I find that staggering to be honest. I’m not saying that the lad is beyond criticism, but I am questioning whether he actually deserves the stick that is flying his way at the moment.
Of course Cisse hasn’t hit the heights he achieved last season when seemingly everything he hit found the back of the net. Realistically it was never going to be replicated. The guy broke Premier League history with his rate of goals and scored at a faster rate than legends like Supermac and Hughie Gallacher so to expect the same again is foolish at best.
However I will concede that his goal return from this term hasn’t exactly been sparkling although there are mitigating circumstances that explain at least part of the reason for his lack of goals this season. Put simply we’ve played with one striker for the bulk of the season and that striker was Demba Ba with Papiss Cisse being pushed out on the wing. You know, the same position where Demba Ba’s goals dried up from last season or were some people blinded by the sun shining out of Ba’s **** that they forget this fact?
Since Ba left Cisse has been back in his natural position scoring two goals in seven appearances. It should have been three in seven after last night and could have even been four in seven with some benefit of the doubt. Cisse has been robbed of his 1 in 2 goal rate (a rate he has carried all the way through his career) since his return to the centre basically by some shoddy decision making.
People are saying that he is wasteful and that he should be putting chances away, and I agree to a point. Some of them have just been bad misses but some of them have just been plain bad luck combined with good goalkeeping. It’s just one of those things that happens when you’re luck is out.
His all-round play has improved immensely in recent weeks and now he contributes to the team in other ways aside from goals. Scoring should be his main priority of course, but are those who are having a moan about noticing how deep he is dropping to link up play? Probably not…
I actually think it’s only a matter of time before Cisse starts finding the back of the net again. For me the key thing is that he isn’t going into hiding and keeps on getting in to goalscoring positions. Combine that with the more effective role he is playing in attack these days and we could actually have a better, more rounded, Cisse as a result providing the masses stick behind the lad.
Just my opinion anyway…
has noticed round the blogs more than 1 or 2 of the numpty element slaging off cisse trying to make him the new simpson or williamson.The lad will come good is my own opion
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Andy – sorry for the delay mate, had the boy to the park for a bit of a kick about and play on the swings – he enjoyed the kick about 😛
Aye I think Al would turn out for Shola, I think they always got on well enough. I reckon there’d be a few to be honest.
Re ya post for PEA, I really hope we sign him like. I think he’s a great prospect and could link up well with the likes of Goof, Siss and Benny. But he could also play alongside Cisse. As said yday, him and someone like Charlie Austin would give us great options upfront with Cisse, PEA, Austin and Campbell.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy who is the PEA you speak off ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
@BIG DAVE
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Dave
Aubameyang, speedy St Etienne, Gabonese striker.
Sharpy
That would be nice to see. Bet it won’t be televised like Neville’s was 🙁 . Wonder who he’d choose to play, the mackems? 😈
PEA would be awesome, ACN isn’t until 2015 now as well so by the time it comes around Cissé might not be here or Campbell should be ready to fill in.
Andymag(Quote)
Dave – Pierre Emerick Aubameyang for St Ettiene. If we do sign him ill be getting PEA printed on the back of the boys shirt as well!!, cost me a fortune otherwise 👿
Sharpy17(Quote)
🙄 🙄 🙄 😉 cheers
Andy i’m sure they could put it on pay per view as i’m sure there is plenty of fans would love to see Strolla play his last game
Big Dave(Quote)
Just a small comment anyone know why we arent giving arguably our best player of the first half of season a game….anita? 😕 😕
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Dave
Don’t be cheeky to poor Shola 😉
Sharpy
PEA has ‘Aubameyang .p’ on his shirt for st Etienne and on FIFA. Would still cost a fair bit though. Was gunna buy a top when I was over for the QPR game but it was £50 so I didn’t, extortionate really.
Andymag(Quote)
DAVE@82 i always hope it his last game everytime he leaves the pitch 😆 😆
icedog(Quote)
Andy – no I very much doubt it would be televised like but I think even the likes of Keegan and that would be there coz all the managers we’ve had all seemed to have alot of time for him to be fair. Nee idea who the opponent would be tho, other than a very brief loan spell at Stoke he’s only ever been with us. The mackems may agree like, just to make sure he’s defo retiring 😆
PEA would be class and I get the impression he’s the one Pards favours tbh. I think if we got Austin as well then he and Campbell could deputies whilst Cisse and PEA were away.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Liam,
Strange on. For me he should be playing as at least a substitute most games.
I think Cabaye is brilliant, but tends to tire in the last 15 minutes. Anita would be a direct swap and bring boundless energy.
I was surprised he didn’t play the Europa game.
JJ(Quote)
LST
Because Sissoko and Cabaye have been good and Pardew sees perch as being more defensively capable than Anita. Personally I’d prefer Anita in there but no doubt Tiote will come in for Soton. Anita will probably play on Thursday though.
Andymag(Quote)
JJ – From playing in an ajax team that relied on him to the bench must be very hard. I dont feel tiote deserved a start over him on thursday.
Anita is underrated IMO he drove us on is own in a lot of games that we struggled would be nice to repay in a team that is full of better players
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
I remember Strolla’s time with Stoke in the Championship.
Six games zero goals.
JJ(Quote)
I must be honest, I didn’t like Anita the first 4 or 5 games, but once he got used to the pace he really impressed me with tide passing and a really good workrate.
He is a bit like Cabaye, but Cabaye just has a little more strength and tenacity.
I certainly prefer him in the holding role to Perch, although it just says how much I rate him, because I don’t think Perch is bad at all.
JJ(Quote)
All strikers miss easy chances. In my opinion Cisse is a much better all round player than Ba and just as good a striker. The great Andy Cole used to miss a lot of chances, (fall over his own feet at times) but Beardsley used to set him up so often his misses didn’t matter. With Gouffran, Sissoko and Ben Arfa Cisse will get many opportunities and will take enough of them, but not all.
Groucho(Quote)
JJ off topic a mo,any improvement in your access mate i hope so mate 😕
icedog(Quote)
JJ – its great though that we worrying about marv, anita, mbwia all trying to get a game. Excellent really.
I am flipping excited waiting to see this front 6 I have to say;
Cabaye——Sissoko———-Tiote (anita)
HBA—————————-Gouffran
—————–Cisse——————–
Flip me!
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
I thought he played okay on Thursday and whilst he did fail to convert a fair few chances, he did score two goals that everybody was up celebrating because everybody, including all the players thought it was a goal. Sissoko was probably the player that impressed the most, I knew he was big and strong but I was surprised at how good he is technically. He gets the ball and can just drive forward with it from pretty much anywhere. Mbwia looked good as well, he has a turn of pace on him that would catch up with most strikers if they get through.
DJG(Quote)
LST
The pace alone is enough to make most PL defences **** themselves and the crowd will constantly be on the edge of their seat in anticipation of something cool. 😎
Andymag(Quote)
Sharpy @ 86 I don’t know about KK he was the only manager that tried his best to shift him on, so mustn’t have thought that highly of him 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – KK moved King Cole on as well, reckon he’d sell his mother if it funded another high profile marquee player
Sharpy17(Quote)
Ice,
I see him twice a week. Its only an hour at a time but its better than only seeing him every two weeks. He is 10 months old now. So it won’t be long before the length of the visits increases.
JJ(Quote)
I reckon if KK had got selling Shola right he would have had 10 000 supporters rock up to the grounds in celebration to hand him the key to the city.
JJ(Quote)
LST
I do think we are just missing a player like Benny atm who has that bit of attacking quality. We have some really good midfielders now but we were just lacking that bit of quality from a forward. Cisse and Obertan were disappointing as they could never decide who was going where and when to make the run and they lacked some passing ability. I liked it when Marveaux came on and played in an attacking midfield role. He got through once and his touch was a little heavy otherwise it would have been a goal.
DJG(Quote)
JJ aye mate good on yer
never know fans talk about ***** so much,but there you go thats shola for you 😆 😆 😆
icedog(Quote)
the gunners beaten at home by blackburn,funny old game this footy lark 😀
icedog(Quote)
Ice,
Where’s Batty at? I he messaged me on Facebook, when I tried to find him, I could only find a youngster under his name and someone who was attending Oxford, I’m quite certain neither of those two were him 😆 😉
JJ(Quote)
Ai Ice,
Blackburn’s scorer was Kazim Richards. I’m sure he was a former youth player of ours.
JJ(Quote)
Red card for Alan Smith and beaten at home by Barnsley 🙂
DJG(Quote)
JJ the rat bag batty hasnt been on for a few days 😀 come to think about it he hasnt been on f/b hardly,dont really want to give his f/b name out on the blog,but i will email him to let him know mate if thats ok 😉
icedog(Quote)
Haha, no problem.
JJ(Quote)
Just back reading the abuse you horrible people!
I actually played a blinder, left wing and in everyone’s opinion was man of the match. In mine there were 2 lads better than me like, but like Shola I don’t hog the limelight.
We did lose 3-0 however, 3 set pieces with the first being a direct goal from a corner. Keeper should have been shot. Good performance thous and the 3-0 was flattering for them
Moreno(Quote)
JJ,
Your opinion of Shola astounds me. Always been there, never moaned, model professional and given the contract and money he has on merit because he does so much more for the club than you see. Every player and manager we have had in his tenure will tell you this so why do you doubt him, not only that but completely destroy his name?
Being from Newcastle I have a big thing about local lads and the club, so gutted when Carroll sold out, Shola has always wanted to play for us and never had any desire to ever leave. Not the money but the passion for his club and if you don’t get that…upto you. I do having lived 10 minutes from him for a long while but everyone is entitled to their opinion of course
Moreno(Quote)
“I actually played a blinder, left wing and in everyone’s opinion was man of the match”
I’m sure they were just being polite. 😉
JJ(Quote)
agree toonsy lay off ****** cisse 👿
batty(Quote)
Moreno,
I have a lot of respect for Shola as a person, and as a club ambassador.
I also think he is “ok” as substitute playing the odd 10-15 minutes (depending on the opposition). But nothing more and I think there are better players who have left the club because of lack of opportunity because Shola is playing. He gets too much game time for me.
If it weren’t for injury to Shola, Carroll would probably never have got his chance. He was almost flogged off on the cheap. Shola got injured and Carroll finally got game time. He went from strength to strength and eventually made us 35 million pounds.
I recall us turning down a permanent move for the likes of Giuseppe Rossi. He would have cost us around 1million. But we kept Shola and never took the option.
Rossi is now valued around 20million pounds.
Just makes me think how many other youngsters don’t develop because they aren’t given decent opportunities because Shola has always been the backup.
I’d rather be giving Campbell the odd 10-15 run out than Shola.
Its nothing against him personally. I just really don’t rate him at all as a player.
I like to see local lads in the side (even though I’m not from there). I love Steven Taylor. Love his desire, his attitude and his passion and determination.
Its great to have local players stay and excel but they also have to be good enough. For me Shola isn’t good enough.
I also don’t buy the loyalty thing. I honestly just think no other team has rated him enough to take him off us. I think he once failed a medical to move away to a Championship Club.
I think the fee was around 900k and he was about 27. So he clearly isn’t rated too highly in value either.
I suppose we just difference in opinion in the type of players we like.
JJ(Quote)
Batty,
Lay off the crack!
JJ(Quote)
JJ arnt most of you lot on it across there 😆
batty(Quote)
Sharpy @ 98 😯 high profile marquee player ❗ do you think thats what he was trying to do by selling him 😆 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
BATTY you flogged that watch yet?how you get for it 😀
icedog(Quote)
much*
icedog(Quote)
Batty whats this JJ is telling us your stalking him on twitter ? I thought you couldn’t stand the safa’s 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
Batty @115
No mate, we’re on the juice.
JJ(Quote)
dave aye JJ was saying some nasty things to me on there dont know what his problem is with me 😕
batty(Quote)
DOG the watch went the day you gave it to me 😆
batty(Quote)
Batty,
My apologies, my friendship comes with a disclaimer:
“Not for sensitive people” 😆
JJ(Quote)
Batts don’t listen to him and don’t let him pick on you. Was that watch you sold Ice’s ❓ I hope you gave him the full amount less expenses offcourse 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
BATTY 😀 😀 wheres my cut??,i need to buy dave some new needles poor lad is skint 😉
icedog(Quote)
jj 😆
batty(Quote)
sorry dog i thought you gave it me as a present 😆
batty(Quote)
JJ @113
Agreed, Shola has always had a lazy style of play, but now he looks like he could only play a ‘cameo role’ for the last 15 mins of games. If it was a choice between Leon Best staying as 3rd choice striker or Shola I would have picked Best to be honest. At least he can play for 90 minutes (how long a game lasts). Shola used to be more of a link-up striker, so his low level of scoring was made up for by him creating for others and holding the ball up. He doesn’t even do that anymore now in my humble opinion. Hopefully Campbell can start to come into the first team picture because in Cisse and Gouffran we have two really good forwards IMO but not much after that in terms of squad depth.
DJG(Quote)
Aubameyang will be our main target in the summer. The lad knows we are after him and we have a lot of French speakers here. Two things that will help us massively when trying to get him.
He is a perfect player to sign because he is comfortable both centrally and out wide. He would also be the very last piece of the puzzle in terms of our first team.
Apparently Mehdi is playing well up in Scotland.
The Kid(Quote)
KID aye they say he ran the show but still got beat one nowt 🙁
icedog(Quote)
THE KID
I think at this moment in time HBA is the final piece of the jigsaw for our first team, but I agree with you that we need another striker unless Campbell steps up. TBH I don’t even know if he is any good or not and I haven’t seen much of him.
DJG(Quote)
DJG
I like Gouffran, but think he should be back-up to a player like PEA.
The Kid(Quote)
THE KID
The more the merrier, definitely. I wouldn’t have a problem with that, the fact that Shola is getting lots of game time tells me that we haven’t enough strikers. I like the way we are going in terms of playing it on the deck and having mobile, interchangeable, forwards. I think there could be a place for Campbell in that as well because he is like a Michael Owen type striker by the looks of him. If we must have Shola for another 3 years please be 4th or 5th choice!
DJG(Quote)
DJG
Shola is definitely getting too much game time. It’s a shame because we aren’t far off a side like Spurs.
Just need that one extra player and some luck with injuries.
Top 4 is a possibility next season if we can get the above and hold on to our players.
The Kid(Quote)
Adam Campbell needs to look at the “local talent” we’ve had in the youth and how they’ve thrown away potential careers.
All of these youth players were at one stage very highly rated yet none of them made it at all…
Nile Ranger
James Coppinger
Mark Doninger
Aaron Spear
Ryan Donaldson
Fabio Zamblero
Wesley Baheng
Michael Chopra (probably went further than any other) but still nowhere near his supposed potential).
In this regard, I suppose Shola was a success. But it just shows how we cannot rely on youth coming through.
Lewis Guy
JJ(Quote)
JJ “local talent” ❓ ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Agree in principal that criticism without any basis is not helpful. I think Cisse will begin scoring as well. Having said that I still think he would be better off with a partner, even a withdrawn strike partner. I think if the criticism has a basis however it is fair to bring it up, just as it is fair to praise individual players for good performances. How else will the team improve? There are still players in the squad that I don’t think belong at this level but I try always to give a reason for being critical (I hope). We all have our favourites in the team and players we’re not so keen on.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Just don’t get the idea we should have bought in a striker, or three, to play because Cisse isn’t yet scoring. He’s playing well, probably the best he has all season-his all round play has defo improved. The goals will come. Other players need to step up and when Benny is back in the side we will at least have a midfield of players who are all capable of scoring goals, tap ins or wonder goals 😉
Newkie(Quote)
Personally, the main reason we had such a terrible start to the season was the unwillingness of the mananger, managing director and owner to admit they had some poor squad players. When injuries and suspensions hit we were in deep trouble. That means having to look at every individual player and rank them properly. Our management didn’t do that last summer. We do more fair ranking on here than they did and they’re supposed to be much more capable. Let’s face it we started sinking down the table when players like Willo, Simpson, and Obertan had to play a lot of minutes. I would even include Perch and Jonas in the poor performance group for quite a few games. To me this is undeniable. We also suffered because Ba and Cisse could not or would not play together. To sit around and say individual players shouldn’t be criticized is fairly naive I would think. If our owner had done it last summer we wouldn’t be in 16th place now.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2@137 about the point i was trying to say @12 mate 😉
icedog(Quote)
Dave
“local talent” because not all of them are locals. But still started in our youth system as bright prospects.
JJ(Quote)
Ice I meant to say about @12 your spot on about the GK coach, I cannot believe how many times Krul gives the ball away when he kicks, I would say the other team get more of his kicking than we do, A bit like our corners 😯
Big Dave(Quote)
JJ 😉 I just didn’t know why you said local then named players that weren’t local 😕 but I get what your getting at, I think there is a few more you could add to that and a few more in the near future like Vuckic and Sammi as I don’t think they’ll make it
Big Dave(Quote)
I think we’re in agreement on this icedog. Some reasonable criticism is absolutely necessary. The club have to admit their mistakes and act on them. Get rid of Ranger asap. He isn’t worth the time of day. Give another decent youngster a chance. Buy out his contract if you have to Ashley but get him out of there. He’s a cancerous personality and a parasite. We do have some weak squad players, it’s just not possible to say otherwise. How did we end up in 16th place if our squad is so great? It’s utter nonsense. We weren’t even competitive for most of the first half of the season. Now we clearly are and some of the incoming are outstanding. I don’t necessarily think there will be a honeymoon period for them. They are much better players than some we already had in the squad and it shows on the pitch.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
GeordieTwo
Cisse already has a partner. His name is Sissoko
The Kid(Quote)
G2-Our top stars, all bar Santon and Benny were poor. The squad players may not have been amazing-but how often did we see those players deemed ****? Obertan? I mean, he’s literally only featured in a handful, as did Shola. Cisse, Krul, Tiote, Colo, Cabaye, Jonas all had very indifferent starts IMO. I don’t like the excuses pards makes about the teams we sent out either, fact is we should still have done better in several matches.
On Krul, the fact he can still kick it out directly from a goal kick is ridiculous. Is that coaching? I was surprised when we got rid of Barron, but equally he coached Krul during his youth, kicking just seems to be something Krul is poor at 😕
Newkie(Quote)
Has it dawned on people yet that Sissoko has scored or assisted in every game he’s played in. (Including the one incorrectly ruled out for offside against Metalist)
He has also created numerous other opportunities for Cisse when he’s played. It’s imperative we keep him fit.
Last thing, I think Santon should be rested in some of the upcoming games. He has played a lot of football and M’Biwa can step in for him. This will allow M’Biwa to adjust to the physical nature of the league in a more forgiving position. This will also boost the solidarity of our back four as Santon does tend to leave a lot of space behind him for the opposition to exploit.
Thoughts?
The Kid(Quote)
You could argue that Kid. I still think we’re weak in the striker department having let Peter and Best go and now Xisco. Throw Ranger into that group as well. All gone or should be gone. We have Cisse, Shola, and Campbell as true strikers now. Gouffran can be counted in a pinch. It’s not enough. Campbell doesn’t get playing time, Shola is getting even slower and his contributions are even less frequent and we need Gouffran on the wing. Sissoko has been an excellent ACM for us but what has gotten us into trouble this season is lack of quality depth in defense and on attack. Let’s keep addressing that.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
NEWKIE/DAVE i dont think we can point our finger at krul,given and harper were no different,the goalkeeping coach does so much (not enough imo) but surely its down to pardew for the tactics so therefore its down to him unless hes happy with hoof ball of coarse 😕
icedog(Quote)
This may sound ridiculous Newkie but I’ve noticed Krul has very long thin feet. I just don’t think striking a dead ball is ever going to be his forte. Yet he has a tremendous long throw on him. Why aren’t we using it more? Much more accurate than his kick and we would keep possession much more often. Just a thought anyway. As for our top stars in the first half of the season. Yes some of them showed indifferent play including Cabaye but to me a huge amount of the problem was lack of suitable bench players. Cabaye looked like he lost heart in a few games after some **** performances from Williamson. Colo was running his heart out trying to cover and we kept pushing Willo upfield for attacking set pieces which he is completely useless at. It took a huge toll on the defense. Now with Saylor back we look much more stable to me. Having to partner Willo for so many games was a joke for Colo. He must have been wondering if the owner was mad.
GeordieTwo(Quote)