Wullie

Nowt trivial I hope.

Why half joke? Smith getting banned would be the best thing all round. Hope he plays now.

If we're going to get beat, damage limitation is crucial. Our goal difference could well act as one less point should it go to the wire. Personally, I think if they have an off day and rest a couple of players, which they will, there's no reason why we can't take points away. Shitter teams than us have got something there this season. Play like we did against Blackburn and we can too. Tall order I know. I hope the players haven't written it off or we are fucked.

Quality. We need a catwalk celebration when we score the winner at Anfield.

The only thing that's valid in that is the better football played. The other qualities that you have listed are ones that Fergie possesses as well. Tell me he doesn't know when to sell players at the right time (Stam, VRoy, Smith, Butt, Beckham etc.). He knows how to nurture young talent (Ronaldo - see how much he's developed in 3 seasons - and of course the kids who won him the title) and the other two qualities are blatantly things that Fergie has as well. There's never a wrong time to sell Alan Smith tbf.

Aaaaah. Hiring the manager that the team directly above us had just binned. That'd have gone down well.

Just because Owen is shite now hardly makes it an entirely different situation. He sorted our crappy defence with Henchoz and Hyypia, brought in McAllister and Hamann, who won us a lot of silverware. Admittedly, they're just a few inspired signings amongst five times as many shite ones. Nevertheless, he took us from more or less where you were when SBR left to an historic, if second-rate, treble and a second place finish in the league. He's not the World's Greatest Manager, but he'd be a better man for this particular job than Keegan. Houllier doesn't have any experience at this end of the table, his transfer record is pretty poor iyam and he is dour. He even took over Lyon when they were 3 or 4 time Champions so none there either. His Liverpool record in the League, having taken over a side that finished 3rd, reads: 7th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 4th. Stable but hardly ground breaking. Not saying he's not a good manager, but I don't think he ticked the boxes for this job in our situation.

How did we need exactly the same job as Houllier who took over a 3rd placed Liverpool who also had the best young striker in Europe just arriving? He'd have been fucked to arrive here and find the same striker unable to hit a barn door.

That's astonishing, even for the FA.

He's neat and tidy, that's just about all that can be said of him. Doesn't offer you anything that wouldn't get from a League 1 midfielder or striker, apart from even less goals. I don't even buy the work rate argument personally and I haven't for a while. Only time he looks interested in putting the effort in is when the opposition have the ball and there's a chance to make a moronic tackle. Doesn't chase down lost causes, doesn't break his back to get forward on the break, doesn't make efforts to make meaningful runs into space, just happy to stand as close to the centre half as possible until we lose the ball then he's away, studs flying. Doesn't put in close to the effort of a Bellamy or even a Scott Parker. There was certain games in his first season where Parker would be doing the jobs of the other nine outfield men. I'd be happy for Smith to do his own, he can't even manage that.

Depends what you mean by average. He's not a Premiership player in a month of Sundays.

The Rooney saga was in summer in late August after we peddled Woodgate.

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/1187611.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF19390335F8FA9CA92A6C5FF0BA426B13DEA9930FDCFC4C15FBB

Good for you, HTT, good for you. Coming over here watching our football, fecking Greeks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/images/2006/11/24/sibierski_equalises_416x300.jpg A better player than Smith in every conceivable way.

One thing we really have to hope for is for the title race to be over by the penultimate game and for Chelsea to still be in the FA Cup and preferably the Champions League. A home win over their reserves in April/May has served us very well in the past. Fingers crossed that the battle for fourth will be over too since we've got to play Everton. God forbid it should go down to the wire but we've got to prepare for the worst.

Is that intentionally ironic? Emre's by far our best set piece taker. It's not a long list but that's why Beye, Owen and Cacapa have profited this season off the top of my head.

I agree. 4.55 on Saturday was nearly as low as I have felt following NUFC and that's some list of candidates. Let's not pretend this is something to be embraced. I never want to feel like that again.

We really need to play Oba from the off. Liverpool's defence is not quick by any means. They've also looked very shaky at set pieces of late, so hope our crossing is up to scratch. Pity there's no Emre since Duff has perfected hitting the first man. Midfield, Christ, I'd probably go for Charlie, Butt, Geremi, Milner. Jesus.

I'm bricking it now. These gaps between games are unbearable.

Which is where you're missing the point entirely. He's been missing these easy chances all season from the very first game.

I don't expect him to keep them up but for this magical player whose missed transfer will send us down, 'd expect him to have shown a hell of a lot more than he has done. I'm really not feeling like we've missed out tbh.

Barnes hasn't exactly kept Derby afloat. 10 points is it?

Man, those Reading and Fulham games and of course the derby, I'll probably have a nervous breakdown.

I think their home form will save them unfortunately.