Chris_R

V Portsmouth at home, 1992. Goals from Quinn (2) and Kelly iirc, with Portsmouth getting one from Guy Whittingham.

For me there's 3 answers to this question: 1900s - Technically the correct answer 1950s - Most recent time we were actually winning things that people are still alive to remember 1990s - The most recent time that I actually remember

I'd say Enrique's a better player than Carroll. £50m and they've got a deal, any less and they can go fuck themselves.

Completely and utterly against seeding. Horrible idea.

Milner was never, ever, an excellent sale. He provided genuine width and always, to me at least, looked to be a very good player and IMO if we'd kept him we'd have stayed up for sure. So how selling him was 'excellent' is utterly beyond me.

Was tremendous today. Him, Barton, Tiote, Ben Arfa and Coloccini could form the spine of a tremendous team if we invest properly in the summer. We simply have to convince him to stay.

This. We seem to do well against the big clubs then just disappear against the mediocre / dross teams. Sadly nothing would surprise me less than if we just failed to show up today.

I have no real problem with Best. Yeah, he went a good few games without a goal, but that happens to even the best strikers in the world. Sure I remember Shearer being on a run a few times where he'd been 10 or so games without a goal, it just happens to forwards. Not saying he's Shearer-esque of course, but he's not as bad as some make out. He looks crap in the air, but he's got a good technique on the ground, good touch and a good shot. Confident he can see us safely through to the end of the season and should bang a few in. I'd certainly start him ahead of Lovenkrands and Ranger. Though as we're decimated by injuries and it's 2 up top I'd go with Best and Ranger.

I infinitely prefer Smith as a human being and someone who tries hard and gives his all, but he still represents much worse value than Owen. We got something for our massive outlay on Owen, we've had nothing at all from our large outlay on Smith. Can't pass, shoot, tackle, dribble or score. At least Owen, as cretinous as he is and as pathetically as he behaved, knocked a few goals in and had a few decent games.

Can we not get Rush and Barnes back as well? FFS.

Ridiculous. If we've signed him because we're too tight to give Ewerthon a decent deal then all concerned need a good fucking slap.

We probably offered a contract until the end of the season on £10k/week or something. Poor guy can't accept or decline it as he probably hasn't stopped laughing yet.

In the following order for me: 5-1: 90 minutes of pure joy. That is all. 4-4: 1 moment of the greatest ecstasy I've ever experienced. And that includes my honeymoon. 6-0: We owed Villa that one and it really announced we were back. A resounding thumping. 1-0 v Arsenal: Was watching it in a pub full of Arsenal fans. Ran up to the screen and went mental, the rest of the pub fell silent. Was just awesome after that, the feeling of smugness as we casually bossed them off the park for the rest of the game. They got quieter and I got louder and more drunk as the game went on. Ben Arfa V Everton: Showed us what a special player he is. Best hattrick: Really thought we'd struggle in that game, but we spanked them. Chelsea 3-4: Not their strongest team, and we got knocked out next round. But it was good fun and a very enjoyable game

If it's a "money no object, name your price" inquiry then we should ask for £500m.

Today. In 97 we were a great team and Leicester weren't, so such a comeback was always a possibility. Coming back from 4-0 down against Arsenal just wasn't possible to do.

I always hate seeing people leave early, really annoys me. So hope some of them feel close to suicidal right now for missing out on today.

Isn't as bad as many make out. His heading is shit, but he's decent on the ground. Gives 100% and has good footwork. We need better, but he's an OK player.

Fuck me, that was incredible. Had zero expectations at half-time, hell before the game even started, but that was fucking amazing. I'm just numb now. Utterly numb. Superb.

Best seems to have filled Ameobi's shoes admirably. Been caught offside at least 5 times already.

Now Carroll's not here anymore, I'd question the wisdom of persisting with Barton on the right wing. It worked with Carroll up front as Barton had someone who was phenomenal in the air to aim at. Maybe it's not such a good idea now, and he'll start to look much less effective. That said, not sure what options we've got to replace him. We've got no players.

Expected fuck all from this, but didn't expect such a face bumming within the first 10 minutes. Spineless. Fucking spineless. Reminds me of the Portsmouth game a few years back when Cacapa got subbed.

As someone who's seen all of them for Newcastle, Ginola was streets ahead of the others. On his day, he was absolutely out of this world. Only genuinely 2-footed player I've seen, used to take corners with his left and right feet. Pretty impressive when you're still a club's best corner taker with your weaker foot.

No idea where the blame lies, be it Ashley, Pardew, the scouting network or Llambias, but to let 3 players leave and only one injured one to arrive when we've already got such a threadbare squad is tantamount to gross misconduct. Sure, it's impossible to fully foresee the Carroll situation exactly as it unfolded. But they must have realised a bid was possible, if not probable, and should have had a plan B for if that was the case and the bid was either too much or the player wanted out. Let's face it, that's exactly what Liverpool did when Chelsea came in for Torres. Why couldn't we? I doubt Liverpool foresaw their prize asset leaving any more than we did but somehow they managed to sign TWO good replacements. It's called planning for every eventuality, and we didn't f***ing do it. I realise you pay a premium near deadline day, but let's just hope we don't pay a bigger price at the end of the season if we keep turning in insipid displays like today.

I couldn't disagree more. Carroll's always been very good in the air, but he has come on loads with the ball at his feet. I'm with Ronaldo on this one. If Carroll keeps himself fit and relatively out of trouble, he'll be a Premier League great.X I agree wholeheartedly that he's improved with the ball at his feet, but he's improved from shit to average.If he continues that improvement he'll be superb, but he's a long way short yet.

Carroll's fantastic in the air, but he's only average on the ground. Shearer and Ferdinand were streets ahead of him as were both nearly as good in the air but much better with the ball at their feet. Different types of players, but Cole and Beardsley in their prime would both have been better in my eyes too. Same for probably a motivated, fit Michael Owen, but it's debatable if we ever saw that in a black and white shirt.