TRon

As I said, you may as well believe in fairies. It isn't going to happen. The only way its done is through big spending, including on these trophy players. i would suggest a mixture of both would be ideal aha, I see. You mean like the team assembled which qualified for europe more than everybody but 4 other clubs over a periold of a decade and a half, for which the fat bastard was slated right, left and centre for backing and helping his managers to put together ? I knew somebody would spell it out.........incidentally, I've asked this question before of people, and - probably because Dave hasn't insisted they reply like he does to me - can you tell me exactly who these supposed "trophy signings" have been ? You do realise that selective use of statistics isn't really regarded as wisdom any more?

Maybe i should have clarified: over the last two seasons, not the last game played.

Sadly, we are going to put the team under pressure to get results immediately next year if we go down, when we will probably be playing with a new set of players. Your right will love to see Shearer get 3/4 years but its a results based business, if we dont go up next season (in the event we do go down) i think a lot of fans on here would be wanting him to walk away. Judging Shearer over 8 games is ridiculous, if he stays on for another season we'll have more than enough evidence to decide if he is up to it.

I would reckon Martins and Enrique would be up there as well. Probably Butt as well even though he has the same failings as Nolan.

yet that side managed to create the best chance What's that got to do with anything? We created three clear cut, golden, chances in the game and that is more than we've done for a long time. Oba's row-zedder, Viduka's right after half time (which, in fairness to the three strikers, was a smashing but of football), and that ridiculous sitter that Owen scuffed. That's what switching to the 4-3-3 has done and i have faith in the formation. The dying embers of quality in this squad have been begging for some sort of method in which to get a chance in front of goal and Shearer's done the right thing in reverting to it, even though it was Keegan's. Shooting boots needed from now on in though. Playing 4-3-3 to create three chances against another struggling side is one thing, trying to do it against a team which can out run-us, out-fight us, out-score us and who actually punish us if we make any mistakes is lunacy in my mind. If Chelsea didn't want to take Barca on why the hell would we want to go toe to toe with Liverpool?

I think he covers enough ground, it just takes him three times as long as everyone else to do it. He could probably use a fag break.

I would like to see Taylor get the armband myself. What a surprise. How so? Wasn't it you and Jayson campaigning against Coloccini?

Isn't there a measurement of how much ground a player covers over 90 mins? I know Robson used to eulogise Dyer as having two hearts, but then Bobby used to value pace and movement quite a lot. These are qualities we are pretty short of so I was wondering which players people think are putting in the hard yards and which have been coasting?

I would like to see Taylor get the armband myself. What a surprise.

The only time he ever says anything is when he is trying to convince us other clubs that he can still score goals and is still a good player. He is a terrible captain and I believe this has played a huge part in the lack of fight our players have out on the pitch as he never takes responsibility to even attempt to galvanize the team when they are struggling. Just a disgusting situation. Very valid article that and it raises a few uncomfortable questions.

I would much rather see your mate's band than that bloated twat mumbling like Barney from the Simpsons after one too many. Can we start a campaign?

0 in the last 8 1 in the last 14 Wow. Those 1 in 2 stats look pretty hollow now. If he's playing against boro he has to score or we are going to have paid dearly for keeping faith with him based on his reputation. Yee then look how many shots he has taken in those matches, and how many total shots the team has had in them. I get it...he's not getting the service. That makes him pretty much a passenger in our team then as we aren't about to start providing loads of chances on a plate with our midfield, so maybe we need to look at different options. Yep no good to the team at the moment as full of shite around him, but the idea that he is finished as a striker is laughable. 28 total shots to 8 goals, is it? Is pretty good strike-rate if ask me. Most of the decent teams want forwards who can do more than just mooch the odd goal here and there. Man U have made it a policy of buying forwards who even when they play on the wing score 20 goals a season. Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, and Ronaldo are great examples of this. Obviously they are out of our price range, but they are just so far removed from Mr Invisible Owen it's a joke.

There are some games where a lazy crowd needs a bit of a gee up, when there isn't much at stake. In games like this where supporters know that we are fighting for our lives over the next 90 mins I refuse to believe that we were going to sit twiddling our thumbs unless Danby showed up.

0 in the last 8 1 in the last 14 Wow. Those 1 in 2 stats look pretty hollow now. If he's playing against boro he has to score or we are going to have paid dearly for keeping faith with him based on his reputation. Yee then look how many shots he has taken in those matches, and how many total shots the team has had in them. I get it...he's not getting the service. That makes him pretty much a passenger in our team then as we aren't about to start providing loads of chances on a plate with our midfield, so maybe we need to look at different options.

I was going to say 'service my arse', but then I realised how that sounded. either way I'm sure we would have understood

0 in the last 8 1 in the last 14 Wow. Those 1 in 2 stats look pretty hollow now. If he's playing against boro he has to score or we are going to have paid dearly for keeping faith with him based on his reputation.

Nail on the head. At this stage of the season we can't rely on teams who have nothing to play for doing us any favours. Everton players won't want to get injuries playing against Sunderland, and despite all this talk about Hull not getting any more points, I can see them getting results against Stoke and an out of form Villa.

Owen's stats of 1 goal in 2 games looks very impressive on paper, but hasn't he only scored 1 goal in his last 8 games when he have needed them the most?

Harsh but it's got the ring of truth. I've seen some of our supposedly knowledgeable fans start baiting the team if they pass it sideways, when sometimes you have to do that to retain posession.

I was always previously sceptical about Shearer getting the job but I changed my mind earlier this year. He's a leader and he went up 100% in my estimation when he took the job with 8 games to. Whatever anyone says, it was a brave decision and he didn't hide behind the excuse that he didn't respect the owner. He deserves to be given a good stint and to write him off after 4 games is lunacy. I'm fairly sure he'll turn things around next season given some decent support from the board and if it doesn't work out at least we won't always be wondering "what if..."

That was a long article, but it was a riveting read. Just backs up my view that while we have been a laughing stock for a while, the serious football fans are going to miss us. Samuel usually hammers us but that was a really thoughtful insight into where we need to go to get on the road to recovery. Superb

In the Journal it says that Danby's been booked for the last two matches as well. Magic.

I think he will probably need a couple of games to get up to speed, but he'll still improve the side.

We would have had a great atmosphere regardless of that clown. The other home games this season tend to contradict that statement tbh This was our biggest game for years (for all the wrong reasons). Obviously the fans were going to be more stoked up than usual.

We would have had a great atmosphere regardless of that clown.