Cronky

It can be huge.

Krul and Ben Arfa are the main ones. I'm reasonably confident about the cover for the other positions, providing we don't have to field too many replacements at once.

It feels like we're stuck in a syndrome whereby the more the police are 'to blame', then the less 'blame' is attached to the fans, as though blame could be divvied up like a pie. Even if every single fan that day was drunk and didn't have a ticket, the police would still be guilty of incompetence and attempting to cover up their mistakes. At the same time, we have to face the fact that drunken, violent behaviour amongst football fans was a much greater problem in those days than it is now, and that was the environment in which the police were acting. That was why the mistake was made of shutting people up in pens. One positive thing that emerged after Hillsborough was that it had a generally sobering effect on the behaviour and attitude of many fans, and crowd control became easier.

I can remember, on the day of the tragedy, seeing two angry Liverpool fans at Hillsborough waving their tickets at a TV camera, and shouting that the police had let ticketless fans in. The Police made some bad judgements and then compounded that by attempting to cover their mistakes. What seems to be lacking in certain sections is a sense of perspective. It doesn't make them murderers. The Police and the Authorities have learned from the tragedy, but I'd say fans have as well, and I don't mean just Liverpool fans. It was noticeable for me that after Heysel and Hillsborough that the atmosphere in grounds became less violent and adolescent.

I think we should cut a bit of slack for Cleverley, because he's an attacking midfielder rather than a true Number 10. He's filling in at the moment. What I don't understand is Hodgson's reluctance to start Welbeck. He's a very good player who looks completely confident at that level.

Whether or not Garry Speed's death has had that indirect effect on his marriage, should he be bringing that to public attention? If I were Garry's family, I wouldn't particularly want to hear that.

Yeah, linking Speed's death with the break-up of his marriage jarred for me as well. Tragedy can bring people closer together.

He's always put the club and his team-mates before himself, unlike one or two cult heroes I could mention.

I'd agree, and I don't think it's a problem that will go away unless Pardew takes a grip of the situation. It feels like the two players themselves aren't completely convinced about the partnership. There's been public talk from Pardew about where Ba wants to play so the issue must be floating around the dressing room even if it's not discussed openly. Ba strikes me as quite a strong, assertive character and it's important that the whole squad feel that Pardew is picking the team completely on merit and according to his own convictions about what works best. There's a question mark around whether that's happening, and that's not healthy.

Midfield anchorman is normally a veteran's position, and he's done amazingly well there for his age. He seems to have a great temperament. He looks relaxed and if he makes a mistake, it doesn't seem to faze him. He picks himself up and carries on.

He is supposed to have said "steady" while Rodg was giving his pep talk. I'm surprised he wasn't shoved on the plane right away.

Interesting. He didn't really look like he was being himself. If he's going to impose his ideas effectively at that club, he needs to be much more convincing.

Good to see a right back who actually wants the ball.

I can't recall seeing any player hit the ball that hard with their weaker foot. Incredible goal.

The modest goal difference was more down to some batterings imo (Spurs away, Fulham away, Wigan away, etc). We got -12 from those 3 games alone. I think my point still stands. We took a few batterings, but didn't give any out. I think 3-0 against Stoke was our biggest win.

I put 6th. I can see a similar season to last one. Obviously we got the points to reach 5th last time, but our modest goal difference indicates that we managed to win a large percentage of tight games, rather than dominate the teams who finished further down the table. That was down to good organisation and tactical thinking. I'd like to see us step up a level and play a more skilful, passing game, but I don't think we have the players in place to do that yet. So I foresee a similar position to last time.

I'm pinning a lot of hope on Sammy coming through this season. If he continues to develop like he has been over the last year or so, we'll have a very effective player who would be well suited to 4-3-3.

I'm disappointed we didn't bring in another right back, because I think Simpson is holding us back. Apart from that, okay. It's annoying when you see other clubs throwing money around, but our strategy still makes sense. If you're going to try and bring young players through, there's not much point in spending lots of money on ready-made players who aren't significantly better than the ones you've already got. They'll only block the development of the youngsters. The other way of team building is to sell players whose reputations are temporarily inflated (eg Carroll), and bring in players who are temporarily under-rated. Tiote for £20m would have been a good move, if it had been on the cards. Either those opportunities weren't there, or we turned them down.

Sadly, I pretty much agree with that. I fear his lack of pace will always restrict him. His decision-making on the ball also seems a bit naive. He's trying very hard to prove himself, so perhaps as a result he's attempting things that aren't really on. He doesn't look relaxed. I think, like Viana, he'll be more suited to the continental game.

Marv showed real class nearly every time in possession. Pards clearly doesn't trust his defensive abilities, but I hope he gets his chance in the Premiership. Ba looked poor at holding the ball up. I'm still not convinced about Obertan. Knocking the ball on the outside and chasing after it isn't enough in the Premiership. Why was Bigi taking so many set pieces? It didn't look like a strength of his at all. Anyway, relieved in the end that we're through.

Marv looks a different class from every other player on the pitch. So does Simpson, in a different way.

I'd definitely take a chance with Zaha. He has the talent to be a top player.

I understand they nearly came to blows.

The usual pattern of misreading situations because he's too wrapped up in his own point of view.

A very capable bloke who played a major part in the formation of the modern club. He paid the price for doing the Board's dirty work. Things went downhill after he left and Freddie Shepherd was left in almost unfettered control. The future could have been very different.