Mowen

If Zurab has to move to the middle to make up for Coloccini's absence Geremi'll probably be our best option at full back. The alternative is playing Kadar in the middle which is a much greater risk.

Plays there for his country too I think.

Haven read the article I must say that journalist seems bitter as fuck about something, the Bill Shankley extract is utterly ridiculous. The Newcastle section is extremely lazy journalism built on top of the lazy journalism of honing in on one tearful fan, picking the biggest mong to interview etc.

No Guthrie? Why?

Tonight: Preston, Peterborough and Sheff Utd. £5 at 5.8 Tomorrow: Us and N Forest. £7 at 2.84 Both on betfair. I'm not sure the fantastic betfair capabilities of the iPhone help my work.

Bad news, but given his form not the blow I would have considered it at the start of the season. We could do with as few injuries as possible, regardless.

Beckham.

The fact the opposition are a lot more shit, and therefore easier to tackle and less likely to be fouled, has played a major factor mind. Still don't think Smith is the answer when we go back up. For this season though, ideal. Smith has been very good this season. So much so that it's easy to forget how woefully inadequate he was as a midfielder for us in the prem.

Wasn't the argument at the time though, that with Robert, Ambrose, Viana, Dyer, Jenas & Bowyer, we needed someone in the "holding role". Speed was still more of a goal threat than all but Robert from that list even when he left though. Dyer had his moments I guess. He was hardly prolific when he left though, and nor was he for Bolton for a couple of seasons. He was slowing down, and at almost 35 it's not hard to see why you'd want to think about replacing him with someone younger (but mature enough for the responsibility of the role) when you're a team attempting to get into the top 4. <snip> A lot of hindsight and a certain amount of rewriting of history going on in the last couple of pages. Like Robson himself, just because the replacement didn't work out doesn't mean the decision to get rid was wrong. Snipped the stats to shorten the quote pyramid. Yes, he wasn't so much of a goal threat and had slowed down a lot, but he offered more than most. He was powerful in the air and, although he got forward less and less, knew his way around the penalty area and certainly offered a threat when he was going forward. He ultimately needed replacing and I was very happy for a competitor for his place to come in, but the idea to actually get rid of him was nonsensical imo. He was a very experienced head combined with still being a decent player, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was getting more and more involved in the coaching aspect given what he's done since he left. He would have been vital in the continued development of the so called brat pack, there's a hell of a lot the likes of Bowyer, Dyer and Jenas could and would have learnt from him; at the very least he was a top pro who kept himself in shape and worked very hard. He would have continued to be a big asset for the club even if not playing as much. If you are going to have Alan Shearer in your side it can work, but you have to have players around him who will compensate for his lack of pace. Robson did this with Bellamy, Dyer and Robert, and Keegan also before that. Dalglish's teams especially stick in my mind as built on solid players with no flair, and in those type of teams Shearer could look impotent. He still scored around 20 goals in the one full season under Dalglish. Well as you know, my memory is trashed from that far back, but I recall Dalglish did well while Keegan's players were still around, but once he brought in his own grafter type players we became less and less potent as an attacking force. Who were the midfielders in that season, any idea? We definitely did become less potent as an attacking force. But that year Shearer had his injury and was very poor in the league when he came back, we'd lost Ferdinand, Asprilla, Bearsdley (who was at the end anyway) and an unhappy Ginola. Although in his time for us Dalglish bought us some very good players. What factored against Dalglish was simply that he was the opposite of Keegan. Dalglish didn't buy bad players I agree, but those players didn't make a good team, there wasn't any flair or attacking instinct there and for that he has to take the blame. Fans aren't daft and they didn't start chanting "Attack, attack...attack, attack, attack!" beacuse they suddenly all had collective brain farts. The most effective Shearer I saw was in SBR's team paired with Bellamy along with players like Robert, Dyer and Solano. Who bought Nobby? Well I never denied Dalglish bought some good players did I? Shearer was also most effective for us in his first season. That will always come down to personal opinion but I always thought him and Ferdinand didn't really click that well, but they were both devastating strikers in their own right so it didn't really matter. I agree. Everyone talks about them being a wonderful partnership, but I don't think they were. Two fantastic strikers playing together which meant goals would always come as they had fantastic providers. But as a partnership Beardsley and Cole were far superior. Although the Shearer we signed was pretty much at the peak of his powers, he still had his pace and movement and he had learned a lot as well so was becoming a more all rounded striker who used his experience as well. Bellamy formed the best partnership with Shearer here by some distance, complemented each other brilliantly. Whilst not in the same class the way that Shearer adapted his game to suit his strengths and minimise exposure of his limitations after that injury was nothing short of fantastic.

That Terry incident was funny as fuck, it has to be said.

Or has he still got an agenda himself since he was banned after Kinnear called him a cunt? I reckon there's definitely an element of that, hence my first reaction to the article Tooj posted. Nice to see a journalist coming at it from a different angle, if a little heavy handedly.

Impossible to argue with so far. Many similarities really, not least the baggage they bring off the pitch far outweighing their contributions on it. Bowyer at least chipped in with the odd goal tbf. Not till near the end post the fight with Dyer when they both pulled their fingers out. Chipped in with a couple before then I think...off the top of my head Pompey at home, Deportivo (I think? In a 1-1 away in Europe anyway) away. I assume 1 or 2 I've forgotten about. Barton's only ever scored penalties for us. Was that not post fight? I remember goal against Olympiakos at home. Think you're right actually. Still contributed more than Barton.

Wasn't the argument at the time though, that with Robert, Ambrose, Viana, Dyer, Jenas & Bowyer, we needed someone in the "holding role". Speed was still more of a goal threat than all but Robert from that list even when he left though. Dyer had his moments I guess. He was hardly prolific when he left though, and nor was he for Bolton for a couple of seasons. He was slowing down, and at almost 35 it's not hard to see why you'd want to think about replacing him with someone younger (but mature enough for the responsibility of the role) when you're a team attempting to get into the top 4. <snip> A lot of hindsight and a certain amount of rewriting of history going on in the last couple of pages. Like Robson himself, just because the replacement didn't work out doesn't mean the decision to get rid was wrong. Snipped the stats to shorten the quote pyramid. Yes, he wasn't so much of a goal threat and had slowed down a lot, but he offered more than most. He was powerful in the air and, although he got forward less and less, knew his way around the penalty area and certainly offered a threat when he was going forward. He ultimately needed replacing and I was very happy for a competitor for his place to come in, but the idea to actually get rid of him was nonsensical imo. He was a very experienced head combined with still being a decent player, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was getting more and more involved in the coaching aspect given what he's done since he left. He would have been vital in the continued development of the so called brat pack, there's a hell of a lot the likes of Bowyer, Dyer and Jenas could and would have learnt from him; at the very least he was a top pro who kept himself in shape and worked very hard. He would have continued to be a big asset for the club even if not playing as much.

Good article that. Who does Bird write for?

Can't see his term as manager coming to an end with things as they are and Ashley at the helm, and nor should it. I'd definitely look at the situation if there is a takeover though.

Kinnear will be fuming.

Exactly, pretty sure we said as much to each other at the time about our fans being solid on the day. No comment on the fact that most of us were still there, singing about 45mins after full time either.

What on earth makes you think Smith will score? Did you just arbitrarily pick someone? I can't even remember him having a shot this season.

I would assume Simpson is the most likely as he's out of contract at the end of the season.

Impossible to argue with so far. Many similarities really, not least the baggage they bring off the pitch far outweighing their contributions on it. Bowyer at least chipped in with the odd goal tbf. Not till near the end post the fight with Dyer when they both pulled their fingers out. Chipped in with a couple before then I think...off the top of my head Pompey at home, Deportivo (I think? In a 1-1 away in Europe anyway) away. I assume 1 or 2 I've forgotten about. Barton's only ever scored penalties for us.

Impossible to argue with so far. Many similarities really, not least the baggage they bring off the pitch far outweighing their contributions on it. Bowyer at least chipped in with the odd goal tbf.

Wasn't the argument at the time though, that with Robert, Ambrose, Viana, Dyer, Jenas & Bowyer, we needed someone in the "holding role". Speed was still more of a goal threat than all but Robert from that list even when he left though. Dyer had his moments I guess.

Not exactly related but I don't know how anyone can boo and keep a straight face. I've tried; it's impossible. You literally sound ridiculous, like you're trying to do a rubbish monkey impression or something. why would you try? I was joining in. Think it was when Chopra got the ball at Cardiff. I listened to myself and had to stop.

Not exactly related but I don't know how anyone can boo and keep a straight face. I've tried; it's impossible. You literally sound ridiculous, like you're trying to do a rubbish monkey impression or something.