ohmelads

I certainly think Ranger deserves a chance, as in a run in the first team with a strike partner alongside him. Early on in the season I thought he was being thrown in the deep end too fast but he looks surprisingly comfortable on the ball and looks a decent footballer who brings good hold up play to the team. I now believe from what I've seen that he's worth a shot. I'd like to see Ranger paired with Lovenkrands or Harewood. Chopping and changing has an air of desperation about it but then so do our performances, it's a case of needs must at the minute. Changes need to be made and Ranger looks a real prospect to me. I think our recent poor form has a lot to do with missing players and just generally being found out as a one-dimensional team. We always knew these would be problems due to our lack of squad depth. The first XI will scrape plenty of wins but any time the poor squad depth gets exposed we will drop points.

I can only see two things that'll make him sell up. 1- Promotion. 2- A serious dip in form that makes promotion look unlikely. Either way, he won't be selling up any time soon. He's waiting to see how things pan out.

Spot on. But what manager could we possibly attract to work for Mike Ashley, an owner who clearly wants out, won't invest a penny on players and just told the media he will have the final say on player deals?

By targetting players who are doing well at their Championship clubs and in good form, or young players who can't quite get a game for Premier League clubs but have the ability to perform at this level. We only have one winger. Any half-decent winger who can beat Championship defenders and put a ball in would be a massive help to us. I don't think we are very far from promotion-material via a top 2 spot, but equally we're not that far from struggling to make the playoffs. In short, there's a lot of dross and anyone with a bit of quality can stand out.

10M spent on a winger and a striker and we'd be straight up no problem. Shearer knew that, came out and said it and went from Ashley's "best decision yet" to not getting the job. Now a yes man has been put in place and you just know there will be zero investment in January. If we blag our way up with this squad, Ashley will have his eyes on a sale but any buyer will take one look at the squad and think "christ i'd have to buy a whole team nevermind a squad, he's left the thing in a state" and would expect a low asking price because of what they're taking on. Cue months of haggling before a sale takes place as he fights for the best possible deal for himself. And that's our best case scenario. Failure to get promoted just doesn't bear thinking about; Taylor, Coloccini, Enrique, they'll all be out the door in a flash. I really don't see a happy end to this. It'll take years to get back to even the struggling mediocrity we had under Roeder.

As bad as we are and as bad as the squad is, we are probably only about 2 signings (as in signings, not more and more loans) from being a top-two side. I really do believe that. It is amazing what a difference a couple of players can make to a team, as well as fresh blood fighting for places. Our only summer signing was to bring back an old player on a freebie! If we're still up around the playoff places come January, we have the status as a club to attract good up and coming players, hungry players who will do a job at this level. Whether it's Premier League cast-offs or pinching good Championship players off other clubs. A good right winger and a decent striker and we'll turn these narrow losses and draws into wins. But it all comes down to the root of all our current problems; Mike Ashley. If he didn't spend a penny in summer, he certainly won't in winter.

If we can get Raylor and Gutierrez on either flank we might see a bit of balance and width. If Colo and Saylor are out then that forces Raylor to right back and Guthrie out wide and then the shape disappears. Either way we should be beating this lot, no excuses. I'd go with Ranger and Harewood or Loven up front.

Agree with you on Ranger. I also agree with the logic that it has to be one of Carroll/Ranger alongside one of Harewood/Lovenkrands. The worrying thing is Lovenkrands was every bit as poor as Harewood and has been like that all season. OK he's not a winger but his application and body language has been very poor - he offered nowt. If we're going to persevere with one of them then I actually think - poor as he was against Forest - Harewood has more in his locker. He also has more evidence that he can do it at this level if we're going to look at their pedigree.

It's not the appointment in itself I find worrying, it's what it represents. It has come as a confirmation of what many of us expected - the club is not for sale and probably wasn't anyway. Ashley is here to stay and that is seriously bad news because that January transfer window could be the last chance to save this club. If we don't go up this season we are in big big trouble, a quick glance at our squad and the obvious departures that would follow confirms that. As for Hughton, I don't see that we can do much better than him. We will never have stability under Mike Ashley and no decent manager would ever work under him. Giving him the job raises a couple of concerning issues though. If he takes us up the pressure will be on to appoint him as full-time manager. Taking arguably the best team in the Championship back into the Premiership is not a heroic feat and certainly wouldn't merit a full-time manager's contract. Nor would it indicate he can keep us in the Premier League. Not only that but supposing we went up, made the tough call and axed him for someone else, the new guy will have had no time to assess the squad, identify new players and get the ball moving on preparations for a very hard season ahead. Not to mention a new guy wouldn't even come in until the club is sold, and Ashley will be in no hurry to do that as he tries to find the best deal for himself. It's nowt personal against Hughton or even his managerial ability for this campaign, but looking at the bigger picture this is most definitely bad news.

With every transfer window that passes while Ashley is in charge, another opportunity to rebuild this mess disappears. With every month that passes, another opportunity to install a manager and identify the players we need to keep and those we need to move on disappears. This man and those he has put in charge (his mates Mort and Llambias thus far) have made a horrible mess. But it is not beyond repair. If we don't go up this season though, the repair job becomes massive because all of our decent and half-decent players will leave, and so too will a growing number of utterly disillusioned fans. If we don't get promoted this season it could take years - the stakes are massive. The January window is a huge opportunity for us - if we're in contention for promotion by then we could attract young and promising players with the promise of promotion. With Ashley at the helm - nothing will happen and more players may be sold. It is vital he is gone by then but the only way I see him selling up is if a poor run of results sends us down the table.

When our whole squad is fit (ie never) I think you've pretty much summed up our best XI on this season's form. That last striking spot, I'd probably give to Ranger. He doesn't look a goal threat yet but he gets all the basics right, as Tron says he holds the ball up well and brings something to the team. That's a lot more than can be said for Lovenkrands or Harewood so far. I also think Carroll's presence encourages a long ball game which is causing us to bypass the midfield and keep giving the ball away with hopeful punts upfield. Carroll may have a 'good touch for a big man' but he doesn't do an awful lot with it. Ranger looks the better footballer to me and in a team that keeps giving the ball away I'd be tempted to put Ranger back in. You get the feeling goals will come for him and when they do his confidence will grow massively.

I thought Harewood would be an excellent loan signing under the circumstances, someone to bring pace to the front line, and someone who will turn and have a dig now and again as opposed to playing with his back to goal all day (a la Carroll or Ranger). But on the evidence so far he really needs to sort himself out because everything about his game has looked poor. He's always had a dodgy first touch and wayward finishing, but against Forest he was lacking in even the basics like positioning. He looked well off the pace. It could be that he's returning from a long absence and needs some time. It could also be that the rest of the team have been poor in the last few games too. It could even be that teams have just found us out, that our only winger was on the bench and we'd have to launch it Carroll all day. Or it could just be that our luck has run out and we're being found out for the average team we are. I fear most of all that it's the latter. They say it's a measure of a team to win playing badly, but it's nonsense. We were winning playing badly and now we're losing playing badly. What it has in common is we've been playing badly all season and it'll get worse as the squad gets stretched. The simple truth is we need new players. They weren't signed and we will have to try and loan them in.

Playing further up the pitch definitely helped in the second half. We were way too deep in the first and that's why our midfield was overrun. We need to be more positive against this teams, they're not very good and they showed that in the second half when we pressed them high up the pitch. By camping in our own half we had to play the ball out in tight spaces in our own half where there is no room for error - it's no surprise people just launch it long instead. Zurab and Simpson should have held their line a lot higher and they should have been screaming at the midfielders to push up and get off their toes. Taylor and Coloccini coming in will certainly help. This wasn't the whole story though. We need a winger in on loan and badly. There's no point playing your game around a target man if you can't get balls into the box from out wide. None of our midfielders can beat a man, they're centre-mids by trade. Teams have already figured out we have no threat out wide and if they keep a solid back four against our two strikers they will come out on top.

Man City are flying high and clearly they will be there or thereabouts in the top 4. However, I do expect them to have a dip in form, a few players will get frustrated at a lack of games and a lot will depend on how Hughes manages the situation. He has less pedigree than the other managers and whether they can stay the distance remains to be seen - we know the other sides can. Their team will get better as it gels but so too will other teams learn about their weaknesses and how to frustrate them. They don't look convincing at the back so if teams can figure a way to stop them scoring they might run into problems. Arsenal are genuine title contenders in my book. They were worth at least a draw at Old Trafford and I thought Man City's 4-2 win flattered them, good though they were. Arsenal had chances in that game and got punished, but at times they cut through City's defence with ease. Bear in mind that both of these games were in Manchester. They'll both have to visit the Emirates after Christmas. Rosicky has just come back after 20 months out of the game, Arshavin has had a full pre-season and will be one of the season's star players IMO, Walcott is back which is a big plus for them and Nasri is still to come back. They are four of the league's most creative players and will Arsenal a massive lift. I'm going to take a punt on Arsenal for the title. Liverpool have often been slow starters. It's clear that they are dependent on Torres and Gerrard but neither are that injury prone and with them they have an excellent spine to the side. Carragher's form will be a big headache for them. A lot is riding on Aquilani. I don't know much about him but given they spent 20-odd million on him you would expect him to be very good. If he's not then Benitez has dropped a massive bollock. This week will tell us a lot about Liverpool. They have Lyon and Man Utd both at home. It's far too early to tell but for the sake of a prediction, I'll say Man City will narrowly miss out.

Badly missed Taylor and dare I say Coloccini at the back. Think Hughton thought we could dominate them at the back and went for power in Carroll and Harewood, with balls launched at them again and again from deep. It failed spectacularly with Forest gratefully mopping up. Shocking partnership on today's evidence. The lack of wingers is going to be recurring problem this season and it seems teams have found us out. Just keep the full backs back and we've got nothing. We don't have the players to take on a man, get in behind a defence and cause problems. It's easy to defend what's in front of you. We will beat some sides through physical force and maybe even better use of the ball but being as one-dimensional as we are teams have found out that there is no plan B with us, we don't mix it up and they know exactly what to expect. We take off a big guy and put another big guy on. We take off a sluggish midfielder and put another one on. As poor as we were in the first half, we should have got at least a draw as Forest were poor in the second and sat back inviting pressure. The balls in to Carroll and Harewood were all from deep though, and that always favours the defender. Until we can get balls in from out wide it's unlikely to work. A winger on loan is a must.

Ranger should have buried that!

Been very much a game of two halves. Our strikers have put in a poor shift though, espescially Harewood. Carroll has toiled away but won little of note and has looked very one-dimensional. Harewood's done nothing right today.

We've got them rattled. Howay lads!

It looks like the message was to launch it to Carroll as the players have turned and aimed for him in every tight situation. He's not getting any joy. Forest showed us how it's done with some nice one-touch football, a string of passes along the deck and it's 1-0. So far we've looked like a league one side that has come up and is fighting for its life, lumping it to the big man and hoping for a lucky bounce or a defensive error. We are a lucky to still be in this game at 1-0 because we just haven't turned up.

1-0. Best move of the game. We haven't looked like playing anything like that ourselves. Big changes needed, we are being outplayed in all areas.

You can't really single anyone out we have been collectively awful. We have got to get Gutierrez on at half time, someone who can carry the ball and give us something down the flanks. We are getting raped out there and will lose this game unless there are some big changes at half time.

It seems obvious our gameplan was to dominate them with the height and power of Carroll and Harewood and test them with high balls. So far that has utterly failed. I hope Hughton has a plan B because with no wingers to put crosses into them it's going to be a long night just launching it forward all game and watching it come straight back at us.

Our makeshift defence is all over the place. Forest have got their tails up and first to every ball. No composure from our lot at all, just launching it every time. Panic stations at the moment, we need to get into this game.

Very poor start. We're just whacking it long at every opportunity.

He won't sell us while we're top of the league man. The press know that's probably the case too but they have papers to sell. A serious dip in form might make him think twice but I have no doubts he is hanging on until the summer. If he just wanted rid of the club he'd have sold up ages back - he wants to claw some of his money back and knows the club could double in value in a few months. If he wouldn't cut his losses a year ago he certainly won't now.