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Interesting. I guess it's Raylor in at RB next weekend?

Also-I've been seeing nothing but glowing praise for him...but if he's flirting with giving a pen that can't be good.

Raylor should play on Wednesday with Perch coming back into the team for the game against Stoke. His timed it quite well then so that he doesn't miss a league game.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

I think wasim ahs got it spot on with the ratings, although i think the first person who should be dropped is routledge not nolan, he just hasn't made the step up!

Fantastic result which could have been ruined because of 2 poor decisions by the ref which should have seen 2 Everton players sent off...but that's karma working for Fellaini with that miss right at the end.

Ah @#$%&, left out the key word. It's WILLIAMSON I've seen praised highly.

colo is starting to look very good now seems comfortable in possesion and composed. persoanlly i would start gutierez ahead of routledge, I see him as a great backup and impact player from the bench when a burst of pace against tired legs is what we need.

I think Coloccini has been our best player in the first 5 games, looks like a totally different player from the one who struggled to settle in his first Premiership season, last season did him a world of good and the team in general.

I totally agree with the comment on Colo. He has been excellent this season and really looks to be a class act. I also feel Routledge has been disappointing but he deserves a few more chances, as his pace is still important to us. Lastly Williamson has formed a good partnership with Colo and although he could have given away a penalty on saturday, he fully deserves the praise he's been getting as he's done particularly well considering these have been his first five games at this level.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

Meh, "could have given away a penalty"...kind of like John O'Shea or Seamus Coleman, right? Just part of being a defender in the top flight. It's going to happen. What's telling to me is how the lads responded after ManUre toyed with our defense and, in my opinion, exposed Perch and took advantage of his lack of understanding with other defenders.

Thats has been the key to Colo success so far, having Williamson in the team. The lad has totally shocked me, when we first signed Williamson, I thought who is he but he has settled in well, and I can't see Taylor or Sol pushing them out.

It is a tough one for the team, as I want Jonas to play, Nolan has stepped up and I thought he may have struggled and Routeledge may not have found his feet fully, but with his pace he offers us quite a bit

[www.guardian.co.uk]


According to guardian, Tiote was 43/43 passing, 3/3 tackling, 2 interceptions, and 1/1 shooting on target. According to that graphic, about half of his passes pushed the ball out wide. Can't ask much more from a holding midfield then that display.

Thanks for that Waffles. Thats good crack. Think I mentioned how pleased that I was that Tiote had a great first game on the other thread.

Im not jumping on the bash smith bandwaggon but just flying into tackles is not good enough. In the same way that Guthrie got us ticking from that position last season it looks like Tiote will do the same with maybe a little more bite. Maybe against some teams I would like like to see Tiote and Guthrie together with possibly Barton pushing on.

Anyway....totally agree about Colo and Williamson. I was pleased when we got Williamson as I had seen him being a no nonsense CB who clears the ball well. But even I have been surprised at how well he has settled and like has been said if they carry on like this then Sol or taylor will not break into the team. I hope they dont if you know what I mean. I think the pair complement each other well. Colo being quicker and being a bit better with the ball at his feet. Williamson taller who is good at heading.

All in all more brownie pionts for CH for the signings he has made and the way he goes about his business.

Spot on with the ratings wasim. Just thought id leave a comment letting you know youre ratings are something a few people (from other forums too) look forward to. So even though you might not get many comments, you're definitely getting a lot of views. The quicker you post the ratings after the match, the better. Anyway good job mate!

Quote:

harrynufc
Spot on with the ratings wasim. Just thought id leave a comment letting you know youre ratings are something a few people (from other forums too) look forward to. So even though you might not get many comments, you're definitely getting a lot of views. The quicker you post the ratings after the match, the better. Anyway good job mate!

Thanks for those comments Harry. I'll be looking to get the ratings up as quickly as possible, although sometimes the Newcastle games are showed delayed here by us, which in turn means I can't do the ratings immediately.

Quote:

Biffins Bridge
Thanks for that Waffles. Thats good crack. Think I mentioned how pleased that I was that Tiote had a great first game on the other thread.
Im not jumping on the bash smith bandwaggon but just flying into tackles is not good enough. In the same way that Guthrie got us ticking from that position last season it looks like Tiote will do the same with maybe a little more bite. Maybe against some teams I would like like to see Tiote and Guthrie together with possibly Barton pushing on.

Anyway....totally agree about Colo and Williamson. I was pleased when we got Williamson as I had seen him being a no nonsense CB who clears the ball well. But even I have been surprised at how well he has settled and like has been said if they carry on like this then Sol or taylor will not break into the team. I hope they dont if you know what I mean. I think the pair complement each other well. Colo being quicker and being a bit better with the ball at his feet. Williamson taller who is good at heading.

All in all more brownie pionts for CH for the signings he has made and the way he goes about his business.

I second those comments. The thought of Tiote and Guthrie in the same team at some time certainly is something I'll look forward to seeing, while like you say credit should go to CH for the signings his made.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

tiote, guthrie, and barton? i'd hope tiote and barton/guthrie (up to this point barton has doen enough to fight off speculation about his place, i'm going tiote and barton until one or the other goes off the boil) could cover without the third man, allowing us to include more progressive players.

out of the line up for saturdays match, who (and why) should drop out for guthrie?

for the everton match we had round pegs in round holes, something which we havent had too much off in recent seasons

Quote:

lostmekeys
tiote, guthrie, and barton? i'd hope tiote and barton/guthrie (up to this point barton has doen enough to fight off speculation about his place, i'm going tiote and barton until one or the other goes off the boil) could cover without the third man, allowing us to include more progressive players.
out of the line up for saturdays match, who (and why) should drop out for guthrie?

for the everton match we had round pegs in round holes, something which we havent had too much off in recent seasons

The only way to bring in Guthrie right now is to drop Nolan. You adapt the formation from the a 4-4-1-1 to a 4-3-3 with the wingers pushed high, Tiote dropping deep and Barton/Guthrie running the show in the middle. Something like:
Krul
Perch Colo Williamson Enrique
Tiote
Guthrie Barton
Winger Carroll Winger



That said, dropping Nolan doesn't seem wise at the moment, as he's playing fairly well. He's winning balls in the air and making good runs to find space. He and Barton have a good connection going right now. Furthermore, Hughton's too defensive minded to go to a 4-3-3 from the onset. I love the IDEA of Guthrie, Barton, and Tiote sharing the midfield together, I just don't see it as likely right now, nor do I see it as the wisest choice on current form of our healthy players.

Hughton has tons of options though. He can have Arfa, Jonas, and Routledge all in at the same time with Arfa in Nolan's spot. Barton can fill Tiote's role if duty calls. Lovenkrands can fill out wide or up top as duty calls.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:21:17:09:06 by waffles.

i'm far from nolan's biggest fan, but he offers more to trhe team than guthrie, given the rest of the line up.
i know you like him, but he's currently odd man out for me. tiote has not just threatened to call time on smith, his arrival will cut guthrie's opportunities too. nothing against the guy, but the team is being strengthened, in the way that whilst i like lovenkrands a lot, i see ben arfa as the better choice since we now have that option.

like i said above, barton's form/fitness may allow someone else into the eleven in time, for now it (playing guthrie)would be making room for a player who adds nothing we dont already get from someone already in the team. he'll get games this season, but at this moment he should wait.

as an aside, would you like to see jonas in a more central role in a 4 3 3?

I had that thought before, lmk-but I don't think it's needed now as Barton has found form, Tiote looks good and Guthrie is on his way back. Also, part of why Gosling wanted to leave EFC is that they wanted to make him a wide midfielder. I think we'll see Jonas moved over to the right this weekend with Routledge the odd man out. Everything else to remain the same. Don't fix what ain't broken and all!

BB-one other thing. I don't think it's fair to refer to a "bash Smith" bandwagon. Several here speculated last season that his tackling was not quick or precise enough for the top flight.

Quote:

tunyc
BB-one other thing. I don't think it's fair to refer to a "bash Smith" bandwagon. Several here speculated last season that his tackling was not quick or precise enough for the top flight.

Not to mention we said he got found out towards Christmas time last year. Teams realized he was off the pace, even in the Championship. As a result, he lost his spot to Guthrie for the entire second half of the season.

Quote:

waffles
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/20/premier-league-chalkboard-analysis

According to guardian, Tiote was 43/43 passing, 3/3 tackling, 2 interceptions, and 1/1 shooting on target. According to that graphic, about half of his passes pushed the ball out wide. Can't ask much more from a holding midfield then that display.

i hadnt looked at the chalkboards before waffles, they are pretty good to play with, arent they?
check out nolan, he actually got about the pitch and did quite a lot of good things on saturday. stats only tell so much, but there is something to be said for his numbers, regarding tackling and passing...

Quote:

lostmekeys

Quote:

waffles
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/sep/20/premier-league-chalkboard-analysis

According to guardian, Tiote was 43/43 passing, 3/3 tackling, 2 interceptions, and 1/1 shooting on target. According to that graphic, about half of his passes pushed the ball out wide. Can't ask much more from a holding midfield then that display.

i hadnt looked at the chalkboards before waffles, they are pretty good to play with, arent they?
check out nolan, he actually got about the pitch and did quite a lot of good things on saturday. stats only tell so much, but there is something to be said for his numbers, regarding tackling and passing...

Like I said above, Nolan's playing well enough, that despite my affinity for Guthrie, it'd be foolish to drop Nolan at this point. He's winning balls and making good runs. 36/40 passing is an excellent showing for him, and 6/7 tackles is stellar too. I like Nolan a lot, and if his form holds, you're right Guthrie doesn't get in the side. He does a lot of things that don't make the stat pages, specifically shielding, picking defenders for dribblers, and drawing coverage.

Normally, when I'm picking someone to drop for Guthrie, it'd be Barton, but it's harder to argue dropping him then Nolan at the moment, based on form alone. Note: Both of them have well earned their starting spot through 5 games, and don't warrant dropping for a lad still yet to return from a hefty injury.

Interesting stat I just looked at, check out Ben Arfa's interception and tackle tallies. Although his tackling rate wasn't great, he really was all over the pitch.

A few points. I wasnt having a go at anybody and Im not saying that Guthrie should be coming straight in. Far from it. This could be something which happens in a month/year/years. The players so far have done well but we have all commented that at times our midfield has looked a bit pedestrian at times with Smith/Barton and Nolan. We all know more and more teams are playing 4-3-3 so a lot of play coming through the middle so having Guthrie alongside Tiote in certain games with Barton pushing on would give us more defensive cover but with the added bonus of us being able to get the ball out wide quicker than if Nolan was there. Very similar to the formation which Waffles posted earlier.

With the Smith Bashing thing Im definately not trying to say that anybody on this forum has said anything out of turn about Smith. We have all said it as long as he has been at the the toon and especially last season as both Tuncy and Waffles point out. I think it had more to do with the comments made about when it was mentioned that Tiote was a possible signing. Some people said why sign another defensive midfielder when we had Smith and Guthrie.

I am really excited about the toon depths, we have a lot of midfielders fighting to get into the team, Smith, Guthrie and Gosling, at the end of last season I never thought we would have so many that could offer us different ways to plays.

If we play the one forward, which we will then I think Nolan has to play, as he can offer goals and support for Carroll. I can't see us dropping Barton as he is starting to come back to the player he was without him being a tw@t, Tiote sounds quality on all accounts, and would be good to see if he can maintain it longterm and if he does then he will do the cr@p jobs that need doing.

Guthrie is probably my favourite player so I want to see him play, and I think he offers so much to the team, but won't come straight into the team, but as already stated I think we should rotate the players to suit the team we are playing, so we can play attacking or a bit more defensive.

Smith has been good for us last season and has done a job this season, but has been of the pace and has given a away freekicks and penalties when they could have been prevented. But I always thought that we would struggle having both Smith and Nolan in the same team in the premiership, as both lack the pace to hold it togethor. But the good thing about Smith is that he will fight for every ball, but Nolan offers more. Smith best job at the club for me has been his influence off the pitch, and I wouldn't be suprised come the summer if he isn't sold

Gosling is quality, and when fully fit he will be joy to watch, but I am not to sure if we will see him this season or atleast until the later part, but when he does get in the team, I don't think he will leave it

BB-thing is, HBA changes the scenario in our midfield completely. (Barton finding form helps as well.)

TTID-bang on about Nolan and goals. I full expect him to be among our top 3 scorers at the end of the season. On form, he's proven he's one of the better midfielders for that in the PL.

Thinking of these selection dilemmas and the depth we have now, it's completely believeable when CH says he takes the cup seriously. If we can survive this round and avoid awful draws subsequently we do have the depth in the squad to field good teams there and in the league.

Quote:

tunyc
Thinking of these selection dilemmas and the depth we have now, it's completely believeable when CH says he takes the cup seriously. If we can survive this round and avoid awful draws subsequently we do have the depth in the squad to field good teams there and in the league.

I think now we are through I would, as you stand a chance of going on a run, some good teams are out so possibly this could be the year

But then again I say the same old cr@p every season

Don't look now, but we're the 3rd highest placed club in the English pyramid still in it. Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and City already gone.

If we avoid the red mancs next round, the lads can make some hay in this competition.

Best case scenario for us is to draw a team like Wigan or Birmingham while Manc and Arsenal draw each other. What's more likely to happen is us drawing away at Trafford or Emirates.

A low league team will come in fired up. A second half PL team will take it in stride.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:23:03:05:58 by waffles.

I hear you, waffles, and I certainly relate to cynicism in all its forms...but who knows, maybe it's our year? Winning at SB for the first time in 24 years after coming up from our first relegation in 18 years sure feels special...

A lot goes on if you are playing at home, wouldn't fancy Brentford or Northampton away, but then we always seem to stuggle with a team that are a couple of divisions below us, I would like to see a championship or lower premiership division team.

Wouldn't fancy Man U and Arsenal, and would like to see them to drawn against each other, Villa would be a hard as they would be fired up after our result

When's the draw?


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The draw is tommorrow at 12:15.

Six of the remaining 16 sides are from the lower divisions. We have a 40% chance of drawing one of them.

Of the five teams ahead of us in the PL, only 2 are still in the competition.

Just sayin'...