Cronky

No, not really. Every win has come with a sense of relief rather than joy. The Premiership is the place to be.

It's a bit of a lesson in how fragile, and how unfair, the reputation of a manager can be. Despite a previous good record, after Blackburn were relegated, he wasn't taken seriously for any of the better jobs in this country. It took a struggling Fulham to give him a chance, and he's shown what he can do.

I'd agree with that. It's a toss-up between Hodgson and Hughton for LMA Manager of the Year, and I really hope Hughton gets it. He inherited a sinking ship, on and off the pitch.

I liked - 'It's like deja vu, all over again'.

Chris Hughton has done the image of the club a lot of good - modest, calm, professional. The 40K+ crowds for Championship games has also put to bed the idea that the fans are just glory seekers. I don't think anyone was expecting that level of support, particularly with the turmoil behind the scenes. So yes, I think the club's standing with other supporters has been enhanced by this season.

I suspect it's the salary that's going to be the problem with getting him to sign a new contract. He might well feel he's better off sticking with us for the next few seasons and playing in the first team, rather than moving to Man U or Chelsea and getting stuck in the reserves or on the bench. But if they offer to double his money - that's hard to resist.

As for his ability as a manager, there's nothing to argue about. He's already proved that. I can't bear all the public histrionics though. Perhaps it helps him or his team, but he can be very disrespectful to other people. Last night, that theatrical running on to the pitch at the end to rub Barca's noses in it - rude and unnecessary. It was dressed up as a salute to the Inter fans, but it was all a massive ego trip and an attempt to humiliate the opposition.

A real winner. Not afraid to make bold decisions. Ruthless in his pursuit of victory and doesn't care what anyone else thinks of his methods. Hard-working. Very confident and spreads that confidence to his players. On the debit side, his teams cheat and he talks rubbish whenever a microphone is put in front of him.

I agree. They needed a physical presence up front, because there's no point in getting all those crosses and corners if no-one's going to win the ball in the air. Ibrahimovic wasn't up for it, and it took a long while before he took the necessary step of pushing Pique forward. They looked a lot more dangerous after that. Half the time, Inter weren't even being challenged in the air, let alone beaten.

Barca looked inhibited throughout, and it looked like the Mourinho factor. He shakes the confidence of the opposition coach and players, and they never really looked like they believed in themselves. It'll be an interesting final, because Van Gaal is one of the very few coaches in the world who won't be psyched out by Mourinho. The pre-match mind games could be more entertaining than the football.

Barca don't look like scoring. I agree with Beglin - the build up is too slow and deliberate. Ibrahimovic isn't doing his job. He looks nervous.

I think it's David Craig. I also think he's getting way too friendly.

Keane never seems to be short of interested clubs, but he always seems to fall short of expectations and get moved on. I wouldn't say he's in decline as a player, but I think his kind of striker is not as useful in the modern game as it used to be. It's the Owen problem - a specialist finisher who plays in advanced positions but who isn't a target man. As well as scoring, top level strikers now need to be either good at holding the ball up, or good at dropping deep and creating. That's my take on it.

I don't think there's any better. The best current comparison is Carew, but I wouldn't put him in a different class. Carroll has the ability to get clean headers on goal, even when closely marked and under physical pressure. That could be a very important weapon to have. Inevitably, with a player of that physique, his movement around the pitch is going to be a bit cumbersome. He's not going to get on the end of many chances if we're breaking swiftly out of defence, for instance. It's a matter of accepting the package he's offering.

That is a hell of a load of rubbish.

Just a Youtube opinion, but I hope that's true. He looks like he could step into that creative position between striker and midfield that would transform us as an attacking force. I'd be prepared to shell out big money for a player who could do that for us.

Not quite the player we're looking for, but he would improve the squad. Unlike Carroll and Shola, he has a bit of pace.

How did Dorrans slip below the radar of the bigger clubs? He's been the best player that I've seen in the Championship this season.

Going from one sub appearance in the league to regular starter is a bit of a jump. I'd really like to see more of this player though, given what is said about his talent.

Hughton dropped him for the Arsenal game. Shearer was appointed and immediately restored him (amid a little bit of fanfare IIRC) for the next four games. It was only at that point that Shearer dropped him. Hughton was the first to bite the bullet, though as I said I think Allardyce and Kinnear before him would have liked to, but bottled it.

The bigger picture is that you don't pick any player just so they can take penalties, and we were a better side without Owen than with him. It was difficult to drop him because of his reputation and standing in the game, and Hughton was the first one with the nerve to do it. Tbh I don't think Allardyce rated Owen and if he'd been dealing with Joe Bloggs he wouldn't have picked him. The failure to grasp that particular nettle ended up costing him dear.

This. My fears at the start of the season were that Butt would play almost every game like he did under Keegan, Kinnear and Shearer. Hughton has been the first manager to drop Butt despite him being fully fit (and this season even captain) since Big Sam. Big credit for Hughton on his handling in this situations. I think he was also the first one with the guts to drop Owen. Shearer then re-instated him for four games before dropping him again.

Without Rooney England is nothing special. Rooney has been getting injured a lot lately... Agreed. We're dependent on Rooney staying fit, and it looks like he's been over-played. Man U are equally dependent on him and that was always the danger. He could be in for a useful little rest now though.

I go back to 1966, and this is the best England squad I've seen. It will take a very good side to beat us. Having said that, there are two very good sides around, unfortunately. The obvious ones - Spain and Brazil. However, the World Cup is mostly a knock-out tournament, and the odds are that all the top teams, at one stage, will have to survive a penalty shoot out. So it could happen.

Do we need any further proof that KK is broke and desperate?