He's only 32 not 42 he should be up to fitness by now or he's not very professional! It's a shame I was excited by his experience energy and tidy passing he could bring.

To be fair, Pardew did say he brought him in to come and protect a 1-0 lead with ten minutes of a game left. Since we have not been in that position all season then not surprising that we haven't seen much of him. A total of 18 minutes so far at the end of the 'Boro and Stoke wins. I didn't see the 'Boro game but he looked dreadfully slow when he cam on against Stoke, so again you have to ask why he's not turning out for the U23 side to try and get more fit.

And this is based on?

Ask Championship pace-setters Aston Villa.

Well I think Simon's head is large; always involved in espionage. (Name that tune)

Ohh dear.

"It's not the bullet that's got my name on it that concerns me; it's all them other ones flyin' around marked 'To Whom It May Concern.'"

Because a 95k a week player is also going to have a massive transfer fee attached to them. Free transfers always get paid more because the financial outlay of the deal is far less - it's common sense.

We will sell Sako for a few million in the next 6-12 months - that income combined with his contribution on the pitch (he did win us some points last season) mean it's a no brainier of a signing. That's without even factoring in the idea that he could've turned out even better than he has.

Some of the Pardew criticisms are very justified, but some of them are nothing short of desperation.