A draining experience

Fluidity: usually a good thing in football - except when it's related to knees. We (and by that I mean everyone apart from Ryan Taylor) are now clinging to the hope that draining off some of said excess fluid will spare Davide Santon a session under the surgeon's knife.

It's interesting to note that Alan Pardew has once again been undermined by the club, who sought to correct his initial assessment that "it's an injury [Santon's] had previously" by declaring the opposite in a statement. Who knows who's telling the truth? I'll just say, though, that the club would lose face if it transpired we'd signed a player without undertaking a careful assessment of his injuries. Santon wouldn't be the first player to have joined the club this summer with question marks over his injury record - Demba Ba and Sylvain Marveaux have also been the subject of some speculation.