Thorpinho

It will be interesting to compare the posts in here about the defence with the ones post spurs if we concede a few goals and say for example Enrique gets destroyed by Lennon.

might not want nicky butt hitting it but Michael Owen definitely needs some serious encouragement to shoot!

He is crap, over the last couple of years the Spurs defence has been even worse than ours with him as a regular. No pace and not better than what we have. On top of that is the fee, which has the English multiplier on it as well.

Commitment and loyalty are largely irrelevant in the premiership these days. We have the likes of Butt, Barton and especially Smith who give all the teamwork/commitment talk and we are utter crap with these players. A few years ago we had a bunch of total cunts like Dyer, Jenas, Bellamy, Robert and we were in the champions league. I dont want to get into a debate about the examples of players i have used there, just wanting to make the point that you can be a lazy player who doesnt care and be very successful.

I agree with the point about the pressure being huge, and it is just going to get worse and worse and worse with every game we dont win. If we get nothing at Birmingham then the next game becomes worse and it gets to the players even more. As soon as we win one game we will be fine and the pressure will go - the problem is that that first win might just come too late.

The fans can make a difference. What would really make a difference though is dropping the players that are playing shite.

Well at the very least its good to see that our new set up of Wise/Jimenez/Vetere are doing something productive, and we are no longer sitting around asking the questions we used to ask like "i wonder if freddy shepherd has heard of Samir Nasri"

The saddest thing of all is that Smith will almost definitely be here next season!

For me this article pretty much sums up why the useless plank keeps getting in the team. We are in a battle or whatever cliche you want to use, and day to day on the training ground KK/allardyce/whoever would be seeing Smith's undoubtedly great attitude. His "sir yes sir!" approach to training must just convince the management that hes really up for it and motivated and consequently they pick him. Its an incredibly dated and sunday league approach to picking a player but it is the only logical reason i can see for him getting in the team on a weekly basis, ahead of the quieter players/less hard working players like Emre.

Agree with that. The amount of times the ball goes out for a throw in and the linesman deliberately waits for the ref to decide which way it goes before flagging in agreement is ridiculous. They're there to make decisions like that but haven't got the courage of their convictions to do so. And it's f****** annoying. Its not just throwins. Literally the ONLY decision a linesman makes on his own is offside, that is their sole purpose it would seem. If they had some balls they would be able to help the ref on corners throwins goal kicks, fouls, penalties. The only time a linesman waves his flag around is when someone has been poleaxed right in front of them. The refs themselves in general perform pretty much at the limit of their ability. The best referees are the strongest characters - but thats not something you can teach. We cant have 'how to be Collina' seminars. Its part of the game though, and for the most part referees dont win or lose a team competitions (unless your italian, in which case your fucked )

Its either that or the management really are stupid. Either way its not a good situation!

Linesmen are the problem. Getting them doing something constructive and contributing would make a huge difference to the quality of officiating.

im confused, does this mean that the changes are relevant to final positions this season, or is it that the final places determine uefa spots for the season after that?

does it really matter whether or not Wheater might possibly be slightly better than Taylor in 5 years time?

One thing that we absolutely must do is squeeze the space between the defence and midfield like crazy. In my opinion Faye has got to play in front of the back four and just destroy anyone that comes near him. Full backs have got to be Enqrique and Beye, but they wont be. Carr will no doubt be on the pitch bending over and asking to get raped by Cronaldo.

We dont have the ability to attack or defend at the moment, might as well just not turn up!

I love the way he thinks about it so simply. Hes not got stats and fitness regimes etc coming out of his arse, he just says get some legs in the team put it on the deck and play. Old school managers so much better than the new types.

I just think with Arsenal that if Wenger had wanted him he would already be there. I genuinely dont think anybody in England will even come close to meeting our valuation of him, and so he could well end up staying here.

Where is the Zog going anyway? Spurs? Those tight bastards would never pay us, or him, enough cash.

Such a quality guy, doesnt have a massive ego like a lot of footballers these days. You wouldn't see Frank Lampard cycling around London.

That comment and one on the first page about Sir Bobby "discovering him" are total bollocks! He was already playing for PSV and Barca had to pay a fairly hefty transfer fee for him. Paying lots of money for a player already brought over here from south america where he took the piss is not "discovering" him!. He was a fantastic player. A lot of people on here are talking about goals where he has run from the halfway line etc. What always impressed me more about him was his lethal finishing. When he burst through on goal there was only ever one result. To say there are no players left these days for kids to idolise or with the same flair etc is nonsense though. Messi, Cronaldo Kaka all have the potential to be talked about like Ronaldo in 10-15 years time.

Can you imagine if that was written in the papers today!

He was probably betting on us losing.

I said this weeks ago after the 6-0 man utd game. The defence got slated but it wasnt even remotely their fault, the centre of midfield is simply pathetic and its like the oppo have the entire middle section of the pitch from box to box to just waltz around in. beye taylor faye enrique milner n'zogbia Owen Martins/viduka Thats the sort of formation we play. The big white space in the middle is where we get raped.

Love the way Vetere is described as former Real Madrid "Super Scout". He must have built up quite a reputation in the 4 months he was there