Nate

More of Butt and Smith in midfield. Yay.

Boro won the same cup didnt make ginger face a brilliant manager tho did it? He hadn't also won two Uefa Cups, a Uefa Super Cup, the Copa Del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup though, had he? I don't think there's any doubting Ramos' ability. It was a massive coup when Tottenham got him and if they can hold onto him they will be the biggest threat to the top four over the next few seasons.

I wish we had some players who were that bothered about playing, final or not. Shame we don't. What happened?

Pretty much. Lose to Blackburn and those three games literally become must win and at the moment i don't have faith in this group of players to perform under that kind of pressure. I pointed out a couple of weeks ago that all the clubs around us have been mentally prepared for a relegation fight from day one and are now scrapping for everything; whereas we have a squad with no confidence whatsoever, who have suddenly found themselves right in the thick of it and are currently playing the worst football of the lot. If Reading or Fulham put a string of results together i'd say we are in a lot of trouble. At very least we're going to find ourselves in a sobering league position which could well prove to be a hindrance when trying to attract top players in the summer. The decision to sack Allardyce when we were easing to a mid table finish looks worse by the day.

SSN: Wenger withdraws comments about Martin Taylor following Eduardo injury.

Playing our best midfielder at left-back paying dividends again.

Err, Fulham away?

I agree, which is why we should try to cash in on him in the summer before everybody else realises he is distinctly average.

Taylor has had three times as many appearances for his club and the U21 side, though. Where is the improvement in his game?

Panathinaikos 1-1 Rangers (1-1) Bayern Munich 2-0 Aberdeen (4-2). HT. Leverkusen, Hamburg and Marseille also through. Is the Bolton game not being televised?

For a winger so slow, Milner does not have the trickery to beat his man or quality on the ball to justify a place in our side, and in his 67 Premier League appearances for us I'm yet to see any evidence of either of those improving.

Should be a cracking match. Good games today. Lyon ManU (6pm??), then a choice between Arsenal Milan or Celtic Barca. I think they're all kicking off at 19:45, Sky just feel the need for an hour and forty-five minutes of buildup.

Aye, you can picture it this time in 12 months if we were to sign him - 'Geremi Mk. II'. perhaps worse, as gilberto's built his entire game on athleticism, he's really not that good on the ball. I know he's not up to much on the ball but i thought his defensive game was based upon his positioning and reading of the play. Maybe not. Diarra's attitude wouldn't really bother me if it didn't affect his performances. Portsmouth are still getting an excellent midfielder for a season or two.

I know he has the potential to be another Butt or Geremi but apparently he's an excellent professional on the training ground and Hamann is currently proving that you don't necessarily need legs to do a decent job in the holding role. Still disappointed we missed out on Diarra, he would have been perfect for us at the moment.

Gilberto Silva and Young-Pyo Lee are two cheap, attainable, proven Premier League players who would improve our first team. Assuming we're saving the big money for forwards.

Not much of a moment, but i loved Ronaldinho's goal at Stamford Bridge in the 04/05 Champions League.

Although I do think James has consistently been England's best goalkeeper over the last two years.

Quarter-final draw: Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City Manchester United v Portsmouth Bristol Rovers v West Brom Barnsley v Chelsea Looks like Chelsea, Man Utd, Middlesbrough and West Brom will be the final four.

Yesterday's result made Liverpool winning the Champions League more likely, if anything. We've seen over the last few years that if they get some momentum going they can become virtually unbeatable over two legs due to the effect of Anfield on their own and opposition players. Benitez may not be cut out for the English game but he's still one of the best managers in this competition and this is the strongest squad he's ever managed in it.

What a moment.

1-1 at Anfield too.

Bristol Rovers into the last eight after beating Southampton 1-0. Today Cardiff v Wolverhampton Chelsea v Huddersfield Coventry v West Brom Liverpool v Barnsley Man Utd v Arsenal Tomorrow Preston v Portsmouth Sheff Utd v Middlesbrough It's going to be a weak quarter-final line-up if Portsmouth and Middlesbrough don't both win.

I think Chelsea are definitely the best value at the moment. As you say, Drogba and Anelka aren't going to have many bad games and their midfield has incredible quality in depth. I can see them beating both Man Utd and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and it going right down to the wire between all three.

I don't remember Sam being sacked on the pitch. Must have been embarrassing for him.

He seemed to take a clear swipe at Maloney's face, from the footage i saw. When you consider he's currently supposed to be on his 'best behaviour' it makes it increasingly difficult to have faith in him to keep his head in other situations, on and off the pitch.