AyeDubbleYoo

Can't blame him for turning us down for his hometown club, he seemed to leave us on good terms and would always be welcome back IMO. Shame he's such a quality player though, in this instance.

It's no concern to me either in terms of football, but I feel for him personally - a young lad who might be forced to give up such an amazing life/job because of injury, after having an all-too-short taste of it. All the best to Ledley.

I think Zoggy's breakthrough before the arrival of Duff was maybe artificially early due to the lack of options we had, meaning dropping him seemed worse than it was. I think in the long term it won't do him too much harm to have been out of the team for a while, it happens to everyone at some point. But Glenn's right, we should keep him at all costs.

Aye, his pace is overemphasised in that article. He's an intelligent lad and I can see him adapting into a Crespo type who is able to pick his runs and appear in the right place at the right time. Will be a good partner for Martins IMO.

I would say we need two top(ish) players for every position, let's not worry too much about who will be picked. Consistent 'starting elevens' are becoming a bit out of date these days anyway. [cliche] it's a nice problem to have [/cliche]

Also, there's no need to do it yet as we're nigh-on full (at least for league games). I think we would see us following suit if we were in Blackburn's position with attendences dropping - which we might be if we continue how we are on the pitch.

Surely we would have to have been mental to put a clause like that in, doesn't make sense on any level does it? I think Freddy would be publically lynched if this happened, not that he's not already due one.

I think Glenn will be v patient, he handled Dyer's comeback really well even though the pressure to bring him back must've been quite strong.

I don't think words are always less offensive than physical violence. I for one would much rather be involved in a good honest on-pitch scuffle than being degraded and insulted because of my race. There can be a lot of hatred and venom behind racist insults, often more than a push or punch that is just the temper snapping.

Lack of quality defenders in that list is important. Also, there's no such a thing as an average/mediocre team, only an average/mediocre one at the moment. A few years ago we were far from mediocre, and I honestly don't think we're that far from being better than average again. Most of us know what is required in terms of defenders etc, so let's hope Freddy and Glenn deliver it.

True Jon, Pardew is talking nonsense here - and at the end of the day he will have very little say over the price Bent is sold for, especially if they go down. Mental that only high transfers determine market forces, and not the many lower-priced ones you mention. If you can get Martins for 10m then I suppose that means Bent is only worth about 6?

The fullbacks are very important - it's fairly rare you see a good quality attacking side without proper fullbacks who can overlap and support their wide midfielders. I think if we get a couple of decent FBs, along with Owen back, we will see some major improvements. Keeping Emre would be nice, but looks unlikely at this stage.

The Meaning of Cantona, a very surreal but brilliant book. Quite hard to get hold of I think, I got mine in a charity shop.

How do you know that? Fair point, I don't. I just meant that we do have a tendency to make howlers that end up costing us goals, and I wouldn't be surprised if we got knocked out because of it. The spirit of the post was more about our lack of consistency.

I think it's likely the Parke/Emre dilemma will be solved in the summer, Emre might be off back to the continent. Hope not but it's a distinct possibility.

Did anyone really think he would manage a comeback?

I think you've got a point, I'm only worried about the fact that we have more potential to make a mistake that will cost us a game than any of the opposition do. It's only that inconsistency that might do us in I think. That or an injury to Martins!

Agreed, I always thought it was unnecessary to get rid of him at Chelsea - was doing a good job. With the extra budget he might well have won the league.

Quoted for truth. I don't see why he would want to leave football - he will be one of the most in-demand managers in the world when he becomes available.

Sounds about right to me!

I've always thought Zoggy would make a good wingback, nobody seems to use the 3-5-2 much though - it would take a brave manager to make that sort of change.

Don't want to sabotage the thread, but how about your best teams with our current squad and 3 realistic summer signings?

Well it depends, the median average is obviously 5, but the mean average would depend on the 'normal' score for players. So I can see how people could consider 6 'average' in that sense - they're not talking about literally the middle of the scale.

I know where you're coming from nufc_gearodie, and I partly agree, but I think we deserve credit for the likes of the Liverpool result. To come back from 1-0 against such a good side is a quality result, even if the performance wasn't great. I'd obviously like to see us playing better football and winning more convincingly, but in the meantime I think the lads should get some credit for the results they have acheived.

Agreed, the problem with their stlye of football is that it is so difficult to produce consistently - the level of difficulty is so high. The intricate passing and moving can easily collapse with one minor error. Still like to see them playing it though...