Cronky

In this case, we've provided the media with plenty of ammunition. We're very prone to hero worship, and that's cost us.

Dowie has impressed me as one of those managers who just needs the right opportunity. So yes.

The top seventeen would be just dandy right now.

Playing Smith. You heard it here first.

Shearer always plays his cards very close to his chest, and he'll want to keep his options open. I'm sure one of his chief inhibitions about taking on a management role has been the potential demands on his time, and therefore the sacrifices he would have to make in terms of family life. This is a chance for him to test the water. If he finds that he and Dowie can divvy up the tasks in a way that is successful and not too demanding on him, then he'll probably be up for it. Having said that, there's a bit of an assumption at points on this thread that whether or not Shearer takes the job is entirely in Lambias's hands. Shearer has been reluctant to commit himself to management at this stage of his life, and that might continue to be the case. In the end, Alan Shearer will do what suits Alan Shearer.

My mate and I at the game both said we thought he'd look good on TV and a few people have said he did. Everytime Johnson got the ball, Lennon never ran in to space, he was always on top of the player marking him for some reason. He hardly ever came off his touchline and offered nothing going forward unless he had plenty of room in front of him (the superb cross-field ball from Rooney being one example). His positioning was also awful, particularly when there was an attack through the middle, he didn't have a clue where to go. I don't mind Lennon, he's a danger but can become a headless chicken at times and his end product isn't the best. Due to where I was sat on Wednesday, I got to see a lot of his movement off the ball and he just looked scared. Whether that was scared of making an error or just scared to take the ball himself, I'm not sure. When Beckham came on there was a huge difference, he went looking for the ball and offered Johnson more options, both when looking to get forward or defending. I had the impression that Lennon was operating very much to instructions, and was afraid to take any initiative to take up different positions. Whether it was Capello who shackled him, or he'd shackled himself, I don't know. Fitness permitting, I'd definitely have SWP in that position, over Lennon or Walcott. He does offer a bit of variety, and I think you need that against the best teams.

Rooney tired in the second half, and he's the key to our performance. With hindsight, he should have been subbed during the Slovakia game so he had a bit more energy left for Ukraine. A lesson learned, I reckon. All in all though, I can't remember feeling quite so confident about an England side. You feel they've got goals in them, not just from the usual routes of crosses and set pieces, but also by working it on the deck through the middle, which is a nice change.

Good man, Dowie. Been a bit unlucky with his career since leaving Palace.

I guess our date with destiny has arrived. Mixed feelings really. On the plus side, there will be a truce in the civil war that's been raging all season. I'm sure that was putting extra pressure on the players and staff, and it would only have got worse in the weeks ahead. I also think that Shearer has the ability to be a good manager - all he seemed to lack was the motivation. On the debit side, we'll still have the same bunch of players so we can't expect miracles, and Shearer's appointment will definitely favour Owen, which I don't think is best either from the playing side or group morale. How well Shearer will work with the existing coaching staff we don't know. As so often in the last few years, fan power has heavily influenced a major decision, and that's usually been to our cost. Let's hope this time it's different.

Well, at least it'll put a stop to the disunity that's been a problem all season. Everyone will rally around this appointment.

Well I did NOT see this coming. I suppose it's a chance for him to dip his foot in the managerial water, see how he likes it. There's little pressure on him, because if we go down it won't be seen as his fault. Could be bollocks of course. His relations with the new regime haven't been great.

I just don't think Owen fits into the system that Capello wants to play. He has said himself that he's playing with a target man (Heskey, Crouch or Bent), with two players in a free role around that striker (Rooney, Gerrard) Owen isn't a target man and he isn't a withdrawn creative striker either. He's a finisher. All this stuff about form and fitness is a smokescreen hiding a deeper issue.

Can someone with a business background explain what Ashley would have to gain? I don't get it at all.

FFS Nicky, you sound like you're about to burst into tears. Shut up and play. On second thoughts, stay on the bench.

Rooney - incredible yet again. We played very well going forward, but I'm a bit worried the back four might let us down in the end. Terry seems to lose confidence the minute he puts on an England shirt. Ashley Cole looks careless. Glen Johnson I like, but he just needs to push himself a bit more.

hm, not 100% convinced...we sell papers and get fans watching tv for a variety of reasons floundering in the championship or worse will make it nigh on impossible for them to dredge stories and thus sales from the club, i'm sure they'd much rather we stay up and keep on being the PL circus/laughing stock for the rest of eternity IMO, the media act like a pack of sharks who, when they smell blood, attack in a mindless frenzy and count the consequences later. That's all that's happening here.

You can't blame Owen for looking after Number 1. That's what footballers do. The real blame lies on the person who shelled out ridiculous amounts of money on a player who didn't want to come, and who isn't actually all that good. That whole situation spelled trouble and Shepherd was a fool not to recognise that.

You're kidding yourselves big time here. The media would love us to go down, it'd be such a great story. Conflict between the fans and the owner just adds spice to it, and they'd love that situation to deteriorate still further. The relish with which every defeat or disappointment is being reported makes that very clear.

He did break the transfer record by double with Forest though don't forget. they'd won the title before francis joined. I know that. So it was earned so to speak, but just thought it deserved a mention. What I don't think really came out from that documentary was just how ordinary a collection of individuals that Forest side were, that won the league in 1978. On paper, they didn't look any better than any other promoted side - ie largely consisting of players who hadn't quite made the big time and had sunk to what appeared to be their correct level in the Second Division. Somehow he got them consistently playing at top form for 90 minutes each game, week after week. I can remember that everyone was assuming at first that it was just another case of a promoted side enjoying a honeymoon period in the top division. We were all waiting for them to blow up, but it didn't happen. Half way through the season, they went to Old Trafford and absolutely pissed on Man U 4-0, and it was only then that people realised it was for real. That season they also won the League cup, and went on a record unbeaten run that eventually stretched into next season and 42 games. Really, nothing like that has ever happened before or since. Fergie with his 40+ trophies has to be Number 1, but this was surely the finest managerial achievement in history. All of the players he bought when they got promoted,were known good players,but with something to prove,Kenny Burns' disciplinary problem,Larry Lloyd's suspect attitude with back injuries and Peter Shilton who'd lost his England spot.Great signings all 3. not to mention the "journeyman" peter withe. We could debate all night about how good the likes of Kenny Burns were, but in a way that misses the point. They ended up at Notts Forest because the bigger and more successful clubs didn't want them. Clough had the ability to get something from players that other managers couldn't. Shilton was the one big buy in that 1978 side, but even then that was a big reflection on Clough's judgement. He placed the correct value on a good goalkeeper. There were others in that side - Frank Clark, Ian Bowyer, John McGovern, Dave Needham, John O'Hare - who were indisputably ordinary. And yet stick them in that Forest side, and they were able to dominate opponents of much more ability. What I remember about that Forest side was how confident they were. Any side can play well for 10 minutes in a purple patch during a game - it's something that comes and goes during a game - like ourselves for a period of 20 minutes against Arsenal. Somehow Clough could get that kind of performance from his players not just in flashes, but over a whole game, and in every game. Somehow he invaded their heads and got them believing in themselves. That Forest team was a real phenomenon. The word genius is overworked, but if there is such a thing, then Clough was one.

He did break the transfer record by double with Forest though don't forget. they'd won the title before francis joined. I know that. So it was earned so to speak, but just thought it deserved a mention. What I don't think really came out from that documentary was just how ordinary a collection of individuals that Forest side were, that won the league in 1978. On paper, they didn't look any better than any other promoted side - ie largely consisting of players who hadn't quite made the big time and had sunk to what appeared to be their correct level in the Second Division. Somehow he got them consistently playing at top form for 90 minutes each game, week after week. I can remember that everyone was assuming at first that it was just another case of a promoted side enjoying a honeymoon period in the top division. We were all waiting for them to blow up, but it didn't happen. Half way through the season, they went to Old Trafford and absolutely pissed on Man U 4-0, and it was only then that people realised it was for real. That season they also won the League cup, and went on a record unbeaten run that eventually stretched into next season and 42 games. Really, nothing like that has ever happened before or since. Fergie with his 40+ trophies has to be Number 1, but this was surely the finest managerial achievement in history.

League titles with Derby and Notts Forest, and two European Cups. That still has me shaking my head whenever I think about it. Surely no manager has ever achieved so much with so little.

If Alan Oliver deliberately wrote an inaccurate article about Kinnear's health, then he deserves to be banned. Kinnear's relatives could have been reading it. Some journos never seem to think of the consequences of what they're writing.

I don't know how true the stuff is about his effect on team morale, but that's long been a worry of mine. He gets paid far more than the rest, doesn't play much, won't sign a new contract and clearly would rather be elsewhere, and yet somehow he's the club captain. His team-mates are hardly likely to be looking up to him in that situation. I don't particularly blame Owen, and I find the anger directed at him a bit misguided. We shouldn't have signed a reluctant player and definitely shouldn't have made him captain just to encourage him to stay.

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/kidd/ We should all have that printed on T-Shirts and wear it instead or our Toon tops for the Chelski match, think SAshley would get the message then? Let's not be too keen to publicly take sides with a tabloid journalist against the owner of our club. Ashley cares a lot more than he does.

Fair assessment of our current strengths and weaknesses. Hope his conclusion is right.