Yorkie

Name me one fan at the beginning of the season who wasn't pescimistic. Their squad is far better than ours. How can people argue with that? Christ - the amount of people who harp on about such things, how shite our squad is for example, yet when it is compared to another's it is all purely pro-Newcastle. Tottenham have a good squad with some very good players.

Wrong. No, he's right. It would move to 8th. Yes 8th wouldnt have to take it, but in reality they would. No, it's incorrect. Theoretically, there is no specific position for the Intertoto Cup. It's whoever finishes highest in the league of those who have applied.

You are the most pessimistic fan ever. Tottenham won't come throught cuz they are shite one good season woopty doo. Tottenham have a good team and are lethal at home. They've also got a game in hand and will be level on points with us if they win it. They've got the basis of an excellent squad at White Hart Lane and i fully anticipate them to come through. I'm not being pescimistic really. That's a good four or five places higher than where i put us at the start of the season. Finishing 9th is a realistic view; we've been saying for two or three weeks how shit our football has been, one good result isn't going to make me go all "we iz da best." If you know what i mean. With the squad and the manager we have, and being in a transitional period, finishing ninth would be a creditable outcome that i'd be reasonably happy with.

I can definitely see the likes of Spurs, Everton, us applying. Infact all the teams that are umming and ahhing in terms of European qualification might apply. UEFA Cup qualification is touch and go this year, it really is.

Probably finish something like this: 5. Bolton Wanderers ..... nailed on in my opinion 6. Tottenham Hotspur ..... they'll come through at the right time 7. Everton 8. Reading 9. Newcastle United 10. Portsmouth Portsmouth really aren't that good. They've started to slip up and they'll finish the season like Wigan did. Man Utd and Liverpool are both completely out of the way, and we've got Arsenal and Chelsea left to play only once. Both at home. We HAVE to be the teams we have to beat, and we'll do well. But i still fear for us...

Yep!!

Wrong. Right about the FA Cup bit... wrong abuot the Intertoto bit. It doesn't work like that. Two years ago we qualified for the Intertoto from 14th position. Us and Crystal Palace applied, i think.

Wrong.

There's no specific place for the Intertoto Cup. Premier Division clubs APPLY to take part. Say two Premier Division clubs apply, the team who finished highest in the league go through. Like Newcastle and Bolton last season. In terms of automatic qualification to the UEFA Cup from the league (IE 6th place opens up), the Carling Cup winners must already be guaranteed a place in Europe anyway (like Man Utd last season).

Out of respect to Anna Nicolle Smith apparently.

Ah right. Good to hear. Nobby always comes across as everybody's best friend actually.

Whassat?

So was it a penalty then?

He can't

And Spurs nowhere to be seen.

Fantastic, come on.

Hopefully he can re-discover his form of last season. He was a bit stop-start before he got injured this season, but that's largely down the the amount of games he didn't start, and i can imagine the mental affect of having an unwarranted competitor for left-wing was pretty harsh on him. Looking forward to seeing Zoggy come back!

Spurs leading. That's just great.

Would love to see us go in for him. I do think we'll be after a new centre-midfielder in the summer, or atleast we ought to be. Not a priority i know, but Emre is injury prone, Butt's getting on, Parker is enigmatic and Dyer is ineffective from midfield. Would love Sidwell.

He's not inept, though.

Slight alteration there.

If the World Cup was tomorrow and we had a fully fit England to choose from... Goalkeepers 1. David James 13. Paul Robinson 23. Ben Foster I never really was a fan of David James when he was in the England set-up. However, i feel that the criticism of him is maybe harsh, even down to him being dropped, considering how let-off Paul Robinson has been for his incompetence. The two of them should both go, followed by Ben Foster, who has been excellent this season and will be one of the Premiership's best in a few years to come. Defenders 2. Micah Richards 22. Gary Neville 5. John Terry 6. Rio Ferdinand 12. Jonathan Woodgate 14. Ledley King 3. Ashley Cole 15. Jamie Carragher I think the most striking omission from this defense list, is that there is no immediate second left-back. I feel that we do not need one, that one likely to be Wayne Bridge, if it means including five centre-backs of that quality. Jamie Carragher is very versatile aswell, and i think Richards is capable of playing on the left so it adds up. Midfielders 7. Aaron Lennon 16. James Milner 4. Steven Gerrard 8. Owen Hargreaves 17. Frank Lampard 18. Paul Scholes 11. Joe Cole 19. Gareth Barry Yes i'd agree with you HTL, Paul Scholes back in there, purely based on this season's performances. He has been simply excellent for Man Utd, having recreated some of his best form of the early deceade/nineties. I was against bringing him back earlier on, but i'd really love it. His passing ability, linking the forwards, spreading the play - is second to none. Simple as. James Milner being the other surprise inclusion, but for me, there's arguably been no better English right-winger in the league this season. He's better than SWP and more appropriate than Beckham anyway. Bringing Beckham back would be suicidal. He wasn't good enough when he was last playing for the team - what do you think he'll be like after 6 months of turmoil perched on the bench? Pointless. Strikers 9. Wayne Rooney 10. Michael Owen 20. Peter Crouch 21. Andy Johnson Rooney is England when he plays to be perfectly honest - he gives us that extra added quality, it's as simple as that. We're a far worse team without him. Owen, world class striker. Peter Crouch - good impact player. Andy Johnson - better than Defoe. Defoe's never done it in an England shirt, and he is far too inconsistent. He does absolutely nothing from the bench, whereas i think Johnson probably will. Starting Line-Up James Richards --- Terry --- Ferdinand --- A Cole Lennon --- Gerrard --- Hargreaves --- J Cole Rooney --- Owen I'm sick to death of seeing Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the same team as each other - one of them has to be dropped, it's as simple as that. We have to think about England, and England's success, not the egos of two of the country's most inflated and wealthy players. Lampard will spit his dummy out, but he's been monumentally shit for England for ages and he's got the wrong attitude. And i feel Gerrard brings more to a team anyway. His range of passing ability is far better and he knows his duties. Neville is too slow and cannot bomb forward like he used to. I think we are holding back our wingers by playing Gary Neville, whereas Richards is sublime at bombing forward and he also offers a goal threat. He's got far more going for him than Neville. Also, you look at some of the goals we conceded in the World Cup last year - we were shite from set pieces. Gary Neville's lack of height and sheer headless-chickenness that he often possesses, is not going to help. Richards meanwhile is tall and is good with his head. Lennon and Joe Cole, both players who are excellent at beating their men, getting into the box, and offering a goal threat from various areas. Rooney/Owen, unarguable. England have got a cracking team if it's played correctly.

Matchday, IE line-ups/tactics/in-game decisions, are where he mostly falls down in my opinion, as i've pointed out in my previous posts. Probably another reason, or maybe THE reason, for why he's a really good coach and not a great manager. In most other categories, he does a good job. The transfer window was shambolic but that's an accumulation of things, not just the manager's 'ineptness'.

So now you have been converted from a Roeder basher to a Roeder lover? Apologies in advance if I am oversimplifying things. Aye you are wrong so i'll accept your apology. I'm neither really. I don't particularly love him and i don't particularly hate him. I'm indifferent, as i was as soon as we appointed him. I'm not a huge fan of his but i think we should stick with him for the time being. I've bashed him and i've praised him. Probably more bashing than praising, but the things to bash stand out more. As all bad things do in football.

Their loss, our gain tbh. Won't happen anyway.