TRon

He was awful today. Never looked like he believed he could make anything happen.

that was probably their best game this season. no, there was that other time they played us as well...

will they get thumped again next match? The answer is no and yes respectively. Watching Derby for 30 mins in the 2nd half reminded me of someone commenting on seeing Mike Tyson on the dance floor - it was like watching an elephant trying to dance. here we had a bunch of no hope cloggers actually trying to play football (painful sight) when we kept inexplicably giving them the ball. I don't think many teams will keep launching the ball high towards their big players like we did though. Shame we didn't just keep the ball on the floor and knock it around and watch them flounder like the clueless relegation fodder they are.

derby looked absolute shite. we actually made them believe they are decent footballers by the end.

Just reading that Owen's injury is taking longer than thought to heal. I'm not really too fussed either way, but the one period of time we will really need Owen for a sustained few weeks is during the African Nations cup. Fingers crossed.

I like Avram Grant's comments: So I take it Crouch marched up to Torres and told him in no uncertain terms that he is a diving Spanish c**t who needs to cut it out...?

was that before or after trying to sell him to Villa?

FWIW Milner has looked miles better on the left than the right because he doesn't have the pace to get by players on the byline. I said it in the Milner thread probably so I agree with Sam on this one. He's got a good work ethic though.

That is a very good read and I don't disagree with much of it at all. I was a big fan of Mourinho's 4-3-3 at it's best. I know Allardyce is trying to go the same way, but I have been disappointed that he hasn't been able to use the resources available to him better when he clearly hasn't got the players to play that style. If you expect players to be adaptable to fit your formation, surely a good manager needs to show some adaptability in the short term at least?

Except for Liverpool's foreigner's they're all sound as a bell and would help yer Gran across the road with a kindly smile and a tip of the cap. Just ask Crouchy.

Just read that it's only a one year contract extension keeping him here till 2009. I'm not too fussed one way or the other tbh. I think Butt's one dimensional and the best teams have someone a bit more athletic in that position. No doubt he can do a job though but...meh.

It's not that he hasn't earned it, just wonder whether a genuine top 4 side would be moving on the likes of Butt as Man U did? This is a Bolton-esque type signing typical of Sam when he was there. Before anyone says it, I know we are not a top 4 club, but I'd like to think that is where we would want to get and future signings would reflect that.

If he is man enough to name his own foreign team mates publicly then fair enough, otherwise it comes across as hollow and worthless.

At Barcelona he probably has plenty of pacy forwards ahead of him. At Newcastle he would just add to an already pedestrian attack. Nothing wrong with him as a player but he's not what we need.

Would you turn down Kaka if there was the possibility of him leaving a year later to a bigger club? Bit of an extreme analogy, but the point still stands. Anelka is a top class player, hes far more suited to the style and system that Big Sam wants to play (and is playing), and hes a better player than Martins, Owen or Viduka. Having him here for one season, and then making a profit at the end of it, is better than not having him here and having to sign someone average just because theyll not have the ambition (and no doubt the ability) to play at the highest levels in club football. And even then, its only a possibility that hed leave. I think we're the type of club that Anelka would love to be at - billionaire chairman, large fanbase and stadium, recent European regulars, a manager who Anelka respects, etc. Hes shown quite a lot of commitment for a mercenary at his last two Premiership clubs, Man City and Bolton, back when Man City were lower mid table with no money, whilst Bolton are Bolton, small club with small resources and the true ambition of being mid table (ie ignoring peaks and troughs). Without meaning to sound arrogant, I think we're a pretty big step up from the clubs that Anelka has been at recently (and again, was/is comfortable with), and if we could land him, Id be pretty certain that he wouldnt be leaving unless we wanted him to. Also, look at it from this point of view. How many good signings away are we from being serious top 5 contenders? I would say two quality (not world class, just consistently good) players would do it. Not too dissimilar to Robert and Bellamy changing Sir Bobby's mid table side to title pretenders. IF we can land Anelka, do it, and try to get at least another similar calibre player in another position that we need a first teamer, and we could easily jump from mid table to top 5/6. From that perspective, can you still see players like Anelka wanting to leave when we'd be only just behind CL clubs? I honestly doubt it. This would be called ambition - not wanting to sign Anelka for fear of him leaving would be a clear lack of it imo. Everything you say is 100% right, especially wrt Anelka being ideal for Allardyce's 4-3-3 BUT, I do think we have moved too late. There are going to be more attractive prospects than us for Anelka, though I would love to be proved wrong. The lure of the capital might swing it as well.

That's the kind of stuff NE5 has a field day with. If the manager wants him then so be it. £8m seems a lot though. This is just my personal view that we don't need more fairly slow strikers, however good their technique. We already have Viduka, Owen and Smith. We need an Anelka type IMO. It's not a given either that Mort will just hand over the funds to Sam, he'll probably want to see which way we are heading before handing over major cash. It may also come down to the relationship between Mort and SA as Mort may say "tell me who you would like and we will see what we can do" or he may say "you have a budget of £xmill to spend see what you can get" I know I am obviously simplifying things there but depending on the relationship SA may not even target a gudjohnsen type player. I just think whatever the budget Allardyce shouldn't be looking at Gudjohnsen full stop. Not that he's a bad player, he just isn't what we need IMO.

I see this as very likely to happen unfortunately. Drogba is unsettled at Chelsea and Anelka would be a great replacement.

That's the kind of stuff NE5 has a field day with. If the manager wants him then so be it. £8m seems a lot though. This is just my personal view that we don't need more fairly slow strikers, however good their technique. We already have Viduka, Owen and Smith. We need an Anelka type IMO. It's not a given either that Mort will just hand over the funds to Sam, he'll probably want to see which way we are heading before handing over major cash.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article598495.ece supposedly a 3 way fight with Man City and West ham to pay £8m for his services. Don't really see how he would give us the pace and power required to make Allardyce's 4-3-3 effective. We have enough one-paced forwards at the club already so if this is true, I hope Mort refuses to release the funds.

Always looking for the negative. Perhaps it said something about how Fergie saw his tenacity and leadership qualities, these being very good attributes for that area of the pitch. That's not looking for the negative, it's just saying it as it is. You yourself have said that he isn't a midfielder despite having those qualities. He's at his best up front but forwards of his type do need to contribute some goals. Around 10 would do, but if he was scoring double figures in a season I doubt Fergie would have wanted to part with him. Fair enough. All I'm bothered about is the team anyway. Smith doesn't have to score 20 goals to justify his place, he just needs to be the most effective player at the club in the role he's been given in the last couple of games. If he's given a run in this role and the team improves then he's doing his bit until a better player comes along to take his place. 20 goals a season is what you want from out and out strikers like Owen or Cole who aren't expected to contribute as much to general play. Smith contributes far more to the team all over the pitch, especially defensively, but anyone playing in such an advanced role should be getting a few goals as well. Mark Hughes when he played as a striker would be a decent benchmark. He played a similar role for Man U and scored a canny few goals. That being Man U, if Hughes scored 14 a season, I'd be happy with 7-8 from Smith. I don't think that's asking too much, he's got all the tools needed.

that's just asking for a hamstring pull isn't it?

i disagree with the first bit - i think martins could be very effective in a 4-3-3. his pace and occasional trickery would be beneficial, and he would be able to run onto and flick ons and throughballs. he just needs to settle in the system. with owen i agree - he cimply cannot play in the pl as a lone striker, or as a wide player. on the second point i completely agree - smith simply doesn't score enough goals to be the lone striker/target man, and viduka doesn't seem to be fit enough. this position is crucial in that system, and we need another player in jan or the summer if we want to stick to it. being danish i think bendtner might cut it! One of your comments about Martins was correct - 'his OCCASIONAL trickery'... That's the problem - its TOO occasional, as is his first touch and anticipation. the other problem is the alternatives are unfit or too slow.

I think he'd do his groin tbh.

Always looking for the negative. Perhaps it said something about how Fergie saw his tenacity and leadership qualities, these being very good attributes for that area of the pitch. That's not looking for the negative, it's just saying it as it is. You yourself have said that he isn't a midfielder despite having those qualities. He's at his best up front but forwards of his type do need to contribute some goals. Around 10 would do, but if he was scoring double figures in a season I doubt Fergie would have wanted to part with him.

Milner reminds me of Neil Mcdonald, another hard-working, right-sided midfielder who floated the ball high towards the penalty area. Milner is the perennial under-achiever. Always hitting the bar or just missing important chances. With such a good right foot he should be scoing a lot more from both open play and dead balls really.