macca888

He is probably the type of player that needs time to settle in. He has not really had an extended run in the team but if he does, then maybe he will start scoring. He needs a goal for his confidence though. However, having said that, I feel he is 4th in the pecking order behind Carroll, Lovenkrands, Ameobi (when eventually fit) so he is probably more of a squad player than anything else.

A lot depends on how much money Ashley will give Hughton to spend, of course. As I see it, we probably need to strengthen both full back areas, another wide midfielder and a speedy smallish striker. Players that might be worth a look who may be cheapish could be: Shorey from Villa Dorrans from WBA Pennant from Zaragosa Tuncay from Stoke Taylor from Bolton Assuming we will lose Butt, this wouild give us enough cover at the back and in midfield. If we had a few more million to spend, I wouldnt mind McGeady from Celtic.

Malcolm MacDonald was a 20 a day smoker at the height of his playing career

He is running ouit of clubs to cause trouble at. Expect him to sign for Leeds or someone like that in the pre season Bloke is fucked in the head.

Inochi and your point is?

For mthose on here who dont rate the lad, pull your heads in. His attributes for a lad so young far outweigh his faults at present. Yes, he is young, raw but he is causing opposing defences problems especially recently with his goals tally. God knows what you lot would be saying about him if he wasnt scoring. I remember a few weeks ago when he got slated for his performance againast Brnsley away and yet he set upo both our goals. You might lioke to remember that his recent goals tally includes strikes against teams in the top 5, being WBA (2), Cardiff (2) and the equaliser at Swansea from the only opportunity coming his way all day. He is never going to be a superstar but he has the ability to move to another level and has already proved an asset at England under 21 level too. I, for one, think he has the potential to cause havoc in the PL and would not be surprised to see one of the top 6 try to entice him away in the next couple of years. Good luck to the lad and keep on knocking them in.

I had a look at the fixtures today and it seems that Forest have a really difficult run in. They have some tight local derbies against Leicester and Derby as well as us, Blackpool and Swansea away. WBA have a few potential toughies too but I think we can stick it out and win this league by a 5 or 6 point margin. Forest's lack of squad depth and failure to bring any players in January could come back to bite them.

hehe, just watch Nolan go and score a hat trick on wednesday now...........LOL

The problems last season were not as much the goals Shay may have saved but more the goals the forwards should have scored and the shocking refereeing decision in the Fulham game to disallow Viduka's goal. Owen didnt score in the last 10 games and Martins missed a couple of sitters in the home game against Portsmouth. If we had won those two games, we would have stayed up comfortably. Given got an offer he couldnt refuse in January that would probably have not still been available to him in the summer. The way the club was being mismanged all of last season was enough to make anyone leave.

Isnt Platini looking to change things around with new laws that all clubs have to play a certain number of home grown players each week?

You cannot possibly consider dropping Carroll. He has got 5 in 5 and deserves to keep his place. The service to him has been woefful away but at home, with two wingers supplying crosses, he would be lethal. He won the game against Cardiff in the first 15 minutes and they are infinitely a better side than Coventry. Dont play Best either. It would be a mistake. Coventry will be expecting him to play so I would rather see Lovenkrands start up front with Best champing at the bit to come on in the last 25 minutes or so. Nolan should be rested and move Guthrie into the middle with Smith. Williamson in for Hall and the full backs and Colo stay the same. Harper, Simpson, Colo, Williamson, Van the Man, Routledge, Smith, Guthrie, Jonas, Carroll, Lovenkrands......Subs: Krul, Hall, Kadar, Ranger, Nolan, Best, Raylor.........................................we will win 3-0

In the current climate, I can see the sense in this and agree with many on here that the day of fat cat players is rapidly coming to an end and rightly so too. However, clubs will be forced to nurture their own youngsters so you would have to believe that those clubs with highly organised and professionally run academies will be first on the production line. I dont know whether we can safely say we are up there yet. Furthermore, there are plenty of good quality players in the lokes of Scandanavia who would play for the club for a lot less than 15K a week. My only problem with this is that the rich will get richer and what youngsters who come through successful academies will be picked off by them. You can bet your bottom dollar that all league and cup competitions will be won by the rich clubs whilst everyone else will be also rans in a battle for survival year in, year out.

It's Italian for 'understand?' or 'do you know what I mean?' Hell, mate, I know what mit means. Cant you detect the irony in my reply? ....no. But no bother, I'm not the best at picking up things on here. Not a problem. I am just happy I learned how to quote now. Hope Dave is prous of me. All I need now is how to do an avatar.........LLOL

It's Italian for 'understand?' or 'do you know what I mean?' Hell, mate, I know what mit means. Cant you detect the irony in my reply?

Shite, Dave, give me a break, will you? Been living in Oz for 30 years and has bound to have had an affect on my mental intellect.

Capiche????????? Yeah, I fucking Capiche alright. Hope you capiche too. What is capiche, by the way..................Fabio's missus?

Fuck, looks like I need another lesson..........LOL

The idea of us paying Gus Hiddink's wages is so daft it's not even funny. Well, mate, Like I said before, I live in hope. How is this Dave?

Yeah, Dave......................I get the message but it is 11.15 on a sunday night here and Melbourne Victory just blew the chance of the title here in last game of the season and I am spewing.

KID And what I am saying that in this day and age, any sort of loyalty shown to a struggling club by any player who is offered a better opportunity elsewhere, be it mid or end of season, is about as rare as a Mackem virgin. We no longer live in the 50s. Football is not a sport any longer but an arena for money hungry over rated prima donnas.

Yeah, I know, probably a bit unrealistic at the moment but if we go up, most of the top teams have already established managers and he is free from his russian contract in the summer. Noone ever thought he would take on the national teams of Australia, South Korea or Russia but he did. He obviously likes a challenge and, boy, WOULD WE BE A CHALLENGE. I live forever in hope though.

KING DAWSON He wasnt the first and he wont be the last. Football is not a loyalty scheme anymore and there are numerous examples of players moving because of better deals, better opportunoities to win trophies etc etc etc. I suppose you can class the likes of Gavin Barry at Villa, Lescott at Everton, Tevez at Man Utd, Adebayor and Toure at Arsenal in the same bracket as Given. The only difference is that he was playing for a shambles of a team and knew it was time to go. Whether he was disloyal or not at the time is open to discussion but for all those who moan and whinge about his decision, put yourself in his place. If you were offered the opportunity to play for the richest club in the world, increase your weekly earning by 25% and get the opportunity to win medals, would you stay with a club that was being mis managed into obscurity? Yeah, loyalty really does come into it these days, doesnt it?

Portsmouth Fifth new owner of the season? Christ, what we would give for ONE decent new owner?

Onmly one man for me and he isnt even oin the list. Guus Hiddink will be available in the summer apparently so we should move heaven and earth to get him. He makes ordinary players look special.

Can you really blame him for leaving? The writing was on the wall the day we failed to appoint a decent full time replacement for Keegan and Given wasnt the only one wanting out. They have professional standards to be the best as long as possible and staying with a slowly decaying club when opportunities to continue playing at the highest level were available, is a no brainer in my opinion. However, I do remember Shay cracking a few wobblies in years gone by when Harper played instead of him but to all intents and purposes, the writing was alrady on the wall long before he left and whether he was capable enough of saving us from relegation is heresay.