Rich

Tune Army raised a smile when I saw it, like

Haddaway and shite.

Such as? Fulham and Derby are the only possibles I can think of in the PL.

Chris Mort. Thin guy with glasses? He's the Chairman... Mike Ashley is the billionaire owner (does not attend any games.)

I know, I know. I vouched for Given. Stevie T doesn't have anything "extra" about him at all to make him worthy of first-team status at the minute and looks miles behind Rozehnal, he needs more competition in and around him and Faye will hopefully bring that. He's got a long way to go before I'll be completely confident with him being in the side, but I have faith that he'll still be a fantastic player as he gets older. He needs to improve his distribution/confidence on the ball more than anything though, at the minute he's simply a "blocker" in that he gets to most aerial balls/cuts things out/hoofs it clear, Woodgate and now Rozehnal both had that appearance of having an extra second of time to work in, where Taylor always looks very hasty and rushed. He and Nicky Butt were guilty of numerous lobs up the park yesterday, and Viduka didn't win a thing from them. At home it's handy if you have centre-halves who can bring the ball out/play a bit, because it opens up space further ahead if they're causing people to come and close them down. It's pointless banging constant balls into two walls of 9 players and hoping for the best, we've been doing that for too long and it's been found out.

Or another CB. No, I don't remember thinking that yesterday. With Taylor's performance, I definitely did.

Table shows us ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd. Not panicking just yet, but I was at the game yesterday and we were fairly turgid, as were the fans after the initially rousing period of support. It works both ways, though, the players do have to try and get the fans going themselves. The referee spoiled much of the game for me, and never let us get into any rhythm with some of the most dodgy decisions I've seen at SJP for a good while. If that game had been allowed to be played properly and some common sense was used, we'd have seen some goals. Viduka couldn't go anywhere near the ball in the first half, every time he did that useless git was blowing his whistle. Both teams were incredibly frustrated with it.

He will try his possible best to master the English language. BRRRRRAP!

Cracking read and I'm glad he's staying. Let's hope he keeps putting the ball in the net. More good news on the manager front, as well, but it's nothing we didn't suspect already.

If someone guesses it right, they can have a special prize. I haven't got a Scooby Doo. Three guesses each at the most, though, I'm not having someone list every 'keeper in Yeurop Might as well make it competitive.

What would stop it from happening? I can't see any reason for it not being allowed as long as it was controlled. Allardyce wanting to run a tight ship? Being paranoid about his training practices becoming public knowledge? Surely he sees what he does during the week as of pivotal importance and there's always the worry of giving opposition managers too much information, and all that. Haven't a club just banned spectators from training for that exact reason?

The return of Pav? (Again?)

I have to say, it's always my first thought as well, both at boardroom and management level. Quite disgusting for a multi-million pound business which is the heart and soul/figurehead of an entire region.

Not a bad shout, would also demonstrate that Allardyce and his clan are doing things properly if people had more access to them. Certainly not for every single session, but wouldn't hurt as an occasional thing. Would be surprised to see it happen in this day and age, but it would be a nice touch.

Again, apologies if posted, more interesting stuff in today's media that I can't see here already: Shields Gazette I know everyone knew we might be looking into something like this, but it's still good to have clarification. Loan first and foremost, but a purchase if necessary. Any suggestions?

Apologies if posted elsewhere, I did a quick search and scan but couldn't see anything: The Times More good stuff, if you ask me, all pointing to a more professional approach from the management - something we've been sorely lacking for as long as I can remember. Also interesting to see the Times listing Dyer's fee at £7M and saying we're going to reinvest it further, Caulkin has a good reputation in my own personal opinion, I rate him quite highly.

Still tickets left in Bar 1892, Sports Bar, Leazes L7, Milburn L7, Sovereign Suite and the Black/White Room, crackers. Imagine what the ground would have looked like if Shepherd and Roeder were still here. I wouldn't have been there, that's for fucking certain.

If you look at the sort of players that Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool's squad are full of I'm struggling to see them as being much quicker than ourselves in the middle, we've been over-blessed with pace, if you like, for a long time now - maybe too much pace and not enough technique? If you went through the "big four" squads, even just in the midfield areas, they aren't exactly flooded with pace. You've got the likes of SWP, Pennant, Nani, Ronaldo, Robben, Malouda, Walcott, Kalou and Kewell (at a push) - none of whom are central midfielders, which is where people seem majorly concerned with our pace. Makelele, Lampard and Essien are hardly lightning-quick in Chelsea's engine room. Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko, neither, for Liverpool. Carrick, Hargreaves and Scholes aren't any quicker as a group than our lot, probably slower. Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb or Rosicky aren't turbo-charged at all, either. It's not as essential as people are suggesting, but it is useful to have pace in the right areas, even then Chelsea have only really had Robben OR SWP on the park, fairly rarely together, and Joe Cole isn't super-fast either. We still have N'Zogbia and Martins as the two stand-out speed-demons in our squad, so we're pretty much on-par with the big-four. Emre has a bit of pace about him, Smith isn't exactly slow, Geremi plays the game at a good tempo and there's still Milner and Owen to think about who could, theoretically, play in these "wide areas" we're discussing. I do see how pace can be useful, but I honestly don't think we're much slower than any of the "top teams" in this division. We are. Midfield does not mean central does it? An example: How important is Ronaldo and how often does he skin people using his pace? How often is he used on the break. Giggs is still quicker than anything we have out wide. Is Milner likely to outsprint Nani? Ferguson has always done it, even going back to Danny Wallace. Kanchelskis, Giggs, Ronaldo are/were used so often to break. We used to do it under Robson. We can't at present. Can you imagine trying to break with Milner trundling up the wing? Malouda? Robben and SWP. You think we have that in level of pace in midfield? Joe Cole is an awful lot faster than you give him credit for too. Before that Ljungberg and Pires regularly raped Aaron Hughes and most other, far better fullbacks. It's little surprise that the last 3 sides to win the title have utilised that ability to break so quickly out wide. It wasn't used infrequently either. Its that very option we are sadly lacking at present. Of course there are other factors. Do they have that ability? Of course. Do we? Not bloody likely. A whole post completely ignoring Martins and N'Zogbia, both of whom will be challenging for those "wide midfield/forward" positions you talk about and both as fast as any player you've mentioned there. Is Milner really as slow as you're making out? You seem to have a cracking vendetta against the lad from where I sit. Martins is as fast as anything in the league and he's playing in this exact "counter-attacking" position you mention and N'Zogbia/Owen might well be playing on the other side, if not Milner. Overall, those four players are as quick as most other players of that sort in the Premiership and we'd be right towards the top end of the queue there as well, perhaps not top of the queue, but not far off it. I must have been watching the likes of Emre and Smith in double-time or something, because both seem to have a bit of a turn of pace about them when required. If we're talking pure pace, that is. To me it seems like you're confusing "pace" with how quickly players play the game, I'd always assumed "pace" was merely how quick someone could run. You could have all the pace in the world but no passing ability/dribbling ability/end product and you'd be off fuck all use to anyone. I had assumed the debate originated with how slow our midfield was, because of Dyer's exit, from a pace perspective. Apologies if I got it wrong. How did you gather I was just talking central midfield from my post, by the way? There was shitloads in there on players who are strictly wide players.

If you look at the sort of players that Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool's squad are full of I'm struggling to see them as being much quicker than ourselves in the middle, we've been over-blessed with pace, if you like, for a long time now - maybe too much pace and not enough technique? If you went through the "big four" squads, even just in the midfield areas, they aren't exactly flooded with pace. You've got the likes of SWP, Pennant, Nani, Ronaldo, Robben, Malouda, Walcott, Kalou and Kewell (at a push) - none of whom are central midfielders, which is where people seem majorly concerned with our pace. Makelele, Lampard and Essien are hardly lightning-quick in Chelsea's engine room. Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko, neither, for Liverpool. Carrick, Hargreaves and Scholes aren't any quicker as a group than our lot, probably slower. Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb or Rosicky aren't turbo-charged at all, either. It's not as essential as people are suggesting, but it is useful to have pace in the right areas, even then Chelsea have only really had Robben OR SWP on the park, fairly rarely together, and Joe Cole isn't super-fast either. We still have N'Zogbia and Martins as the two stand-out speed-demons in our squad, so we're pretty much on-par with the big-four. Emre has a bit of pace about him, Smith isn't exactly slow, Geremi plays the game at a good tempo and there's still Milner and Owen to think about who could, theoretically, play in these "wide areas" we're discussing. I do see how pace can be useful, but I honestly don't think we're much slower than any of the "top teams" in this division.

Big flag that gets passed over people's heads? "Surfs" the crowd? The club are bringing one in themselves tomorrow along with the streamers.

My thoughts exactly. He certainly doesn't come across as a shrinking violet. This is hopefully why Allardyce gets paid what he does, though, should be a canny test for him.

Roberto/Dino Fuck, fair play, I'll believe you and I can't say anything about that, you get the last word. Gutted. >

If the Chronicle is right, we've got the formation/line-up absolutely spot-on again this week. Looks like continuing the 100% prediction record for the N-O forums, barring any last-minute fitness worries of course.

It's August, man. I concede that we're not in the middle of a heatwave, but scarves are surely more of a winter accessory. Pain in the arse to drag around all day an' all.