The College Dropout

I said that earlier, it's like the Mackems on the SMB with us. I think we are scared of them.

It took Bobby awhile to finally dump his dream of 352 and maybe Sam could do the same. I agree with HTL. Stop doing a Benitez, pick your best side and formation and give it a go for 5 or so games continuously. Drop players who aren't performing but still keep the side similar. I appreciate tactical changes, looking particularly at exploiting a weakness or trying to combat a threat but against a Reading side leaking goals for fun nothing but our strongest side should do.

It's bit early to be saying he wont change his small club mentality. And yes we HAVE to go for the win against the Mackems. Parky is right. It's the attitude that we have a problem with. We should only go to the top 4 LOOKING for a draw. Perhaps if we give it a go and still only get a draw then there wouldn't be a problem.

"Right, remember lads - keep it in single figures" Seriously though, I'm not going to slate Sam yet until he shows he's never going to learn from mistakes like yesterday. I have a lot of time for Sam though he will do well if given the chance. We sit 8th and to be honest i'd be *very* happy with that come the end of the season. As would I however I'm worried about what will happen when we face the big boys or teams around us. We've had a relatively easy start and we are only 8th. DDL against Boro, Derby & Reading (considering their position) really isn't good enough.

So did Bobby. 2 away wins when we came 5th. I'm worried about winning at home, this doesn't worry. We would've been winning 1-0 and conceded a late equalizer if it where that season. Our problem was not holding onto our leads. We drew plenty of games that season, we didn't lose too many on the road. This isn't the same situation.

Portmouth tbh

Hughes > Ramos With Ramos they could still challenge for the UEFA cup. but i doubt it.

I'd prefer Hughes over Ramos tbh. He'll sort out the defence. Deploy the wingers effectively and do something about their pansy midfield. Seville don't look the most solid team in the world and scoring hasn't really been Spurs problem this year.

Aye good point. Also Seville have won the UEFA Cup back to back and put in a strong title challenge last season. Much more than having a great second half to the season (that's what Spurs had last year). I don't rate Jol at all.

Mr. Benedict McCarthy still scoring & still getting over looked... a great signing by Mark Hughes, they sold their best player 2 years ago (Bellamy) and replaced him with a more natural goal-scorer.

I keep telling people the lad gets piggy backed by King. Amazes me how he gets into the England squad.

Don't forget Bramble and Dabizas. You might as well stick Bernard & Caldwell in. That was only 5 years ago, where are they now? Hughes = Couldn't get in the Villa side. Struggling to get in the Fulham side. Griffin = Couldn't get in the Pompey side. Struggling to get in the Derby side. O'Brien = Couldn't get in the Pompey side. Now playing for Bolton who are bottom. Bramble = Playing for Wigan. Dabizas = Winding his career down back home. Bernard = No club. Caldwell = Burnley captain. Scary! Have people forgot about Boumsong? He was f****** terrible Yeh but we're on about when we played Champions League. I remember that home game against Juve - Griffin, Hughes, Bramble and O'Brien were absolutely outstanding! Very true. individual very shit players indeed but we got 4th & 3rd with them. Granted they always looked like getting rattled 6-2 but for the most part it worked.

The whole thing is a shambles tbh. From the top to the bottom. However I must say Rio Ferdinand & Ashley Cole is the only individual to perform at a consistently high level. Defensively Cole has been solid & our defence looks more vulnerable without Rio than it does without JT.

lo that has to be my fav. N-O phrase. Only here has anyone ecer said "Shower of shit".. i'm usually to pissed to laugh about it.

We didn't deserve anything from the match tbf. Had some good chances though but general play was atrocious.

goalfest on monday Probably plays a blinder. The defenders where slow to react but still a mistake from the Fatman. You can blame a few people for the goal, but the truth is we were defending desperately for 40 minutes. True. Terrible performance all round. You know your in trouble when you have Rooney defending from the edge of the penalty box within 10 minutes of the second half.

goalfest on monday Probably plays a blinder. The defenders where slow to react but still a mistake from the Fatman.

Gerrard was very poor today. Didn't look faintly bothered. For L'Pool he's rushing around like's superman or something, he looked lethargic tonight & his and all the other lads head dropped as soon as the penalty was given. No fighting spirit. Russia where first to every ball and looked stronger and faster than our lads.

Aye, didn't string together any decent passes. Owen didn't have a sniff of goal all game and looked injured towards the end. Owen was forever "working" the channels. He should be in the middle at all time, goodness knows he can't run anymore.

Torres & Anelka up top for me. The pefect mix of rough & subtleness. (no homo)

How much do you think Bent and Smith are worth in todays market? i think smith would go for the same.... bent... omg... impossible... freebie? hehe Bent probably scored more goals last year/the year before than Smith has in 3-4 seasons. Bent imo is worth 8 to 10 million. Smith.. much more close to what we payed for.. still pretty crap though. Smith was not an improvement on Dyer.

I'd say Smith might be a worse signing than Bent or Gordon (who has looked dodgy).. Bent at the very least is a good player.. i'm not too sure about Mr. Smith.

Owen is still dangerous but now is pretty much strictly a box player. I don't think he has the legs to score a goal like his winer in the FA Cup. Every team needs pace within the last 3rd. Teams can then emply a very high defensive line which causes a long list of problems. It's rare to find a winger without pace these days who is any good.

id suspect that if SA leaves given out of the team, morale and confidence damage is much higher and that cant be good for the future. players need to know they will get their chances regularly and that they wont just be forgotten if they go through a spell of bad form. Johnsons shot hit Smith & Given scored with his hands. What did Harper do to get dropped? What can be worse for marally than playing well and being instantly dropped.

Yes... i'm sure he sorta came out to punch one of Evertons goals? He should be dropped as soon as he lets in 5 against us.