Cronky

Okay, constant repetition of the 'Na Na Na' bit can be tedious, but you can't judge an entire song just on one part of it being extracted and used as a football chant. The world is divided into two groups - there are those who like the Beatles, and those who are sadly missing out.

I don't think we did right by Sir Bob, and that's always rankled. Took us from the bottom of the league to three top-five finishes, and then got the boot.

I've been posting on this site since 2005, and this is the opinion that I disagree with the most. If you're being serious.

An interesting point, and it got me thinking. You sometimes get young players who burst on the scene, attract a lot of attention, but after a while some of their limitations get exposed as opposition players suss them out a bit. I think Rashford is like that - he's a good player who should have a long career at the top level, but he has some weaker areas which will limit his progress. For his sake, I hope he continues to make the sort of small, incremental improvements which all professional players need to commit to, in order to prolong their careers. As for talented players who go off the rails a bit or lose focus, then I'm struggling to think of a player in that category who completely recovers their potential. George Best is the prime example. Nile Ranger could have had a much, much better career. Dele Alli seems to be at a crossroads, where he seems to have lost his focus. If a player needs to make some changes in their basic personality or attitudes, then that can take a long time (same as for the rest of us) and a player's career is a short one. And if they lose that edge of fitness, the older they get, the more difficult it is to recover.

Yeah. He shows plenty of energy, determination and a bit of skill and would be a good addition to our midfield. However annoying he might be at times.

I'd prefer ASM up front to Joelinton. I just think Joelinton looked very poor as a lone striker. He was too slow and not good at holding the ball up from that position. Not a great finisher either. ASM provides some sort of threat with his pace.

That's an interesting question, because he does come across as a nice guy. However, he's somehow able to keep his distance as well, and I don't think he's closer to some players than others. He doesn't have favourites, like some managers who feel the need to make alliances with some powerful squad members in order to exercise authority themselves. So at least the players who will drop out of the squad will know they've been treated fairly. The dropping of Lascelles is a good case in point, because he had been not just a first team regular, but also our captain for the last three years or so. What could have been a very embarrassing situation doesn't seem to have affected the unity of the squad. That's all about good man management and mutual respect. A lot of managers - perhaps inevitably - have a larger than life element to their personalities, and you can imagine them asserting themselves quite fiercely when they need to. It's hard to imagine Eddie even raising his voice, but he's unquestionably got leadership qualities. Maybe he has a knack of bringing out the best in people. I'm trying to think of a manager I can compare him to, and can't come up with anyone.

I don't think he'll make any changes to the back four. Defenders aren't the usual ones who need a rest. Likewise I think he'll keep Shelvey in that anchor position. Longstaff and Willock in for Bruno and Joelinton maybe. If Fraser's fit, he may be in for ASM. If not, Murphy. Almiron seems to be inexhaustible. I can't see much alterative to Wood up front.

Gerrard. After a good start, things seem to have gone right off the rails at Villa, but it's a bit early to judge. He seemed to have determination, and might also have been able to attract players to sign for us. I also thought Martinez, with his connections with the Continent and his Premiership experience would be a good choice too. Thinking back, I also wasn't sure that Howe, with his style of attacking football, would be able to get our squad to perform the way he wanted. I thought our defensive football, dull as it was, was the best way of getting points with the players we had. But not only has Howe got us more points, we're actually a lot easier on the eye. He's got us playing in, and believing in, a more positive style. He's made some ballsy decisions like dropping Lascelles, sticking Joelinton in a midfield 3, and keeping faith with Willock when the pressure to stick the £40m man in as soon as possible would be huge. I wouldn't swap our man for anyone, and I mean anyone.

I was happy enough with his appointment, although he wasn't my first choice. Whatever he achieved at Bournemouth, things didn't end well and so that left a bit of doubt in my mind. But now, we really could not have picked a better man for the job, short term and long term.

At the turn of the year, we had 11 points from 19 games - just over half a point per game. Since then, we've taken 29 points from 14 - just over 2 a game. Even allowing for the signings, that's some feat by Howe. Other teams have much easier run-ins so we're not completely safe. We need to keep our focus.

The 3-2 against Feyenoord, topped off by a last minute winner which took us into the next phase of the Champions League, having lost our first three games. You couldn't write it.

Of all the strikers we've been linked with, he's the one who's impressed me the most.

In the light of yesterday's game, I think I deserve the Nostradamus Award.

It was a great goal, I don't care about the deflection. Good bit of defending by Targett, then saw his chance to suddenly turn his man and set off an attack. Great pass and an even better first touch by Joe, who beats his man with an unexpected change of pace. Feeds the ball into the area at the right moment and Bruno - a brilliant reader of the game - is in the right place at the right time. Tbh, a park footballer could have got the final header, but everything that went into the creation of that chance was top drawer.

That one really had me out of my seat. I was in a pub and let out such a yell that it frightened a little girl. I had to go over and apologise.

The recent buzzword of 'controlling the game'. A team can dominate a game, but never control it. And it's in the nature of the beast that a team can dominate, fail to score and then have the opposition break away and win it in last minute. I like the Cloughie quote - it only takes a second to score a goal. Part of the game's attraction is its unpredictability, with defence turning into attack in a single moment.

City didn't seem to be in the right mindset at the start. I was very surprised when Guardiola said after the Atletico game that the team was in 'big trouble'. That's hardly the stuff to inspire the troops. LIverpool have been chasing them down and he sounded like someone who was under pressure. One hesitates to question the great man, but Grealish and Sterling together didn't seem right either.

I fancy LIverpool to do City this afternoon.

I don't think many think he should be dropped. But if we're to move to another level, the team's style of play has to change and he has to change with it. So far, there's not much sign of a willingness or ability to do that. I look at the BBCs gossip site every morning, and despite the attention that ASM gets, there's rarely if ever a mention of other clubs looking to sign him. I suspect that the clubs that are able to afford him, are not all that interested. For similar reasons.

There's some very winnable games there, against teams down at the bottom, or with not much left to play for. I thought they were unlucky against Norwich. It's not over for them yet, and I find this a strange decision.

Yeah, I think he owes them another season. Easy to say when it's not my career, though.

How we're doing as well as we are, with the midfield that we've got, is Howe's minor miracle.

It's great to have a manager who handles the media side so well. He seems modest and likeable, and that can only do the image of the club a lot of good.

Yeah, and the way he went down wasn't terribly convincing. But the way things work is that if a keeper dives at a player's feet, her really needs to get the ball, or he's in trouble. I'll admit I haven't followed Chris Wood's career with much interest, but when I saw that it was him taking the pen, I felt nervous. He's not the greatest striker of a ball, and the pen itself was very savable if the keeper had gone the right way. Then I learned that his penalty record was something like 27-3 in favour. So there.