AlanSkÃrare

Yep. We can also look for special dispensation pt 2 now that Woody looks finished. That's a tradegy regarding Woodgate. Brilliant defender in his time, could have gone on to be a fantastic footballer if it wasn't for his fitness.

Interesting to read that Emre set up the equaliser. After Oba Martins was fouled I recall...

Just read through this, seems like such a long time ago, what a fantastic team that was. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2003/mar/12/championsleague.sport3

Bellamy vs Feyenoord, the 4-3 win at Leeds, 3-1 at Arsenal and to be honest, when Jenas made it 1-0 vs Man Utd in 2003 with that thunderbolt of a shot, I thought we were winning the league for real. I haven't been to that many games living in Sweden, but the 2-0 win over Nottingham last season was one of the best experiences of my life.

Ryan Bennett from Plymouth was obviously a target and remains so. Anyone seen him? http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11678_6350432,00.html

I honestly woke up the other day and had to go online and check wether this was a dream or not. Kind of taking things too far, but hey...

Birmingham, Bolton, Wolves and Sunderland can all be dragged into it if they go on a bad run. We could as well. West Ham, Wigan, Blackpool and WBA the obvious candidates for me.

Dynamic set of players and a squad capable of playing in different formations. Very happy with the additions that Hughton has made, not only now but in January as well. Only worry for me would be if Carroll sustains something and is out for a longer period, I think our attacking threat is dependent on him, and I don't think Best, Ameobi or Ranger could fill in and do it good enough. Also, this squad certainly isn't one of the bottom three on paper.

Carroll nailed on for another hattrick here. Perfect game for Ben Arfa to make his debut in as well, looking forward to him having a go at Baptiste and Catchcart.

Just seen the England squad. What has Carlton Cole done to get in there in front of Carroll?

Coleman looks very good going forward. Remember him doing well against us for Blackpool last season as well.

No chance we'll go down, I'm convinced. Hughton has adressed all the key areas.

I still don't think we'll attract any better, and also as long as we don't know how far he can take us I'm very curious to see how much he can build here. Seems to get most things right so far.

Hughton has managed to get "the best" out of most of our players so you would hope he'll be able to do the same with Ben Arfa. He also seems like he has admired him for some time so he should know most parts of his game.

its more than just the goals. a lot more. Never said it wasn't, his general play has improved so much, but his goalscoring form was something we needed to continue going into this season.

His form since that FA-cup game at WBA has been sensational. 12 goals in his last 14 appearances now isn't it? On course for at least 10-13 goals this season. Fantastic for us and we needed it badly.

If Carroll's out I think Ranger is the one best suited to play on his own up front. He might not get us the goals but he holds the ball up better any of the other strikers (apart from Carroll of course).

I can't think of many left backs that I would prefer to José. Of course you could argue that the likes of Evra and A. Cole are better, but I can seriously see Enrique being one of the best fullbacks in Europe for 10 years.

Francefootball now saying he's in England negotiating with Liverpool, while Goal.com says Dassier has revealed that he is flying to Newcastle in the morning.

Same here. His performances in 2001/02 were nothing short of world class. A threat no matter who we played.

Haven't seen Vuckic all game. Tavernier and Ferguson seems like they lack the technical ability. Ranger has been busy, very obvious that he is playing out of position though. Kadar our best player imo. Also, Ranger totally reminds me of Omar.

Just saw that Bob Bradley has "confirmed" his interest in managing Villa. Is that the 10th time this week this has been a story at Skysports? I think Villa would have picked up on his interest by now.

When was the last time we had someone playing for England? Dyer, Parker?

Even more appealing is the fact that we fielded only three overseas imports in our starting line-up. Can't imagine many teams beating that in this league. Really nice to have an English core of players.

Since when did Alan Smith start making runs into the box? Looking like Sami Khedira out there... Should have been a goal. Carroll is class, will be a hit in the Prem as well, really hope we can hold on to him. Enrique and Barton both outstanding in the first half. Been a long time since one half of football excited me this much.