The only place to be

Jesus wept, the guy's still only 20. He's rough around the edges but he's fantastically prolific for his age (for any age in fact). He's got at least two more seasons at this club before any definitive decision might be made in my opinion. Personally I'd like to see him come back next season and play understudy to whichever striker we bring in but that depends on the situation with the other strikers.

First off, he was a great player for us at a tough time. He was a great ambassador for the club when we were fairly listless and a lovely guy. But the last thing he did in a Chelsea shirt was throw a strop when he was substituted against Southampton. That left a slightly bitter taste in a few people's mouths but it did get him what he wanted - a move. Let's be straight here, he requested a move. He didn't request a move to his hometown club like Zola did, he didn't go to some club in the desert for a paycheque nor did he join some club we have little 'history' with. He joined one of our biggest rivals. Throw in the amount of shit we got in the press, from opposition supporters and even the tumult it kicked up amongst our own supporters and I'm going to be honest....I loved the look of dismay on his face in the Fulham game. It validated the choices Jose made and that is the most important thing in my view.

Why? When do we ever sell players we don't want to sell? This notion that it's a certainty is utter bollocks.

No JT is a massive miss in a game like this. Need Cahill to continue his good form and hope Luiz puts in a solid performance. West Brom away are a different proposition from Newcastle at home and maybe we'll see Mikel thrown in alongside Matic to keep things a little tighter. If we can keep things even at the back then we can look for our front four to provide that touch of magic. Horrible match though and a potential banana skin.

NEMANJA MATIC HAS MOVED THIS THREAD TO EX-BLUES

They're in serious need of rebuilding with players needed in key positions and a manager with a more modern play-style. You're talking about at least £80 million in transfer fees alone and that's from a team who have already misfired with the signings of Fellaini and Mata for more than £60 million. The only argument I can see against United falling further is that they're 'too big to fail'. The other problem they face is not just their own failings, but the resurgence of teams like Liverpool who may well take their place in the top four. These problems aren't new either, but Fergie simply papered over them (to great success to be fair).

He might have joined a shit team, but at least he isn't going to get subbed and throw a little temper tantrum up there.

Just a very professional win and whilst teams around us are slipping, we're finding form at just the right time. Everything seems to be coming along nicely from Eto'o's contribution to the team, to Matic already becoming a giant in the midfield and even finding a chance to rest JT and give Luiz another chance in defence. Fair play to Newcastle who gave a decent account of themselves, but it was a game we never looked like losing. Throw in an England victory against Scotland, Arsenal being demolished by Liverpool, City throwing away points at Carrow Road and United becoming an even bigger embarrassment and that is a weekend for the books.

Jesus, Pellegrini is a few steps from going 'full Keegan'. The guy is so lacking in charisma that he just comes off a little grumpy. Mourinho's actually got him talking about old incidents, including the Newcastle one where he comes off like a bit of an idiot. Look, to use the words of Sam Allardyce you got 'out-tacticked' by Jose....deal with it.

That was a period where we were renowned for 'knowing what we were doing'. Trading Matic for a valuation of about £4 million and buying Torres for £50 million. Anyway, Gazza is doing the business and deserves more credit than he's getting.

I hold Pele's goalscoring record in the same regard as Taribo West's birth certificate. David Luiz is just Frank Leboeuf in a wig and with a better social media persona...and maybe not as good.

Can't help but think this is just you feeling a little upset that your boy isn't playing for us as a defender at the moment. The fact is that we are playing as a team at the moment, but teams require each player to do what is required of them and not freelance. Cahill is actually going above and beyond that in some games though and the desire he showed in the City game was absolutely phenomenal. It's not just about him defending and nothing else (in fact he hit the post from a corner) but that he just loves defending and puts his body on the line for the shirt. Other players in our squad could take note of that.

Cahill's been playing consistently well for about 3 months now and thats with a variety of different DMs in front of him and Terry. Maybe they deserve credit for the improvement in our midfield, but the personnel hasn't been radically different. What are you trying to imply?

Wow...even on this he's compared to Mata.

Like I said, we could start Azpi on the left and Ivanovic on the right if Jose felt we needed that.

Parking the bus in a game away to us won't make amends or restore confidence in the club. You have to understand that their fans are dismayed with the club because they sold their best player when they had a decent shot at European football next season. It's the lack of ambition that's the root of these problems and showing no ambition against us won't help that.

Newcastle are coming into this game with no reason to park the bus. West Ham did it because they were desperate for one point from the game. Newcastle don't need one point from this game. They're expected to lose, it doesn't impact them if they lose and the Newcastle camp simply doesn't seem to have that type of performance in them. It's not as simple as teams below us automatically 'parking the bus' (quickly overtaking Pivot as the most overused term on this site). Their season is all but over. Their fans aren't clamouring for a result from this game.

I don't see why they would. They're not desperate for a point and the only thing that their fanbase might respond to would be a decent win. I expect Pardew to actually try and play against us.

Shaw is one of the best left-backs in the league, regardless of his age. He'd be starting the majority of games, although I'd expect Azpi to play some games there too.

I don't know if he's our best defender, but I don't think it matters. Him and JT are such a solid unit that it's irrelevant who is number one and who is number two. Cahill has actually stepped up and taken a lot of the running and marking off of JT's hands, which has probably meant JT can play a lot more games and actually perform a lot better.

Honestly, I'm happy just to trust Jose with whomever he chooses. Given the choices I'd probably go Cavani, Rooney or Costa, depending on the prices but it's nice to have a solid foundation to add a striker to for once.

Strong rumours that Tiote is out for Newcastle. If you had been asked on January 1st which three players you'd like to be missing for our match with the barcodes, would anyone have strayed far from saying Cabaye, Remy and Tiote? Newcastle fans not expecting anything from this match from what I can see, nothing left to play for, coming off a demoralising derby defeat and we're buzzing from beating City at their gaff.

The second one he might've done better on (tricky placing of the shot, especially when he's moving to his right) but the other two left him stranded.

People were moaning about Azpi last year and I defended him the same way I'm defending Ivanovic. Azpi seemed to have an issue crossing into space, whereas he'd do okay when he had a decent target to aim for. The problem is the lack of decent targets at the moment.

the Englishman’s success in this area was in part down to his athleticism and work rate which enabled him to cover a large area of the pitch. Nice to see an acknowledgement of this aspect of his game.