Cronky

I'm not sure what 'quite interesting' means. I wouldn't be terribly, fantastically, unbelievably surprised if we end up with more players from Wise's list than Keegan's. Not that we'd sign anyone the manager didn't want. But I reckon more effort will go in to the players on the DOF's list.

It's amazing that a club the size of Liverpool decided to finance a transfer in such a dodgy way. Clearly things are not right at the top.

I think Distin is the most eccentric choice there. Is he really better than Toure, Gallas, Carragher, Terry, Vidic to name but several? yes he is No he isn't.

I know 17mil Bent 20mil Modric 11mil Berbatov 8mil Hutton 10mil Bale 12mil Woodgate 7mil Kaboul All in the last 18-24 months Over 80 million! BTW ......................................New Keeper............................................... Hutton...................Woody...................King...........................Bale Lennon.................Zakora......................Modric....................Steed ...............................Berbatov................Keane............................ Looks like top4 material Crucial to getting into the top four is defence, and I don't think Spurs have got that sorted yet. Particularly with King struggling for fitness.

I think Distin is the most eccentric choice there. Is he really better than Toure, Gallas, Carragher, Terry, Vidic to name but several?

If Chelsea had wanted him, they'd have got him. He's obviously not a player that the big four are fighting over, so I take some consolation from that. As others have said, Spurs are now ahead of us in their ability to attract players. They have a better team, they've just won a trophy, and we've only just made ourselves mathematically certain of staying in the Premiership. The club has been badly mismanaged over the last few years and it'll take time to get back to where we were.

It's tough. There have been so many good players, but - ................James Sagna....Vidic......Ferdinand.......Evra .....Essien...Fabregas....Gerrard ..............Rooney....Ronaldo ....................Torres Only outfield player from outside the big four with a chance is Berbatov. And despite Ronaldo's feats, the player who has impressed me the most is Torres.

Well that's 90 minutes of my life wasted.

Is Rooney playing? I can't see the point in picking one of the best strikers in the world and asking him to play a purely defensive role. It's a strange one.

A very passive, tentative performance by Man U. Not like them at all. Having said that, I think they'll get a rocket up their collective arse at half time, and will probably go on to win.

wow year i was born, can u remember date? Not the date, no, but it was near the end of the season. Second or third last game. 04.05.68 Manchester United Away 0-6 0-3 59,697 McFaul; Craig, Clark; Burton, Winstanley(Iley), Moncur; Sinclair, Scott, Davies, Elliott, Robson And believe it or not, McFaul played a bit of a blinder. It was rather grim.

wow year i was born, can u remember date? Not the date, no, but it was near the end of the season. Second or third last game.

A bit painful. Man U 6, Toon 0. 1968. George Best got a hat trick and absolutely destroyed us.

A very weird own goal because he looked like he could have reached it with his foot comfortably. Can only assume he's got no faith in his right foot. And..er.. I quite like Jim Beglin.

It wasn't just Wullie who didn't get carried away although he may have had the most to say on the subject. I was a sceptic, and I'm happy to admit that I still am. I'm not saying he's a bad player. Just not worth the money we shelled out, and are continuing to shell out.

Promoting from within (eg Fagan, Paisley) isn't quite the same as deciding to let a caretaker carry on long-term. In the first examples, you're deciding that they're the best person for the job right from the start. In the case of Roeder, the Board made a temporary appointment and then decided to make it permanent because things seemed to be going well. In the case of a caretaker, a team may get a temporary boost by the departure of the manager who was struggling, and by the injection of new ideas. The caretaker may be protected from some of the longer-term difficulties eg dealing with difficult / moody characters. So promoting a caretaker can be risky, and a somewhat lazy option.

Keane has taken his club from the bottom of the Championship to what looks like survival in the Premiership in two seasons, so you can't say he's not getting results. Yes, he spent a lot of money, but for reasons that you've already said, it's difficult to attract players to Sunderland. The other two promoted clubs look like going down, and the reality is that the gap between the two divisions is now so large that if you don't spend big, you're in trouble. A bully and an absentee manager - that was Brian Clough's reputation.

Faye - for all round consistency from beginning to end.

Michael Owen Isn't goin' He is staying 'Cos we're paying. Please, no applause as I exit.

I thought there was a high level of BS (in the other sense) in the MOTD analysis, to be honest. We're doing much better for two main reasons. The team is playing in a relaxed and confident manner whereas under Sam they clearly looked burdened by the pressure. Secondly, we look far more like scoring because the team is set up to allow Owen to ghost into the box from deep positions, and his ability to read the game and get on the end of chances has always been very good. Keown was trying to say that we've changed from a long ball side to one that passes it on the ground, but I don't think that's right. Yesterday, we were playing just as many long balls as before, and our passing through the midfield, for most of the game, was pretty woeful. We've not suddenly changed from Bolton to Barcelona. The relationship between players and manager has improved and the team looks relaxed, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

Well according to HTT, they were both on Jones, but I'm inclined to agree with you. If Taylor was Beckenbauer, I'd be fine with him in a sweeping role. But he's not. He's a big lug who should be attacking the ball.

FYP I thought Jones was pretty much left to Faye all game tbh. Generally speaking, in terms of initiative and leadership, it's just about as unequal a centre back partnership as you can see. Are you saying that as a good thing or as a bad thing? It's good for them to be different, isn't it? Either way - who gives? 2 goals conceded in 6 games, and i'm fairly sure he'll bring in a new centre-back, if January is anything to go by. Bad thing. I don't think Taylor takes enough responsibility. Faye is carrying him at the moment.

FYP I thought Jones was pretty much left to Faye all game tbh. Generally speaking, in terms of initiative and leadership, it's just about as unequal a centre back partnership as you can see.

Overall, a poor performance where we gifted away possession countless times. Fortunately, the opposition didn't have the quality to hurt us. Faye did very well against Jones, winning the ball far more often than I was expecting. And Harper was pretty much faultless.

They are actually classified as some of the worlds best players. I tend to think of chaps like Macaulay Chrisantus, Josmer Altidore, Ransford Osei etc who are the Worlds best Young talent. Hold on, Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson and rooney were some of the worlds best players when they were signed?? News to me. Nani & Anderson were up there with the best players in the Portuguese league so I reckon that chucks them in the mix. Rooney even in his young years at Everton had the ability to be up with the worlds best but not the profile. Not many in this country knew of Ronaldo before he signed but anyone with eyes & footballing brain only had to see him once to see ability wise he was up with the best. Them players were signed & able to contribute to the first team as soon as they joined like Bellamy, Jenas & Andy Cole did when we signed them. The likes of Fabio Zamblera, Ole Soderberg, Tamas Kadar, Ben Tozer and Wesley Ngo Baheng dont have the ability at moment to be risked in the first team, so I am not really bothered about them atm. Once they play regular first team games can we really class them as good signings until then the ? are out. We have got to improve the first team, I am not botherd if the player brought in to do this 16 or 35 it is about ability to play Premier league football. We need to be a bit careful about these comparisons with Man U, because we're in a different situation. It's been relatively easy for Nani, Anderson and Ronaldo to adjust to the Premiership because they're playing for a team that is nearly always better than their opponents. It's much more difficult for a young and/or foreign player if they're chucked into a team that's having to struggle a bit. Rooney is an exception. Physically and psychologically, he was ready for the Premiership at 16, and can produce no matter how tough the opposition. As I've said, we need to look at players like Bellamy, who had already cut his teeth, but hadn't reached his peak.