Mowen

The Game at SJP today: If it hadn't been so fucking boring I could be in bed by now.

Eh? Everybody remembers the 2-1 at SJP, which in many ways was the start of a great new era under Sir Bob. Shearer missing the pen springs to mind as well.

Stuck a few quid on that. Cheers for the spot.

I have to admit I was pleased when Duff signed: however I think both our left hand side and team would be stronger if we had signed a decent LB a la Bridge instead of Duffer. I would say that the LB and Milner/Emre (for when Zog is out) is still stronger than Huntington and Duff as a pairing.

Man Utd have had some brilliant sides, probably overall better than Arsenal's but, I'll argue with anyone who says Arsenal weren't more measured than Manchester. I'm, not saying Fergie incorporated Bobby Gould's Wimbledon philosophy, but they were certainly slightly more direct than Arsenal, with throughout the 90's, a British style game based on two out and out wingers, in fairness since Queiroz came in they altered that at times, much to their detriment. Aye. I would say that this season, and a couple of others that ManU have been more exciting than Arsenal. Maybe not as aesthetically pleasing, but more exciting.

I would say that this season ManU must have been as good to watch as Arsenal. I do agree with the point though, I've loved watching them for some time now. I also have a lot of respect for Thierry.

Charlton - do a lot for their fans, e.g. putting on cheap (almost free) transport from all round Kent so fans can get to the ground, sometimes put on free transport to away games.

But you don't give a shit about what he did at Porto? The bit that, most would say, shows he is special? I also don't think there are many in the worlk who could have done much better than he has with Chelsea.

Didn't ManU have a 12 point lead at one stage? I can't help but feel that if they lose the league that won't be brought up as much as another 12 point lead that was lost....

Bollocks.

Spurs will get bummed, imo. They'll be knackered after the Sevilla game, in the same way we were when we played Wolves away in a similar situation a couple of years back.

I thought it was Dixon who fouled Ginola, it looks like it was Winterburn. I'm pretty sure Winterburn fouled Ginola, who subsequently got booked for diving. This wound him up so much that when Dixon grabbed his shirt, later on, he let his frustration get the better of him and threw an elbow. I understand your point about Asprilla NE5, but he still goes down as one of my favourites. I don't know why I warmed to him more than some inconsistent magicians, but I just did. My memory seems to have eradicated the disappearing acts, and all I can remember of him now are the moments of footballing beauty. Rose tinted specs!

I wouldn't say I'm excited to have him back, but it's certainly pleasing that we'll have a striker in our ranks to play alongside Martins, rather than Dyer or Sib.

Got an email about a £5 matched freebet on Betfair if I put the bet on before midnight tonight. Went for Everton to beat Fulham at 1.75. If that comes in no doubt I'll lump the free bet on something ridiculous that stands no chance of winning....

As I said, Wenger is now prepared to let him go: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6532919.stm Would be a decent acquisition for the right price, and can't see Wenger asking for much more than £1.5m. If either Parker or Butt were to leave he would be a good purchase imo. If they both stay, however, I can't see him getting picked ahead of them - even if he should be. Would also do a decent job for us a full-back when required.

Roeder loves him, but what happens if/when Roeder leaves this summer? Howay then smartarse, what's funny? People need to get it into their head that Roeder is NOT going to get sacked! So because you think it won't happen it's a good joke when someone suggests it might? What about if we start getting booed off the pitch on a regular basis? When attendances keep falling bit by bit? When everyone starts singing sack the board every game? You don'ot think Roeder would be the one to get culled to save Freddy?

Yeah I thought he was ahead of Beattie in the pecking order. In that case I stand corrected. Could have sworn I'd heard he went out on loan somewhere!

I agree. There is also the point that, often fully down to managers, we end up under-valuing our assets, and as a result letting them go for less than they're worth a la Bowyer, Ambrose, Bellamy, Viana, Bernard etc., but to try and blame these losses on one collective failure is clearly ridiculous, as they are all individual cases with different groups of people to blame for different amounts in each instance. P.S. How much did Ketsbia cost? We got 900k for him, any profit there?

Watched the second half of the Spurs game, fucking dull I thought. Spurs seemed content with the scoreline and happy to lob long balls forward in the last 15, and Sevilla didn't really seem to have any ideas about how to break them down. Malbranque had the only chance I can remember, can't believe he doesn't start.

That's pretty tough - isn't the boy only 16? But as others have said, at that age it's more about coaching and development, and it no one would say we have the setup to groom young talent... It IS very early, although soem real, genuine talents are already knocking on the door at 16 - look at Vaughan at Everton. Vaughan is 18 I believe. He was the youngest goalscorer a while back. 'Tis true, but I've got a feeling he's not done much since then, and has recently gone off on loan - which would indicate he's not knocking on the door. Anichebe looks a good prospect there mind, and seems to have overtaken him in the pecking order - got a feeling he's 18 too. Hopefully someone like 1878 who actually knows about this will be able to clarify for me.

Regardless of the underlying point in the thread, I quite enjoy football-trivia related questions such as this one. Mainly 'cos I'm a sad bastard.

Could have sworn we'd made a slight loss on him. The truly amazing thing is my mate who's a Pompey fan was a little disappointed to see him go - he said we'd pay over the odds but he was a decent player who could do a job for us. What the fuck happened to him?!

Very well said. I totally agree. Dyer contributes very little, in fairness. More than Duff, and more than Emre on his "disappearing" days. But he's still very fucking average. True. But average defenders would be a massive step forward. If getting them means keeping Dyer, then it's an improvement at least.

Absolutely no chance of that happening. Alas so. Yeah, pity. Nice to think nice things sometimes though.

Pretty sure we made a loss on Faye. Think we bought him for £2.5m and sold him for £2m. Could easily be wrong, but that's what the brain's giving me at the moment. Also, didn't we get half a mill for Rob Lee from Derby or thereabouts? Could that have snuck into profit?