TRon

A bigger version of that story in the Mirror - ending with the quote 'It doesn't matter what I do, I end up with a kick in the bollocks'. Crap with substitutions, great with words A few weeks ago, JK was talking about selling Spaniards and bringing in replacements from the lower leagues, now he's tying up loan deals for £10m players on loan.

Which of are biggest wage earners won't be playing? Geremi? Viduka? Smith? I'd rather not pay to say Viduka and Smith limp around, though I'd prefer Geremi to start over Butt anyway. It's actually quite comical that those three you mentioned could be amongst our biggest wage earners. Then we wonder why we are struggling.

I would play all the biggest wage earners in this match so they can showcase exactly why they are worth it.

It was quite funny how Zog came on in the 2nd half against Wigan and in the space of 10 mins put through two forward passes, one of which Oba scored from. Of course Duff retains posession nicely, but in the same position he'd have shimmied, twisted, skipped over the ball moved the ball forward 3 inches then passed it sideways to Nicky Butt.

New owners, Shearer as manager armed with a substantial transfer war chest. If Ashley stays, he has to bring in a full time manager and give him enough money to compete, whichever system he goes with.

You're assuming that after he does shite, we'll still be in the Premiership. Even if he's no great shakes, anyone who makes him manager will have to give him decent backing, so there's a fair chance he'll do ok. I was never a big fan of Shearer when he was here as a player but I would like to see him get a crack as manager. He's a born leader and unless he's completely clueless should be able to harness the support and move the club forward. Why? Not being arsey, would just be nice to hear this side of the Shearer opinion spectrum from a respectable poster... i was surprised when i read that. I thought someone would pull me on that. A couple of reasons neither of which were really his fault. Shearer wasn't quite the same player after his two operations and he didn't have the explosive running he had at Sothampton. Similar to Owen not being the same player he was at Liverpool. Being great players, they both have enough ability to be an asset anyway. The other problem was with us having Shearer in the side everthing tended to go through him, balls lumped long up filed for him to scrap for. I think the only time he really looked effective in his later years was with Bellamy next to him. In any case, as a manager I think he has all the qualities to do a great job, inexperience or not. He'd be my choice if it was up to me.

You're assuming that after he does shite, we'll still be in the Premiership. Even if he's no great shakes, anyone who makes him manager will have to give him decent backing, so there's a fair chance he'll do ok. I was never a big fan of Shearer when he was here as a player but I would like to see him get a crack as manager. He's a born leader and unless he's completely clueless should be able to harness the support and move the club forward.

I think Kinnear as an interim manager has done a decent job, but the thought of him selling the foreign players and bringing in bargain basement Championship players with the loot terrifies me. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are decent players in the lower leagues but JFK's not exactly Arsene Wenger when it comes to spotting talent, or making the most of what he's got already.

I absolutely guarantee Shearer is exactly the sort of manager that would base his entire team around Butt. There still seems to be too much of an 'old boys club' mentality with some of these ex-players. That would have been how I would see it usually, but if Shearer ever became manager, it would be his reputation on the line, and you can't compete with top clubs by persisting with over the hill cloggers like Butt. I would imagine Shearer's ruthless enough to make tough decisions if only for his own sake.

I think that Shearer has been sounded out by one of the groups attempting to buy the club and this is his way of letting Ashley know he's willing to take the job. It puts pressure on Ashley to either do the deal or consider Shearer as an option if it fall through. Of course Ashley might be in on all this, he has to deny all knowledge while JFK's still in charge. That's my wild speculation in any case

Faye. Parker, Emre and Dyer are crocks. Faye would have been a good foil for Colo.

If the club is sold and new owners offer him the job with a decent budget he'd take the job like a shot IMO. Passionate guy who would appreciate managing a passionate club. It won't happen though, if the club is sold the new owners will go for Shearer I reckon. But do you think Shearer is ready to manage? He's more likely to wait for a year or two. No idea, but I have a hunch he will be asked to give it a go. Shearer certainly gave the impression he wanted the job when it was given to Keegan, I don't see why it would be any different now.

How does the song go? "Bring your daughter to the slaughter", etc. Though why anybody would want to take their daughter to a slaughter beats me.

If the club is sold and new owners offer him the job with a decent budget he'd take the job like a shot IMO. Passionate guy who would appreciate managing a passionate club. It won't happen though, if the club is sold the new owners will go for Shearer I reckon.

He's going to be here for a few more games even if the club is sold. The takeover isn't going to happen till after Christmas if it goes through, so he's here till then I would think.

He was shite and the Spammers are turning on him now. I've got a mate who is a season ticket holder at Upton Park and reckons the audible groans for Scotty's pirouetting are getting louder and louder as the season goes on. Also seems injury prone nowadays. Parker is just another jack of all trades master of none, the type we seem to get saddled with year in year out. BTW, I wasn't particularly having a go at Butt but for me he's the one who should be sitting in front of the defenders, not Guthrie or Barton. God awful teams like West Brom, Fulham and now Wigan are passing us off the park week in week out and it needs to be sorted. Butt playing in his proper position would be a start, and if Guthrie isn't capable of getting in the opposition half he should fuck off and we should put Lua Lua in there.

Why not play Duff at left back? That way end product wouldn't be required and the huffing and puffing would actually be useful.

Not sure how good he'll be without Chelsea's players mind. Shola's a bit of a come down from Drogba it should be said.

Aye i reckon so. He should start at left wing, with Enrique behind him.

Duff doesn't stand still, he just takes one step forward and two steps back. It was noticeable that when Zog came on, for all his faults he played two killer forward passes and we got a goal from one of them. Every one of Duff's clever passes is usually backwards.

I ask because I'm bemused to constantly see him further up the pitch than Guthrie today, and Barton in the two previous games. It's usually those two taking the ball from the central defenders while Butt is playing in the opposition half. I'm sure these are great tactics but as we keep getting pissed on in central midfield week after week there seems to be a flaw somewhere.

Insane overstatement of his failings after a sensible opening line Dunno if you're on the wind-up or what, but that's some of the most exaggerated tripe I've read on here for a while, and it's not like your competition is scarce. Something definitely "off" about him though, much like many of our players, but I'm not sure if passing ability/technique is it. It's the lack of options to pass to once he's got the ball if you ask me. Defensively he still looks pretty solid to me, if he can be criticised it would be for not over-lapping with the winger.

What sickens me is that we've had fairly easy starts both last season and this, but we are failing to take the points we should against shite opposition, effectively killing the season before it's begun. What is there to look forward to apart from an 'exciting' fight against relegation? Yet if we'd won the last two games which we should have we'd be gunning for Europe. Absolute wank.

Duff's biggest problem is he has a heart the size of a baked bean.

He's ok as a short term appointment which is all he was brought in for. All this talk about making it a more permanent appointment makes me nervous though. I just don't trust JFK in the transfer market for a start. He has no faith in foreign players which makers him limited to start with. I could quite easily see him selling Xisco without having the slightest idea how to use him for example.