AyeDubbleYoo

Ranger was one of your best players. Totally agree, thought he looked more than decent. Some surprisingly penetrating runs as well, which I don't normally associate with him.

I think Ranger and Vuckic will turn out to be top players for us if we manage their development right... wish Nile had scored or dived when he rounded the keeper! In the end we deserved to get beat, but not by that much. Not much to be depressed or annoyed about, just the pecking order at the moment. Was surprised to see Hughton bring on the first team players, stupid decision IMO. I've seen it done by many managers in the cup mind, they really can't decide whether it matters or it doesn't.

Don't understand bringing on Carroll and Jonas... if we don't care about the cup then why risk them? If we do care, why not play a strong team from the start?

Fair play to the team though, they were putting up a decent fight until that.

FFS

We are going to get raped here like.

Will the brochure just say "Everyone gets injured, I'll be back again soon"?

Well thanks for that As I said though, Arsenal are beatable, if we turn in a Chelsea performance we'll have a chance. They are obviously favourites, and we know they're capable of abusing teams on occasion.

I just can't see any possible reason why Ashley would even consider getting rid of Hughton at the moment. He's doing a decent job, the fans aren't protesting as much, he's much cheaper than any alternative. I know Ashley is bonkers, but this would be too much.

The Arsenal team is beatable, it's also capable of tearing us to shreds. Fingers crossed! Guess we know how they'll play, that's a minor plus. :-[

"The octopus miracle"

Hughton probably never intended to hoy him straight in as much as he's had to.

I'm not a sports scientist or an expert in fitness, but rugby players that are 6'3" and built like tanks can batter their way through 80 minutes of high-speed action. There might be a slight reduction in stamina compared to the build of a distance runner, but football is a game of sprints, not a marathon. I would much rather have a team of Enriques than any other build. Yank football has a ridiculously low amount of actual playing time, I seem to recall it was little over 10 minutes with all the stoppage. Plus given that you play two different squads depending if you are in offence or defence, at the end players only need to exert themselves for low amounts of time. On the other hand, an average football player runs over 10km in a match. Yeah, but the majority of American footballers aren't built like sprinters, they're built like massive blocks of flesh. Only the running backs and wide receivers are properly explosive from what I've seen. A footballer might run 10km, but a lot of that is relatively light jogging. Also it isn't very far anyway. I really think the high-intensity intervals aspect of the game is much more important. Look at Christiano Ronaldo, he's very much in the mould of a sprinter. Anyway, as I said, I don't have any actual evidence or expert knowledge to back this up!

It's class how he says he'll be back fit soon. How many times can he say that with a straight face? He hasn't managed a prolonged period of fitness for about 7 years.

Class image!

I'm not a sports scientist or an expert in fitness, but rugby players that are 6'3" and built like tanks can batter their way through 80 minutes of high-speed action. There might be a slight reduction in stamina compared to the build of a distance runner, but football is a game of sprints, not a marathon. I would much rather have a team of Enriques than any other build.

He looks like he needs a good dinner for a start - but I suppose its a fine balance between retaining your speed and increasing your strength Building lean muscle and reducing body fat shouldn't reduce your speed though. Sprinters are generally heavily built. Enrique himself was close to becoming a sprinter, according to his Wiki page.

BEN BEN BEN ARFA, did you support Newcastle before Hatem arrived?

Well no, it's about whether (hypothetically given the choice now) you would accept 17th place or prefer to take your chances with relegation. It's also not about being 'happy' about 17th, or 'aiming for 17th'. It's a subtle distinction I'll admit

Met quite a few southern mags at the Chelsea game the other week, it's always a bit weird but we managed to generate a decent atmosphere on that night.

Nobody said anything about being pleased with 17th. That's not the point.

I really think he's our best bet at RB.

I doubt we'll be buying a new RB with Taylor, Perch, Taylor and Simpson on the books. Yes, they're all poor, but justifying a new signing in that position will be next to impossible IMO. Unless one or two of them leave.

There are a lot of second generation mags born out of the North East with north eastern family roots due to the migration south over the decades of uprooted communities looking for work. They are as proud of their team and their roots as you, and you show your ignorance of this in your post. The atmospere was passionate and support for the team terrific as it always is away from home. How do you qualify for the label Cockney mag by the way, Is it South of Leeds, Birmingham, or Luton. Remember, some of those fans probably travel a lot further than you just to get to a home game. You should'nt knock your own fans, leave that to the press and the other teams fans, they are happy to do it without your help. (ps Iwas at the game and I live in Warwickshire. that is not in London) Kapow.

Next newsflash - Hughton says "sky is blue". FWIW I don't really buy into the idea of dropping players for the cups, but it seems to be the accepted norm now. Nobody who bought tickets for Arsenal could have expected a full-strength team.