Cronky

Good shout. Some of the best Beckham performances that I've seen have been when he was a wing back for England. You also make a good point about conservatism in switching positions. Either our players are less versatile, or they're not trained to play in different positions, or the pressure in England means that managers are more conservative and try to play it safe.

Dropping Robinson for Carson is a so-called gamble that he should have taken before. Good news about SWP as well. Many were saying that Beckham should come back for his experience in important games, but in previous important games he has run around like a headless chicken, trying to do everything himself.

No question that the failure to push on after 3rd place was a turning point. We didn't invest in new players, and if you stop moving forwards, you start slipping backwards. The other factor here is Shearer. He'd started to slow down significantly, and that was the point when his successor should have been brought in. If Shearer didn't like it, he should have been shown the door. Unfortunately, because of his status, and the fact that Shepherd wanted him as Robson's successor, that was impossible. It affected the performance of the team, the team morale and the authority of the manager. When Robson left, it was also difficult to attract a top class manager who was willing to risk their reputation by taking on such a difficult situation.

I've long been a fan of MON, so he'd have been my choice. But there's not a lot of choice between all those managers, except Bruce. They've all proved that they've got ability. Whether any of them would be doing a better job than Allardyce at this stage is another matter. If we start calling for a manager's head after 12 games when we're in mid-table, then no-one's going to stand a chance.

He looked to me like a player who likes to operate in that Bellamy-Beardsley role, in between the midfield and the striker. We don't have a player like that at the moment, and he'd be a valuable asset. The strikers we have at the moment are all out and out strikers.

It wouldn't surprise me if Shearer preferred the England job to club management. He's always been protective of the time that he can spend with his family, and I think he'd have a bit more control over the demands that are made on him as an international manager.

I've only seen Krul once, but if you're talking about potential, he can be one of the best in the world. Basically, he's big and he's agile. The rest can be taught. Martins can improve, but not by much. I see him as a great athlete rather than a natural footballer. Zoggy has a bit more potential, but he seems a bit immature. It may be some time - like his late 20's - before we see him at his best.

He sounds perfect. Bring him on.

Thankyouthankyou

I can't see any evidence that the post-Premiership influx of foreign players has weakened the England team. Quite the reverse. Our record of qualifying for major tournaments has improved in recent years. The raising of the standards has meant that our own players have had to work harder to reach the top. Players like Ferdinand, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole, Terry, and Wright-Phillips are a class above the cloggers that we used to see in an England side.

It's a tricky situation, but I've reached the conclusion that Allardyce has to stick to the ideas that he believes in if we're going to get anywhere. There's doubt about whether Owen can adapt to a 4-3-3, and doubts about whether he's really prepared to try. There's a story in the Express today about him not being happy with Allardyce, and if Sam is trying to move him away from his goal-poacher role then that would explain it. I watched that documentary on Owen a few weeks ago, and it really felt like his heart was still in the Manchester-Liverpool area. He seems to have invested a lot, emotionally as well as financially, in his horse-owning business there. Newcastle just seemed to be a place that he dropped in to. It was a mistake to buy him in the first place, and we may well be approaching the endgame, if we can line up a replacement (that's the big if)

Anyone else get the impression that this guy just isn't up to the job? I don't think he's more than just a glamorous name that said all the right things to get elected. He comes out with all these sweeping statements, but doesn't show any kind of ability to get anything done. He also seems to have an anti-Premiership and anti-big club agenda, but the game has changed and he has to work in partnership with people, not against them.

For 4-3-3, you need strikers who can go wide, like Diouf. None of our strikers can really do that. However, we do have midfield players who can play up front-ish ie Duff, Milner - possibly Zoggy and Emre as well. Of those, I'm only really confident about Duff. It's a shame we lost Dyer, because I think that system would have suited him well.

Having seen the highlights on MOTD, it seems to me that a major problem was that we gave them far too much time and space to put their crosses in. The opposition has got to be closed down and put under more pressure. At corners, they were allowed to take it short time and again, and that eventually led to their goal. The amount of time that the guy had to pick his cross was ridiculous. One pleasing feature though was that we were trying to play the ball on the deck. We certainly weren't a 'long ball' team. Trouble was the players weren't really familiar enough with one another for our passing to work well. We actually failed to take advantage of some good situations by players not quite anticipating what the other was going to do, but that can improve.

A wide position doesn't suit him at all, because he lacks pace, and there were times when he was trying things that weren't really on. Even allowing for his time out, I was expecting him to look a bit sharper. He's way off the pace. Hopefully it's just a fitness thing. On the positive side, he showed some moments of pure class, particularly when things slowed down a bit in the second half.

Is there any evidence that Milner is better on the right than the left? I don't think there's much to choose. Yes, he's right footed, but he creates just as much cutting in from the wing as going down the outside. And please note - our goal actually came from him cutting in from the left and hitting it with his right. Zoggy is a tricky one. He looks better going forward from full back, and he often gets marked out of the game when he's further forward. On the other hand, he's very indecisive in defence, and often looks like he's leaving things to other people that he ought to deal with himself. I don't think Sam has made his mind up, but long term I think he's better off developing as a full back.

Draw was a fair result. We looked much better when we had to equalise and showed a bit more aggression. Viduka did well all game. There were some promising signs, but we looked like a team under pressure. Not really positive enough. Geremi should have started in the middle with Smith. We looked a bit lightweight defensively with Emre there. Barton - a bit of a disappointment, because I had high hopes of him. I didn't realise he was that slow. He looks good when he has a bit of space, but he found it hard to find the pace of the game. He needs to be in a centre midfield three. And Martins is not the answer.

The positive thing is that we have at least tried to play the ball on the deck, and we've created one or two good situations. If we can close down their space a bit, we could nick this.

We're not closing them down in midfield. Geremi should replace Emre to tighten things up there. Barton looks off the pace as well, but Emre is the one I'd replace.

Quite like that team.

If Viduka plays, I fancy us to win this one. Sunderland are set up well, but there's a not a lot of class in the important positions. 3-1 to us.

The owners of that club seem to be more bothered about getting a high media profile than winning football matches.

Both are promising, but I don't like to see them both play together. It gives the midfield a very lightweight and inexperienced look. One or the other I'd say, and at the moment I see Milner as that bit ahead. Zoggy is very useful as an impact sub though, because he has the pace to exploit open spaces.

I still believe in Allardyce and his ability to take us forward. I think a major problem is that he does firmly believe in a 4-3-3, whereas the strikers in particular that we have are more suited to 4-4-2. That's led to a lot of chopping and changing, and I worry a bit that at the moment Allardyce is moving further away from a settled side, rather than closer. I've reached the conclusion that he has to back his beliefs, no matter who gets dropped in the process. At the moment, we're falling in between two stools.

Owen has changed, there's no question of that. You only have to look at his physique now and compare it with six years ago. He must be about 10lb heavier. Basically, he's slower but stronger. His link-up play, his touch on the ball and his heading has improved, but he can't outrun defenders when he gets behind a defence any more. Even at the time we bought him, I thought he was poor value for the fee and wages that we were paying. He's still useful, but I don't think he suits the system that Sam wants to play, and it wouldn't surprise me if he's off at the end of the season.