WhatTheFunk

Oh, and how come this thread isn't 48 pages long yet? and what are the chances of this news being a cartload of cow dung?

I don't know what to make of this!!! Hope to Jah it's true...but weren't there concerns about the Polygon outfit for some reason or another? 20 mill on players is a lot of money in January, considering. Look forward to hearing more

A Very resilient showing tonight. The lads should be proud of themselves. I thought we were calm and very intelligent in our shape and closing down. None of the Chelsea star academy had a sniff to be honest, and their goal was indeed a lucky one. Butt was immense yet again, keeping in mind that it was he against Ballack, Lampard and Essien/Makelele as he was partenered by an ineffective Zoggy and an inexperienced Pattison. Did everything right bar give away that one ball in the last 2 minutes. Steven Taylor was outstanding, and Ramage not too far behind. I'm so glad it was these two that toughed it out together against Chelsea. It's games like these that build character and confidence in defenders, and I hope the pair can go from strength to strength in steps. Babayaro was alright, but still couldn't resist the usual stupidity at times. Hunty was nervy early on, but was well protected by the hard-working Milner and then Pattison. Excellent debut. Looks, runs, passes and moves like a center half though, and should play there once or twice before this season is out. Rossi was very clever and industrious. The boy's technique is superb, as you'd expect from a Man U player. Put a great effort in (for obvious reasons). Sibierski and Martins is a partnership that works. Le Sib again made life difficult for the opposition, and his positioning aimed to pull them out of shape. Difficult task was getting the ball to Martins on the run, who also had to play a little deep. He had a good game, and was left frustrated by a lack of chances. He's a fiesty little fucker who looks like he's beginning to understand the physical nature of the English game. Will do well if he keeps his head down and works hard for the team. Shay was outstanding tonight as well. No major solo-showing, but did pull off a couple of excellent saves to deny Robben, one of which was a world class save yet again. Assured captain's performance. Glenn Roeder can't be falted, and it was quite clear the team he had out was prepared to do battle with Chelsea, and looked nowhere near as clueless as the teams put out by his predecessor. If this is good coaching on his part, or Pearson's, then it's only a good thing. We are playing with shape, pace, and intelligence. I really hope we can strengthen in January, and for the injury list to get shorter, as I believe the group of players are actually starting to play for Roeder now. Let's give Watford a good hammering shall we?

He did UEFA Cup 96-97 AS Monaco (h) Lost 0-1 UEFA Cup 96-97 AS Monaco (a) Lost 0-3 they had a grat run in the UEFA and were unlucky not to reach the final http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Cup_1996-97 Made that brilliant run on the right wing before crossing for Sonny Anderson who duly tucked it away for 1-0 at SJP. Dreadlocks and all..

you mus nt of seen the match then the lad huntingdon saved a possible certain goal with a brilliant header encouraging wheir pattision has had numorous apperances and can say nothing encouraging so chill havynt ya gowt som inglish homewark to do?

A game of blood and thunder, and we came out on top. Not lucky by any means as we were definitely the better side. Given 8 - Some excellent saves. Won us all 3 points with a last ditch save from MGP's fluffed header at the end. Taylor 7 - Not his best defensive performance, leaving some players unmarked. Good goal. Battled well. Ramage 7 - Again, not really tested by a dire Blackburn front two. Baba 6 - Excellent first half. Awful second half. Made some important challenges though. Solano 8 - Before going off he was absolute class. RB is where he should stay. Butt 9 - MOM performance yet again from a player revitalised. Nothing went past him. Distribution was excellent, and is the man you want in the middle when under the cosh. Emre 8 - Again, he was electric, driving the team forward. Blackburn had no solution to stop him except illegally. Paid for it in the end by an atrocious tackle from Pedersen. Zoggy 7 - A much improved performance. Needs a goal to get him back on track. Never stopped running. Milner 6 - Disappointing final ball. Was an excellent outlet however, always finding space and making himself available. Le Sib 7 - Deft and classy behind Martins. Great ball for the first goal. A real presence up front. Martins 8 - A super showing again from Oba. 2 excellent goals, and should have had another 2 on another day. Pattison 7 - Was unsure when out wide. A lot better in the center imo. Has got some football brain on him. Needs the experience. Rossi 6 - Done nowt. Chased and harried. Hunty 7 - Come on very late, but that header he cleared from the corner was so important. Good to see him make his debut.

Wayne Quinn has to start.

Tino

What if he just did not want the players to panic? What if the fact that they did not panic is what kept us from conceding more? I'm not interested in defending him or attacking him. Just stating a possibility

Just because someone plays on the wing doesn't mean they have to do the crossing. If Milner can do the running, the dribbling, the holding it up until Solano can get there to swing it in, then it should still be fine. The result will still be the same. A quality cross. I really hope that Carr never plays for us again. Switching Solano to RB could be a tactical masterstroke by Roeder IF AND ONLY IF he persists with it so long as Nobby is fit.

What do you mean, "for once"? Last winter we got nobody in, but then again I don't think Souness had any intention or money to do so, and the winter before that, didn't we have Boumsong & Babayaro signed by Jan 2nd? Load of bollocks to be honest. Boumsong was meant to be Woody's replacement, so the bid for him was a transfer window too late. Point taken back for t27

:lol: :lol:

i hope we play Rapid Bucuresti meself.... Got my reasons :winking:

Aye. Butt moves it on even before winning it so to speak. I remember several occasions against Arsenal and Pompey when his interception or block was actually a pass onto a player better positioned than him. It's that sort of quality we need at the moment, to spot the runs of our pacey players.

No. We didn't lose because Butt was playing

In fairness they switched Dyer to the right when Matt Taylor got hurt. They knew Pompey cant sub him off. It was a weakness, and we exploited it. The last thing u need if ur injured and hobbling around is Dyer running at you. Doesn't mean Dyer's best placed on the right.

So, how do you feel about Butt/Dyer in the CM, Alex? I've never been keen on Dyer in the centre, I believe he lacks discipline by making runs all the time, but in our current setup I think it would give us a good balance. What did you think of Emre yesterday HTL? I thought the only thing missing from his performance (if one is to turn a blind eye to his shite set pieces in the first half) was a goal, and he should have had one. I thought Emre was tremendous yesterday, and showed that he can indeed be an immense attacking threat. He runs with the ball well, is a combative little c***, and his left foot shot is ferocious. I think if given time to play in the center with Butt, the pairing will start to work like a dream. One thing I noticed yesterday was that Emre and Butt didnt bloody hold hands, as opposed to when Emre plays there with Parker. They each seemed to know what they had to do, and both are equally good passers of the ball, and with one touch can set the ball rolling in a dangerous position. To be honest, and I know I keep raving about Butt especially...I was very glad to see those first time passes to our pacey players, which got attacks going. It's no use having pace in the side with no space to run into. Pace players need to get the move going using the space provided to them by the opposition getting pulled out of shape. Now the way I see this working is when the other team attacks, it assumes an attacking shape. With good combative and intelligent shield players like Butt (and Emre), we could get our attack moving before the opposition has regained defensive shape. IMO we do not have the personnel who can hold the opposition hostage in their half, and dominate a possession game. I think for us to get through this season unscathed, and finish in a respectable position, we will have to use our counter-attack...EVEN AT HOME.

Parker does not have the same passing range and quickness of thought as Butt. Butt will cut out a ball, or win a challenge, and immediately its out from his feet and sprayed somewhere. Most of the time it's effective as well, and gets us attacking immediately. When Parker wins a ball, he has to turn around 3 full circles before deciding to give it back to Bramble or Moore, who consequently have to hoof it upfield as they see no options in front of them. Sorry, but Nicky Butt does the holding job perfectly, and is 10 times the player Parker is in that position. I would keep Parker as cover, and give him time to work it out in his head which position he wants to play, and focus on. At this time, he is not ready for the first team, let alone be club captain. Would he accept sitting on the bench? I doubt it. For that I say we should get rid.

Sell sell sell. If we can get our money back, we should get rid. We need a tim cahill type of midfielder who will score goals. I'm hoping Emre alongside Butt and with Dyer in the team, will be able to provide that. We need our midfielders to score, especially on days like those Martins was having yesterday.

I remember he did the same in an England match--can't remember which one it was now. He came on on about 75 mins--maybe later--and really gave the team a jolt. Did he win a pen? Maybe someone can remind me. But he's definitely got something we need: the balls and ability to run at defenders at a pace they don't like one bit. I believe that was against Croatia a couple of years back. I think it was one of Beattie's first games.

Not a truer word. Nicky Butt was man of the match for me by a long stretch. He harried, he tackled, and his distribution and collectiveness in possession did not allow Pompey a sniff. With the shite luck Martins was having today, we could have paid a heavy price if Pompey were to score. Also, he kept our midfield (and Emre in particular) ticking, and moving forward. We won today thanks to the very hard work done by Butt. We haven't seen a performance like that from the engine room this season. Parker will not settle for the bench. IMO he should be sold if we can recoup what we paid for him.

Fantastic player, and a Cypriot bluebiggrin.gif Seen him the other night against Germany. He was immense, and scored the equalizer for Cyprus. Bags of pace, unusual strength for someone his size. Knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.

Whoops. Woosh

It must be really difficult for any player to leave the Man U set-up especially after they've been there all their career. I think Nicky Butt the footballer is starting to find himself again, and it won't be long before he gets back to his old self, given the opportunity and games to do so. Selling Butt right now (Jan or summer) would be daft imo.

I'd give Butt a permanent place on the first team and sell Parker for as much money as we can get. Gives more balance to the team imo.