Taylor Swift

Not really a positive at all. He did work hard today though and we got a point that none of us could have really expected before the game so credit to the whole team, including Parker of course.

I think he has got excellent ball control and if we are to build up an attack the ball have to start at Taylor and not Ramage for excample. The only problem is that he at times almost play arrogant which remind me of Rio Ferdinand. All the top players have that arrogance about them on the pitch. They just know they're better than most of the other players. I definitely don't mind that because I believe, at least on the pitch, that you need that kind of self confidence to be the best of the very best. Ronaldinho, such a humble and soft-spoken man in person, but he's definitely one of the most arrogant players out there on the pitch, the tricks he tries are outrageous and the way he teases defenders and all. Arrogance = necessary quality to have on the pitch if you want to be one of the 'greats'.

If Roeder/Fred can't bring in new fullbacks, I'd be extremely disappointed. Even though we have players capable of producing high-quality performances in those positions, such as Nobby at RB, we surely can't expect them to keep it up for the rest of the season without having dips in form, and more importantly, we have to look towards the future. Solano won't be able to play at this level in a couple of seasons so this could be our chance to sort out both the LB and RB positions for the foreseeable future. Get someone of Bridge's quality in for LB and someone like the Greece fella who was magnificent in the Euro 04, Seitaridis was it? Then I'd say we'd be covered in those positions for the next few years at least, and furthermore, considering the young talented defenders we have coming through, our whole defence will have basically been upgraded

Tbh, I thought in the second half Martins was bossed by Vidic, who's actually turning out into a good player and forming an excellent partnership with the druggie (Rio). First half he was decent, as was our whole team. Second half just couldn't get anything going, especially after our whole team's confidence seemed to have been lost after Scholes' second. He'll get better, this is pretty early on his learning curve still.

Although we've lost 7 goals in the past three games, the more this boy plays, the better he gets. Was unbelievable during the 6 prior matches and today against Manyoo, showed he can lead from the back. His style of play is eerily similar to that of John Terry's. He has also showed much more consistency lately, as well as improving his anticipation and overall reading of the game, which has compensated for his lack of pace (when compared to the super quick strikers). His passing is much more composed and has also added a Bramble-esque long ball style to his game, which to be fair, isn't attractive but at least it seems to go where it should He looks more mature now and plays like it as well, which can be seen from the times that he decides to surge up the field with the ball - just looks like a boy with confidence. Before, we'd get a couple of good games followed by a howler. However, it seems the crisis in defence has demanded that someone step up and lead the team from the back, step in Taylor Hope he can keep this up because we have a real talent on our hands. Can't believe he's still only 20!! blueeek.gif And lastly, he's added goals to his game as well. Keep it up!

45 points for so far. Get in the bonus points! Got 9 for Micah, Stevie G and Sidwell My captain, the great Kolo, is still to play as well. AND I still have Drogba and the dirty cunt Fabregas left. Good start to the month

Taylor deserves some credit as well. He was the most experienced 'defender' out there and lead from the back well.

I remember last year some people said they wouldn't want him to be our manager, said he's lost it Always was a great manager and seems to always will be until he retires. He'll also always get Manyoo winning because the unique style of movement that is included in the tactics. Similar to Wenger, this style of football has worked for 10 years and isn't showing any signs that it's going to stop working.

to the academy lads. Well played today, all three of them A point has to be made though, we're now in a very good position regarding our centerbacks. We have Taylor, Ramage, Huntington and Edgar, and all come from our academy! Although none of them are pacey, Taylor's anticipation and reading of the game has improved massively, which is good enough compensation and he reminds me of John Terry. He's been magnificent in the past 8 games imo. Ramage, on the other hand, still lacks that 'quality' about him that first-teamers seem to possess. He is decent and is a squad player, but hopefully that'll be all that he'll ever be. Huntington has impressed me most so far. His reading of the game is exceptional and even when he was playing on the right/left, he showed composure, which Ramage definitely lacks. Edgar.. wow Good game, was quite scared at the end when he nearly gave the ball away to Ronaldo but get in son, definitely one for the future now. Considering the fact that the oldest is Ramage who is still 22/23, the other 3 being 19 or 20, we possibly have the 4 central defenders position locked up for 10 years (if the players can continue developing). Obviously a world class center-back would be welcomed but that'd be asking too much considering how these four defenders have now progressed into the first team squad. All we need now is two excellent fullbacks

We'll never win anything with kids

Malbranque scored. 1-1 in the Pompey Spurs game.

At the speed you count? Not the best idea you've ever had. I had a full time temporary part time Christmas job. Had no time. So what is it you tit?

To be fair to Knightrider, he does have a disclaimer, he means the mismanaged club that we have become/returned to. I have two I clearly stated in the first post that I would dispense with him if we could bring in a significantly better manager, without a doubt. However I don't think that will happen so I'm sticking with Roeder, until otherwise. He for me is the right man to manage this mismanaged club during this period of transition and uncertainty. He's proved himself not only capable but up to the task in hand and with some patience, luck and understanding, I'm sure he can do the work he is being paid to do - to repair the damage of Souness - to a level that is satisfactory: European football which is a must for this club. He achieved that goal in less than 6 months as caretaker and despite our problems and low league position today, we can still achieve the same again this season which given the circumstances would be another remarkable feat should it happen. IMO anyway. blueyes.gif Will be tough if the gap is still 8+ points come end of January or whatever. We need to play well against the teams we're competing against ie. against the likes of Bolton, Spurs and Everton.

Sounds like the forum is about to have a major epiphany regarding Parker and his role. It'll happen the next time he's not playing and we do well.

Ronaldo captain Transferred him in. Genius Have Drogba, Gerrard and Richards doing good as well Good week so far.

Why didn't Berbatov start? Thought him and Defoe were doing well together.

Sounds eerily familiar

I'd go for that too, rather than see Parker selected. blueeek.gif Jeez, now you're agreeing with me. I guess that bug must have lasted more than 24 hours

Tbh, our loss today can't be blamed on the fact that we weren't clinical enough in front of goals. We didn't have ONE clear cut chance, bar the penalty that is. We had a few chances here and there but never one that you would expect one of our attackers to score, again excluding the penalty. We just didn't create one clear cut chance. We were passing the ball in their half, true, but couldn't create the chance. Whether that's to be blamed on the lack of movement from our strikers, lack of vision/patience from our midfielders, lack of support from our midfielders, I don't know. Could be a number of factors. Fact is, however, we couldn't defend from the set-pieces. That can only be improved through organization and communication. Even the shittiest of defenders can be coached to defend a set-piece (see Bolton) and the best of defenders can be shite at defending them (see Liverpool last season). It's just down to coaching in this case.

We need Duff back for the game against Manyoo. If he's not back, I'm desperate enough to play Luque at LW because we need a left winger to be playing, and have Emre and Butt in the middle with Milner on the right. That's our best bet. I don't fancy seeing Dyer out on the wing because it takes him out of the game. I'd rather he float around with Martins up top, we seem to play better that way.

Ah that was shite. Here are my player ratings. Bear in mind that after they made it 3-0, I basically tuned out. Just shite. Given - 5. Couldn't kick today (literally). I thought he might have done better with the Neville goal considering the high standards that we have come to expect from him. Any other goalkeeper and I'd probably say that this goal was hard to save considering how much the ball was spinning and how wet it was but with Given, you just expect better. Solano - 5. Didn't notice his defending so I can't comment on that. Drifted in too much for my liking because he wasn't involved. Offensively, pretty much non-existant. His passes were either too short or too long, symptomatic of the team really. I hope it was just the pitch and how wet it was bluesigh.gif Huntington - 5. Was poor tbh. Offensively, he's like Ramage = fucking shit. However, that's to be expected from a CB playing as an LB. Defensively, he wasn't that good as well. Same with the rest of the defence. Taylor - 6. The only bright spot in defence? He still seemed calm and composed and was not at fault for any of our goals, which is a big plus. His anticipation has improved markedly and without him, it would have been a lot worse. Ramage - 6. Was good enough while he was on. Emre - 6. First half was decent as he was involved in our game. Second half just poor. Passes not finding targets (this applies to Dyer and Martins as well) and losing possession at crucial moments in our attack. Poor corners as well. Don't think many went past the first man, and when it did on the odd occasion, went over/past everybody else. Dyer - 6. Not his usual electric self. Ran at their defence once and guess what happened? We got a penalty. His passing wasn't crisp and certianly wasn't on the same wavelength with anyone else on the pitch. Milner 7. Best player on the pitch for us. Kept on running. His crosses are finding our men in the box more often than not now. He was the only one who ran at their defence consistently and it was obviousy he was our only outlet in attack. Butt - 5. Ineffective in the first half, started out the second half well as a CB but then his lack of experience playing in the position showed as he was caught out quite a few times. Marking was also suspect. Martins - 5. Disappointing from him after his decent performance in the first half. Penalty just ruined his confidence. His first touch was Shola-esque at times. Good points was he was trying to make things happen, but again, passes weren't finding teammates and/or wasn't weighted perfectly. Sibs - 5. Decent linkup play but didn't offer anything else. Movement was really non-existant and just couldn't get anything going with Martins. Shite defending from free kicks costed us goals. Can't believe we didn't at least score a goal. Poor penalty from Martins, really came out of nowhere that. Pick a foot man! We did play good possession football at times, but couldn't sustain it nor could we get a goal from the times that we were on top. That was the difference. When they were on top, they got their goals.

Heskey for Wigan and they lead at Vicarage Road.

Portsmouth lead 1-0. Taylor again FFS.

blueeek.gif First I heard he was 3 months out, then it came down to a month and now he's started training? Jesus.

blueyes.gif Only if we beat Everton by three though. If we just win, we'll move into 9th place