James

He's changed his name to Ameobi Shola by deed poll.

Bye then.

great plan Sam just specifically mentioned it. tbf though, he also said he's happy Owen got the winner against Newcastle Just heard that. The forum is breaking already. PLEASE EVERYONE FUCK OFF. Am I allowed to not fuck off?

Why not have faith in one of our players for once?

If you are in the UK, check out the Minute by minute text commentary on the BBC, there should be a radio stream there tonight. Dont try the usual radio five live stream, as that get switched off during football games as it can't block non-UK users.

Pre-match doubt with hamstring injury.

I said Shola would start.

Rangers from when Gazza played for them.

Newcastle World are saying that Harper keeps his place.

I've had this feeling for the past couple of days that Allardyce may hand Shola his first start in the league this season. I also reckon Owen has a 50% chance of starting tonight.

I reckon Owen could work as the centrepoint of a 451/433 if Allardyce can persuade him that it will benefit him.

Apparently there is a £6m clause at the end of the season.

That is good to hear.

Back in the Top 4 on Monday.

This season is a write-off for Spurs. Playing catch-up already. A good home record for two of Everton, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Blackburn or West Ham will keep Spurs out of the top six.

Actually on second look that sounds fucking dodgy I thought that was your intention?

Personally, I love it how all the talk has been about Manyoo, Chelski and Liverpool, while Arsenal have just quietly gone about their business and become the first club to have a two point lead at the top of the table.

I'm afraid that team has too many Englishmen, otherwise it would have been pretty good.

Are those going to be the actual rules? Nope, just a hypothetical scenario, just to see who people would pick. If they were the rules though, we may as well not enter.

Slight error there, now sorted.

Whats your prediction? 5th-7th place finish and the only way were gonna get rid of Jol is if the board are completly convinced that either one of Capello, Hiddink, Ramos or Lippi will take over. Didnt say they will happen, just that the board will decide to stick with Jol unless someones vastly superior becomes available. Think only Capello and Lippi are attainable out of that list tbh. :lol:

Extremely difficult to be honest. Most Premiership clubs have a lot less U23s from the other home nations than they used to.

Justin Hoyte - Arsenal - England - Age 22 - Defender Scott Carson - Aston Villa - England - Age 22 - Goalkeeper Liam Ridgewell - Birmingham - England - Age 23 - Defender Matt Derbyshire - Blackburn - England - Age 21 - Striker Danny Guthrie - Bolton - England - Age 21 - Midfielder Scott Sinclair - Chelsea - England - Age 18 - Striker David Jones - Derby - Wales - Age 22 - Midfielder Iain Turner - Everton - Scotland - Age 23 - Goalkeeper Steven Davis - Fulham - Northern Ireland - Age 22 - Midfielder Jack Hobbs - Liverpool - England - Age 19 - Defender Micah Richards - Manchester City - England - Age 19 - Defender Darren Fletcher - Manchester United - Scotland - Age 23 - Midfielder Stewart Downing - Middlesbrough - England - Age 23 - Midfielder Steven Taylor - Newcastle - England - Age 21 - Defender Glen Johnson - Portsmouth - England - Age 23 - Defender Graeme Murty - Reading - Scotland - Age 32 - Defender Craig Gordon - Sunderland - Scotland - Age 24 - Goalkeeper Gareth Bale - Tottenham - Wales - Age 18 - Defender Craig Bellamy - West Ham - Wales - Age 27 - Striker David Cotterill - Wigan - Wales - Age 20 - Striker Scott Brown - Celtic - Scotland - Age 22 - Midfielder Steve Naismith - Rangers - Scotland - Age 21 - Striker James Morrisson - WBA - Scotland - Age 21 - Midfielder

Say it was decided that Britain needed a squad for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. There is much debate behind the scenes as the larger Premier League clubs try to veto the move, while the Northern Irish, Welsh and Scottish FA's are only willing to participate if they get a good representation. Eventually a compromise is reached. In the 23 man squad, one player (and no more) from each Premiership club must be selected and one player from both Rangers and Celtic is also selected. The 23rd player can be from any other club who has not lost a player. There can be a maximum of 11 players from one country in the squad. Players from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (not Ireland) can be picked. Also, a further agreement is reached with the Premier League that no player in a Germany 2006 squad may be selected from a Premier League team, and no Premier League player can play in two consecutive matches, excluding the final. Hence a strong squad is needed rather than a brilliant first XI. Only three players can be over-23 at time of selection (today). Who do you pick?

Never understood why we blame players when they get injured. Disappointed aye but why is it the players fault? Marcelino and his injured finger being an exception off course. Owen is a classic case, many had written him off after his series of injuries but now that he's back banging in the goals, he's being bummed left, right and centre. In Emre's case because he has run off to play an important competitive match when not fit enough, massively increasing the chance of another injury. I can see where you are coming from but surely that is a decision that Sam and his medical staff should have made. If he was not fit enough to play for Turkey as you speculate, then he should not have been allowed to join them. The fact that he did and with no objections from Sam probably indicate that he was ok to play, and in fact if you look at Sam's quote on the official website, he also seems to say that he had already overcame his injury in time for the internationals. The fact that he got injured again after the internationals in unfortunate but not his fault. I hope his exclusion does not mean that we will stick with the boring trio of Butt, Geremi and Smith in midfield. I fear they won't break down a resolute Derby who will surely be on the rebound. Go with 4-4-2 with 2 genuine wingers in Zog and Milner and Geremi and Butt can man the midfield. Smith has to be on the bench for me as I don't think he has done enough to justify a starting place. Clubs have no say about the call-up of players for international duty. Because Emre was on the bench for Turkey in game two, it would suggest that he wasn't up for playing two games in quick succession, and when Turkey found themselves in trouble, Emre and the manager gambled, and put him on the pitch. The gamble paid off short term, but at some point, Emre injured himself again, only instead of coming straight off like would be expected of him at Newcastle, he carried on, potentially aggravating his injury.