STM

Yorkie thank you for bringing some sense to this place. We were the better side and should not have drawn.

I was entertained.

Someone who can pass and finish can only be a good signing.

Agreed. After paying 30m for Schevchenko - the world's biggest waste of money! - it was always going to be a case of people putting up silly prices. I respect Mourhino for not buying at that price, but to be fair Kenyon wasn't releasing funds that summer, so he had to find the free transfers. Most Prem teams would have been happy with those three - and if they got them playing regularly, they'd have more of an impact. In all fairness they are 3 good squad fillers too. I've actually been impressed by Sidwell so far and he was the last one i expected to see in the first team.

I love how you go out of your way to make negative opinions of everything regarding our club. I very much doubt any of these are your opinions, in fact i know they are not because i seem to remember you giving some very good (accurate) comments about the club 3 years ago when i joined this forum. If these are your opinions then fine but seriously i'd like to see the other opinions return because they were much better and a far more enjoyable read.

I would like to see Krul go on loan to one of the newley promoted sides next season so he can get good premiership taste.

if you play well constantly but lose you think it will turn for you...if you pick up points while playing consistently poor you think you will eventually get caught. When we are playing poor and picking up points i think that it means there is more to come from players. Football is all about opinions, it depend on whether your a glass half full or empty guy. Sadly most people on here are half empty but claim to be realistic.

Doubly bitter as he was Roeder's mate too. Now he gets nowt from the boardroom and not much off the coaching staff either. It would be different if he was consistent but he always tended to play down the poor performances under Roeder. Under the reigns of Souness and Roeder he hardly ever blamed the manager (or for that matter Chairman, focussing mainly on the foreign players who wouldnt give him interviews. How many times did he often cry that it wasnt Roeders fault the coffers were dry. Martins and NZogbia were often cheap and easy targets, taking the brunt of criticism. He obviously didnt want to ruffle the feathers in the managers office. I'm jumping to conclusions but i'm sure it wont have escaped Allardyce's attention that whilst he managed Bolton, Oliver wrote several damning articles on him following Newcastle v Bolton games. If SA is loathe to give Anal an exlusive or interview then to pettily snipe at him from Thomson House is nothing short of pathetic. I've seen a huge change in the context of his recent articles. I don't believe he is getting his interviews anymore. His supposed "exclusives" are all straight from .co.uk too.

We are only five points off Liverpool, who supposedly are title contenders. Does that mean that we are title contenders too? If we win at the weekend, which we all expect, we could go 8th depending on other results. Doesn't sound like he's doing such a shit job now.

I have to say, i think Geremi has been FAR more consistant than Butt this season. Where as Butt has been putting in some good performances, there has been so atrocious ones from him too. Against Brum he gave the ball away at least 4 times before being substituted, yet i thought he was decent against Fulham. Geremi on the other has been very unspectactular but has put in a shift in every game and IMO rarely gives the ball away. Alot will disagree but i would drop Butt before Geremi.

As much as i agree with most people that i'd prefer to see 442, it wont happen. Sam will stick with the same starting line unless their are injuries. Will be interesting to see whether Duff gets a place on the bench and what his impact may be. We could desperately do with a fit and in form Duff in our side.

By all learning english and speaking the language.

I agree. The defence has better balance like that. Normally i would think that too but Cacapa and Rozey were class against Fulham.

Aye. I would. The toss-up would be Cacapa or Taylor. I'd pick Rozenhal every game. He'll have some dodgy moments as he adjusts to the league, but he looks a good player to me and I have patience with players like him. Completely agree with you about Rozehnal. Defenders that can play football are a rarity, so we should stick by him. I actualy think he might be a decent defensive midfielder in the future because he can play and has a good engine.

Sam will play: Given Beye Rozehnal Cacapa Zoggy Butt Geremi Barton Martins Smith Milner I would play this for 442: Given Beye Rozehnal Cacapa Enrique Geremi Barton Milner N'Zogbia Viduka Martins or 433 Given Beye Cacapa Rozehnal Enrique Geremi Emre Barton Milner Smith N'Zogbia Either way we will win because derby are piss poor.

To say we didn't deserve 3 points is fine but to say Fulham did is something else. I was quite happy to watch a really boring game TBH.

Given Beye Rozehnal Taylor Enrique Geremi Barton Milner N'Zogbia Smith Martins 2-3

Only Carr, Ramage and Ameobi to go. Need replacements though!

The best Beye song i heard was: Oh Habib Beye Oh Habib Beye Sung to the tune of oh happy days. Looks class in every department. If he keeps this up he could become a good candidate for captain, as he was at Marsaille.

Bollocks to pace. Milners proving that a footballing brain is paramount, not that he's a slow mind. Do people think he would be better on the right? I'm starting to think he's enjoying playing on the left, he's performances are very good.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We had 14 shots on goal, hit the post twice had two cleared off the line (practically) and milners edge of the box shot. We played well and deserved the win.

Aye, again i was very disapointed by this. It was pure laziness, he was under no pressure.

People are being a bit unfair with this. Smart foul really, with attacker getting away from him, far better take him out there than risk a foul on the edge of the area and have us let in another wonder goal. If it was anyone else we wouldn't even be talking about it. yep Barton had absolutely NO intention of getting the ball and it wasn't a "smart foul" because he could have tripped him or pulled his shirt if that was what he was trying to do. I'm one of Bartons biggest fans, football wise but he aint getting away with deliberately chopping down a player straight after he had lost possesion.

Thought he struggled today tbh. Could do with a rest next weekend if Faye is fit again. Oh aye, when Faye is fit i'd stick him straight back in. I just think he had a fairly average game, need to see their goal again in order to see what happened.

Heard some idiot on the radio on the way home saying that we performed poorly and had no width. I thought we played some good football today. Given- 6.5 Had barely anything to do all game, couple of comfortable stops. Beye- 8 Best game yet, defensively and attacking. Won us the corner that he scored from. Taylor- 7 Very powerful, never put a foot wrong. Rozehnal- 6.5 At fault for the goal but otherwise very composed. N'Zogbia- 7.5 Involved in alot of our attacking play. Geremi- 7 Worked hard throughout, calming influence. Butt- 4 Gave the ball away 4 times in the time he was on the pitch. Barton- 7 By far our best passer of the ball today. Lunatic foul let him down. Milner- 8.5 Never lost the ball once, the heart and soul of our attacking performance today. MOM Smith- 7 Worked hard, held the ball up nicely and won his share of headers. Martins- 7.5 Could of had a couple. Deserved his goal. Subs: Viduka- 7 Inspired in the first, tired in the second. Enjoyed the game. We completely dominated a team who beat Spurs last weekend.