TRon

it was oldtype who put his name in capitals. i thought this thread was supposed to look beyond system vs keegan, fans vs ashley and all that and simply praise the recruiting team,and that's all of them, not just the ones you back or blame, love or loathe. Keegan did some things in the window that have already been covered so deserves to be amongst the names. this is about a team and, for a couple of months at the beginning of the summer at least, keegan was part of that team. to put it more bluntly - to not include him would be as divisive as not including dennis wise's name. I never really felt Keegan was part of 'the team'. Whether that was his fault or the rest of Ashley's crew is up for debate, but trawling the world for unknown talent isn't something I would associate with Keegan, or Arthur Cox and McDermott. I hadn't heard of Bassong, Coloccini or Jonas before they arrived here, and I doubt Keegan had either.

When he signed I thought he was a tidy player and at the moment he's still that although improving. If he could add a few goals and assists to his game he'd be worth his weight in gold, but his all round game has gone up another level since he's been here.

While Keegan wasn't a bad judge of a player, unearthing and buying relatively unknown players for small fees wasn't really his way of doing things otherwise he'd be the most sought after manager in the world. It's a bit daft to insist on pushing his name into this thread (IN CAPITALS!) just because we don't like to think the cockney mafia could possibly have done some things right by the club.

Is Ledley King definitely out? Spurs were playing shit until he came back into the team against us in the cup match. If he's out as well as Woodgate, our chances of winning will rocket.

Milner can look impressive to a neutral, especially when he's playing against poor opposition. In a high pressure game he hasn't got the temperament to cope, I would put my house on him flopping for England and getting dropped from the squad once Capello realised this.

I'm not saying he didn't score. I'm just saying that it wasn't the fantastic piece of work that most people seem to have persuaded themselves to think. FFS, he was one on one on the goalkeeper, inside the penalty area, in ten yards of space when he received the ball. You'd back any Premiership striker to score from that position. Once the first touch took the ball wide and allowed James to close the distance it became an extremely difficult chance, and 9 times out of 10 the average striker will miss those. The chip was genius and it's those sort of finishes which seperate the class strikers from the hit-and-hopers for me.

I have a genuine fear we'll sell Enrique, buy someone like Leighton Baines and then find out that while he's the bee's knees going forwards, he can't actually defend. So yes, by all means by a left back but don't ditch Jose unless we are getting the real deal.

I wonder what brummie's thoughts are on Milner since he moved there? He had to sheepishly grin and bear it when we were splitting our sides at getting £12m, is it his turn to turn and laugh at us? Seriously, no.

I noticed that as well, he seemed surprisingly mobile which is why Jon probably got him mixed up with Zog although I'd still advise an eye test. I don't think he's suddenly ahead of Viduka in the pecking order either, he's just clearly hungrier and fitter so he should get the nod at the moment.

i'd erather martins didn't go so wide so much and just worked the channels I think he just goes where the space is, and to be fair, if he's making goals from out wide I don't mind. he'd create more staying more central but not very central. You mean like his run across the box when Owen scored? exactly in a way. he moved cleverly,he normally doesn't If he's creating, scoring or facilitating goals I will put up with his faults I guess. me too. i just think he's wasting himself. he has the talent,pace and power to be a top forward....lacks nouse. I agree. He's no David Villa that's for sure.

If we had any indication that he wanted to stay I'm sure we'd be singing his name from the rooftops. All he has to do is say "I'd like to stay" but he hasn't done that yet has he? he'd want to stay if he thought it was his best option....AS GOES FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM Fine but I haven't got an option to support anyone else so if he's not staying he can fuck off.

i'd erather martins didn't go so wide so much and just worked the channels I think he just goes where the space is, and to be fair, if he's making goals from out wide I don't mind. he'd create more staying more central but not very central. You mean like his run across the box when Owen scored? exactly in a way. he moved cleverly,he normally doesn't If he's creating, scoring or facilitating goals I will put up with his faults I guess.

If we had any indication that he wanted to stay I'm sure we'd be singing his name from the rooftops. All he has to do is say "I'd like to stay" but he hasn't done that yet has he?

i'd erather martins didn't go so wide so much and just worked the channels I think he just goes where the space is, and to be fair, if he's making goals from out wide I don't mind. he'd create more staying more central but not very central. You mean like his run across the box when Owen scored?

i'd erather martins didn't go so wide so much and just worked the channels I think he just goes where the space is, and to be fair, if he's making goals from out wide I don't mind.

I don't think Zog was a liability today, if anything he played it safe. If he's a liability on the ball, I'd say Geremi is a liability off it with his old legs and lack of ability to get up and down the pitch. we kept Portsmouth honest today with our threat on the break and Zog was part of that.

I understand that but it's as if people look at results in isolation, I still think we'll finish higher than last season but not as high as I would like or as high as I hoped for at the beginning of the season. Today's result was massive. After our disappointing results at home winning at Portsmouth was probably the only way we were going to restore some belief in the side. It's quite funny that the media have been having a wankfest over Redknapp's 'revival' at spurs yet they are now below us in the table don't forget citeh. 3 away clean sheets off the bounce. when was the last time we done that ? Must admit I was surprised to City down there. I thought Hughes built a functional side at Blackburn, now I'm wondering whether he's only capable of functioning in Allardyce mode?

The bench will look even better once Butt takes his seat. That's not going to happen in a hurry though. He did ok today and JK was singing his praises after the game.

I understand that but it's as if people look at results in isolation, I still think we'll finish higher than last season but not as high as I would like or as high as I hoped for at the beginning of the season. Today's result was massive. After our disappointing results at home winning at Portsmouth was probably the only way we were going to restore some belief in the side. It's quite funny that the media have been having a wankfest over Redknapp's 'revival' at spurs yet they are now below us in the table

I'd rather knee-jerk, that way I can blend in with others. it's not knee jerking at the minute though. it is week by week "ohhhh whoah is us,w e are in a relegation spot....we're doomed".....1 win later "renew passports lads,we're 3 points off europe" We have to make the most of these rare feelgood weekends, especially with the traditional train wreck Christmas fixtures coming up.

I was pleased Shola got the nod to come on ahead of Viduka as sub. That showed a bit of character from the manager and it worked out well. As to the thread, I voted 3 at the time and it's still looking good.

Fair comment. I'd settle for points rather than performances atm though. Just think how good those stats would have looked if we hadn't conceded late goals against City, Wigan and Stoke.

The Ferdinand/Shearer analogy is quite a good one. Martins and Owen don't really play that well as a pair but they cause problems as strikers in their own right. Having said that, for Owen's goal Martins dragged two defenders away by making a run the other way which never really got picked up on.

I bet Kinnear won't be ducking out of today's match interview. Mind I usually duck MOTD2 but I think I'll watch it tonight