Cronky

This is the main problem. I don't rate Best that highly, but if Shola gets injured we're left with Ranger and Kuqi as options. Hopefully we'll be safe before that happens.

That tackle on Alonso had always looked like the settling of some personal score. However, the sending off was a major blow to our chances of avoiding relegation, so I hope he's not too proud of himself.

I don't think Madrid are playing that well. The build-up is too slow and deliberate. Spurs could easily get away with 1-0 at this rate.

It's a bit of a joke hearing Ray Wilkins lecturing players on how to tackle. In his playing days, he was the archetypal non-tackling midfielder.

Vidic. Wilshere to get Young Player award.

Fair point. We don't really have a fast counter-attack in our locker and that needs addressing. Not sure about that, the whole move unfolded in a couple of seconds quite far up the pitch after a mistake by Wolves. There was no time for many people to get forward, we did brilliantly to exploit it so incisively. Fair enough, that goal wasn't the best illustration of what I was getting at. I just feel we often don't get the ball forward quickly enough when an opposition move breaks down in our half. I'm not talking about a long ball. I'm talking about players getting forward quickly into space and an accurate pass meeting those runs. In Sir Bob's side, with the likes of Bellamy, Dyer and Robert, we could really hit teams like that. Basically, we lack pace in midfield at the moment. Our only real box-to-box player, Nolan, isn't one for fast breaks.

That defence would decide it.

I don't like the idea that the destination of the league title could hinge on this incident, but he's left the FA no choice. He has to be punished, and the only effective punishment is a ban, not a fine.

Agreed. His progress has been hampered injuries too. He was in really good form at the start of the season, before a injury once again stopped him. The away game against Arsenal was the best game I've ever seen from him. Didn't score a goal, but he worked his socks of. He had to switch between being a fifth midfielder and supporting Carroll. Also he held onto the ball so the rest of the team could move higher up. I get frustrated with the amount of stick that Shola gets, and that's not just because he's a better player than he's usually given credit for. He's always been willing - as now with the face mask - to turn out even when half-fit and put his body on the line. I suspect that's often been to his long-term cost. What's more, when he's on the pitch he never hides but is always prepared to show for the ball and try something even when things aren't going well. All this against a background of unfair criticism. Whatever you might think about his ability, there's no question IMO about his character. He always puts the team and the club before himself. If we ever win a trophy, the player who I would most like to see score the winning goal is Shola. No-one deserves it more.

On the subject of players recovering from broken legs, it was encouraging to see Zamora yesterday. He looked half a stone lighter. Not that Ben Arfa needed to lose weight, but these long-lay offs can give a player an opportunity to work on other aspects of their fitness.

Fair point. We don't really have a fast counter-attack in our locker and that needs addressing.

Very hard to choose between Tiote and Barton. I went for Tiote because I think Barton has been a pain in the arse of late.

She was the winner of their 'Spot the Offside' competition.

needs to bulk up a bit. the cries of "give it to the mascot" told a tale. He looks to have a decent turn of pace, and you wouldn't want him to lose any of that. I think he's developing just fine. He doesn't look like a weak link defensively at all.

West Ham seem to have the players to stay up. Wigan I fancy could just scrape by. It's so tight it'll come down to who gets lucky / unlucky with injuries etc Wolves, Blackburn and Blackpool.

Just going by the 60 minute highlights on Sky, it looked like the scoreline flattered us a bit. Still, there have been other games when the luck has gone against us. The pleasing thing is that, despite the absentees, we seem to have enough in our locker to get the points we need.

I think we've got ourselves a very decent player here. It's easy for an inexperienced player to hide a bit, but he had the confidence to get fully involved.

Shola getting 9's?? For that to happen he must have been like Messi. Looking forward to the Sky highlights.

Trouble is we don't have a replacement for Tiote. I worry that our back four is going to get exposed. It'll boil down to which team has that bit of luck.

Doesn't that actually back up my version - ie Milner thought he deserved a rise, not Milner was promised a rise?

Do you already know what they're going to say, or do you think that whatever they say is going to be wrong? Well if they said something that fitted in reasonably with Milner's story then I would believe them... Fact is, I consider the lad a trustworthy character. Every reference I've ever heard of regarding him from every club he's been associated with suggests he's as straight down the line as they come. So for him to say what he said is striking. It's sheer stupidity to insist upon considering claim and counter-claim as holding equal weight when you've access to wider supporting evidence, particularly regarding character. Well as I said in the other thread, I'm not sure you've got the Milner story right, but assuming you have, it's pretty common for a player who wants to leave a club to claim that some verbal promise or understanding has been broken. I just think Milner was wanted by Villa and he wanted to go. He knew he would get more money and he could probably see that problems were developing at Newcastle and wanted to go where the prospects were brighter. From the point of view of his career, he made the right decision. He's an ambitious lad and when the chance came two years later to join a more promising club in Man City, he requested a move similarly. This is what happens in football. I don't particularly blame Milner or Carroll for wanting to move. The club wouldn't have sold either player if they weren't going to get a decent price.

Neither of us were party to the discussions that took place on that day, so we don't know whether they said more to him in person, nor whether their claim about him asking to renegotiate immediately is true. Just going on the story from the Milner camp (which no one cast doubt upon at the time, as I recall), it certainly sounds like plausible behaviour from the Ashley/Llambias regime, though. This probably belongs to the other thread, but are you sure you've got the Milner story right? The story at the time was that Milner felt that his progress in the first year of his contract meant that he deserved to have his contract improved. This is the first time I've heard the angle that the club broke a promise. Can you refer me to any quotes / links?

Carroll actually asked to re-negotiate his contract 3 months after signing it. The club saying no to that isn't an indication that they had no intention of re-negotiating at any time in the next five years.

Do you already know what they're going to say, or do you think that whatever they say is going to be wrong?

If you believe Milner - and I do - he agreed a contract extension when Ashley bought the club on the same terms that he was already on, on the condition that the club would renegotiate the deal the next year. The club then refused to even talk to him about it causing him to show his annoyance by handing in a transfer request. They then sold him saying he wanted to leave. So he signed a new, four-year contract on the verbal understanding that the contract would be re-negotiated after a year? It'd be interesting to hear the other side of the story.