Colos Short and Curlies

I actually like your line up and was going to have a very similar one except for maybe Geremi in the middle instead of Butt and have Martins on the right wing and Viduka up front with Owen I thought about putting Martins on the right too, but i'd be worried that he would not provide enough defensive cover and that Bale, who has looked very dangerous this season, would have a free run on Beye. With Geremi you know he is going to put in a good defensive shift, and he can't be much worse than Milner going forward. We're at home, put their left side under pressure by playing Martins there. Rather Bale having to track back than us play a containing wide right man which will allow him to push on our fullback

fuckin hell - he looks, dare i say, happy ? He got his own back on Keane, raped his dog this time

Predicting a genuine Owen injury from the placcy pitch unfortunately - its asking for trouble playing out there if you ask me 4-3-3 for me in this one Given Beye - Cacapa - Roz/Faye - Jose Barton - Geremi - Emre Martins - Dukes/Smudge - Zog Subs Harper Roz/Faye Taylor Dukes/Smudge Milner Should beat this lot, for once the pressure is off us and we've got a nice little run against them going. 3-0

Aye, I'd say so as well. Can't tackle for toffee though

That was Shola I believe

Can't go browsing for pics at the mo, But you can't go wrong with a bit of Mrs Lousie Redknapp. And the best bit? One night she will go to bed with Jamie but wake up next to Harry.

This will sound stupid to us Toon fans. But Peter Ramage seems to be held in much higher esteem by the media (particularly 5 Live) than his talent warrants

I'd be worried about the amount of good breaks the opposition seem to be getting from our corners

To be honest, I don't think it will be seen as embarassing due to the lack of appearances, a broken foot and cruciate injury gives a valid get-out from that. It will be the whole circus of club vs country which will make this signing go down as one of the worst in Premier League history (as far as the media goes anyhow), and this is regardless of how many goals he bangs in between now and when he eventually leaves

Unbalanced view imo. If by saying better defenders won't help you defend then one could say better strikers won't help you score. Defending is a team strategy but if a team gets in and around your box the better the quality of defenders you have the better chance you have of limiting your opponents options. This is so obvious i don't actually think it was the point you wanted to make. I agree about ball retention and i would guess that's why he bought Viduka. I would also agree that defending from the front is very important and i suppose that was in his thinking when he bought Smith. Incidentally, Italian strikers aren't renown for their defending from the front or being strong enough to hold the ball up, their defensive units however are often very effective. I haven't studiously watched Italian football for a few years, but in the 90s at least the majority of the play was concentrated in the midfield, strikers were there for an explosion to finish a move off. The vast majority of Italian midfielders are very comfortable on the ball and rarely gave it away. It was this rather than the strikers which helped the defence out, with the excpetion of Emre we don't have midfielders who are comfortable on the ball in tight situations, hopefully Barton will help us out here

Another one, Steven 'Stevie G' Gerrard.

That you may have to explain! Cant see how the all time goalscorer in the PL can be overrated..... overrated by nufc fans FACT if he was such a great he would of won trophies with us roy keane is a true great unlike shearer Aye, he never donned a blue and red cape, and fly round stopping bank heists and saving babys from burning buildings either. He did actually, just like a lot of players he liked to keep his charity work private

As a premiership player I don't think Lampard is overrated, deflections or not he contributes to a very high percentage of Chelsea goals, whether by assist or final touch. On the international stage however he seems to have been found out somewhat. If you go on media perception, then Yakubu is pretty high up on the overrated list

Wayne Rooney. Good player who hasn't developed as much as his very early potential suggested Great hype-generating machine makes him appear a much more dangerous player than he actually is

he is a centre back the new peter ramage but everyone are experts on him as they seen him play on tv against man u and score try watching reserve team football Alright, I'll fly to England every week to watch the reserves so I can be a soopa fan like yourself. Thats the spirit!

I would have thought that logically a first choice international player would usually play a higher % of games for his country than his club over his career. I can't be bothered to find the stats, but I reckon Shearer would have been pretty close in terms of games played/missed for his club and country inbetween his debut for England and his international retirement. Giggs on the other hand.......

Was in the bibbed team in training today - usually the starting 11 Fwiw so was Barry, Lampard wasn't This report comes direct from f365 if anyone's interested Thought not

TV wasn't it?

Anelka to replace Owen (who I have an inkling may end up at YouTube City). Could play alongside either Martins, Dukes or Smith or on his own. Will probably score more than Owen over a season if he was in a comparable team as he will play more often. Failing that Messi would be nice

Oh for the days when it was 1 on a Sunday, 1 on a Monday and the rest 3pm on a Saturday. Failing that, it should be a maximum of 1 lunchtime and evening game on the Sat and Sun, the remainder at 3pm Saturday.

Could either be a Lee/Clark or a Lampard/Gerrard

Said it on deadline day - Craig Gordan at £10m. Looks a top top drawer goal keeper, but he isn't going to win Sunderland many points as the rest of the team is soooo average (at best). Would have been better off spending 2-3 mill on a competent keeper and the remaining 7-8 mil on someone who will put the ball in the net or who will dominate the back 4. Now had he gone to Arsenal I would be saying he could be the difference between winning the league/ Champs league or not

Back 360 to my earlier post (might have been in another Harper/Given thread tbh). Regardless of form Given deserves his place due to past performances. Therefore Shay is the new Shearer. Not good for the team imo, Harper started the season as number 1, regardless of how this came about he had the shirt to lose and did nothing to warrant being benched. If Shay had got injured part way through the season and Harper had played 5 or 6 games like he did and Shay came straight back in I wouldn't care, but I do feel that in this instance Harper has been treated very badly (can I put a disclaimer in here that I'm not bashing Given here at all, he's obviously a top drawer keeper and will play himself back into form - however he should not have been brought back in when he was due to Harpers (and the defence in general) form)

how long doe Southgate have before a vote of confidence? Boro could easily finish bottom of the mini North East table

Should the stats show Shay conceding 1 or 2 today? Can you concede a goal that is an own goal you score yourself?