Leazes1986

Johnson can't even get in the Boro team.

He's definitely worth another season. He needs to do a lot of work over the summer like. He should be out there every day for extra sessions on his crossing and shooting, and there would be no better man to show him how its done than Shearer.

There will definitely be a few teams after Downing so even though Boro are going to be buggered financially, they will be able to hold out for quite a decent fee for him. He will cost more than he's worth. A lot more.

None of them would really be value for money. There might be one or two players their who would be handy but for the price their clubs would demand I wouldn't really touch them.

The question if we stay up is will Mike Ashley stick to his guns after we've had such a massive scare and buy cheaper younger players, or will he see that we need good investment as relegation would cost us a lot more than spending big to improve the squad to make it strong.

Whens the last time Owen commented on his future though? He clarely doesn't want to talk about it. The boot has firmly changed around now though. Before a lot of people would have loved him to stay, now a lot of people are looking at his contribution on the pitch and would rather he would leave for nowt he's playing that bad.

It will be absolute madness if we do not sign a centre back, a big strong central midfielder, an attacking central midfielder, a right winger and a striker just ot go into the line up. Its a big huge job which needs done. For some reason I think if Shearer stays then we will see a lot of early summer signings. I really can't see him messing around like previous managers.

Did anyone read the online chat thingy yesterday on the Chronicle website with Lee Ryder? He said that all requests to interview Owen are being rejected via his agent.

I will be fucking fuming if aren't safe on the last day of the season and this happens (although it's understandable). I tell you what though, if we win on Saturday and Hull and Sunderland get beat at the weekend then i'll be all for Man U putting their reserves out with us safe and the mackems playing Chelsea

Special

Whats happened like?

This is not good for fucking health today. Im going out in a couple of hours like, reckon about 8 pints should do it. I can't bring myself to do anything but sit here waitint for any sort of news etc. I can't even bring myself to have a shave and shower We need an early goal. If we can get one the place will be buzzing. We should go at them from the start and look to take in a 2 goal lead at half time if possible.

If our players were as productive at their job as Noel Gallagher is at his then we would have plenty to celebrate. He's just being a fucking cunt tbh Don't see what the fuss is though, we would say the same sort of thing about the likes of Spurs if they were down there.

Where you seen that? What a lot of shit

That would be my sort of plan if i was playing on FM. I bet Nicky Butt is on more money than Beye yet he says we should sell Beye as his contract is up in 2010 yet keep Butt even though his contract will be up then as well.

Shearer has said Taylor could be back. ---------------------Harper------------- S.Taylor-----Beye-------Bassong----Duff ----------Guthrie--Smith---Jonas-------- --------------------Owen----------------- ------------Viduka-------Martins------ Can't believe im saying start Smith. Desperate times.

Interesting that people are naming Viduka and Owen as lone strikers. I definitely think we should play one up front but I think Martins or Carroll would be a lot more suitable in this game. Its very likely that we will be pegged back for most of the game and I just can't see Owen having any effect whatsoever. I'm not convinced Viduka would contribute much either with his lack of fitness up there on his own. He will hold the ball up all day but if we do manage to create anything I don't think he'll be there in the box to finish it off. If we are to score i think it will be on the counter attack and for that reason I'd consider Martins or Carroll better options. Martins gives us that bit pace and he can stretch then on the attack and he might just pull out a wonder strike (he's certainly due one), while Carroll would offer some strength and height plus he'll work hard.

I reckon we should go for damage limitation or we could end up fucking up our goal difference advantage. I'd play 5 in midfield (Barton, Guthrie and Nolan if possible) and stick either Martins or Carroll up front. I can't see how we;re gonna get anything other than a beating so we need battlers out there who are up for the fight. We need to keep it as tight as possible. Cant decide which i would prefer out of Martins for his pace on the counter attack or Carroll for his height and battling.

What would be the point of ever putting Smith up front instead of Carroll? Carroll works and fights for everything, he's stronger, better in the air, bigger and he's much more of a goal threat. Its a no brainer for me like. I can't really think of anything Smith has over Carroll as a striker.

Im fucking nervous now like. Going out in half an hour, i can't stand any more of this sober business today

Where did he say that?

Jeff Stelling is absolutely brilliant and you can't exactly feel shocked that he doesn't think we'll win. Not many people other than us lot think we will get out of it and that is because this is our club and we have to have faith. We always do it the hard way anyway. Let everyone write us off, it'll be fucking monumental if we stay up and it'll be a lovely thing shoving it back in the rest of the countrys faces.

Rob Lee, Gary Speed?

I'd rather have the 05/06 Lee Clark than the 2009 Butt or Nolan

Guthrie should be ok. He's got plenty of training and some match time under his belt and he's a youngster so i don't think he'll have any problems. Barton and Viduka wont last 90 minutes though. We definitely need to handle them carefully because they are vital. I'd actually look to give Viduka about 70 minutes against Portsmouth then I'd leave him out against Liverpool where I don't think he will contribute much at all with his lack of fitness and with us needing legs all over the pitch. Couple of weeks training after Portsmouth should see him in decent condition for the Boro match barring any further injury problems.