Cronky

Doesn't surprise me at all. Zoggy seems to be going backwards at the moment, or at least not rising to the challenge to improve.

Wash your mouth out. Twice! I got criticised for saying this before, but Milner needs to get a bit more street-wise and gain a few more free kicks. I'm not talking about diving when you haven't been touched. I'm talking about not struggling to stay on your feet when you've been fouled, and in some situations, positioning your body so you get fouled. we call it DIVING And I call it helping the ref to make the right decision. :winking:

IMO, he doesn't look a very happy bunny at the moment and isn't making much progress. It's not easy for a young player to make an impact in a side that's struggling a bit, and he himself would probably feel he's better off at Arsenal, who tend to have most opponents on the back foot. In which case, it'll be difficult to keep him.

Here's something to cheer a lot of people up, from the Mirror - GUNNERS GOING FOR N'ZOGBIA ARSENAL are ready to swoop for Newcastle's French winger Charles N'Zogbia in the January transfer window. The £5million-rated left winger, 20, has had his first-team chances held back by Damien Duff's arrival at St James' Park. N'Zogbia has made 54 starts for the Geordies, who need to raise cash and lower the wage bill before buying a striker in the new year. (Cue a massive debate about whether he's signed his contract)

Wash your mouth out. Twice! I got criticised for saying this before, but Milner needs to get a bit more street-wise and gain a few more free kicks. I'm not talking about diving when you haven't been touched. I'm talking about not struggling to stay on your feet when you've been fouled, and in some situations, positioning your body so you get fouled.

No. Saturday will be a very different game, a lot more pressure and we'll need some fresh legs.

Unlike other presenters, he seems quite happy to be himself rather than adopt some bland Steve Rider-esque persona. I like him. In a totally non-sexual way, of course.

Difficult to judge, because there was a lot more time and space than you get in the Premiership. I'd like to have seen us play a bit more positively in the second half - we wasted a lot of possession and could have finished them off. Luque showed that he is, in fact, quite strong and ought to be able to adjust to the Premiership. Whether he has the necessary aggression - sorry, still not convinced on that performance. Milner did very well. Zoggy looked lost, as is usually the case when he plays down the middle. Pattison you feel is a player that really could benefit from more first-team experience. He's a bit excitable, and didn't always run around sensibly, but he looked promising. Still got this infuriating habit as a team of moving backwards to make sure that we don't lose possession. The result was that many promising looking situations in the opponents' half ended up with the ball being played back to the keeper.

'unbelievable' - I think he's created his own nickname. Lucky to get away with a nervous beginning, but grew in confidence. He looks a very good athlete, with all the basic physical attributes to get to the top. Let's not go overboard just yet though.

Interestingly, we did have a strategy under Sir Bob, which was similar to the policy pursued by Spurs at the moment - Namely, buying and developing young talent whilst maintaining a core of experienced players in the first team. It went with Sir Bob, and since then we've tried to buy expensive, ready-made players like Chelsea or Liverpool, only with nowhere near the resources to make it work.

At the time of his appointment, there were better options than Roeder, but that doesn't mean that getting rid of him is the right step now. We have to face the issue that the main problem is the Chairman, and that no-one can succeed under his style of running the club. If we get rid of Roeder, some other poor sap will get put in his place, with the same results. I don't think Roeder is the greatest, but he's not a total incompetent either. The idea that with different tactics or team selections we'd be doing much better is far-fetched. The worry is that with all this pressure from the fans, Roeder's morale is going to suffer and it'll be difficult for him to motivate the team. Criticism can be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Let's give the guy a break and focus criticism on the Boardroom, where lies the chief responsibility for our decline over the last three years.

We only miss Shearer at the moment in the limited sense that, with our three best strikers all out injured, we could do with someone else at hand. Shearer or no Shearer, we've been struggling for the last three seasons. I agree with Merlin - the process of replacing Shearer should have begun two years ago. The policy of keeping him as a first team regular right up till his retirement was stupid. If he was still good enough to be in the first team, why retire?

I'd much rather have Roeder and a new Chairman, than Freddie and a new manager. As for Sven - my worry with that kind of senior figure is whether they really have the motivation. Sir Bob did, but he was an exception. You wonder whether, at the first sign of the shit flying around, they're going to think, I've been through this before and proved my worth, why should I have to take it all again? There's something to be said for a manager who's career is still on the rise.

A nice little bit of snappy sarcasm in there from Roeder. Come on, Glenn, get angry. It'll do you good.

You certainly can blame FF. Sir Bob saw this situation coming and wanted to bring in Shearer's replacement. Freddie didn't back him. Shearer wanted to play as a first team regular right up to the point of his retirement, and Souness got the job because he was a fan of Shearer's and was prepared to let that happen.

That's bad news. I know you shouldn't complain about luck but three strikers injured, two of them long-term....

Beckham's never been blessed with pace. Sheringham was no slower today than he was at Spurs about 15 years ago! Still think Beckham will go to the MLS although I think he could do a lot for Spurs' youngsters the same way Davids is doing right now. Okay, pure pace has never been the issue with Beckham, but at his peak he was a great athlete. His work-rate and energy through 90 minutes was a big asset. In that Champions League final where he was storming around, winning challenges right at the very end, he tipped that game in Man U's favour. He can't produce a game like that any more. But as I said, an older player can often compensate for a physical decline by a shrewder awareness of how to make a telling contribution. I just don't think that's happened with Beckham. He still seems to approach games like a headstrong teenager. The definitive modern Beckham performance for me was the Northern Ireland world cup game. He had his chance playing in the middle with Lampard and Gerrard, and just ended up banging the ball over their heads all game, because that's what he does best. That sort of performance is why neither McClaren nor Capello want him any more.

Basic problem is that the only person who's in a position of sufficient strength to influence Shepherd is Douglas Hall, and he doesn't seem to have any interest in the day to day running of the club, or to be a particularly forceful character. The result is that Freddie has been allowed to stumble from one stupid decision to another. His judgement on football matters is equivelent to that of the average pub bore, but his influence on football matters is considerable. We can't progress under that situation. I don't know anything about Belgravia or hedge funds, but I'd take my chances with them rather than carry on under the current cast of idiots.

Normally as a player gets older, they can compensate for losing a bit of pace and stamina by an increase in their ability to use their football brain. Which is the problem with Beckham.

If MON does achieve at the Villa, stand by for that to be dismissed on the grounds that it was all down Lerner's money. Just like any dummy can win the League Cup and win trophies with Celtic.

With the way we're financially committed to Premiership football, and the huge financial gap between the Premiership and the Championship, relegation could lead to a Leeds / Sheff Wed - type downward spiral. BUT - I think I know where Afar is coming from. The whole spirit of the club has been bad for the last three seasons. Everyone's discontented that we've slipped from the top four and there's a lot of pressure on the players and the manager. There's high expectations without the means to fulfil them. Sometimes it helps if you slip to a very low point, and then develop some upward momentum from there, as happened with Keegan and Robson.

I can only think that Luque's performances in training are as half-hearted as his perfomances in matches. Therefore Roeder doesn't see him as the answer. There's no question about his ability. Just his attitude.

Like others, I was puzzled by the lateness of the substitution. It was clear that we'd run out of steam and needed fresh legs, and that Solano was the most tired. We showed a bit of spirit but looked nervous. Unsurpisingly due to the strikeforce, we never looked remotely like scoring from a cross or a corner.

'If Mr Shepherd will have me' - umm.... doesn't the manager make those kind of decisions? Nice to know that the tea lady is rising to the challenge as well.

It'll work really well providing Charlton promise not to try and score.