Cronky

If Lita had brains, he'd be a decent player.

A Beckham-esque cross there.

It's a bit annoying, because it's an entirely predictable problem, with alternatives available. There's not enough movement up front. They're winning quite a few aerial challenges, but it's pointless if the other striker isn't mobile enough to pick up the flick-on.

The ball's not sticking up front, which is often the problem when you play two centre-forward types.

City aren't exactly a million miles away from the top four, and along with the poor performances, there have been some very good ones. It takes time to build consistency and to get a settled side, and he should have been given till the end of the season. I'm also not sure whether all the players that have been brought in have been Hughes's choice. Robinho in particular, who hasn't delivered at all on the pitch and who I suspect has caused problems off it.

Agree with that.

I think the City owners are seriously underestimating how difficult it is to change a mid-table club into top four. There were glimpses this season that Hughes was getting there (ie against Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U). Maybe not this year, but probably next. I wonder how many of City's rivals (ie Liverpool, Villa, Spurs) are unhappy at this news. I suspect none of them.

City aren't playing with any conviction at all. Hughes has to make changes.

At the moment, SWP.

City looked the better side for the first 10 minutes, but their attack has completely disintegrated since then. Robinho looks like a passenger.

Yeah, this. Milner isn't the quickest and needs time and space to operate. He gets that in a side which is better than the opposition more often than not.

Wilshere's a great talent, but I just wonder how we'd use him, if he came now. Presumably Wenger would only agree the deal if he felt reasonably assured that the lad would get a few first-team starts. I could see him in the withdrawn striker, Beardsley-type role, but wouldn't that block the development of Ranger? (Yeah, I know they're different types of striker, but it would still reduce his opportunities. I couldn't imagine him playing Ranger and Wilshere together) If Wilshere is played in the midfield, who would Hughton drop of Jonas, Nolan, Smith or Pancrate? I can't see him axing Nolan or Smith. Pancrate has only just arrived and Jonas is by no means our worst player. Would he change the formation to 4-3-3 to suit Wilshere? I doubt if he'd take that risk in our position. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the lad here, but I'd rather test his impact out first with a few sub appearances, and that won't be what Wenger wants.

Very skilful. One of those players that seems to glide past defenders. All he needs is experience.

Rooney, Heskey, Defoe and Crouch are nailed on. I think he might also take Carlton Cole. Of his target men, I'd say Cole has the most all round talent, but his career hasn't developed as quickly as it should have done. If Cole can finally get his act together, he might yet surprise us all and end up as first choice.

This. And thats why I think he will make the squad. He maybe won't get many minutes at the WC but if England needs a goal in the last 15 mins or so than he's one of the best options you can get imo. This is the only half-decent argument for including him in the squad, but I still wouldn't take him along. Now that he's lost that sharpness, he misses just as many chances as he scores.

He actually seems to be slipping down the pecking order at Man U.

Do Liverpool pace themselves properly? They were giving everything in the first half, playing at full pelt, closing Arsenal down all over the pitch as though their lives depended on it. Obviously it got them the lead, but they'd run out of steam in the second half.

At various times on this board, there's been the prospect of Moyes, O'Neill, Redknapp and Hughes becoming the manager, and many people have dismissed them as second-rate and not up to the job. We're far too critical of managers and I often think we won't be satisfied until Mourinho, Wenger or Ferguson is installed. Or Keegan or Shearer of course, but that's another story.

There are so many questions of degree here. I don't think many English players dive when they haven't been touched at all, or roll around in agony to get a player sent off. You are more inclined to see that with foreign players. What you do see is English players go over at contact when they could at least try to stay on their feet, or make runs which deliberately cause contact to take place when they could avoid it. Some situations are more blatant than others and it's virtually impossible for refs to get it right all the time. I wouldn't criticise the likes of Rooney because everybody (with only one or two exceptions) is doing it. The lesson for defenders is to get the ball or don't make the challenge. One of the exceptions is Heskey, who always tries to stay on his feet despite being hacked and pushed all over the place. I find myself shouting at him to fall over ffs.

We should ask for Rooney while we're at it. They can only say no.

From what I can tell from their initial statement, they didn't have any concrete offers of financial support from any of the institutions that they approached. They were hoping that once they'd shown that they had raised or were able to raise x amount of money from supporters, that these other potential backers would then come on board. The thing is, it would take far more than expressions of interest from a few thousand fans to encourage these institutions to commit significant funds. I suspect that that is what they're finding and that's why everything is stuck.

I voted Ranger because although he's not scored yet he's the only one who looks to me to have a chance of being a quality Premier striker. The rest might be ahead of him in the pecking order but apart from Carroll they aren't going to get any better. That thought occurs to me as well. Ranger may show his inexperience, but given that the alternatives aren't significantly better, why not give the chance to the player who is improving. On the other hand, I have to remind myself that 7 points ahead of 2nd place and 12 points ahead of 3rd after only 20 games does indicate that Hughton knows what he's doing at the moment. Ranger will establish himself as a regular before long, I'm quite sure of that.

Because of one game? I know what you are saying but the few times he has played, albeit 10-20 minutes per match mainly, he has looked a really good player, it hurts me to say. I'd agree. Each time I've seen him come on, he's got involved right away and had a positive impact. He looks very composed and reads the game well.

That's how I'd see it as well. I'd only play two of Gerrard, Lampard and Joe Cole, and Lampard is the one I'd leave out. To me it's about picking players who are going to give you a performance whatever the opposition. Lampard is obviously a very good player, but in a tight game against better or equal opposition he can disappear. Chelsea are nearly always better than the team they're playing so it's not something that's generally apparent at club level.

Simon Bird's trying to manage the trick of endlessly slagging off Newcastle while keeping the fans onside. What a c***. Although I pretty much agreed with JFK about Bird, I think that is a very good article and sums up what has happened under Hughton. CHRISSY HUGHTON'S BLACK AND WHITE AND GREY ARMY !! It's an illustration of the fact that the most important relationships around a club are between the players, the coaching staff and the owners / board. If those are harmonious, then the team can deal with whatever happens to be kicking off outside.