Cronky

Right now probably. Would drop Ba for him in our 4-3-3, but in the long run i don't know where that leaves Ba. At PSG. I've got one of two doubts about Hoilett's application, but if he plays to the best of his ability he'd be an automatic choice for us, surely.

Schmeichel - Jones, Adams, Ferdinand, Evra - Ronaldo, Gerrard, Keane, Kewell - Rooney, Shearer I'd forgotten all about Rob Jones - he was a class attacking full back. Disappointed but not surprised at the absence of Krul's save v Wolves this season.

The word 'controversial'. I'm tired of it.

QPR - there's a guilty pleasure in watching an owner blow his cash and fail. Plus Joey's egotistical ramblings got on my nerves. Wigan and Blackburn - because I like Hoilett and Moses and would like to see us go for one or the other. Got to admit, Wigan deserve to stay up though.

Those are the two.

Harry Kewell and (in the early days) Mark Viduka?

As I understand it, in the American Moneyball someone identified a particular statistical indicator of a player's value, that conventional wisdom had ignored or dismissed. By correctly realising that the stat was key, Oakland gained an advantage, for a while at least. Whilst stats haven't played a part in our team-building, Ashley has reaped the benefits of some unconventional decisions which have proved correct - decisions which would have led to a lot of criticism had they failed. Egs replacing a manager who was doing reasonably well with someone who he felt could do better (most owners wait until the team's in trouble), and giving a long contract to a player with a bad injury. The key element in Moneyball for me is having the courage to think for yourself and not follow the herd. At first, before he got to know the business, that part of Ashley's approach was a problem - now it's a big asset.

With Ben Arfa and Krul, I would tend to think that whatever offer we might get now, we'd probably get more in a year's time. Potentially, they can also be a big part in a good future for us, but just from the financial point of view it would make sense to hold out. With Tiote, I think it's a different matter. I suspect his reputation has peaked and a £20m offer would be a very good one (ie Carroll scenario again)

Hatem and Tim are the players that I'd fight tooth and nail to keep, at least for one more season. Trouble is, they're the players who are going to attract most interest.

The League Cup has always been a low-prestige competition. I don't think much has changed there. It's found a niche as a payday for the lower league clubs, and as an opportunity for the Premiership teams to give a chance to their youth and reserve players. The Champions League has diminished the FA Cup, with the importance for the top teams of getting into that top four. The CL is a good competition and so I'm broadly accepting of the fact that its success will have a knock-on effect. What I think is damaging is the huge difference in the financial rewards of competing in the CL, compared with the rest of the Premiership. We've ended up with a self-perpetuating elite, who, because of their wealth have ended up monopolising (to some extent) the FA Cup as well. I think the money should be distributed more evenly. I can't see the FA Cup recovering its position though. In the old days, only one team qualified for the European Cup, so coming 2nd and qualifying for the UEFA Cup was in practice no more rewarding than winning the FA Cup and getting in the Cup Winners Cup. In fact, of course, the Cup winners had the extra glory of winning a competition with such a long and interesting history. Those days won't return.

Really?

He made a mess of things on occasion today but he played with his old aggression and his physicality was always a threat. Could be a useful squad member for the Euros, as a potential impact sub for moments of trouble.

Liverpool deserved it. They did their best to mess things up though. The last thing we need is a Liverpool revival, so I'm not too happy.

Think of the longer-term. We must now see Liverpool as rivals, and do we really want them to have the boost of two trophies this season? Nah. Ignominious defeat to local rivals must be their fate.

I know it makes sense, but I can't bring myself to do it. Everton and Moyes have earned some success. Besides, I'm not that bothered about the poxy Europa League.

That was an interesting read. I started off very sceptical about whether Liverpool had really applied that theory, but ended up 50-50. It's puzzled me that so many of Liverpool's signings - Carroll, Adam, Downing, Henderson - were players who happened to be in the media spotlight at the time. Even Coates had just won a Player of the Tournament award. It seemed to be the total opposite of any moneyball strategy, in that there was no sign of independent, careful research and the club was ending up paying an inflated price for players whose reputations were temporarily enhanced. What's the point of employing a DOF if they're just going to go with the flow and sign big names? Americans are fond of their statistics, and perhaps the article is right - that Comolli was able to sell this particular piece of research as the way forward. With all the complicated interactions between players, I don't think football is as amenable to statistical analysis in the same way as baseball. With baseball and I think cricket as well, you can isolate the quality of an individual's contribution to the team in stats much more easily. According to stats, Leon Brittan is the best passer of the ball in Europe.

If I was Pardew, I'd get him to practice shooting and crossing with his right foot. For sure, he's very good at making space to hit it with his left, but he does pass up opportunities by not trusting his right. I do get the impression that on the continent there's more of an emphasis on expanding your repertoire with your stronger foot, rather than building up your weaker one.

I would make Everton the favourites. Form won't count for much in a cup semi and a derby, but Liverpool are probably fielding their third choice keeper and he looked extremely nervous against Blackburn. Poor bloke has been through hell, I know. But after Wednesday, I did wonder if Dalglish would be asking too much of him if he picked him this weekend.

Ba I can see leaving. If there wasn't some sort of a release clause, the club would have said so by now. He hasn't played well since Cisse's arrival and since the change in his role within the side. He's publicly snubbed the manager and earlier on in the season, he said something about one day fulfilling his childhood dream to play for PSG. We could bring in a player who's more suited to that new role and strengthen the squad as a result. Tiote I'd like to keep but if we get an offer of around £20m, that money could be re-invested to leave us better off. Despite his current reputation, Tiote has weaknesses in his game and I could see a more-money-than-sense club like Chelsea coming in for him.

Keep the tissues handy.

Imagine Hoilett-Cissé-Ben Arfa. We'd win 10-0 every game. Hoilett looks a lazy bastard when the oppostion's got the ball. Interesting you should say that, because despite his obvious talent, I've got a slight concern about Hoilett's attitude as well. Given that he fully intends to leave in a few weeks time, it must be difficult for him to maintain his focus and motivation. He seems to be playing in 'bursts' at the moment. Zaha and Moses are the others who I think would be good buys. Zaha is lower down on his learning curve, but of the three could well turn out to be the best of the lot IMO.

Running a chain of sports shops is closer to running a football club than running a baseball club is? It’s not easy to put your finger on it, but there are so many subtle differences between Britain and America in terms of business practice, culture, personal presentation etc – and it shows in the world of football. I’m not convinced that the Americans have got to grips with it at all. As an example, when everything was kicking off with Suarez and Evra, the owners seemed to be spectators, whereas I think an English owner would have recognised much earlier that Dalglish had got himself in a mess. I also think an English owner, even with a moderate knowledge of football, would have recognised that £35m for Carroll was too much. You could say they should delegate to people who know what they're doing, but I think the owners of a football club need to be much more hands on. There's a lot of emotion and pressure involved in football decisions and somebody needs to draw the line and keep the football people on the side of good sense - something that Ashley has done very well I'd say.

I dont like the sound of that, Cruyff is a very smart man and pretty much the reason Barca are where they are today. If Liverpool got him as a DOF i wouldnt be suprised if hes a success. For Cruyff to do at Liverpool what he did with Barcelona, he would need to be there a long time, and even then, it would take Liverpool a good 10 years or so to start reaping the rewards. Cruyff is a club philosophy guru rather than a cosmetic director. Cruyff and Dalglish can work together as long as their remits are totally separate, and FSG decide they can afford to continue struggling for the next few years. As I understand it, there's been lots of conflict at Ajax centring around Cruyff's involvement. He's a very bright guy with a forceful personality and strong views. He showed that as manager of Barca. He really needs to be the leader but he doesn't want the stress and strain of management at a major club any more. However, that probably makes him too powerful a figure for a background role.

I think there are parallels here with Ashley. In both cases the new owners had to hit the ground running, but were inexperienced in running a major football club, and made mistakes as a result. However, whereas Ashley got to grips with the task over time and formed a coherent strategy, I don't get the impression that the Fenway group are any further on. There are cultural as well as practical differences between running an English football club and running an American baseball team. Inevitably, the learning curve for the Americans was always going to be a longer one. They're making these confident pronoucements, but I don't think they know what they're doing and deep down they're probably wondering what they've let themselves in for. The Chairman, Tom Werner, gives the impression of being a spectator rather than a leader.

14s sounds like extremely generous odds if you can still get it.