Mowen

Has been their best player everytime I've seen them this season. Shame his career has been so injury ravaged really, he could have gone on to be top class. Since we signed him the only spell that hasn't really worked out for him has been Liverpool weirdly, but he did ok there.

You just described a lot of players, but I don't think he was one of them, his finishing is good, but you watch his game a lot of is based on him getting a defender one on one and burning them for pace. His awareness of players around him is fantastic now, everytime I see City score he always seems to be involved somehow. I don't think he's as quick now as he was here but he's improved a lot in other ways. His partnership with Shearer was superb but it was his intelligent running rather than just him being quick that made it. Oba for instance alongside Shearer wouldn't have had the same impact despite him having arguably superior physical attributes.

You lose most heat through your extremities, ie hands, feet and head, therefore it doesn't really make much difference what length sleeve you wear since you don't lose much body heat through your forearms I always thought you lost most heat through your head (etc), because everywhere else was normally covered. Am I an idiot? Yes, that's true, but then come the hands and feet, and since the hands don't do anything during a football match (unless you're Thierry Henry), then one is often required to wear gloves, sometimes with short sleeves, but it makes no difference with the length of sleeve. The heat loss through the head thing is a myth... Yeah, it's based on a misinterpretation of an old military study (US I think). You're not a man until you've been hit in the thigh or balls by a football in sub-zero temperature. In some cases you're not a man after that's happened either.

I'd like to see 442 with Nolan in midfield as it'll give us the best chance of getting some goals, can't see it happening though, we'll play Nolan off Carrol. I reckon 442 diamond is our best bet at the moment.

I was joking, Ledley's always being photographed absolutely mortal. Got in trouble for kicking off with a bouncer and calling him a paki last year iirc.

I wouldn't mind if he really had "earned" his money due to good performances. Unfortunately looking at this report and keeping those photos of him at various parties in mind I can't help but getting the feeling that an unprofessional life style and poor performances as well as continuous injuries go hand in hand. Ledley King is a model pro, never touches a drop.

I'd probably blame the cheat rather than the honest mistake if I was you. I guess you have a point. Guess I've just accepted that cheating is part of the game nowadays, until FIFA makes serious effort to deal with it then there's nothing stopping players from doing it. Sooner or later you'll have to accept that refereeing mistakes are part of the game...you might end up killing yourself otherwise. Cheating does my nut in though.

I'd probably blame the cheat rather than the honest mistake if I was you.

Successful football teams often have a mixture e.g. Sherringham at ManU I could not disagree more. The championship may not have the finesse in terms of skill level but it still has teams packed with hard working bust a gut athletes and that is the baseline attribute that you must start with to compete in football at these high levels. You must ensure this as a prerequisite. Our top scorer and arguably most important player so far this season isn't a hard working bust a gut athlete.

Successful football teams often have a mixture e.g. Sherringham at ManU Successful football teams also do what they need to to ensure they're playing at the top level. I'd have him.

Actually, the Lahnden press and inhabitants of Lahnden seem to believe the north-east is so cold, there are icebergs floating down the Tyne and Geordies live in igloos.

What else did I miss?! Presumably you heard that Arsene Wenger cock-dropped Nemanja Vidic in a brawl on the pitch at Old Trafford last season? I suspect this is a fib. Yeah you got me. On a serious note, the da Silva brothers at ManU both got sent off for fighting each other in a league cup tie. That was pretty funny.

What else did I miss?! Presumably you heard that Arsene Wenger cock-dropped Nemanja Vidic in a brawl on the pitch at Old Trafford last season?

Maybe this is why top players rarely make great managers. You don't get world class players going to learn their trade in the lower reaches of football and historically there hasn't been a great deal of success attributed to managers who have started at the top. Increasingly within the continent there do seem to be a number of younger managers springing up who played at the top level and have started high up (Blanc, Deschamps, Leonardo) so maybe this trend will begin to change.

I agree.

Got a maths degree iirc. Decent shout.

on the other hand wheres the harm in a preliminary hearing, the main obstacle i view for the nust is I can't see Ashley wanting to sell to them, they're negotiating position is weak to begin with and possibly offending the current regime by not meeting them isn't a good way to start. No offending has taken place, we've politely declined his offer under the logic of we dont want to waste their time if we cant raise the funds. I think the fact Llambias called an hour after we launched tells you that hes happy to sell.

His distribution is still the weak point. I know he plays some class long balls and pings some nice ones down the line but when passing to feet he's erratic too frequently. He went through a phase of dicking around a few weeks ago, maybe he was finding it all too easy, but he's cut that out now and is comfortably our best player.

Is Lloris not France's keeper? He's looked an immense shot stopper at the very least every (once or twice...) time I've seen him.

I can tell we'll probably just go around and around in circles here, but if thats true, isn't it better that he leaves football and stops the average punters money going into his back pocket then? Probably, yeah. Doesn't stop me or anyone else thinking he's a cunt because of it. If he genuinely wants to quit I'll accept that but he'll blatently just come back in a year or two or continue to make a very healthy living from football in one way or another for the rest of his life. This isn't a Trescothick or Colleymore who's suffering from mental health problems, he just can't be fucked anymore. Don't get me wrong, I can see where you're coming from with the honesty angle, but I think what he's being honest about is completely pathetic. I'd respect Owen's honesty if he admitted he never gave a fuck about Newcastle and wasn't trying for the last 6 months but I'd still hate him.

I was wondering that. Stuey Barlow was nicknamed Jigsaw by our fans because he fell to pieces in the box. Same.

I see your point but in a world where the public are finding it increasingly hard to relate to footballers I think these comments will only leave your average punter more disillusioned that the huge money they're paying to go to the game is just going into the back pockets of people who increasingly give less and less of a fuck.