Bad Mongo

You mean, you don't want to be bullied into backing up your argument, just like Taylor won't be bullied into marking opposition players.

The facts tell us we have an awful defence, but the players really should be better than those that held ManU to a draw (2-2) a year ago. Personally, I thought our main problems were in attack even then, and that has further deteriorated.

we (rightly) criticize those players who can't pass, but perhaps our off-the-ball movement is a real culprit.

I've been saying that for a while. Our passing is shit not only because our players can't pass, but because when someone makes a run with the ball, the others just stop up to watch or come trotting behind, and when someone looks to make a pass, the rest of the team will stand with their hands on their hips and watch, while the opposition is free to close them down. This is one thing that should be possible to improve without bringing in better players, and I think the one reason why we're under-performing with the arguably mid table quality players we have.

Who would want to buy him?

Even though I hate Spurs, it would be kind of nice if Chelsea didn't win anything at all this year.

Er, Duff actually had a shot (two?) on goal. I agree he's been poor for us, but this was far from his worst game.

No, they weren't. N'Zogbia came jogging back to his position whenever we lost possession, and didn't even try to defend for the entire 1st half, which, as a defender, is his bloody job. You may blame Keegan for using him out of position, but N'Zogbia has the blame for not trying to do his job properly.

That said though he wasn't particularly worse than Butt, Barton Milner, Duff, N'Zogbia Owen and Smith.

He was, though. Well, perhaps not N'Zogbia and Barton.

So...Positives?

Butt suspended next game, I think?

I get the impression his confidence has gone in recent weeks and he's hiding.

You're probably right. He used to be better than this, I know, but he's been quite consistent like this in the last few weeks. I'm just slightly angry right now, also at N'Zogbia (and at Keegan for playing him at left back after he regularly did the exact same kind of mistake against Arsenal), and probably at Barton, too. Oh, and Duff. And the ref. Fuck them all.

For some reason I have failed to be annoyed with Smith, but that's probably because I expect nothing from him.

Taylor's positioning and anticipation is so shit that it makes him look better than he is: whenever something happens, he's too far from the action to be at fault.

Boumsongesque defending as well.

I'm not convinced he was last man. Lescott wasn't far off the pair of them. I don't think a yellow card and a free kick would have changed anything.

 

Also, you've just been beaten 6-1. That's nothing to do with refereeing decisions is it really?

Certainly it has. Against a 10 men Everton, it might have been 5-3.

Of course I don't expect a win against a good Premier League side in early pre-season. Actually, I would never expect that.

Milner is a lot more pacey than most people on here give him credit for. He's also one of our best players, not in terms of "potential, the way people think Duff has the "potential" to be a good player for us, which he so far hasn't, but in actual performance. He does more for us than N'Zogbia, but he just isn't as exciting to watch.

Would never have happened if Lee Carsley had been sent off, as he rightly should.

And our defence was any better last season, with no left back, Ramage (20 starts!), Bramble, the Australian sicknote and the kids? We've conceded as many goals in 26 games as we did in all 38 last year.

I don't think it will matter much. Or at least, it won't have to. The last time the banks rolled over and died here in Norway, they were just bought by the state and ran like ordinary businesses with the state as the main shareholder. The banks still advertise and sponsor stuff, and they still try to get people to take on ridiculous mortgages and poor financing deals.

I disagree, Roeder is a decent spotter of talent imo. he was just far too cautious when it came to bringing players in, ridiculously so actually. coming out on bbc radio newcastle and publicly saying he is turning down campbell cos of his age goes down as one of his worst moments. he is not a natural risk taker i reckon, look how many times he scouted Kuyt, farcical really.

Just exactly how do we know that the reason why we didn't get any players was that Roeder was too cautious, and not the fat one dragging his heels? I've seen people here calling him a liar for saying he was trying to get three or four players in and then ending with Gooch, which I find quite ridiculous. It's not like no one would notice at the end of the transfer window. A liar knows what he can get away with.

Caçapa is from Brazil, not France. Wikipedia seems to think his name is pronounced Cassapa, though, and all the top Google hits for a search for 'Cacapa pronounced' as well.

Shit refereeing. Anichebe was a yard offside for his goal, and Eirik Bakke's goal was disallowed for a totally legal wrestling technique on the keeper. Should have been 1-1, really (or 0-0, if we're picky).

When seeing the mess we are in now, I really think we'd have done a lot better if the board only had bothered to support Roeder with the transfer money he evidently needed. He got far more out of a weaker squad than we have now (remember the team that held ManU to a draw?). Hell, we've already conceded as many goals this season as we did in all of 2006/2007. Not wanting him back, like, but although he didn't succeed, he didn't do any real harm, unlike the other two managers.

Duff's hardly slow is he?

 

Not electric fast but give him a couple of yards of a start and he's not gonna get chased down like Milner would for instance.

 

And yeah, we'll almost certainly get bummed by Man U but that wasn't the point I was disputing.

Duff is far slower than Milner. That's the reason why he never tries to cross.

To be fair, he could be referring to the fact that he wasn't allowed the money he'd been promised (by the former board) to buy the players he wanted. In that case 'big' means rich and ambitious. Perhaps we are rich and ambitious, but we haven't acted like it since Souness spent 50M on utter shite.

He was just waving his hands randomly about. Don't blame him, blame his downs.

After having seen Middlesbrough's goal a couple of times more, I think it's pretty clear that Lee, coming from offside, was interfering with play. It should have been disallowed. It was a fairly even match, considering how it ended, but we were robbed of a 2-0 victory. (Possibly 2-1 if the decision to disallow Boro's second goal was incorrect, but who cares. The ref cost us 2 points today, not our players.)