellaini got suspended for I take it . You wanna talk about fouling he’s no saint is he. And your lads drop like they been shot imo. You outplayed us but please ,don’t pretend you have more class .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Cisse brought nothing today.
Eh?
Not only did he have a great header blocked by Heitinga, but he also made a great run to get the right side of Baines near the end, but Santon (inexplicably) decided to shoot rather than square it to Cisse for an open goal tap-in. Cisse was fine and I have no concerns whatsoever about him stepping in to fill Ba’s boots.
Santon worries me a lot though and I think we may need to drop him for Anita if his form carries on. He has made errors in all of his last three games and it has cost us at least one goal on each occasion. That’s not good enough and he needs to understand their is competition for his place. He is just a kid and will get better, but it is costing us too greatly at the moment to ignore it.
The Kid(Quote)
Toffeenosed, Everton had more class, that’s for sure. Deserved to win, I’m not too sure about. We had you under the cosh in the second half, you scored from a breakaway for the second one, and the first goal was a tremendous goal, but a one in a million goal.
For a twelve foot 100 kilo guy Fellini goes down way too easily, the guy is a cheater, and the ref bought into it.
A draw would have been a fair result. You don’t need to come on here and gloat.
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM ,worrying times my friend ,worrying times. 🙄 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
The Kid, what did Cisse create for his fellow players today ? Nowt.
Give him the ball and he will score, but he isn’t going to create chances for his team mates. Even playing in his preferred central role.
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM, Sunderland hold the record for consecutive defeats, losing 15 on the trot in 2002-03. They followed this with another 5 defeats on their return to the EPL in 2005-06, for an eye-watering 20 defeats in a row (across multiple seasons).
Our current “streak” since beating QPR is 3.
Wellington(Quote)
MM, that’s the thing though about class ,I don’t think one of us would go on a Toffee site to gloat what would be the point,it’s not like we hate em. Anyway we reserve that pleasure for our Scum friends
KIMTOON(Quote)
Wellington@310 , 😆 😆
Feel much better for reading that.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kimmy@308 you said it mate. My moods will start to pick up if and when the results change. Until then I will continue to have a face like proverbial slapped *#ss.
We have so many players off form at the moment it’s really worrying. I really cannot see where our next clean sheet will come from.
Icedog has got it spot on. Cabaye and HBA won’t come in and change the fortunes of the team at the drop of a hat. Mr untouchable Collocini has also been poor this season. He’s a 10 million pound defender ffs.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Munich
He doesn’t need to create. He held up the ball on the wings on numerous occasions today got himself into some dangerous positions He could have bagged a couple of goals today and was unlucky to only get one. What did Ba create for all of the times he had the ball? Nothing 90% of the time as his link up play was poor and he’d often go for goal when a better option was available.
Cisse needs to play up front and have our midfielders put balls into dangerous areas for him to attack.
The Kid(Quote)
Wellington@310, cheers for that. That was a doubly wammy to cheer me up, firstly that we are so far away from breaking the record, and secondly that the makkems hold the record… 😆 😆 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
Why are we even talking about a lone striker creating? Falcao only creates when a goalkeeper spills one of his shots! The issue with Ba/Cisse is that you had two “paintbrush” guys wanting to be the end of things.
Wellington(Quote)
The Kid @314. I reckon Cisse will end the season with max 2 assists. I agree that he will score the goals, that’s for sure. But he won’t create chances for his teammates.
Oh man oh man, if Santon had of squared that ball to him in the second half we may have taken home a much needed point.
Munich Mag(Quote)
**** me Cisse scores and you lot still aren’t happy, he wasn’t even playing in the middle. The lad was very good today, he isn’t a winger at the end of the day but helped out defensively loads.
Everton weren’t very good at all, they had the ref on their side all night tonight…shocking display. Falling over like a pack of cards and wasting as much time as possible.
This was against a very under strength NUFC side, we have big players and our best formation yet to play.
I’ve seen enough in the last few games to suggest we will be alright. Debuchy will add so much balance and attacking threat down our right.
EvilFranky(Quote)
Wellington #316
Exactly.
The Kid(Quote)
Wellington, Ba could score goals from nothing, from free kicks, and from open play. He could also play in his fellow striker or midfielder
If someone isn’t setting Cisse up then he is knackered, cos that is all he does, score goals. He isn’t going to burst down the win, jink inside and blather the ball into the net (hope he starts next week though 😆 😆 )
Munich Mag(Quote)
EvilFranky@318 you might find that I am unhappy with Cisse, not everyone, or at least that’s how I read it. Cisse is an untouchable on here, but now that evil Ba is gone Cisse can come into his own 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
On other loss records:
Everton have the record for being beaten the most in the EPL (283 defeats – they are the worst team of those that have featured in every EPL season).
Sunderland are drawn for the record of most home defeats in one season – their disastrous 2002-03 season is equalled by their horrible 2005-06 season, both featuring 14 home defeats.
Sunderland also feature in the most losses in a season, at 29 (2002-03), tied with Derby County (2007-08) and Ipswich Town (1994-95, admittedly from 42 games).
Are we having fun yet? 😉
Wellington(Quote)
well ive just looked at the games we have left to play,and the most points i can say we can get is 16/17 points at a push,not enough imo 🙁
icedog(Quote)
Ice, I think you’ll find that our maximum points from 17 games is 51. 😉
Wellington(Quote)
WELLINGTON aye i know that mate,ime saying the most we can is 16/17 out of your 51,have a look at them
icedog(Quote)
Wellington@322 😆 keep em coming.
Ice @323 Wow I was thinking only 12 to 14 so you are far more optomistic than me 😉 We need others to perform very badly and for us to start keeping some clean sheets and get a bit of luck along the way ,which has all but deserted us this season.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Right I’m off ,stressfull games tires me out night all.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Night Kimtoon 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
Ice, the point is that I don’t really believe in such prophecies at this time of year. Too much can change in the transfer window.
Wellington(Quote)
Pardew didn’t have any faith in Cisse today, and stuck that lump of shola up with him. Big Mistake.
Shola was poor as per usual.
But any hard work we put in, got undone by the hopeless Tiote.
He must have given away at least 5 fouls in dangerous areas.
There 1st goal came as a direct result of his inneptitude.
Hopefully that’s the last we will see of him for a wee while. **** poor.
A nothing midfielder who cant pass, cant tackle, cant shoot. all he can do is foul, foul, foul. No wonder he gets booked so often.
So where do we go from here.:?:
We desperately need a new striker who can play alongside side Cisse.
We need Cabaye and Benny back urgently.
We need a new CB urgently.
I’m sorry, but we really are getting ever deeper in the poo.
Ba should have been told he had to play tonight. He could have gone to London in the morning. We could well be ****** now without his goals.
Relegation is a big big possibility. You people who say its not need to smell the coffee.
Please show me where the next 20 points are coming from. I just cant see it.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Performances today;
GOOD;
Krul, Anita, Marveaux, Cisse.
AVERAGE;
Colo, Santon, Obertan, Strolla.
AVERAGE TO BAD;
Perch, Willo.
PLAIN BAD;
Tiote.
Question;
Is Santon a winger or defender? With Debuchy coming in, would we be better off employing wing backs withbthe following;
Central 3 of Colo, new signing & Saylor
Wing backs Santon, Debuchy
Holding midfielder Tiote
Central midfield cabaye & Marveaux
Att mid Ben Arfa
Striker Cisse
Young Fergie would be sound as a wing back
Perch & Biggie can cover Tiote
New striker can cover Cisse and pair up with him when we change formation – or play the holding striker when Benny is leftmout for whatever reason.
Anita can cover Cabaye, Marv, Benny or Debuchy.
Raylor can cover Debuchy.
Shamrock(Quote)
For the record, I agree with MM in that Ba is a much better player than Cisse – however in my opinion Cisse did well today. Got himself into good positions, tracked back, made tackles and worked hard.
Shamrock(Quote)
Again, another who rates Williamson worse than Colo today? How? Why?
Coloccini was dogshit today and Williamson was average/decent. The stats back this up as well. Check out our player ratings.
http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/615127/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2012-2013-Newcastle-United-Everton
The Kid(Quote)
I also think sausages are best served slightly burnt.
Shamrock(Quote)
I honestly dont think Pardew has a plan going forwards with new signings.
I think we will see more of the same shyte we have put up with all season.
We so reverted to the long ball guff again today, just because shola was up top.
It really works doesn’t it.
Utter desperation and colo was the biggest culprit.
We had lost as soon as they scored their 2nd. Everyone knew it even our players.
We huff and puff, with little or no penetration. Poor final balls and hopeless finishing.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
The Kid, I’m not convinced of the value of those ratings. Williamson seems to be getting marked up for clearing the ball more frequently than Colo – but the Argentine’s passing out from the back is far more valuable than just hoofing it.
Wellington(Quote)
How much longer does Pardew get to turn things around ❓
Perhaps he will go when we have lost to Norwich, Reading and Villa.
Go on tell me we are going to win all 3 of them 😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Beardsley, with the potency we have in attack, and the porosity we have in defence, cannae see us winning any of those games 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
I recall Colo starting a lot of our attacking moves with neat passing sequences, although he did struggle somewhat defensively. I put some of that down to Willo though, who’s bad positioning left holes all over the place, not to mention his ***** defending slong with Santon for the 2nd Everton goal. Neither of them saw the run. Too busy watching the ball and both ended up stranded. How can you be a defender and not be aware that an oposition player is likelybto make a run into space?
Look at the replay. Willo knew there was a hole behind him, he even points to it – but he does not actually communicate this to anybody and proceds to close down the same bit of space that Perch or whoever was st right back at the time already had covered – alas the gap for Anichebe. You can do all the little stats you want but time and again Willo is guilty of the same massive game changing errors. He does not take ownership of anything and it costs us. If he had not done that, he would have been in my ‘average’ box today. Santon put in some good crosses and done well further up the pitch, but defensively I’m not convinced he is aware of what’s happening around him either.
Shamrock(Quote)
Shamrock@332, thanks for agreeing with me mate.
The biggest danger though is Pardew getting some mental thought in his brain, and trying to make a wonderful box striker like Cisse into something he isn’t. Of course he can improve his hold up play, work hard defensively and stuff. But we have tailor made midfielders for that. Who is gonna put the ball in the net ?
That is Cisse’s great gift, finishing. We need to be getting the ball into the box, and creating chances for him.
Why not have Obertan bombing up the wing against Baines, and Marveaux doing the same on the other side. All this come-dancing tappy lappy play trying to get the ball in the box is doing my head in. When did anyone last sprint to the by line and pull a cross back ffs 👿 👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
Shamrock
Fair enough.
Munich Mag
I don’t think we should take Marveaux out of the middle. He and Anita link up really well and create some great openings for us at times. Santon needs to learn about the defensive side of being a fullback and he WILL learn, but it may be better to take him out of the firing line for the time being. Maybe put Anita there.
…Then again I am contradicting myself as I have just said I don’t want the Anita + Marv partnership to cease… 🙄
The Kid(Quote)
I wish we could get the ball into their box as easily as we pass back into our own.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Shamrock@339. Absolutely spot on. It’s a real pity that it is so late at night that most of the bloggers are in bed or off in a huff.
It is amazing how many errors Williamson makes at critical moments. It is as if our defence have lost the awareness of what is going on around them. In Germany the coaches and managers talk about the intelligence of players, and there awareness of the pass, movement etc. The number of times that our defenders are atually looking along the line, or at the person they should be marking is shocking. I think Williamson suffers from mental fatigue during the game, he loses mental sharpness due to physical exhaustion. The number of times that an outnumbered opposition player comes away with the ball is ridiculous. We really need to start putting ourselves about, tough but fair.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Indont think Obertan is capable of bursting to the bine and delievering good crosses consistenly during games. He usually tries to cut inside and is indecisive. Marveaux also plays much better through the middle, hence my suggestion we should play with wing backs and make the central areas absolutely lethal. Cisse should defo be in the box, being fed by Cabaye, Marv, Benny etc or latching onto knock on’s from a good string withdrawn striker who can hold the ball up or nod it on.
Shamrock(Quote)
“The 20 points”
or “How I learned to stop worrying and love Debuchy”
Draw at Norwich
Beat Reading
Win at Aston Villa
Beat Southampton
Beat Stoke
Win at Wigan
Beat Sunderland
Draw at QPR
(We might get some bizarre draws instead of the more likely at Norwich & at QPR ones, but today I intend to come across as optimistic rather than deranged. 😉 )
Wellington(Quote)
Ba’s first pic in a Chelsea shirt…
https://twitter.com/PL_Stats/status/286624175341330433/photo/1
The Kid(Quote)
Indecisive really sums up our midfield.
Hopeless really sums up our defense.
clueless really sums up our manager/coach
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Another difficult loss. I’m getting used to saying it now. The pattern has become one win and one draw per month so that should leave us with 9 or 10 wins and 9 or 10 draws to end the season with the rest losses. That would give us somewhere between 36 and 40 points or about 17th or 18th place. That’s how it looks now with only 1 incoming so far. Does that sound like enough points Derek and Mikey? Wow you really are two clever lads if it does. We’re good for a goal a game but we ship 2 per game in. Does that sound like a winning formula Alan? Better make some very good plans for the next 3 games or have your bags packed Alan.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
We’re the only Prem side ever to score 3 goals in 2 consecutive games and lose both. Good to see we’re going into the record books Derek and Mikey. Are you still sure we have enough defensive cover Derek? I await your incisive reply with baited breath.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I read two things last night that pretty much confirmed to me why Alan Pardew is destined to fail in the long term:
1. His post-match comments stating Ba & Cisse couldn’t play together, and
2. An interview with Dean Ashton an Darren Huckerby, which saw them clearly state that Pardew lost the WHUFC dressing room to big personalities as “hes’ too nice”.
I find this very, very worrying as it tells us/confirms a further two things. Pardew knew his tactics wouldn’t work, but continued with them for months anyway. And also, he can’t manage big egos a la Demba Ba. This confirms what we all knew, Pardew has been allowing Demba to practically dictate the team selection/tactics with his outspoken comments and sulks. A player who has proven to be selfish, self centered and determined to get his move and earn big money at a big club regardless of where this leaves us.
This just can’t work and is absolutely criminal in my eyes as it’s only going to happen again/get worse as we continue to improve our squad/sign more players confident of their own ability.
I think we may need to look at a more respected manager in the long-term. Perhaps the summer…
The Kid(Quote)
Also, Pardew didn’t have the balls to shove Ba out on the left despite having no in-form left sided winger/forward. He knew Ba and Cisse couldn’t play together yet persisted with the rotten 442. However, he used Ben Arfa’s injury to shove Cisse out on the right despite him not having the attributes.to play there.
Where did that get you, Alan? Ba ran off at the first opportunity anyway so you might as well have made him take one for the team.
This is cowardly, cowardly management.
The Kid(Quote)
The kid @333 Just looked at the chart which proves a saying Mark Twain attributed to Disraeli there are 3 types of lies :-Lies ,damned lies and statistics. yes Williamson won headers but they generally went to a blue shirt ,he never expected a pass and was caught on the hop and marks an open space. Shola should be allowed to represent Nigeria because aapart from the fluffed shot how he got the mark the table gives is beyond me , time spent in opposition area 98% where was the ball when he was doing this our penalty area. we need quality in now but who will come. Ps totally agree with your comments @ 350 &351 😉
Tommy Gibb(Quote)
The Kid
That is worrying but i also think that him being nice has got the best out of Ben Arfa. I think generally demba ba is a sulking ****. Even more worrying for me. last night we played arguably the best left sided combo in the league and he persisted playing a centre forward on the right wing. not being funny but papisse cisse should not be defending on the corner of our own 18 yard box. hes a goal scorer for christ sake. Baffling
Alex(Quote)
Pardew wont play Cisse up top, because he has lost faith in the Lad.
I still maintain that Ba should have been made to play last night and could have flown to London this morning.
Weak management yet again. Goes to show, how desperate we were to offload him. Even to the detriment of the team.
Shola proved why he should never start a match. Utter tripe.
Pardew has shown me that he hasn’t got a clue how to turn this season round. Very worrying.
There aren’t many managers who would survive losing 9 out of 11.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Well my mood is no better today .Can’t for the life of me see where the next win comes from, Norwich are a well drilled side under CH and if we think we we’ll sweep them aside then we are really deluded ,same goes for Reading who we struggled against at there place ,a game I went to watch and very few impressed that day ,though I remember Jonas worked the hardest ,says it all really. Then we have Villa ,now if there’s a team I want us to really whip then it’s them. Play them saturday and I think we would win ,however when we get to play them is after Norwich and Reading and depending how we do against them and how well Villa have done will make all the difference ,we could end up losing to Villa even. Then we have Chelsea ,Spuds and Saints who are a bit of a bogey team and an ex Pards team to boot 🙄 .Lose those as well and we are down. Realistically I see potential wins at Villa,Wigan,Scum andQPR AND POSSIBLE DRAWS vReading,Swansea ,West Brom and Fulham that’s 16 points giving us 36 in total ,not enough imo to stave off relegation .Well done mikey you played a blinder in the summer ya cheapskate. 👿
KIMTOON(Quote)
The kid @346 ,Great mock up pic ,
KIMTOON(Quote)
Have to question Pardohs substitutions again last night.
@ 1-2 down and attacking the game for an equaliser, he takes Obertan off and brings on a defensive midfielder????
He then nullifies our attacking threat from Marv and Anita by reverting to hoofball.
Bringing Ranger on with 4 mins left on the clock. Utter clueless desperation.
The injury situation may well be out of his control, and plays a factor, but we are doomed with his tactics and substitutions.
👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Ba’s deal is done – provided he passes a medical. Guess he’s staying, then. 😆
Wellington(Quote)
last 7 games for the following- QPR PLAY -Wigan, Everton, Stoke, Reading,Arsenal,Toon,L/pool.
Reading play- Saints,L/pool, Norwich,QPR,F/ham, Citeh,W.ham.
Wigan play-QPR,Swans,W.ham,Spuds,W.Brom,Arsenal,Villa
Saints play-Reading,W.Ham ,Swans,W.brom,Spuds, Scum, Stoke
Villa play- Stoke, F/ham, Manure,Scum, Norw, Chelsea ,Wigan
Scum play-Chelsea ,Toon, Everton,Villa,Stoke,Saints Spuds
Toon play-F/ham, Scum, W.brom,L,pool W.ham,QPR,Arsenal
I would say a possible 9 points from that lot for us depending on our form.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Absolutely gutted that shola is not going to ACoN.
Hopefully the Nigerian FA will get him stopped from playing for us for the duration.
Giving Pardoh yet another excuse.
Not that he needs excuses, he appears to be bullet proof.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB – take your prozac, mate. 🙂
Wellington(Quote)
Does everyone think the signing of Debuchy is the answer to all our problems. ❓
Looks like we need a new striker now, so will probs not get in a CB.
ffs we should have had a CB lined up weeks ago.
Beggars belief 👿 😥 👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Wellington
January 3, 2013 at 09:55
Ba’s deal is done – provided he passes a medical. Guess he’s staying, then.
How ironic that would be.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Just watched the foul that led to their equaliser again ,it never was ,Colo hardly touched FALLOVER ,yet he went down like he was shot the cheatin get.
KIMTOON(Quote)
IMO Cisse has better ball control than Ba. Frequently with three men around him he often comes away with the ball. Ba rarely did. Would have liked to have seen Ranger on for longer to see what his speed might produce. Could be a good link man for Cisse. Sammi showed some nice touches but unless he shows a willingness to go and get the ball then he is not ready for the PL.
Groucho(Quote)
Kim, conning the ref in or around the box, is an integral part of the game these days. Its nothing new and we are as bad as any other club.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
despite the fact we had an extra days rest to Everton, they had a game plan, not to let us settle and have anytime on the ball.
They pressed us all over the pitch, particularly in our own half. And it worked.
We have never been able to cope with this, causing us to panic-pass. more often than not back to our keeper.
Everton kept up this high tempo all match, and after 70 mins we were totally flat yet again.
Something very wrong with our fitness training or something.
More annoying tho was that when the roles were reversed, we couldn’t get anywhere near them. Gave them far to long on the ball and ended up chasing around the park like school kids.
Really poor, but we have shown all season, that we dont know how to press the ball and put the opposing team under pressure.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Kid @ ?? I have said that we have only got to see Marv because Jonas got injuried and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to make way for Jonas when he comes back.
As for we all knew Ba was.dictating ? No some of us did some didn’t 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
munchkin can you now climb from up demba judas cunts **** now plz
battysback but kev will always be king(Quote)
Batts but he’s our 20 goal a season man, if it wasn’t for the fact that he went missing for the 2nd half of last season and seems to be going missing for the rest of this season 😛
Big Dave(Quote)
Big Dave – now that the evil Mr Ba has gone, can you explain why Pardoh still persisted in playing our best striker out on the right wing?
Perhaps shola insisted he would go to ACon Unless Pardoh played him up top. 😯
You are great with your conspiracy theories, but perhaps it is simpler than you make out.
Perhaps its just that Pardoh is fucking shyte and clueless.
yes, thats what I am going with.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Dave@370 😆
KIMTOON(Quote)
http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-wire/pardew-lines-up-a-new-hero/
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
dave i hope his knee explodes the greedy judas c@nt
battysback but kev will always be king(Quote)
BB you would need to ask Pards as all I can go by was what he said that they had trained right up to yesterday for Ba up top and Cisse on the wing, so he decided to put Strola in Ba’s place and run with it.
I thought it was a big mistake but for the 1st half I thought we were a far betterteam.
Big Dave(Quote)