TRon

Putting in youngsters would be the wrong thing to do in an ideal world but some of the current first-teamers look like they've given up the fight. I wouldn't rule anything out at this stage.

Sounds all too plausible. Fat spongeing bastard.

To answer the question, where do we go from here: Keegan needs to make some hard choices. As someone said earlier, it's no good playing attacking football with players who won't score or get into the box. The advantage our relegation rivals have is that they know they are shit and will play scrapping survival football. Birmingham yesterday against Arsenal is a great example. Out-played but hung on and fought grimly for a point. If we keep playing this combination of players we are in danger of losing the crunch battles against more determined teams like Birmingham, Sunderland and Reading. The answer? We aren't going to out-fight these teams so ditch the rusty scrappers like Barton, Butt and Smith UNLESS we are going to play with 8 men behind the ball and go defensive. If we are going to attack them we need to get some legs and hope into the midfield and attack which means Zog in the centre, Martins up front for a start. Andy Carroll has to come into the reckoning as well because he's better than Smith. In every way.

How true, but because he's 'ours' no doubt others will be made the scapegoat. The goal where Ronaldo just ran past him to score his second was a fucking joke. Absolute shambles.

thats down to movement and nouse....not so much pace. Try sticking 11 turtles together and seeing if they get past 11 hares. 11 clever turtles against 11 thick hares.........aesop as the ref...you know the result. relegation probably. very good come back,short and pithy. but i hope you are wrong. I'm not trying to be funny, but I really do believe that to play Keegan's brand of football you need some legs in the midifield. You make the point in your original post that we need to defend collectively and attack collectively. For that you need midifelders who can get up and down the pitch and forwards in the box when the chances come. When Milner swung in that cross in the first half, where was Smith? Where was Barton?

thats down to movement and nouse....not so much pace. Try sticking 11 turtles together and seeing if they get past 11 hares. 11 clever turtles against 11 thick hares.........aesop as the ref...you know the result. relegation probably.

I love that. How does he withdraw the comments? He said it, we all heard him say it, and he should be made to explain it by the FA. I'm just thinking of what would make a good article header here; "when cunts are allowed to opine" DISCLAIMER: no reference to your post intended. I wasn't talking about Wenger btw.

I love that. How does he withdraw the comments? He said it, we all heard him say it, and he should be made to explain it by the FA. I'm just thinking of what would make a good article header here; "when cunts are allowed to opine" DISCLAIMER: no reference to your post intended.

He should have been either wide left or centre midfield alongside Faye. If only because both those guys can live with the pace unlike creaky carthorses like Butt and Barton.

thats down to movement and nouse....not so much pace. Try sticking 11 turtles together and seeing if they get past 11 hares.

All I know is we are collectively slow as turtles and I predicted Man U would waltz round us as if we were statues in the pre-match thread. Well like night follows day...

Rooney and Tevez both have pace. So does that Ronaldo guy as it happens.

No surprise there, I am afraid. Wenger wants to sensationalise the incident as much as possible to put pressure on the FA to (a) punish Taylor; and (b) ensure that his players continue to get preferential treatment from referees in the future. He should actually be fined for commenting on the incident, to be fair. If Wenger were that critical of a ref ("I think this guy should never referee again") he would be fined. It is not Wenger's job to judge the incident. It is the job of those on the FA panel responsible for these matters. Wenger is entitled to and should look after his players, but should not be allowed to slander someone on live TV. Looking at it dispassionately you might be right. But if you are a manager nurturing a young player of exceptional talent only to see his career put in jeapordy by a talentless hod-carrier going in with studs a foot high, you could be excused for being a bit angry. True, but there is a time and a place for such comments. Wenger of all people should know this, given the amount of times he has been chastised by the FA for his post-match comments etc. Any other manager in the Premiership (bar Ferguson, perhaps) would be fined for saying the same. (Wenger could have said, "The challenge looked very bad from where I was sitting. I hope that the FA views the incident impartially and that a fair punishment is decided. In the meantime, I hope that Eduardo makes a swift recovery. We are all thinking of him.") How many managers would really be that calm and collected after losing two points and one of his best players for god knows how long? Be honest now.

Wigan look like winning again.

Of all the spectators at the ground today, Butt and Barton will have the best view I reckon

No surprise there, I am afraid. Wenger wants to sensationalise the incident as much as possible to put pressure on the FA to (a) punish Taylor; and (b) ensure that his players continue to get preferential treatment from referees in the future. He should actually be fined for commenting on the incident, to be fair. If Wenger were that critical of a ref ("I think this guy should never referee again") he would be fined. It is not Wenger's job to judge the incident. It is the job of those on the FA panel responsible for these matters. Wenger is entitled to and should look after his players, but should not be allowed to slander someone on live TV. Looking at it dispassionately you might be right. But if you are a manager nurturing a young player of exceptional talent only to see his career put in jeapordy by a talentless hod-carrier going in with studs a foot high, you could be excused for being a bit angry.

With an IQ of about 45 it's understandable some things don't register. Perhaps wrapping a boot in a carrier bag and swinging it at his face at 80mph might provide a clue of the impact in a more identifiablel manner?

Strangely enough I was just thinking if Arsenal won the pressure would be more on Man U and would give us a great chance to finish their title hopes. The Arsenal result will give them a massive boost. We still have the opportunity to dent their title hopes but whether our players will have the balls to stand strong I seriously doubt.

Momementum-wise that's a massive point for Birmingham.

I can't understand anybody defending that, pathetic. The thick fucker isn't even sliding. He's launching himself onto the guy's leg! His whole body weight would have come down on his leg. Isn't even looking for the ball. This is all down to the bully them tactical speech, no doubt about it. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. You can quite clearly see from that photo, Kaka, that Eduardo has pushed the ball past Taylor. Taylor's reactions were just too slow. Judging from the clip on YouTube, crappy as it may be, Taylor's challenge was clumsy but not malicious. Without seeing the clip from various angles, it is difficult to categorically state either way, but I would barter that Eduardo is as much as victim as his own skill as he is Taylor's tackle. The problem nowadays is that players such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Eduardo et al are so quick on the ball that they leave defenders trailing in their wake. Please do not misread this - I am NOT blaming Eduardo, as that would be daft. Taylor's challenge warranted a red card but I suspect Eduardo's sleight of foot was just too quick for Taylor. to be honest, I am surprised that more players of Eduardo's class have not suffered similar injuries, as defenders are constantly sprawling out after being 'owned.' I hope that Eduardo recovers and I also hope that people try not to throw the book at Taylor before viewing all the evidence. We have one dodgy replay and few photos. Let the FA do the deciding. There's nothing wrong with being late as it can happen, but look at the tackle! He is not sliding but launching himself onto Eduardo and his foot is ridiculously high. Do you play a lot of football? You just don't tackle like that, not even by accident, it isn't natural. The guy is a professional and so the tackle is even more inexcusable. Mis-timed or not, when you lunge for the ball (giving the benefit of the doubt) with your studs a foot above the ground, there's every possibility you'll put your opponent in hospital if you miss it. It's always a tragedy to lose a talented player, to do it on account of a troglodyte making such a clumsy challenge is desperate.

What an awful loss to the game. Gutted for him.

Look man, get real. He's in a mental institution. It's a big leap from that situation to teaching other people's kids about anything. Local solidarity has it's limits.

amybe it isnt so daft though? im starting ot believe more and more that he was just a puppet? For Douglas Hall? Aye, he did reckon we'd be relegated that season the numpty. if not douglas the hall family. i reckon freddy just did what he was told half the time, and he was the only one thick enough to put his face to half of the shit I don't think that's Robson's view of events. IIRC it was John Hall who wanted to appoint SBR when Keegan left but was persuaded towards Dalglish by Hall Jr and Fat Fred. Wasn't Robson approached but reluctant to leave Barcelona? Or was that later on? No I think you are right. Robson said he was reluctant to break his contract at the time, which was probably true but I think he wanted to prove himself there before quitting as well.

Well I didn't say anyone had been slagging off the foreign legion. What I said was "No one wants to be a supporter and feel they are still on the outside looking in. It's easy for those of us born here to dismiss it because we don't feel it." Just an explanation for the supposed paranoia. Are we any different when the shoe's on the other foot? The southern media's out to get us, London press etc.?

amybe it isnt so daft though? im starting ot believe more and more that he was just a puppet? For Douglas Hall? Aye, he did reckon we'd be relegated that season the numpty. if not douglas the hall family. i reckon freddy just did what he was told half the time, and he was the only one thick enough to put his face to half of the shit I don't think that's Robson's view of events. IIRC it was John Hall who wanted to appoint SBR when Keegan left but was persuaded towards Dalglish by Hall Jr and Fat Fred.