Taylor Swift

A suggestion for the January transfer window. He's a creative midfielder proven at the highest level, was a key player in a title winning team and is really unselfish, something of a pre-requisite for creative midfielders. Saw him play yesterday and he's still as bubbly as he was when he played for Valencia. Still a key player for his team and would transform the way we attack (especially in a 4-3-3). He's got pace, loves to support the attack and has nifty feet, very suited to the PL imo. He's also just entering his peak and wouldn't cost as much as someone like Deco who's also a few years older than him. Pablo Aimar anyone?

Parky, this 'style' was only used for the first time in the league (from the start) yesterday. And we played well. We created chances. It's irrelevant comparing yesterday's game to the Bolton or Villa game because we're not playing the same formation. I wholeheartedly agree with you that we lack creativity when we're playing 4-3-3 but honestly, yesterday, we created plenty of chances and should have won at a canter. Hopefully Sam sticks to 4-4-2 because it's obvious that we're playing to our strengths (Milner's more effective, Owen's nearer to the goal, Viduka has more support etc.).

This is an agenda worth pursuing.

I'm sure Parky will be able to tell you.

People moaning about the tactics? We won ffs. Moan when his tactics cost us points. Most would have taken a win before the game and that's what we got, no need to moan when we (and Allardyce) got what was needed. On another day it might have been a draw but on another day we could have scored 6. We won. End of.

That passes as creativity around here apparently. It is sometimes an education to glance over these pages..... Real creativity ends up in goals and I don't count hitting a lot of balls into the danger area and having a swing at it as creativity. Sorry. God bless and all. If creating a half dozen clear-cut chances isn't creativity then fuck me we don't need this 'creativity' you're on about. Owen should have had a hat-trick, Butt had two clear chances, one which he passed and the other one blazed over. Ameobi also had a one on one which he missed, Milner could have done better with a half-volley in the penalty area and Taylor hit the bar. We created a fuck load of chances but it just didn't go in. There's not a problem with creating chances, at least there wasn't in this particular game. Maybe you should have really watched the game instead of trying to perpetuate your agenda regarding the creative midfielder? We were good everywhere today. Defense, attack and midfield. We dominated and battered them and only a fool would say 1-0 was a 'just' result.

:lol: you may have a point

We should stick with the 4-4-2. We've shown that we're better playing this formation. Viduka's more involved, the formation suits Owen, Milner and Zoggy become more effective and there's a variety to our attacking play which is non-existent when we play 4-3-3. In time, the players might be trained into being good with the 4-3-3 but for now, we have to stick to the 4-4-2.

He USED TO, yes. I am sure at 28 years old its not completely out of the question that he could still do a job there. Agreed, but I think he's changed his game a lot since then and would be pretty much wasted there now. The fact that we played Smith there today with Geremi in the middle speaks volumes. I reckon it speaks volumes about Geremi's influence that Allardyce would stick Smith out in a position he's clearly incapable of being effective in. Zoggy - Butt - Barton - Geremi Anyone? If Milner's injured of course. Reckon that would be a cracking midfield. Hard to break down, industrious and having a creative/attacking spark.

Should be against this lot with 10 men tbh. Otherwise I would be worried. Big plus for me was how stuck at it and the players were very positive on the ball and looking up all the time. Worried by the lack of a genuine creative player/hub. We nearly didn't break them down today and we will struggle against better sides to make chances. But not bothered at the moment and happy with the points. We didn't break them down? We had 3 clear-cut 'should have been a goal' chances in the first half and plenty more in the second when they decided to defend with 10 men. We're just not finishing well atm, which is down to our strikers not being sharp enough. There's no problem with a lack of chances being created. 18 shots today, doesn't really scream LACK OF CREATIVITY to me. Plus we still are waiting for our "creative" midfielders to play. Exactly. We don't need Ronaldinho to break down the likes of Wigan, Derby, Boro etc. We created a fuckload of chances today and anyone who says we shouldn't have scored at least 3 or 4 was watching a different game. If you want to see a team currently suffering from being unable to create chances, tune in to the game at Old Trafford and see Manyoo midfielders take pot shots at Craig Gordon.

Should be against this lot with 10 men tbh. Otherwise I would be worried. Big plus for me was how stuck at it and the players were very positive on the ball and looking up all the time. Worried by the lack of a genuine creative player/hub. We nearly didn't break them down today and we will struggle against better sides to make chances. But not bothered at the moment and happy with the points. We didn't break them down? We had 3 clear-cut 'should have been a goal' chances in the first half and plenty more in the second when they decided to defend with 10 men. We're just not finishing well atm, which is down to our strikers not being sharp enough. There's no problem with a lack of chances being created.

Personally, I thought he covered well in defence and releases the ball to the right players. Seems a bit slow when actually releasing it but at least he's not doing spins or passing it backwards all the time. Our whole attack was usually defence -> geremi -> wingers and then move on from there. Since our attack was good today, Geremi deserves some credit.

My ratings from seeing the game on the TV. Harper - 7. Composed. I don't feel as secure as when Given's in goal but it's getting better. Zoggy - 8. Magnificent. Raped them down the left wing. Enrique needs to be played and him moved up to midfield asap. Cacapa - 7. Another solid game. Very tidy and releases the ball very quick. Rozehnal - 8. Composed. That's the word that best describes his play. Great signing. Taylor - 8. I reckon he should keep his place. He's very solid, and actually contributed to our attacking play today. He's also a danger from set-pieces which is something that will benefit us. Milner - 7. Very productive first half but faded a bit in the second half when they double-teamed him on the left wing. Smith - 6. The game seems to pass him by atm. Obviously not in his best position and people shouldn't criticize his play but surely we have better options (Martins for one). Geremi - 8. Takes his time with his passes but he's solid enough and was a central part to our attacking play today. Butt - 7. Solid performance again. Should have probably scored but he's everywhere. Owen - 8. Should have had a hat-trick which says more about his positioning, anticipation than it does his finishing atm. He'll get his goals and we'll get the points, just like we did today. Good to have him back. Viduka - 6. Good half from him. Hopefully will recover in time for the Derby game. Ameobi 6. Was actually involved and didn't try to bully players. He has to realise he's not Shearer and must let the game come to him, which he seemed to do today. Martins - 6. Fantastic cross with his right foot. Contributed more than Smith in the 20 or so minutes he was on. Needs to be on the pitch Overall a really excellent performance. Wigan weren't bad defensively yet we had something like 19 shots on goal. The goals will come. On another day, we would have had the penalty, the Owen goal would have been given and Owen himself would have finished at least a couple more chances. This lack of 'creativity' might be overrated. Certainly we'll be better, or at least we should, when Barton returns, but we'll be good enough for the time being

We've been playing really well. Milner's been excellent, so has Zoggy. Viduka's been more involved than he's been in any game this season and Owen should probably have had a hattrick already if it wasn't for a wrong decision by the linesman and a brilliant save by Kirkland. Seriously, this game should be over. All Allardyce has to say is 'continue what you're doing' because there's no way we're not winning this game. We don't need Martins, Shola or anyone else at this time. We just need a bit of luck. Should have had a penalty. Should have had a goal. Never seen Owen miss an easy chance like that in ages. I still believe we'll win this. Great performance so far though, a big change from the past few games.

Harper starting? Would prefer Given.

Eh? When a player shows commitment to his country (Owen), he gets slated for not caring about the club. Now when a player cares about his condition because he wants to perform well for his club, he gets slated as well. Baffling.

Bring them fuckers on. A chance to knock out one of the teams who's record in the comp is pretty good, and it'll be a major confidence booster if we do. If we don't, not a biggie because everyone expects us to get knocked out. Silver lining if we lose is that Allardyce will get more time in training to drill in whatever he wants (4-3-3). We can do them, even at the Emirates.

Any official team news? Anything SSN has reported as 'likely'?

I'm sure Beye, Roz and Cacapa can communicate together in French. Only problem with communication would be Enrique.

Wonder what brummie thinks... 'Who the fuck?'

Hopefully we've stuck some sort of sell-on clause into the transfer because Leeds won't have paid us much for him at all.

Imagine all the load of crap i've been getting latley, even my dad who never follows football calls me going "Why are you supporting a club with racist fans" "Fuck off. Dad"... Wouldn't an explanation have been better than a 'fuck off' to your dad?

What a fucking tit. There's a new article up on the site btw. I thought this one was better than the last one (hard, I know) and although he's still a tit, he's made a couple of good points.

How much do you think he's worth nowadays? I say 5m max considering he'll probably be really slow in a couple of years.

Just an observation after seeing the highlights from last night's game: Owen doesn't seem to have that much power in his legs atm. The acceleration was there sometimes and not at other times but he doesn't have the power to strike a ball like he used to. This is most probably down to lack of fitness, timing and sharpness. I reckon if Owen was fit, the chance he had in the first half would have been in towards the bottom corner. When you're able to fully control how you strike the ball, you can still generate power and keep it low. On that particular occasion, Owen went for power and because he still doesn't have the strength in his legs, he couldn't keep it low. This is also noticeable in his goal. Maybe it's a bit of over-reading but in a few weeks the ball would be almost lofted over the keeper in into the goal (if Owen shoots with the same body rotation and angle). Last night, probably down to this being his first start for us in ages, tiredness would have affected his concentration and how he usually strikes the ball. Anyhow, like I said, it was one thing that came to my mind when Owen was involved.