Raconteur

He was supposed to be on the right wing in the first half, but he kept coming inside and played as an inside right instead of on the wing. At first I thought it was indiscipline but after Roeder's quotes about him coming inside (with his tacit approval) one can only assume he has free reign to do what he likes...

Going to be even harder now

Absolutely - the fact that offsides were 7-1 tells it's own story. They were intelligent and organised, we were... us And magpies_rawk in theory defending deeper makes you less vulnerable to the counter, if everyone is on the same page, in a solid zonal defence but considering we have two out-of-position fullbacks and one dopey lump at centre half we have something of a Catch-22 - defend deep and give them space to attack into, or play shallow and risk fucking the offside trap up

Post match thoughts? Woeful... Harper - 5 Carr - 6 Bramble - 5 Taylor - 6 Solano - 6 Dyer - 4 Emre - 5 Sibierski - 6 Milner - 7 Owen - 6 Martins - 5 Ameobi - 6 N'Zogbia - 5 Please God, let the rumours of Dyer to Tottenham be true (and Allardyce to the Toon - goes without saying)

I have to say I'm surprised with all the criticism Le Sib is getting - thought he's doing a decent job in the air with all the high balls we've been pinging around. True, he's not much chop on the deck, but he's doing a better job at the moment than Emre and Dyer - who are both giving their critics plenty of ammunition... Milner putting in another good shift, well supported by Carr in attack but still Carr in defence. Hope we can make something of all this posession in the second half. Oh, and what's the consensus on Bramble's barge early in the first half? When I first saw it I thought it was a pen - seen those given before.

To tell the truth I was asking NE5 - given that I was quoting him and all

unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view. it isn't correct. Without wanting to pick a fight or anything, this is one subject you have been consistently adamant about - no ifs, buts, maybes, imo etc. May I ask what you are basing this on? I'm obviously not party to any exclusive information either way, but if you are party to any such information, do you care to share?

Well, the official reason is in the press release: "It was mutually decided that I step down now rather than at the end of the season, to give my successor the ideal opportunity to experience the preparation and build up of matchday in readiness of next season." The real reason is probably something more like the Bolton board got wind of his plans to attach himself to the Ranson/Man City ticket and told him to clear out his desk - after his manouveres for the England job I'm assuming they decided enough was enough

Well he's neither Mediocre nor is he s***. Definatly one of the top 10 strikers in the league. Ok ok don't be deluded there... let me ask you how about mido & viduka... KD?? ... who is better between them both?? i wouldnt say viduka is one of the top 10 strikers in the league. the following 10 are all better than him; henry rooney owen drogba shevchenko berbatov anelka saha kuyt tevez Viduka's better then both of them tbh I'll back you on that one... ...but then again, I'm biased

The irony being that the real reason I thought so much of KaKa's post was because it was intelligent, well-reasoned and detached of emotional hyperbole. Certainly if I had posted what I think of Bellamy then HTL might have been within his rights to make his puerile response... Interesting to note he chose not to debate Kaka but rather go for the easy mark

* No, its not. We have: 1 great keeper, 1 passable one (Harper), 1 with potential (Krul) 2 decent defenders (Nobby and Taylor), 6 shite (Moore, Ramage, Shambles, Carr, Babayaro, Gooch) 2 midfielders with potential to be very good (milner and the zog), 2 who are ok most of the time (Emre and Dyer), 1 who is poor (duff) and 1 who offers nowt (parker). 1 great striker (Owen, if he comes back ok), 1 past it journeyman (Le Sib), 2 shite (Ameobi and Luque). No mention of Oba?

Interesting... Personally I wouldn't - maybe you should drop this opinion in the big Allardyce thread to see what reaction you get - especially from that knob who claims everyone who wants Allardyce is from the "Anyone but Roeder" camp...

Superb post

Aye - I agree 100%. My point being though that if Owen says he is ready (or not) then Roeder won't quibble. None of the "holding back" we saw with Dyer

Shola will and Owen will get a few minutes here and there I reckon. Shola will definitely play though. I'd say Michael Owen will get as many minutes as Michael Owen wants... MO: I'm right to play Glenn GR: Yes sir, Mr Owen, whatever you say! Would you like to start, or would you prefer to come on?

Who's to say we will have big money to spend this summer anyway - or more to the point, more money than Bolton would have? After all, they have consolidated and built up their position to the extent where they can shell out 8m for Anelka - who is to say they wouldn't have offered Allardyce a warchest that dwarfs ours this summer? Oh and I'll add my voice to those who dissented with stozo - we play ugly, ineffective football while Allardyce plays ugly winning football. No contest

We surely must make the attempt to sign him up - for all Shepherd's backing of Roeder, deep in his heart of hearts he must know that Allardyce is a better manager... There are only two questions as far as I'm concerned - 1) It is widely assumed he was interviewed (or at least discussions were held) when Souness was sacked - why wasn't he signed then? Was it because he and Shepherd didn't see eye to eye on certain issues, and if so are those issues still present? 2) Why is he leaving Bolton now? Is he taking a break from football, putting himself in the shop window to get a more "glamourous" job or is it related to his supposedly dubious transfer dealings? In other words are there aspects of his leaving Bolton that would make him unsuitable for us?

Yup - numbers of shares traded wasn't particularly big... nufc.com says: The price rise indicates that someone paid over the odds, but that in itself provides little indication of trends...

Exactly what I thought when I read those quotes - may as well have just come out and said "Owen is too big for the reserves". Match fitness comes from playing matches more than running aroung the training ground. Shearer never started s reserve game after injury he always went straight into 1st team action I must say I'm surprised it took eight hours for someone to mention this... The same applies! Actually, given that Owen is notoriously slow to gain match sharpness it is even more important for him to get games under his belt

Martins to... himself - earlier this season

SWP = Bridge = A boat that has already sailed... Neither of them are leaving Chelsea this summer unless a new manager comes in and boots them.

Exactly what I thought when I read those quotes - may as well have just come out and said "Owen is too big for the reserves". Match fitness comes from playing matches more than running aroung the training ground.

I reckon that will end up being it, the only question for me is whether it's Owen or Shola who Roeder starts with. Pretty horrible team - I would certainly make three or four changes, but I'm not running the show...

Depends what sort of "it all" you mean If it's in the stands would anyone be surprised if UEFA slapped another ban in English clubs after the recents fracas involving Tottenham and Man U? They've been in the banning mood lately and the English do have a (rather old but persistent) reputation...

Craig Johnstone