ohmelads

He seems very comfortable playing with his back to goal which is why I'm surprised he scored so many at reserve level. Perhaps there is more to his game and hopefully we will see that come out when he gets confidence and starts taking more risks. For now he's very much a team player, a youngster trying to do no wrong. Like you say he seems afraid to lose the ball and won't take chances but once he gets his confidence up we should see him turn and shoot or take his man on a bit more. For now though his hold up play is impressive for an 18-year old.

An atrocious header which assisted a simple tap in for Nolan? Come on, give the lad a break. I'm sure Nolan wasn't complaining as he grabbed the match ball. It wasn't a great header but there's absolutely nowt wrong with heading the ball downwards. In fact they often coach players to do that because it is very hard for the goalkeeper to read the bounce, as opposed to making it an easy height to save. The keeper had the near post covered so he went across goal. It wasn't the best connection but he had the right idea and we scored from it, so we should cut him some slack.

Keep him fit, get his sharpness up and he'll be a big player for us in the Championship. I know we have bodies up front but we're lacking in experience and proven quality and we're relying on the midfield for goals (not a bad thing, but we need a finisher up front). The fact Shola has looked far and away our best forward says a lot about our striking options. Harewood has always been a bit of a wayward finisher but he puts himself about, gets into positions and makes a nuisance of himself, he gets chances because of his sheer strength and pace. He's far more direct than our other strikers and I think he'll certainly be a feared striker in this division. Looks like he still has his pace which is a promising sign.

Too many distractions are coming into the game. Bolton with their cheerleaders and Middlesbrough playing music when they score, it has no place in football. It should be all about the game and supporting the team. What next, some guy wandering around selling hot dogs and pretzels? Come on we don't wanna go down that road. You get this sort of thing at baseball games in the states because the sport itself is so boring to watch.

Glad he's in the Ipswich squad. I fancy him to cause defences problems in this league, but a lot depends on what sort of condition he is in. Let's hope injuries haven't robbed him of any pace.

Me too, for the simple fact it reduces the chances of Butt playing. Not only that but let's face it we need to spread the load around the squad. We have Knizanishvili on loan for 3 months, so let's use him and take the chance to rest somebody else. After Simpson, S.Taylor is our best right back so bringing Knizanishvili into the centre and pushing R.Taylor up makes perfect sense to me. Ryan Taylor is far from a natural winger but he is a natural wide player and when you're crying out for width and balance to the midfield, it makes sense to use him. Barton needs dropped and Geremi and Nolan haven't got the legs at all. As for the left wing, I guess I'd shove one of them there, probably Nolan and keep Loven up front. In other words: Harper S.Taylor Kniz. Colo Enrique R.Taylor Smith Geremi Nolan Carroll Lovenkrands

Journal reckon he'll arrive tomorrow. Could be in the squad for Ipswich?

I'd be tempted to play S.Taylor at right back. Knizanishvili alongside Colo. R.Taylor at right midfield. At least until Simpson returns.

Bit of a strange one. I rate Guthrie as one of our best players, personally. Alongside Smith, Gutierrez and the back four he is one of the ones we absolutely have to keep fit.

O'Neill: "I think they are waiting to hear whether they have permission from their owner to go and progress the move."

Nolan on the wing is too easy to defend against. Just tuck the full backs in and you've got a solid tight back four with nowt to worry about down the flanks. It's much easier to defend what's in front of you, like long balls or crosses coming from deep. We need to get in behind defences and then we'll pose a much bigger goal threat. Flip side of that is putting Lovenkrands out wide and having a lack of movement up front. A lack of movement off the ball up front makes it hard to service the strikers, espescially when our midfielders don't have the gas to get forward! If noone is making the runs it's hard to create chances. It's a tough one. This is exactly why we need Harewood (or A.N. other) in as soon as possible. We have almost no options and we're becoming very predictable. Let's hope if he does come that he hasn't lost any pace from injuries. We saw the way Luque was when he arrived, some players lose yards of pace from an injury. Personally I'd have Lovenkrands up front seeing as we're away. His pace might make their back line think twice about coming forward and should give our midfielders some breathing space. I think Guthrie is another big loss, he's one of the few who looks composed on the ball and actually gets forward.

We clearly don't have the squad to fight a 46-game season and go on two cup runs. Probably better to bow out at this stage looking at our squad and shocking backup. These are untried kids, they were never ever considered good enough before so we can't expect them to pull out results for us now. As soon as the transfer window shut we knew this season was going to all about injuries/suspensions and what sort of team we can put out on the field. The fewer games the better. Fewer midweek games, less fatigue, fewer suspensions, fewer injuries. Our first XI look capable of promotion IF we can keep them fit. The last thing we need is latter round games against big teams which require us to field a strong team of our 'star' players. This season is all about a promotion fight as far as I'm concerned.

Find it hard to find so much hate for someone who gave us so many years of good service. I prefer to remember him in a positive light for some memorable performances. Nevertheless I couldn't help but lose a lot of respect for him in the way he left the club during its darkest hour. To see Man City pay 25M for Lescott in summer and us pocket a mere 6M for Given in January (a time when players generally cost more) shows just how much the player forced our hand. It wasn't a reluctant farewell from a hero who owed it to himself to move on, it was an undignified dash for the exit, done publicly through the media and one which cost the club dearly. People talk about his loyalty and professionalism but those are not words which spring to my mind when I think of Given's sale. Of course, it's not Given's fault the little money we did make was never spent on a replacement. Selling Given may have been a reluctantly viable option if it had been part of a reshuffle. Sell the keeper, adequate backup in Harper, invest the money in the team and try and stay up. Ashley pocketed the money and we went down - Given can't be blamed for that. Even if we'd sold Given for 20M, who is to say that Ashley wouldn't have just pocketed the lot? The N'Zogbia money would still have paid for R.Taylor and Nolan.

The bad side is somebody will need to pass to him and we dont create much at present. It's easier to create for a more mobile striker who makes the runs, and it's also a lot easier when there are two up top rather than one.

Can see Ashley cashing in on a midfielder or two in January. Most likely our better ones like Jonas, Guthrie, Smith will be courted by other clubs and he'll be more than happy to sell. So I wouldn't worry about having too many midfielders, if we can get a right winger in on loan then go for it. Bear in mind these loan signings could bugger off in January anyway. I have a bad feeling that month will be a turning point in our season because Ashley will almost certainly still be at the club. As for up front, I'd prefer Kamara but he's just come in and scored for Fulham so it seems unlikely. Harewood will definitely bring some qualities we don't have. He's quick, strong and proven at this level and to be honest we don't have anyone like that at all. He's not the best finisher but I fancy him to cause defences more problems than our other forwards because of his other qualities. The big worry would be his injury situation but on loan we don't really have a lot of choice right now. As someone also said it would most likely force a 4-4-2 formation. There is no way we should be playing with 1 up front against teams like Blackpool.

no real idea of his ability but relieved we've got some cover in. we will definitely need him and i'm just glad we didn't wait for a crisis before acting. i'd say the priorities now are a winger and a striker, energetic players with pace who are good enough to challenge for a first team place and make an impact at championship level (ie better than the likes of LuaLua). Kamara would be a great addition. not really sure who we could get for the wing, but we can't go through a whole season with just one winger at the club. don't really follow the reserve teams but the likes of arsenal must have some handy young wingers who would like a crack in a promotion-chasing team?

Spot on. When you've got no wingers, playing one up front is not going to work. A lone striker always needs support, and with three in central midfield this has to come from the wide players. When he hasn't got anyone who can beat a man and cross it in, or get to the byline and cut it back, and nobody making runs around him, your lone striker has got nothing to do but play it backwards all game. He can play it backwards and wait for the ball to work its way out wide, but he won't see it coming back into the box much when there's no wingers at all! Having no wingers is going to be a constant problem, we badly need Gutierrez back. It is madness that we started the season with 1 winger and 2 centre backs at the club but we're making it harder for ourselves by playing with one up front against these kinds of teams. We have fit strikers, play them and play on the front foot, we're playing for promotion not mid-table.

A wake up call and one I hope Hughton can use to remind Mike Ashley that reinforcements are needed. Yes there are a lot of s*** teams in this league, but there's two other teams out there who are pissing on them and to finish in the top 2 we have to keep pace with Boro and West Brom (Cardiff will get a lot of points too). There'll be draws and defeats but it's how we bounce back from results like this that matters. This isn't the end of the world. Boro and West Brom play each other on the weekend, while we've got a very winnable home game. If those two draw and we do our job at home we could be back top by Monday. But the squad will need reinforcements very soon. There's no point in waiting for an injury crisis before bringing them in, it's clear we're short on numbers and it has to be dealt with now. We have 2 centre backs and one winger at the club.

I think a 5-man midfield will play right into their hands. They'll be happy with a point from this and will set their midfield up likewise. It'll just create congestion in midfield. That combined with a static one-man attack and no natural width at all and we could end up just punting it long while they double up on Nile Ranger. As others have said we've been a bit fortunate at times and blagged a goal with a toothless attack but I really think we should be putting two up front against Blackpool and take the game to them. We've got the likes of Nolan, Lovenkrands, Ranger and possibly Carroll, there really is no excuse for a 5-man midfield.

Can't possibly see us bringing in two strikers on loan. And to be honest, we probably only need the one. We have big lads in Ameobi, Carroll, and Ranger already, and Lovenkrands can play up front as well. Nolan for emergencies. There's no way Ashley will agree to two more strikers. On that note, if we can only bring in one then Kamara fits the bill perfectly for me. I could see him playing off any of our big strikers and slotting in quite nicely. If it was between him and someone like Harewood, I'd much rather have Kamara on loan.

The worrying thing is that West Brom and Boro are having no trouble putting these sorts of teams away. We're not the only team gratefully picking up points left, right and centre. With only two spots up for grabs and the dreaded playoffs, we have got to stay with the leading pack and you can already see those two being our main rivals. West Brom and Boro square up at the weekend, which gives us a chance to surge ahead of them if we can pick up two wins. A draw here would certainly not be "a good result".

I agree. Pace to burn up front, option of playing Lovenkrands wide, proven at this level, good age. I know Lovenkrands plays up front these days but we only have one winger at the club and almost no pace in the squad. Kamara would definitely give us more options and bring more pace to the side. It's only a matter of time before teams start finding us out and injuries start to hit. As far as loan signings go I'd be very happy at this stage if we got Kamara in.

In that case why not punish the other players who dived that same weekend in one go? That way not only do you send out an emphatic message but you don't look like you've singled out one player for the sake of it. Go through the video footage and you'll probably find an instance of diving in every single game last weekend. Punish them all, and you've set the new standard. Punish one player randomly and you've created a farce and look like an unprofessional and biased organization. Their aim afterall is to police the game fairly.

It was madness in the first place to single out and punish one player. Why did they single out Eduardo? Presumably a question they can't answer themselves and the principal reason why they overturned the decision. They were idiots to try something like this without thinking ahead a little bit. A real sign of their incompetence as an organization.

Possibly, but then people will take a look at our squad and see that it's pretty thread bare for a 46-game season (plus cups). Only two centre backs at the club, I think it's pretty safe to say there'd be chances for any centre-back who came in. Also it's good to blood youngsters in a winning team where they'll get a bit of the ball and in front of Premier League-sized crowds I think we represent a good option. I reckon the problem is most likely Ashley as it has been all summer. If Taylor or Colo get seriously injured it'll be panic stations we'll be scrambling around for the first loan signing we can get - anybody at all. It seems madness to wait for that to happen but we all know how he runs this club.