Minhosa

So, presumably, that means Sibbers will start again? Any mention of the fat lepricorn?

I'd go with the complete opposite of that TBH. I would start Emre with Butt as they've both looked different players without Parker. I'd also start Sibbers with Martins to further develop their partnership and leave Dyer on the bench becuase he's the only person capable of really changing a game in the last 35 minutes if we need to chase the win AND he's hardly the most reliable person to play against a big, physical Watford side scrapping for points. Duff will start if fit.

I think the last person who played 4-3-3 got his P45. Fair point but I reckon Sib could do a job through the middle with Martins/Milner or Rossi running down the sides, creating things. It would NOT be pretty to watch or entertaining but it might be an effective way of picking up points when some of our more creative players are injured (Zog, Solano, Emre, Duff etc). Just a thought.

I used to have a season ticket in the lower tiers of the Milburn stand when we were shite under Jim Smith, Ardiles and Co - have to say I much preferred the craic and banter with other fans around when we stood AND you felt (and probably were) much closer to the action. I remember watching one match with an ageing Kevin Sheedy playing left wing, constantly getting beaten to the ball by their right back. Some fella next to me was harranging Sheedy from the first whistle of the second half right to the end of the game and, with about 3 minutes to go, Sheedy 'offered' him out. 'I'll feckin see ye outside yer fecking langer' - the Geordie didn't know where to put himself. Funny as owt. You don't get that interaction with the players anymore. Although, if Stevie Carr fancies a go, I'll meet him wherever he wants!!!!!!!!! He'll just have to get down to his fighting weight first, so I'll not bother checking my phone for a while! Anyway, back to the subject.................... Whilst I accept the safety argument regarding seating I think it would be nice to have one part of one stand which is 'standing only'. It'll never happen though. Not in a million years.

On the positive side it will more than likely rule him out of any January move. I doubt we would want to sell him (even though he's looked unhappy this season) but if Arsene and the rest of his 'froggy' chums come calling we might have been forced to flog him. He won't be passing any medicals in Jan now. In his absence, maybe we can change formation to 4-3-3 and play a narrow game whilst Duff is getting fit? It wouldn't be pretty but it might get us through some games with a point rather than nothing. Play Sibbers up top (if fit) through the middle to hold the ball up and lay it off to martins on the right and rossi on the left? What do you think?

I'll bruise his other nine toes if he fancies 18 months out. Fat Wanker.

Me too. Shame for Emre when he's just started to hit a run of form since joining. Although, with the commitment he shows, we've got to expect him to pick up minor injuries throughout the season. It would be a step back if (when fit again) Roeder chooses Parker/Carr over Emre & Solano who have made us look a far more creative outfit over the last few games, IMHO. Wait and see what happens.

SSN reckon Emre might only be out for 2 matches. The presenter mentioned it whilst showing our goals, about an hour ago. He also said Sib would be in contention for a place on Weds. No mention of Solano

I bet Carlos Quieroz (sp?) is well hacked off about that. I reckon he must have had designs on the post. Don't you think?

Cheers - can an admin change the title of the thread to 'Lippi to Man Utd?' or something then?

Whats the point in posting this if you're not going to expand upon it?

Ok, stupid question cos I really can't think of the answer to this..................... Why would a 'high powered' delegation travel all the way upto Glasgow to view the match if they have no intention of watching a player? Surely they could sit on their fat arses (Aye, thats right Freddie) in front of the TV? What benefit will they get from being there? Probably there to meet up with Manchester United reps rather than Celtic reps, regarding Rossi.

Great call. Seem to remember Geremi having a great season for Boro a few years ago. Would be a massive improvement on Carr. Though, did he play in midfield for Boro? Can't remember now, but anything would be an improvement on the Fat Mong currently occupying our RB spot. I'd go as far as £10m for the pair personnally. Would improve our back four no end.

Yes, but realistically no chance. Telling us we're interested in players we have no hope of signing ranks just behind telling us where we'd be in the league if we played ChampMan with Owen fit. Still, it fills the paper up nicely. Christus lacrimosus :jesus: Quoted for Truth! Wish I was Editor at the Chronicle just for a day. I'd be in the office packing Olivers desk up and drafting his P45 before the tw*t had even woken up. He's one lazy journo.

Ok, stupid question cos I really can't think of the answer to this..................... Why would a 'high powered' delegation travel all the way upto Glasgow to view the match if they have no intention of watching a player? Surely they could sit on their fat arses (Aye, thats right Freddie) in front of the TV? What benefit will they get from being there?

Ok folks, What are your fancies this weekend? I'll be picking from this controversial little list; Preston to beat Barnsley Birmingham to turn Leeds over at Elland Road Hull to turn QPR over at Loftus Road (possible 6 pointer already!!) Carlisle at home to Brighton Leyton Orient at home to Rotherham I'll probably find another team and do two seperate trebles. Theres some tight matches in that lot though so I might even go down the route of draw ht/win ft for my fancies and just bet some singles, using that approach. Haven't decided yet for sure though. Anyway, your thoughts on this weekends games?

blueyes.gif Legend

Depending on how Owen is when he returns I'd love to see a forward three of ASHTON MARTINS OWEN With the pace of the two lads running off Ashton, we could be highly effective and quite entertaining to watch, which would be a nice change. The joy of that formation would be the ability to interchange with Duff, the Zog, Milner (poss), Ameobi and (Dare I say it?.........) Dyer if EVER fit. I'd then play a physically strong three behind them. Part of the reason I wanted Graveson TBH. Him, Parker & Emre behind a forward three looking something like that would be awesome. The only difficulty would be keeping everyone happy. Wouldn't it be great to have that problem?

Ha Ha. Possibly. Wonder if Alberts insurance covers him for that?

On babysitting duties and I was trying to explain what a hyena looks like to my mates little daughter........Seems I've found our Spanish star skiving when he should be in the stands at Upton Park supporting the boys. blueeek.gif World's longest link

Quickest way would be to get yourself on to the Ladbrokes website, click on football, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on bet calculator. When the calculator pops up, change the odds from decimals to fractions, add in the odds of the teams you want and put a mock 'stake' in the box. Voila!

Magic, I presume you mean Spurs Vs Fulham rather than Blackburn? If so, then you would have a four team accumulator looking like this;- Chelsea Tottenham West Ham Man Utd Your £10 would return £105.47 based on Skybets odds. To win the money, all 4 teams would have to win. Regards Riches.

Happy, I don't have a particular system for football bets but have friends who are adamant that you should never back a raging favourite when they're away from home (i.e: F.A Cup Barnet Vs Chelsea). Also know people who don't back away teams at all because they reckon statistically they prove too unreliable. I've never checked the stats over a 5/10 year period but its an interesting policy. A bet I've often considered doing but never really been arsed is 'draw half time/win full time' for all of the odds on favourites on any given weekend. Example: Chelsea Vs Sheff Utd or Man Utd Vs Watford. Based on the premise that the cream always rises and the better quality 11 players should outperform the lesser 11 quality players from the other side eventually. Finally, a mate of mine who is a full time gambler often looks to south america, eastern europe & the American MLS for best value bets. He must be doing ok cos he's just bought a restaurant for cash. Would be interested to hear if anyone actually has a successful system. Towards the end of last season i started doing draw ht and win FT for random teams. One 5 out of 8 normally the odds are between 3 and 5/1. Did you win often Rosstoon?

Happy, I don't have a particular system for football bets but have friends who are adamant that you should never back a raging favourite when they're away from home (i.e: F.A Cup Barnet Vs Chelsea). Also know people who don't back away teams at all because they reckon statistically they prove too unreliable. I've never checked the stats over a 5/10 year period but its an interesting policy. A bet I've often considered doing but never really been arsed is 'draw half time/win full time' for all of the odds on favourites on any given weekend. Example: Chelsea Vs Sheff Utd or Man Utd Vs Watford. Based on the premise that the cream always rises and the better quality 11 players should outperform the lesser 11 quality players from the other side eventually. Finally, a mate of mine who is a full time gambler often looks to south america, eastern europe & the American MLS for best value bets. He must be doing ok cos he's just bought a restaurant for cash. Would be interested to hear if anyone actually has a successful system.

RossToon, Good luck with your bet tonight. I hope it comes off for you. Personnally, I have a policy of never betting on more than 4 teams at once. So I would have split your bet into one treble and a trixie. For those of you who don't know, a trixie is a bet where you have 4 teams backed to win and you start 'winning' your money back as soon as two of them win, more if the third wins (which would make a treble) and you scoop the full return if the 4th wins. If only one of the four teams wins, your screwed. Its like a safe accumulator basically. You get slightly smaller odds in comparison to a normal accumulator but more chance of getting something back. Riches