KaKa

Blatantly obvioous Bramble is gone! Fighting for his life??? That doesn't sound good at all!!! Also on sky tonight said the whole squad isn't good enough and has to be revamped.

When we're mired in the bottom half of the table in March 2008, I'll remind you of this. Well sit tight buddy cuz it's gonna be one long, bumpy, uncomfortable ride for you. Never doubt the Roedmaestro! This thread will be bumped and you will feel really silly.

When we have a complete squad next season and we are challenging for fourth spot under Roeder I will remind you all of your lack of faith... The only thing he has to do is get in enough new players of the sufficient quality and we will be fine. If he does this we will be flying but if he doesn't then we will struggle. We just have to let this season be. Look forward to a summer with a manager who wants to bring in young exciting talent that can go on to become big players for us, and not just players who have been around for a bit and who seek to take advantage of our wealth.

His only mistake has not been signing the players we need. He has said this was due to the fact his position wasn't as stable last summer and also the fact that he was not happy with the options available in January and he felt what we had was good enough to see us through to this summer where he would be in a better position to address the squad. I know it has become quite trendy to say we only play long ball footie with him but I disagree. We have played some decent football under him at times. I believe with better players in we will improve further. His signing of Obafemi Martins is evidence to suggest that he has an eye for talent and will provide us with players that increase in value. He rescued us from relegation when he came in and so he deserves a chance to see out his contract and have at least one summer, which he feels he is prepared for, to try and build our squad. If he isn't succesful in doing that this summer, and as long as we are not heading for relegation, then at the end of the season his contract will be up and we can get someone else. This is the sensible way in which we should operate that will prevent the club from getting even more negative publicity. Thank you.

we will be much better next season if Roeder is given some backing in the transfer window. I reckon he would have learnt a lot this season. He's still fairly inexperienced but seems like he could grow into the job. I'm all for letting him complete his contract at least.

Precisely...

It's amazing how everyone gets so angry when we are linked to a tall striker and assumes that we will therefore be playing long ball! The long ball game in my opinion has nothing to do witht he striker but more to do with the composure and quality of your centre backs who are most responsible for lumping the ball forward. We already have two smaller quicker strikers and so it makes sense for us to go for someone who is a bit bigger and more of a presence. There is also nothing wrong with occassionally playing the ball long if the short pass isn't available. Good football is all about variation, and making the right choice in the right circumstances. Roeder has said a million times himself that he wants to play the ball along the ground so why not just trust him. Obviously we are not doing it at the moment because the players we currently have (particularly the defenders, yes titus I'm talking to you) are not being patient enough or composed enough. I know sometimes the midfielders might not show to collect the ball, but it is up to the defenders to call for them and not just lump the ball forward.

What a moron that man is...

That is kinda weird not to mention random. Do you think they signed him right after the game just to prove a point? Van Gaal is a bit twisted afterall...

Excellent point... Couldn't agrre more. That run towards the end of last season definitely contributed to our lacklustre efforts in the summer transfer window. We were happy to sit on the squad and imagined super Roeder would have us flying despite the fact we had such a poor squad.

Everyones fed up... This is one of the biggest summers in this clubs history. Might be a good thing this is all happening now. The club really has to take this summer seriously. Not only do we need new plyers and maybe even a new manager, but we need them all in before we start our ore-season so everyone can gel together and be prepared to move forward together. A part of me is hoping we don't qualify for the Intertoto cup as it might prove to be an unnecessary distraction this time around...

Bramble is done here no doubt. But like the above poster says there is a very good chance he will end up emerging at another club under a different manager. Not because of anything we haven't done for him while he has been here, but more because he has just been here too long and has become a joke over here and he needs a new start. Going to a new club will take the weight of his shoulders and I think he will be a lot better, especially if he is at a smaller club where expectations are not as great. I think he is one who gets intimidated by playing infront of 55,000 passionate fans whose groans can be heard loud and clear. Would be more comfortable at the likes of Wigan, Manchester City, Reading etc.

Dyer...

Never a red card mate. Berbatov did appear to be looking for the penalty too as he kind of leaned into it, but yeah it was a penalty albeit a marginal one!

Exactly...

The reason Chopra will never be taken seriously is because he lacks pace... Them be the new rules of football. You cannot be his size in this day and age and not have pace. Far lesser players will always get greater opportunities as long as they have more pace.

Interesting... What's Oba's breakdown?

Udo is this you? What's an Udo? It's an username as you well know............Udo. Is it you? Um...in case you didn't notice my username is KaKa! I don't know what your up to dude but your scaring me... Where is this Udo from??? He's English, but with a Nigerian background. Maybe I have you mixed up....Apologies if that's the case...... Udo. No worries. Oh right... Well I must say, this Udo sounds like he's a quality chap. Very worldly indeed. It's understandable that you might confuse me for him. But alas I fear you are indeed mistaken...

Udo is this you? What's an Udo? It's an username as you well know............Udo. Is it you? Um...in case you didn't notice my username is KaKa! I don't know what your up to dude but your scaring me... Where is this Udo from???

Udo is this you? What's an Udo?

It was just mentioned how we haven't managed to get in a left back int he last four windows and it is this sort of thing that worries me! I cannot help but feel the chopping and changing of managers has contributed to the inability to finally put a squad together! It is always done half way withone manager before another manager is introduced. For example. I know we all didn't rate Souness, but I honestly believe that had he still been here (by some miracle!) that Boumsong would have come around as well as Luque too! And by now he would have moved on to addressing other areas of our squad. However Roeder comes in automatically decides Luque and Boumsong aren't good enough and so we have essentially taken a step back in development and we haven't moved on to addressing other areas such as LEFT-BACK!!! I'm not saying this for certain but Boumsong could have been our Vidic. Luque could have been our Luis Garcia. Both were not great initially but the managers who brought them in continued to have faithi n them and worked with them. Who knows...

God help us. Yet again another summer on tenterhooks. Scouring the papers every morning for some morsel of hope that we are goign after the right players and maybe even hoping for a change in manager. Never a settled moment of peace or calm at this club. Same crap every summer...

That's the thing though! They won't get rid of Roeder now will they! If they do it will be at the end of the season, which in my opinion is the worst possible time as it will be just before the most crucial of all transfer windows, and the new man would have no clue about the current squad and so would have no clue as to what we actually need. This would especially be the case should we go with someone foreign! As I doubt a foregin manager would have taken the slightest interest in our pathetic team and so would know nothing about how rubbish the players are.

Do you not feel bringing in a new manager at the beginning of the summer will hinder our efforts to re-build the squad though? If we wanted to make a change we should have done it in January at least , so that the new man gets a feel for the suqad at hand and knows how to improve it. For example how do we know the new manager won't want to give Bramble one more chance? Thinking he would be able to get the best out of him as Souness and Roeder did? I feel it would be very complicated to go down this road at this point...

I am so confused at the moment I don't even know where to start... Here's the thing. Can we really afford to bring in another manager this summer? I am not sure I would be happy with this at all. The reason is because I feel it will not allow us to improve and build on the squad like we need to, and at the moment I think this is the single most important thing for us to do. You can say what you want about Roeder, but at the moment he is the man in the best position to build this squad, as he will now know every single player inside out and exactly what we need to improve the squad. He might not be the best manager but the one area I have faith in him is in his ideas of building a team that will take us forward. So, here's what I think. I think we should give him the summer to get in the players we need and the club should back him in this, but at the same time we should identify a top manager who would be able to come in and work with the players that are at the club already. Therefore, should Roeder struggle at the start of the season despite the new players that were brought in then we would be in a position to act. I guess what I'm saying here is that I still believe more than others that our players are the umber one problem here. Roeder is quoted today as saying how dissapointed he is that we resorted to long balls up to Sibierski once we went behind. When the going gets tough the current group of players lose their composure badly. Roeder understands this and he should be given the chance to bring in the players that can change this. Yes he didn't do a good job with the last couple of windows, but at least this summer there can be no excuses as he has his targets and he will have to strike early. We absolutely have to have our new players in for the whole of our pre-season to give them every chance of being ready for what will be a tough season for us. So in closing what I am saying is let Roeder build the team, as he does seem to have the right ideas about the players we should have at the club, but if he struggles to get the best out of them at the start of the season then bring someone else in who has the reputation for getting the best out of players and who is happy to work with the team that is available.