James

Dont know where all this talk about Roeder insisting on playing all of Taylor, Bramble and Gooch is coming from. Did I imagine Taylor being on the bench vs Liverpool?

I think we play better against the better teams. Some of our individuals are very complacent in some matches when playing substandard opposition this season.

Just woken up, what was the score?

Actually, the person he spoke to was Optimistic Nut, and there was no mention of Arsenal, just a shared joke (in french) about him being better than Duff. Conversation took place in the player's bar.

Pretty impressive for a team that never got into the 2nd round of a World Cup: http://www.ufwc.co.uk/

There is a website recording the unofficial World Champions based on a club retaining the crown until they lose, and the crown then goes to the team that won (much like the boxing system). Wonder if anyone has done this for club football.

Southampton beat Birmingham though, so could be said that I live in the best footballing city in the world.

Given recent results: Newcastle > Liverpool > Barcelona

Ameobi and Babayaro. Ameobi is a decent, no-frills back-up striker, while Babayaro is our only natural left back,and even if we get someone else in, he's worth having as backup.

Yes, but not with Brian Blessed who turns the idea from being absolutely shit to absolutely phenomenal.

We need to install top of the range sound systems around St. James Park - several speakers at the back of the stand, and speakers also towards the front of the pitch, facing the pitch. Then from a remote control at the front of the pitch, a member of the coaching staff (lets Give Terry Mac something to do) makes the speakers make different noises. These noises are made by famed thespian Brian Blessed, who would perform several chants at high volume, including "Black n' White army", "Toon! Toon!", all the individual player songs, "the referee is a wanker" "Lord and King Richard!" etc, and Blessed will perform multiple takes so mashed up it sounds like a group of people are chanting together. These chants would then be played at the back of each stand to encourage others to join in if they want. The individual speakers will issue instructions such as "man-on", which will be easy for the players to hear. Speakers in the away end could create the illusion that the away support are booing their own players, giving us huge benefit. Do all this, and we could win all our home games every season.

Is LuaLua ineligible for Europe? Its just that Roeder has picked Troisi for bench duty in European games, whereas LuaLua has been selected for bench duty in domestic games only despite their being more spaces on the European bench.

I think NE5 and HTL really do have a very legitimate point here which is being dismissed out of hand because it is them, and others have equally biased agendas on the other side of a gulf of differing opinions. Of course, defenders are important, and I doubt they will deny that our defence needs improving. Fact however is that throwing money at buying decent defenders does not improve the defence. Have you seen what happens at Real Madrid every year? Alternatively, look at what happens when a highly rated defender playing for a mediocre team makes a step up to a inconsistent, but offensively excellent team, and suddenly looks only half as good. 75% of defending is about the team, and not about the ability of the defenders/defensive midfielders. That includes tracking back, winning the ball further up the field, keeping the ball further up the field, and most importantly having more possession of the ball so the opponents have less time to cause any danger. The above reason highlights why Babayaro is so important for us - we may have better defenders than him, but having him at left back over all other players currently in the squad allows us to play better. In my opinion, it is our carelessness in possession which is costing us results. We are better off at the moment with Solano at right-back, and Babayaro at left back, so therefore we need to look at finding more permanent replacements for those two, but at the same time find a way to retain possession for longer at the top of the field. it may mean addressing midfield balance problems, or it may be that we do need a new striker, and I think that is what I would look for - a decent foil for Martins/Owen who can not only chip ingoals if both were injured, but who will also not gift the ball back to the opposition 19 times out of 20 like Martins and Shola and Sib do. Also, I dont get the comparisons with Chelsea - we are nothing like them. Boularouz is poor, while the rest of the team is pretty handy. Replacing that one weak link is bound to improve their team, while the NUFC team has lots of facets that need smoothing.

Think Coppell is a decent manager, but he's at his level, ie doing pretty well with a Reading side he has created over quite a few years now. Bit like Curbishley at Charlton I reckon.

Happy birthday to Sir Robert William Robson! 74 today. Lets hope this year is better than his last year. Some average ex-NUFC midfielder is also 24 today, though the less said about him the better.

Why? Has Bellamy threatened to chin them? Probably all media lies apparently.

They are locking and deleting all the threads on this on RAWK

How the hell did Roeder miss out on Ashton in January 2006? By not being our manager perhaps.

I really, really, really want us to beat spurs in the final.

Seriously, looking at the players on the field tonight, there is no real other candidate.

Why not legendary vice-captain Kieron Dyer?

Never rule out the Turks.

I liked Leeds. Can't believe they've gone so tits up.

Premiership: 1) Cech 2) Van der Sar 3) Lehmann 4) Given 5) Jaaskelainen World: 1) Buffon 2) Cech 3) Van der Sar 4) Cesar 5) Valdes

Aren't most of those on the list free-kicks?