brummie

very good when utilised as a defensive midfielder, reads the game pretty well, got a great engine on him and breaks up play. passing is suspect as brummie said, he opens his boot up too much so doesn't have any precision, but i think over very short ranges his first touch and release is ok and in his position that is more important than long-range passes. Fans get frustrated with him as we attack so quickly on the break, he often seems to find Agbonlahor bombing on to his side in a brilliant position, but fails to pass at the right time - holds on to it too long. Happened today, in fact. He'll improve, though.

Depends on his transfer activity. Entirely on that. I'm just impressed that he can do so much with a tiny squad, with some positions lacking in quality and others lacking in, well, anyone. I don't see the lack of quality though? Excellent keeper and defence, Reo-Coker is nothing special but does a job in front of the defence, Barry is very good, and that front-three of Agbonlahor, Young & Carew is top-drawer. They're lacking quality cover in the squad though, so I know what he means. Not enough bodies. No right back whatsoever. One left back. No real right side to our midfield. We've been lucky with injuries (although, apparently, the new training facilities are meant to be up there with Chelsea's as best in Europe, with a load of gear Lerner brought in from his Browns suppliers which hasnt been seen over here before, there are those who say this has contributed to our lack of injuries, thought that wont last forever). Reo-Coker, incidentally, is a fantastic tackler. He breaks so much up in midfield. Saw some Opta stats last week showing he'd put in more successful tackles than anyone else in the league. He needs to improve his passing, though, it often lets him down. Our weaknesses are in clear positions. If he sorts those, then we'll possibly do very, very well.

Depends on his transfer activity. Entirely on that. I'm just impressed that he can do so much with a tiny squad, with some positions lacking in quality and others lacking in, well, anyone. There in lies the proof that a good manager can get any squad of premiership players playing to a decent level. He's doing very well, but he needs to produce in this transfer window. There's a fantastic atmosphere around the club at the moment, and he has had a lot to do with it, obviously. We need a right back , a right side midfielder and a natural goalscorer though (we've only got Laursen who fits that bill )

Depends on his transfer activity. Entirely on that. I'm just impressed that he can do so much with a tiny squad, with some positions lacking in quality and others lacking in, well, anyone.

Good result for us today. We were probably playing at 70 percent of what we're capable of. Petrov had an excellent game again, we're awesome from set pieces, Martin Laursen now has 6 goals in 22 games this season. That is awesome. His name now gets chanted every time we get a corner. I reckon we are three players away from being a very good side indeed. Please MON don't bollocks up this window like you did the last one. We've got a very nice looking run of fixtures left this season, I'm starting to think this could be a very good season. Oh, and Uriah Rennie as bad as ever with his centre of attention act. 33 years since i went to my first match, and bar whoever it was who reffed our match against Celta Vigo, Rennie is the worst referee i have ever seen.

One thing I do know - when you let yourself get riled by Mike Parry, or indeed any Talkshite journalist, a little piece of your dignity has disappeared forever.

Before the start of the season, most football supporters would have described SA as four of those five things.

Larsson to Villa on loan. I hope this is true. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/villa/2008/01/11/villa-poised-to-sign-henrik-larsson-on-loan-97319-20340093/

All the standing with the away fans in his Toon shirt stuff was good to see - I mean that, an owner with no airs and graces, excellent - but is it really possible to maintain the required level of emotional detachment to make big, big football decisions like this and to get them right, when you're surrounding yourself with the fans on match day? I don't expect many of you will agree with me on that, but I can see how even the best businessmen can make bad decisions in football (god knows, enough of them have) when they let their emotional involvement take over.

I think Harry (who I like, incidentally) has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about not having been given a crack at a big job - witness his comments about the England position which kind of showed this. This is his chance. FWIW I also think he's gone as far as he can with Portsmouth. The only thing i was wondering is that he'll never leave his enormo-house at Sandbanks (and neither would I want to) but if MA is lending him his jet to commute and he is prepared to do it then that is that problem out of the way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbanks A bit better than Benwell! Why would he live in Benwell? Didn't say he would. Rhymes with "bit bitter" and Darras Hall just wouldn't work. Jeez..... I lived in Jesmond for a while in the 80s. It was very nice back then. I can only imagine it has become nicer in the intervening 20 years. I'm sure the Redknapps would be very happy there (I'm assuming the students have been priced out).

I think Harry (who I like, incidentally) has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about not having been given a crack at a big job - witness his comments about the England position which kind of showed this. This is his chance. FWIW I also think he's gone as far as he can with Portsmouth. The only thing i was wondering is that he'll never leave his enormo-house at Sandbanks (and neither would I want to) but if MA is lending him his jet to commute and he is prepared to do it then that is that problem out of the way.

More than that, it is apparently the most expensive town in the world to buy property

Portsmouth were excellent when they played us at our place this season - crisp passing, full of movement, played with lots of intelligence. Personally, I think Harry is a fucking good manager, I can't help but think that if he didn't have that slightly jowelly, bloodshot face and speak like he's just been drinking with the Krays in the Blind Beggar, people (not people here, people in general) would look upon him more favourably. I fancied him as England manager, too. His teams also play good football. Surely the horror option is McLaren?

Jean-Paul Belmondo. Proven, good results on the continent.

It is nice, but only as a pleasant by-product. I just want us to buy good players regardless of nationality. I can see what his thinking is, though - hopefully he can talk to people like Barnes and point at Agbonlahor, Young and Carson and suggest that this is a good place to be to further your career. When we played Arsenal this year and they took us apart in the first half, their fans were singing 'you need more foreigners' which make me chuckle.

If we got Defoe and added Giles Barnes plus a decent right back (Miguel from Valencia, Bosingwa from Porto maybe), I'd be pretty confident that this was a good window.

j O'Neil's not shy of splashing a bit of cash is he? Good signing for you but way overpriced Quite the opposite. He's a tightwad, he refuses to spend the cash - seriously, only about 4 or 5 clubs have spent less net than us since he joined. Lots of voices coming from the club (from the board, in fact, via a slightly too easy with his tongue son of a club director) saying that Lerner has given him 'as much money as he wants' and was exasperated last summer when he fucked up the window and spent very little. He dithers unbelievably, and is said to have always had a mortal fear of spending badly. I think 10.5 is fair enough pricewise, to be honest.

Was that quote from Storrie (Pompey Chairman) just read out on SSN a new one? "we havent had an approach, we want him to stay and think he will, but if he says he wants to leave, that obviously changes the situation' (paraphrasing, obv)

10.5m for a player woh's contract is up in 6 months? Aye, that's wrong. What about Crouch though? Radio WM are laughable cocksockets. That is the bit I didnt mention. Although his contract expires in 2009, not 2008

BBC Radio WM just reporting that Spurs have accepted a 10.5m offer from Villa for Jermain Defoe.

No thanks, would rather bend over backwards until the end of the season to get " The Special One " You'd be right to want Mourinho, he's a fantastic manager, but with all the will in the world, he's not going to take the job is he? No he isnt unfortunately Hiddink it is then Now, that's a bit more realistic.

No thanks, would rather bend over backwards until the end of the season to get " The Special One " You'd be right to want Mourinho, he's a fantastic manager, but with all the will in the world, he's not going to take the job is he?

Do you ever listen to (the now discontinued) Danny Baker and Danny Kelly podcasts? They did one about two months ago where DB started it with a fucking brilliant impression of Martin Jol.

From what I've seen of you, his one big legacy is that he got shot of the Keystone Cops defence of old and started to get you a proper one sorted out. Faye, Beye and Enrique look like solid signings. Smith and Barton look like awful ones, but surely the goodness of the first three outweighs the badness of the last two.

I know this is a massive simplification but in my book Director of Football means trouble. How many experienced or confident managers would choose to work with a DoF? How many would entertain the idea?