Recovery must continue tomorrow

It's been an eventful week, the performance against FC Twente was certainly an improvement, however given the weakness of the opposition it's hard to get carried away. I was quite amused by some banter from Mark Lawrenson on the box, he was ripping the piss out of Steve McLaren's new dutch accent and what he may have said to his depressed players at half time, whatever he said it certainly seemed doom to failure.

Our squad appears to have gathered a bit of strength since last weekend, with Cesc returning to contention, plus Alex Song should be fully recovered from his jet lag. I am sure we all have a different eleven in mind, there's an interesting choice to be made at the back as Djorou has made a reasonable case for inclusion, while the centre of midfield looks like to be another area of contention again.

I'd stick Alex Song in the holding role, with Cesc playing in his more offensive role, with Walcott and Nasri on the flanks. There is simply no one else who can do the defensive rock job, Denilson and Cesc would be far too lightweight, while we all know that Eboue is no centre mid. I'd also be strangely tempted to stick Bendtner and Adebayor up front together, RVP has been firing blanks and I think the two big lads might just keep the Toon defenders a bit more occupied.

I've lost hope of Arsene flashing the cash in the last few minutes of the transfer window, so that probably means he'll be bringing in someone we've never heard of. Newcastle will certainly be a much sterner test that Mclaren's minnows were, and personally I think some knives will be out if Arsene does not deliver three points onto the table, that's football for you these days. The old saying that you make a bit of your own luck is a very true one, as the thread bare nature of our squad in the centre of midfield makes clear.