Incognito

yep that and the europa quater final just 3 days before were big factors in that result, for those reasons it really doesnt hurt as much as a 0-3 to the Mackems should- I believe it will be put right this season fwiw. We only played the last 20 minutes on the Thursday ,though I take your point.

Sorry but that is absolute bollocks. I hated the little scally twat but he was lethal in front of goal

For anyone to say that Colo wasnt out of position for either of those goals is frankly absurd. Yes Taylor contributed to the Bale goal but Colo was still too high up the pitch.

He got caught out by a long ball over the top on both occasions. He should have cut both balls out before they even got to said brilliant players.

Probably how Kinnell pronounced Tom Ince.

Liverpool away and Tottenham away he cost us points.

You knew you were in it if Fowler received the ball with a chance to shoot. One of those players you'd watch through your fingers. Just a shame he didn't have the professionalism of a Shearer, because he was possibly even more lethal in front of goal.

high praise form someone who goes back to pre Hughie Gallacher? gotta say I agree.

Aye, Alzheimer's is the reason No I just think as each season passes he's made more mistakes. The Championship season and the first one back , he was immense, and I just reckon since then he's not been as consistently good, week in week out.

I've wondered for a while now, were those English strikers really that good, or was the fact the league was still predominantly English with not as many foreign players here make it seem the case? Obviously a few were top drawer, but it would have been interesting to see how some of them would have fared with the same ratio of foreigners in this country back then, in terms of defences faced and attackers competing for places. Other than Shearer & Sheringham, none of the rest really did it on the biggest stage at international level (Beardsley before the Premier League era apart). We were shit in 92, didn't even qualify for 94, 96 was awesome...98 Shearer & Owen were great. But depth wise, I'm not so convinced. We were shit in 92 and failing to qualify for 94 were down to 2 things.....one, a missing Gascoigne most of the time and two, a piss poor manager. Our strikers then were a top notch list...Lineker (1992), Shearer, Ferdinand, Wright, Sheringham, Andy Cole who was mainly ignored, Fowler who was coming into it 95ish. All top notch strikers.

Have they? I don't think so at all. I do..down to his pace going I reckon. Got caught too far up the pitch at Spurs and Liverpool just off the top of my head...he's still a very good centre half just not as good as he was 2 or 3 seasons ago. When did Coloccini ever have pace though? The way he plays is about being quick mentally rather than physically. Reading the game and cutting an attack off early and using his skill on the ball to smuggle it away and keep possession. Always has been since he's been here, pace has always been a weakness of his but it usually doesnt cause a problem because of his intelligence. Because of the way he plays I dont see why he cant play well into his 30's, at least he now has pace next to him in Yanga Mbiwa as well. Maybe his quickness of mind is going then. All I know is that last season he was caught out more than previous seasons. And it's fair to put it down to age. I'm not saying replace him now and neither is anyone, it's just that we should be pursuing his successor sooner rather than later.

Granted Les received some terrific service from Ginola, Gillespie, Beardsley etc but what stands him out from most strikers is that he could deliver a goal all by himself, without service...Shearer was the same before that horrid knee injury at Goodison.

Have they? I don't think so at all. I do..down to his pace going I reckon. Got caught too far up the pitch at Spurs and Liverpool just off the top of my head...he's still a very good centre half just not as good as he was 2 or 3 seasons ago.

I agree with Ron on all he says here. Based on nothing but I reckon Colo will be homeward bound next summer and even if he doesn't, his powers have been gradually on the wane as each season passes. And a new forceful, aerially dominant centre back would be a perfect foil for Mapou. It also wasn't good, irrespective of whose job it was to mark Benteke, to witness our central defenders marking fresh air for their goal. And in the relative short term, I would want this new forceful, good in the air centre back to come in and counter that situation reoccurring

Simpson would've got to the ball 8)

I'm going to put a tenner on us winning the 2017 Johnstone Paint Trophy.

Grest striker Quick, amazing leap and powerful shot. Loved him. Remember his last game in a friendly at St Andrews and he threw his shirt into our end.

Why Hatem, why do you need to include that shite into an overall good interview ? Can't believe he omitted Lampard tbh.

who/what? Turn on sky sports total and utter cunt of the highest order. He thinks he's Martin Luther king, but is just an angry black man no one CBa to listen too. His latest shit is telling spurs fans they can't call themselves yids anymore as he doesn't like it. Wait until he starts on the New Zealand Rugby team

Mark Hughes

They should wear leather hot pants.

He is one of those players that when they receive the ball everyone stands up en masse to try and see better what he is about to do .

It could have been Man Utd or Crystal Palace for me, the team was irrelevant, it was the fact we backed up that 15 minute period against Fulham when our strongest team give us a glimpse of what they can do, then Pardew went all in with it against Villa and they produced a lovely counter attacking display. Suddenly we looked like a top team again after a long time of misery and it's looking likely to stay if these can stay fit as it's a very talented group we have amongst our ranks. Just imagine what we could do with a decent manager.

To put into context, we've just put a team of eleven Internationals out against a team with Ciaran Clark in and won. So we fucking should

It could have been Man Utd or Crystal Palace for me, the team was irrelevant, it was the fact we backed up that 15 minute period against Fulham when our strongest team give us a glimpse of what they can do, then Pardew went all in with it against Villa and they produced a lovely counter attacking display. Suddenly we looked like a top team again after a long time of misery and it's looking likely to stay if these can stay fit as it's a very talented group we have amongst our ranks. Just imagine what we could do with a decent manager.