Cronky

It would be incredible. Well somebody had to say it.

With that gangly physique, he doesn't look a natural penalty-taker at all. I can only put his success down to him being a natural optimist. He approaches the penalty spot in the right frame of mind, like Le Tiss used to do.

There's a lot in what you're saying there. We have to expect that he's going to pick up a lot of bookings. It's a matter of cutting out the ones where he's frustrated or angry and lunges in without any prospect of getting the ball. An underlying problem is we've got no back-up for his role when he's banned. Hopefully, that's something that Pardew will address.

Exactly. What is all this about Lampard on the left with Gerrard in midfield or vice versa just to have the two in the same side. Stuff that. Get a proper winger wide and drop one of the two. Same up top. Stuff having Gerrard playing off whoever, stick two forwards up there, get in two wingers and play attacking direct football. By direct don't confuse me with the long ball. Think Sir Bobby's NUFC direct. That's what we need and the next England manager needs to be chosen very carefully on that basis as someone who can pick the right players and play a system that said players know and can play and can play well. Me, I'd try and tempt Sir Alex Ferguson who I think could well retire his post at Man Utd should he win the Premier League and Champions League. Although he would probably want to make it 6 European Cup's to Liverpool's 5. I wouldn't agree with that. A lesson that we should have taken from the World Cup is that if you play a traditional two-winger 4-4-2 at that level, you're likely to be outnumbered in midfield and be chasing around after the ball. Putting too much reliance on wide men delivering crosses can also make you too predictable and too easy to stop. Our top club sides have adopted a more flexible approach, and we need to as well.

I thought Karacan was impressive for Reading tonight. Anyone know much about him?

He recently gave a radio interview in which he talked about the England job - I don't know if the journo has taken some of his material from that. On the radio, he said he didn't have enough to do as England boss, but then complained that the FA would only give him a part-time assistant, rather than full-time, which doesn't make sense. After his England team were knocked out of the Euros in the first round, Keegan went straight back home. All the other managers whose teams had been eliminated stayed on to watch the other games, suss out potential opposition, study tactics etc. Everyone was astonished that Keegan missed the opportunity. When he says he didn't have enough to do, I think that's only half the story. I think the sort of observational work and detailed planning that the England manager has to do didn't interest him, or it's an area where his limitations as a thinker / analyst got exposed. I think that's what he's getting at when he says a foreign manager would be better suited to the role. That does make the assumption that Continental managers are theoreticians, and English managers are hands-on Mr Motivators. I don't know how Redknapp would cope with the England job, but he's got more brains than that rough-and-ready image of his might suggest.

I can't see the point in playing him for the last two games, if he's going to be off at the end of the season. We'd be better off giving one of our younger players some first team experience.

I'd see West Ham as a decent bunch of players who have been mismanaged. Ther heads drop down faster than a whore's drawers.

No to all of them. Stanislas has shown brief bits of quality from what I've seen. Can have good games and be totally anonymous. He can take a good set piece then kick the ground at the next one. Not good enough imo. Mark Noble?

There's a lot to like about modern football, so don't get me wrong. Generally speaking, it's far more entertaining. But Man City epitomise everything that's wrong about it.

Bridge isn't West Ham's is he? Ah, you're right. On loan from Man City.

It looks to me like we're putting a lot of effort into recruiting from abroad. You do get better value for money, if you do your research properly (ie no last minute Luques) The exception may be the fire sale at West Ham. Cole, Hitzlsperger, Green, Upson, Bridge, Parker - all internationals likely to be on the move. The young player there who's impressed me is Junior Stanislas. I don't know if he's injured at the moment.

Their demand for evidence is pure humbug. They know that Triesman isn't going to be able to produce a letter or a piece of video. No-one solicits bribes openly like that. Expecting FIFA to reform itself is like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. I suspect the only way of producing change would be for UEFA to break away, set up their own organisation, and then invite the rest to join.

I’d agree – there was far more to Ginola’s game. That side was beautifully balanced going forward, and you’re right in saying that Asprilla’s arrival and Gillespie’s absence disrupted that. I seem to remember that Beardsley was the one moved out right, and we lost that brilliant partnership that he had with Les. I don’t remember Ginola in particular being affected, but we were certainly weakened as an attacking force in general, and that would have impacted on his play.

I'd agree normally, but he's delaying because he's in the same boat as us fans. We all want to see some ambition and players of a good quality come in so we can push on and fight for European football hopefully. All rests on what mike and pardew have planned It rests at least as much, if not more, on what Jose has planned, and what other clubs are interested. If the likes of Liverpool or AC Milan really do come in for him, then he'll leave.

And Lennon, Bale and Modric Yeah, and when comparing the sides you also have to look at the weaker players. I don't think the likes of Simpson, Nolan, Perch, Best, Ryan Taylor or Lovenkrands would get anywhere near their first team.

Heh, top of the page says it's happening on the twelfth. Ok so far, nothing very direct regarding his future, etc. He says that he doesn't want to leave the PL for Spain unless it's for a top team, though. He praises the PL a lot and says he wants to keep playing in England (which since he's talking to Spanish readers means something). Also says that it's very hard to make the Spanish squad playing abroad unless you're in a big team, but he hopes to get his reward in time if he keeps doing things well. And this is the problem we can't solve. If he does go, I'm almost certain it will be down to this rather than an unhappiness regarding any wage issues, or our ambitions for next season. even though he keeps mentioning our need to bring in players? I think what I'm trying to say is that I reckon his pimary concern is that he's is getting to the age now that if he doesn't start pushing for an International cap now, he never will, and if there were stronger indications that he could get into the Spaninsh side without being in a Champions League team or heading back to Spain, then there would be much less hesitation signing a new contract (regardless of the players we might bring in). I think he's kidding himself if he thinks playing for us puts him a bit off the radar in terms of playing for Spain. The problem is he's not quite good enough.

He can't postpone his decision till the last weeks of August so that he can see who we've brought in. If he's going to go, we need time to get a replacement. His concentration does tend to wander in defence, (eg when he tried to head the ball away from behind the goal line against Blackpool) I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Liverpool are hesitant, as suggested.

Let's not get too carried away with selective stats. They've spent their season battling for another Champions League place, whereas we've been worrying about going down again. They're a far better side than us.

They're a bit fur coat and no knickers at the moment. It looks to me like they're still playing good football, but finding it difficult to score. Perhaps it's just down to a lack of physical presence up front. Until recently they were doing okay and looked in with a shout of top four again. The Champions League campaign may have taken its toll on them, and tiredness may be a factor. I don't think they've suddenly changed into a bad side though.

He was very impressive tonight. I don't think Spurs would want to sell though.

Tiote gave a very exasperated reaction to his booking against Birmingham, and I think he realised its significance. I suspect he knew in advance that it meant it would be his last game this season, though that's obviously not something that Pardew's going to go public with. He's so involved with the play and puts in so many tackles that he's bound to collect more yellows than most players, but he is also prone to rushes of blood to the head. Opinions differ on the Stevenage sending off, but he seemed very wound up at the situation we were in, and jumped into a dangerous challenge.

I dont see why its hard to believe. Even if you believe the whole "Ashley will sell anyone for profit" theory even he will realise that Enrique on a long contract will bring in a much higher fee than Enrique on a one year contract. No matter what his motivation is he'll want him on a new deal. You make a fair point.. no doubt its why Tiote was given a 6 year deal. I love the optimism on here I often think the motto of this board should be - 'Every silver lining has a big, black cloud behind it'.

Joey will stay. Jose will go. On 1st September, the total amount spent on transfer fees will be subtracted from 35 million and Ashley will be accused of pocketing the rest.

This. Sometimes you have to take ability with attitude. He's got that spark that the majority of our midfield has missed at times this season. Not sure he'd get on with Ben Arfa. Yeah, this. And I don't think Zoggy is good enough to make it worthwhile putting up with any attitude problems.