TRon

no offence but I never heard such shit in all my life.

Given time he would have been He might do nowt else during 90 mins but just wondering if he might have scored a couple of goals if he'd been up front instead of Smith?

Don't know about legend, but he was a quality CF who we didn't use enough. For the record, I thought Dalglish and Allardyce were great appointments at the time. I was hoping to be proved wrong on Smith but sadly...

I have thought about it carefully too and come to the conclusion that he's just shit.

I am nervous now to say the least. But this is Birmingham not Real Madrid so if some of these big names on our team sheet don't show up today I'm also going to be angry. Maybe Viduka will start and get the crucial goal, but I think we'll get a draw from this. Asking for a win is a bit much but a point will do.

What's he done like? I must have missed what he's done wrong. I was probably pre-occupied with him being one of the few rays of light in this team. He can be a bit stroppy. Can't really blame him like, having to play second fiddle to that waste of space Duff.

It's getting to the point of no return for a few of Keegan's regulars IMO. We can take getting tanked by Liverpool and Man U, but in the next couple of games, Smith, Butt, Barton, Owen and Duff will need to show that Keegan has been right in relying on the 100%'ers. So far they've been 100% shite but all will be forgiven if they step up tonight and next week.

Add Forsell to that list of potential match-winners for Brum. He's the one I'm worried about. Let's hope we can give them something to worry about as well.

It's a good article, I agree with a lot of it, but I can't be arsed with negative vibes about Owen today. He's going to start tonight, I hope he scores.

I think we'll find out tonight about a lot of our team, whoever is picked. We have a team full of internationals, but my biggest worry is whether they will be able to perform for 90 mins. One good half just isn't going to be enough, I hope they realise that. I think we'll find out more about Keegan tonight, than what we will about the team. He has some huge decisions to make tonight, let's hope he gets through. Will be interesting to see if Keegan makes the right changes during the game as well as the starting line up.

Well they are up against equally talentless players, maybe they'll look better as a result. If they don't they want fucking shooting.

I thinkj Butt will play, can't see him in that line up.

I think we'll find out tonight about a lot of our team, whoever is picked. We have a team full of internationals, but my biggest worry is whether they will be able to perform for 90 mins. One good half just isn't going to be enough, I hope they realise that.

I think tonight's game is massive. It's the first head to head against another relegation team, we can't contemplate losing.

To be fair, Keegan has always insisted we need 40 pts to stay up. Obviously we don't, but it's crucial we don't rely on others do do our work for us. At the end of the season, hard fixtures can mean fuck all, as some teams have nowt to play for. Arsenal or Chelsea could end up playing kids against one of our rivals. We have to stand up and secure our own survival starting tomorrow.

I think a good base is an ambitious board and a good manager. The top clubs make shrewd appointments and the managers are then responsible for team spirit, loyalty and the rest.

The one thing I will say is, we can't rely on other teams to just give up and die. We thought Fulham were nailed on relegation certs and they pull off a great win. We thought Reading were dead certs and they suddenly start getting points. It's still in our hands but we need 4pts from the next two games. Tomorrow will tell us a lot.

Outstanding post, agreed with almost every word. Someone said it earlier, how many supporters of leading clubs would be happy if he was appointed at their club? Man U? Spurs? Liverpool? Arsenal? I've just fed the figures into a computer and my opta stats indicate 98% of them would tell him to fu... ...er furget about it.

Which players is he referring to then? He bought Smith and Barton (to play Ramos football no doubt ) and he gave Butt a new contract. He didn't play Enrique, another one of his signings. Which leaves who? Owen? He was picked ahead of Martins so who's fault is that? Given, Duff, Owen have made remarks, cant think of them atm but they definitely have. Was going to say Charlie but then he is never happy. Allardyce picked all three ahead of other alternatives, so again: who's fault is that? Just becasue he picks them doesn't mean they have bought into his methods. At the same time he is not going to play poorer players because they have. As he said he believes over time he would of turned it around & with his success at Bolton he will belive that. Am I glad he is gone? Yes. Do I think he could of turned it around? No. Can I see his point of view? Yes. His point about Ramos is complete hogwash though. Ramos doesn't play long ball football. The players he was picking to play direct football obviously weren't suited to it, and neither were the ones he bought in. If you wanted to play football like Ramos why would you buy Alan Smith? If you are going to defend then you need players with pace to hit on the break, not players like Geremi, Barton or Viduka who are slow. Shame his fucking opta stats couldn't tell him that you can't play football on the break if you fill the team full of plodders.

Which players is he referring to then? He bought Smith and Barton (to play Ramos football no doubt ) and he gave Butt a new contract. He didn't play Enrique, another one of his signings. Which leaves who? Owen? He was picked ahead of Martins so who's fault is that? Given, Duff, Owen have made remarks, cant think of them atm but they definitely have. Was going to say Charlie but then he is never happy. Allardyce picked all three ahead of other alternatives, so again: who's fault is that?

Which players is he referring to then? He bought Smith and Barton (to play Ramos football no doubt ) and he gave Butt a new contract. He didn't play Enrique, another one of his signings. Which leaves who? Owen? He was picked ahead of Martins so who's fault is that?

The comparison to Ramos is comical. Ramos has set his team up to play quick, counter-attacking football on the deck. I said even when Allardyce was here, I don't have a problem with setting up defensively if you can hit decisively on the break. But Allardyce went on record as saying he didn't like playing out from the back, which leaves you with no other option but to lump it high and long, which is what his team did. It's what Bolton did and it's never been what Ramos does. No amount of re-writing history is going to change that.

Fair call - "significant money" is a relative term though. Significant compared to Ashley's personal fortune? Or relative to the club's bottom line? I dunno - I see all these responses assuming an enormous transfer kitty for Keegan but I'm wondering where all the positivity comes from? Look at the gossip gdm shared - Scotty Mac for Christ's sake? We've already got Shola and Carroll - another fat Aussie (disclaimer - I too am a fat Aussie!) will not catapult us into the Euro places. If we sell little Mickey then we need to trade up, not down... And even if 24m is a number made up by the press, does anyone think 24m will buy the six-eight international class players we need to compete for Europe, or even the cups? Maybe I've read too many posts by NE5 - but maybe he makes a good point when he suggests we are blinded by love for Big Mike? Nobody really knows anything so anyone can believe what they like. At the moment I prefer to support our Chairman and manager's stance which would appear to be very ambitious. If anyone else prefers to be suspicious or negative good luck to them.

Keegan is seriously beginning to worry me. With being based in Glasgow, and otherwise taking very little interest in the game over the last 3 years, these are probably the only up and coming players that he knows. Having done nothing in the January window, does he really have a clue about where the talent is, on a more widespread basis? The same thing crossed my mind. Just because he has been in Scotland for some time, shouldn't really translate as the best players available all playing Scottish football. Might just be paper talk though. We'll see.

If the club were offered £9m for Owen I'm sure they'd rip their arm off they'd take it so fast. If we sold Owen for £9m it wouldn't mean his replacement would have to cost £9m maximum. Mike Ashley is loaded! Having said that, we'd possibly use the scouting network to identify up and coming strikers in Europe rather than blow fortunes on already established 'super stars'. Without wanting to sound like a well known poster - the evidence thus far indicates that transfers are to be self-financing. Ashley has given no indication he intends to spend bucket-loads of cash... Or maybe the current predicament has me so down that I'm simply worst-casing everything... The evidence thus far indicates that Ashley didn't want to release funds to a manager he didn't believe in, and he has indicated that Keegan will get significant money to spend in the summer. There is no other evidence.