madras

How was he deemed employable after that Haven't checked when that was or if they'd done it before but I'm guessing at " because he won them their first ever title"

Well you're the first if true.

Do you say Paris Saint Germain ? No. you say Paree Sanjerman. No I don't. So what do you say.....and don't use "PSG".

But the football club is named after the city, no ? It is, but it's a separate entity. Genova is the Italian name for the city, but the club uses the English name Genoa, so you don't change it back. In that one case yes but the others aren't are they ?

Do you say Paris Saint Germain ? No. you say Paree Sanjerman. With an undoubtedly atrocious accent that makes it worse than if you had simply pronounced "Paris Saint Germain" like a proper Englishman. exackerly.

But the football club is named after the city, no ?

Do you say Paris Saint Germain ? No. you say Paree Sanjerman.

Who's faults that ? Yours.

Who's faults that ?

Weren't there reports of how, for all it was feasable to extend the Gallowgate, the cost was massively prohibitive ? Did I dream it ?

Considering the alternative to Hayden is a rolling, ginger-tipped ball of smegma, I'd tend to agree. He's not the only alternative.

Most don't. Oooooh yes they do, I'm thinking really of PSG and Sevilla.

Why do we, as football fans, pronounce places as we imagine the locals do in a football sense but then back to English in a geographical sense, ie "I'm off to Paris to see Paree San Jerman"

Deal expired and wasn't renewed. Oh, didn't know that. Not my fault. Yeah, probably down to Arsenal not being what they were.

It isn't about Rafa can do no wrong, for me I have doubts about whether these players are equipped to the job if they were set up differently. To go more attacking would need more pace and energy in midfield, ruthless strikers and a defence which can pass the ball out and cope with playing a high line. A defensive midfielder who can cover the ground quickly to close down the spaces would also be essential. Is Colback that man? I'm opposite, I don't think 4-2-3-1 gets the best from the squad. You also give a great description of what yoiu think we need to be more attacking, you've basically described the perfect team, one that pretty much doesn't exist outside of Man City and Chelsea.

merry ?

Out of interest, what was he like for you when you played at home? Good. We blew teams away quite often. But we had a team that could do that, especially when Torres arrived. We pressed and squeezed teams high up the pitch and and played him in. Not many could match our intensity. But it meant we were vulnerable to teams who could counter, especially as Carra and Sami Hyppia were hardly pacy CBs. I remember Villa when they had Agbonlahor and a few other pacy guys beating us a few times. Rafa also built a midfield of Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard (a bit better than Shelvey, Colback and Diame I admit...) which meant we always had control. We dropped points, usually draws, which did cost us at a time when Man Utd seem to win every f***ing game in the 93rd minute. Our intensity would drop, or Rafa might rotate with a European game in mind, understandably sometimes, as our squad wasn't as deep as others. But generally I remember the odd insipid away performance being more of a problem than home form. But it cost us. Rafa is not title winning manager (though he won two titles in Spain.) Thing is, Rafa turns everyone into a tactical expert. He sets such a great store by it. And gets it right so often and gets the plaudits. But it means when the tactics go wrong he gets the crap. And tactics only work if players are able to carry them out. And players are fallible. These debates were common when he was at LFC. Just let them off the leash, some would say. But you need a tactical plan, said others. Rafa's always got a plan. For all the money that was spent, andthis was pre man city and chelsea days, did Liverepool really come close to wining the title under Rafa ?

It's not tactics, are you saying Ritchie was allowed to get forwards but nobody else was? He was screaming at Dummett to get up behind him to defend further up the pitch and he was getting at Colback to start marking people rather than fresh air. He also had a go at Shelvey at one point when he played a ridiculous pass out for a goal kick. It was tactics, Ritchie wasn't supposed to go charging forward like that (although it was the right thing to do imo if the rest had the bottle to follow) . Interesting though as a while back people wrere saying Mbemba got dropped because of not following instructions V Wolves, todays instrustions seemed to balls over the top through the middle for Gayle (re Shelvey pass out for goal kick) which didn't work and there were a lot more of those passes today. It seems like you can tell within 5 mins at home what the plan is, long diagonals or whatever and it's bloody obvious and whats worse is that we just keep on hammering at that tactic. You're right, the long diagonal balls are a tactic, and we play a relatively cautious formation on Rafa's instructions as well. I don't think he trusts these players to get a result playing a more attacking game personally. Even if it was his style - and it's not - I can't say I blame him. We manage to give away soft goals even when we play defensively. Our s*** passing isn't down to his tactics btw, he played a similar formation with Liverpool but they passed it around a lot better. Too many of our players just aren't good enough or lack balls. Load of crap to me. Get at teams when we are at home with what we have in this division.

I don't think we'd be in this position without him becausewe wouldn't have this strength of squad. Could this squad be used better, I reckon it could and there is the paradox.

It's not tactics, are you saying Ritchie was allowed to get forwards but nobody else was? He was screaming at Dummett to get up behind him to defend further up the pitch and he was getting at Colback to start marking people rather than fresh air. He also had a go at Shelvey at one point when he played a ridiculous pass out for a goal kick. It was tactics, Ritchie wasn't supposed to go charging forward like that (although it was the right thing to do imo if the rest had the bottle to follow) . Interesting though as a while back people wrere saying Mbemba got dropped because of not following instructions V Wolves, todays instrustions seemed to balls over the top through the middle for Gayle (re Shelvey pass out for goal kick) which didn't work and there were a lot more of those passes today. It seems like you can tell within 5 mins at home what the plan is, long diagonals or whatever and it's bloody obvious and whats worse is that we just keep on hammering at that tactic.

Never had a problem with Norwich.....except that one waqy system that even the locals were bemused by. i've let Pardew go, he's another journeyman manager who talks shit to the media because thats their job.

I said this in the pub before the match. We had to start well today if we were to win the game. When you have Ritchie (rightly so) screaming at his team mates a few minutes in because we were so lethargic and 2nd to every ball it was inevitable what was coming. It was funny when Ritchie pressed high and waved for us to press with him, the tactics don't allow it!

Maybe when people are predicting line up they are so used to it being 4-2-3-1 that they just pick personnel to fit that ?

Weird suggestion fair enough, but maybe if he looked at the squad and tried to get the best from it as it seems like he tries to shoehorn everything into a certain formation.

Aren't all managers, and players comet to think of it, like that these days when asked about their futures ?