brummie

First post I see on RTG is moaning that week in, week out, tactics are the same, regardless of the opposition. Ha ha ha, that sounds very familiar.

Losing less money, producing more of your own players and not relying on the munificence of owners is going to be something more and more clubs are going to start to do, I think.

I don't really know the ins and outs of your finances, but I do remember going to watch a match at SJP for the first time in 1986, and genuinely for a moment thinking I'd wandered into Gateshead athletics stadium, the ground was such an antiquated dump. I mean no offence, but I honestly couldn't get over it, crappy and open and both ends, the Leazes terrace seeming to be a few steps and a brick wall, and the stand opposite the 1970s era one (sorry, don't know name, to the left as you stand on the Gallowgate) looked like it was at least 100 years old. It was the least impressive top flight football ground I'd been to. So, I compare that to what the ground is now, and regardless of how much SJH put in or didn't put in, or how much later executives took etc etc, at some point between 1986 and, say, 7 or 8 years ago (since when I guess the ground hasn't changed), someone must have stopped getting things wrong, and got it spectacularly right at some point. Especially when you consider that it was all done without actually winning anything at any point. Just an ill-informed, generalising observation.

I saw that, and immediately thought of the reaction on here, then made a mental note to use the internet less.

Honestly, as an outsider with no natural bias against Sunderland, that article re Moyes has to be the most ridiculous thing I've read in a very long time. If I were a Sunderland fan, I'd actually feel embarassed to be reading it.

Best ever football song. MK Dons v AFC Wimbledon earlier this year, AFC fans "Where you you when you were us?" Truly brilliant.

I have no axe to grind with Sunderland, but honestly, how small time do you have to get to hold a grudge against Coventry City for several years?

Just a heads up for the NextGen tournament, which I think is a fantastic idea. It's an invitational thing, and involves a number of clubs across Europe sticking their youth teams into a CL style format competition. I've been to a few of our games (though not tonight's when we beat Olympiacos to reach the semi finals), and they're really good to watch. It kind of gives a decent framework to youth team football, and you get a decent chance to see the possibly next great things. It'd be great to see even domestic youth football get a more high profile, organised, less bitty competition to encourage and make the most of academy products.

Of course it would. Even if the theory of a ball-player at the back vs San Marino would help us play it out from the back, it's completely unnecessary given the level of the opponent, and will do nothing for our future defensive cohesiveness. Taylor is more than capable of bringing the ball out from the back, especialy against the likes of San Marino In fairness, Stephen Hawking would probably do a good job of that in this fixture.

Errrr *shakes fist at sky* I'd like to see one of our second goal at Reading, the 26 pass one, but oh no, you had to go for the own goal ...... Very good though. http://www.pixelreplay.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MSNBakerReadingAstonVilla.png

Redknapp knows that QPR are gone, I reckon. He desperately threw five men up front on Saturday to try to claw something back, and in his post match interview, you could tell he knew the game was up. Reading are also gone, I think. It is just one place to play for. Wigan are perfectly capable of making up the points, but look at yesterday, and how utterly flukey they were. Their form otherwise is awful (wasn't it two wins in the last fifteen before yesterday?) I must admit, though, the fact we play Wigan on the last day of the season is nagging at the back of my mind.

I honestly don't know what to think about him. I've not really seen you play much this season. What I will say, though, is that from the outside looking in, your transfer approach looks excellent, and there is a certain amount of jealousy for the way you clearly did some proper scouting and brought in players like HBA, Cabaye etc. I certainly know that our fans were green with envy in January when you did good business, but we did next to none (although, I have to say, ironically, the French import we made, albeit from Ligue 2, has looked very good in his two games thus far). I don't know how much of, say, your success last season was due to the manager and how much was down to Carr, though, in bringing in the right players, thus making Pardew's job relatively straightforward. Like I said, though, I find it baffling, utterly baffling, that you've followed such a good season with such a poor one.

From the outside in, I am actually pretty gobsmacked you've managed to have such a poor season after such a good one.

It shows the terrible quality of the PL this year. Not only are a really pretty unspectacular team running away with the league, but there are four points separating 17th and 11th, and in that bunch of teams, there are several who aren't playing very well at all. When you strengthened in January, I thought you had effectively ensured you wouldn't go down. I watched most of your match yesterday, though, and was really surprised at how lacklustre and, well, unbothered you looked for much of it, so I am now not too sure at all. What will happen, though, is at least one side will have a terrible run in and find themselves right in the relegation mire. I think that team is definitely going to be Sunderland, but if you look at the current form table, West Ham are also not looking too clever. We are still definitely in the shit, potentially, but we've been playing pretty well for the last few weeks, without necessarily getting the results. Plus, we're scoring goals. Since the start of the year, Agbonlahor has 4 in 9, Benteke has 9 in 11 and Weimann has 3 in 9, despite being stuck out wide most of the time. Our problem comes with defending, we're having to score 3 goals to win games. Anyway, whilst I think there are plenty of teams playing bad enough to go down, I think it will actually be Sunderland, Reading and QPR (and the second two of those are practically gone already).

Dont know if it has been posted already, but check this out from football365. Brilliant article, and spot on. http://www.football365.com/f365-says/8573777/F365-Says

This is just like watching us play. Get a corner, stop concentrating, as nothing will come of it.

On the evidence of that, I think they're in dreadful trouble. Their next four or five matches look horrific for them. Then they play us, and regardless of how shit our defence is, I'd back us to keep a clean sheet against them, plus our strikers are doing very well of late. I honestly think they're in big trouble, and had 20 quid last week on them going down.

Absolutely no fucking about today, please. A sound win is required. pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

Sunderland really are a horrible, shapeless mess. Brings back memories of home games at our place, trying to break sides down, but not having the first idea how to do so.

Ha ha ha, Grant Holt, that was like watching Gareth Barry chasing Ozil at the WC.

Read in the paper this morning about Martin pointing out he's not had much money to spend, and only bought four players. That's classic MON. How many other managers, with the need to get a decent number of players in, and £25m would have spunked it all on Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher? I'd have thought they might have looked abroad for more value, rather than two massively overpriced, average English players.

Oh yes, it's been regular since 1997. To the level of that bloke saying there were handfuls of free tickets in a pile at the university? That's staggering.

I've just been reading this thread about them giving tickets away. Is this a regular thing? http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=766798

There's something surreal about watching that useless fucking thug Hutton playing against Real Madrid. The worst full back we've ever had. Even worse than the two we've used most of this season.