Ronaldo

Bringing in 2 capable wingers and Kevin Doyle should be a priority

What a guy, make him captain immediately ffs

Alternatively it could be that we've not had a solid midfield in 5 years & end up inviting pressure on our defence leading to more & more last ditch tackles, etc. When a striker makes a mistake it doesn't usually get punished too badly, but when a defender makes an error it usually leads to an opposing player being put through on goal. You can get away sometimes, but constant pressure means more potential mistakes and when you have players like Titus did I leave the iron on? Bramble in your defence those mistakes get magnified more often. Bramble has looked alright this season because he's not been put under that pressure since the Wigan midfield has been capable of keeping hold of the ball when required and offering an outlet when necessary. He's still made the same mistakes, it just hasn't happened as often. How often this season did our defenders clear the ball to the midfield only to see it fly right back at our defence because the midfield wasn't there? Too often our players were sitting so deeply they could be classed as defenders or alternatively they'd find a warm spot on the pitch and stay there despite being marked by a defender twice their size. It's why Jonas was important to the team this season, he was actually capable of running with the ball and alleviating pressure, it would have worked better if the rest of the midfield had thought about trying to keep up with him to offer an outlet for him when he got into trouble, but too often they were still wandering around the centre of defence 50 yards away from the ball. It winds me up no end when the media go on about our frail defence. It isn't really that bad, the problem is in the midfield and has been in the midfield since Speed left. Bramble's been brilliant this season. Voted their player of the year by fans and rightfully so. Their midfield is pretty woeful, especially without Palacios and he's had more defending to do this season than with us under Robson. He's just dealt with it better, he's making better decisions, his game is more refined and he has good heads around him at the back give him credit where due, despite what you and others have said about him in the past

the biggest perk of all, there are 16 grounds there that i've never been to going to try to get to just about all of them tbh

Could have been great but was average would be the way i'd put it. Partially his fault but mostly not

yep, soaking it up for a good 3 hours in the beer garden before the game, bad idea

Aye, he was 4 seats away from me in the 2nd tier. At half time he agreed to speak to my mam on the phone to wish her happy birthday. Top, top bloke

Since when does Martins visit the quayside?

35,000 the 15,000 'customers' will fuck off, and good bastarding riddance

Should we revamp our squad completely and go straight up, we'll go into the 2010-11 premiership season with a winning mentality that's been missing at this club for 5 years. I find myself asking, would I prefer to win the championship next season or finish mid-table in the premiership, which is the absolute best we could have hoped for tbh, given the lack of funds. Also gives us another year in which a prospective owner could take over. Hurts like hell but this could be the making of us in the long-run.

Fair play, you've waited a long while for that opportunity. A humble man like me would have been glad to be wrong, Wullie. It just never seems to happen that I am. if not Martins, you would have been victimising Bassong since August, and then where would you're 'told you so' be? Nah, Bassong's good, Martins isn't. Do you understand the difference? not that performance on the pitch matters to you

Fair play, you've waited a long while for that opportunity. A humble man like me would have been glad to be wrong, Wullie. It just never seems to happen that I am. if not Martins, you would have been victimising Bassong since August, and then where would you're 'told you so' be?

disagree masively. Had we stayed up it would have been a priority to keep Martins and find players capable of doing a job behind him.

in regard to Aston Villa: "they're a good team, no better than us" Statements like this help me see that relegation isn't quite as bad as we think in the long term. Clueless, cluess prick

I'd keep him as a bench player, IF he takes a pay cut

you shouldn't be friends with such c***s, should you

Becchio is at the top of my list. Leeds have become my second team but i'd love us to grab some of their talent. I'd like to see Beckford and Delph (both overrated but easily good enough for the championship) follow. Doyle at Reading could also be a good option.

Yeah Butt's not gonna leave, he'll play a major role next season, whoever's in charge. Butt's hardman facade wont last long in that league, that's the only thing he has that remotely resembles a strength. If he plays a major role there is NO way we're gonna be back as a premiership team in 15 months. I have faith that Shearer knows this Unfortunately the evidence does not point to that, Shearer has picked him in every game and he was captain yesterday. I doubt Shearer will be in charge next season but whoever is will fall for the media BS about Butt. the alternatives for Shearer were Geremi and Smith. If Shearer has owt between his ears he'll not have Butt anywhere near the team next season

I was amazed at the amount of Lovekrands songs that were aired in the Cap n Gown before the game

i was one of the few who wasnt completely delighted by shearer coming in actually. less so about dowie being an advisor. he's an assistant, not his job to pick the team, choose the tactics or motivate the players you dont think he helps? he wont have the final say but shearer clearly trusts his advice. plus I have spent long hours in the office with Alan analysing videos, talking tactics all to get that extra 1 per cent which will push us over the edge." he makes suggestions, course he does. But the buck stops with Big Al for the tactics.

Yeah Butt's not gonna leave, he'll play a major role next season, whoever's in charge. Butt's hardman facade wont last long in that league, that's the only thing he has that remotely resembles a strength. If he plays a major role there is NO way we're gonna be back as a premiership team in 15 months. I have faith that Shearer knows this

stop it

you cant have much faith in Shearer's managerial ability then. Any idiot calling himself a manager should be able to see than central midfield is the first thing we need to get sorted, out with the rubbish, in with young, hungry players with pace and a modicum of footballing ability