brummie

The thing is, which English strikers currently are good enough for England? Owen is a busted flush, Bent is questionable, Defoe is a possibility, Crouch can do it against pisspot countries but can he do it against the better teams? It isn't as if we have a plethora of really good strikers.

MON said ages ago that once Davies got the shirt, he expected him to hold on to it. He was excellent on Saturday and good again today. I see him and Laursen in central defence now. Harsh on Mellberg, but we need a proper right back. I'm a fan of his, he has been with us for, what, six mostly shit years, he's very popular, but I wouldn't blame him at all if he took up this offer from Juventus at the end of the season.

Cheers mate Soz mate. We're a bit unpredictable at home, so you never know.

Incidentally, we need to spend properly in this window, which is crucial for us, but check out our remaining home games: Reading Blackburn Newcastle Boro Sunderland Bolton Birmingham Wigan All of those are eminently winnable. If you then look at our away games to come, given our excellent away form (one defeat since February), I think we'll do OK and pick up some points there too: Liverpool Fulham Reading Arsenal Portsmouth Man U Derby Everton Spammers

Just back from our game. In spells today, we played as poorly as we have all season. We sat off them too much in the second half, too. However, for all their possession, Spurs didn't really create anything. A few points 1. Laursen is IMMENSE. Excellent celebration, too. 2. Partnership with Curtis Davies is looking good. 3. Playing poorly and still winning = good. 4. Huddlestone = by far Spurs' best player. 5. Berbatov was a disgrace, he clearly wasn't arsed. Great player he may be, but when he spends whole chunks of the season moping about with his arse in his hands, it is time to cash in. Don't know if it came across on telly, but his body language today said it all. 6. Ashley Young - mediocre by his standards, but still some quality balls in. 7. Football matches at 5.20 on New Years Day = bad idea.

No. Anyway, within two or three years, it will be the big five, and we'll be the fifth. I know it is true, we've got a five year plan and everything

I used to think that until this season. Google for a clip of his goal against Everton this season where he plucked the ball out of the air from a 70 yard punt as if it had travelled a few inches, and with one flick swept it past the keeper. A truly majestic goal. Try also his goal against Sheffield United last season, which was a stormer. He's also pretty good with his head (Wigan this week, Blueshite last month), tracks back like it is going out of fashion (which I suspect is the real reason MON loves him) and never stops running. I'm actually struggling to think of a goal this season in which he relied on his pace.

Happy new year, all. PS Up the Villa!

He played all of last season out of position and still managed 10 goals. He's very promising indeed, but I don't think he is ready for international football yet.

Its just the worst player from each club...who else would you pick... Davies isn't even our worst CB, that'd be Knight. Harewood is worthy of mention, costing us two points at Spurs.

Curtis Davies one of worst players of the season based on one of two full matches played this season? Fecking idiots.

Forget Moore, if Cahill goes, it will be for pathetic money, given his future worth. I'd almost rather we didn't renew Laursen's contract and let him go than sell Cahill, and Laursen is a colossus. I know I won't have watched him anywhere near as much as you but from what I have seen Gary Cahill is nothing special really. He looked average to me in the Premiership and is good in the Championship but doesn't really stand out as being clearly too good for that level or anything. How come you rate him so much? Is it more his age/potential? I thought he has shown in his PL appearances for us that he has what it takes. He's a very composed defender indeed, never looks flustered, keeps his head. The diametric opposite of Zat Knight, if you will As you said, it is also about his age and potential, which is worth more to us and a few million from flogging him.

tbf, if that was anyone other than Man United ....

We are a good story, made even better when the team isn't prefomring well. You're a better story now because SA himself is a big story, too (for some good reasons, some bad ones). The combination of that, plus the current perceived mediocrity, make it a story they'll pick up on. You may have been mediocre under Roeder, but nobody gave a toss about him. That's the difference. Same with us and MON. We generally get good coverage of late. Lawrenson and Hansen seem to love us. That's because they're MON's mates as much as anything. The media. They're such fickle bastards.

But the media only pick on us for that kind of thing. Do you think so? I don't. It is just that, at the moment, you're the best example of managerial turmoil. That's the kind of shit they love, they use it to fill the time between GrandSlamSuperFuckoffSundays and in periods where there's nothing to say about the big four. Have to say, we do get a lot of crap directed our way off the media, far more than most clubs. We doin't help ourselves at times mind but they just love to twist it into us. Mind, a darling of theirs, Spurs, had it pretty bad under Jol so I can see where you're coming from. However we get it whenever we lose 3 games in a row. If you asked most other fans they'd probably say Newcastle are a team Sky have slavered (is that a proper word?) over since 1992. Funny how perceptions are different on the outside.

But the media only pick on us for that kind of thing. Do you think so? I don't. It is just that, at the moment, you're the best example of managerial turmoil. That's the kind of shit they love, they use it to fill the time between GrandSlamSuperFuckoffSundays and in periods where there's nothing to say about the big four. Have to say, we do get a lot of crap directed our way off the media, far more than most clubs. We doin't help ourselves at times mind but they just love to twist it into us. Mind, a darling of theirs, Spurs, had it pretty bad under Jol so I can see where you're coming from. However we get it whenever we lose 3 games in a row. ...and the world isn't really interested in Pompey or Villa basically. You'll be interested when you're handing over those 50 sheets at the end of the season, Parky-san.

Forget Moore, if Cahill goes, it will be for pathetic money, given his future worth. I'd almost rather we didn't renew Laursen's contract and let him go than sell Cahill, and Laursen is a colossus.

I can't see us getting much more than 2m for him. That's a shame, but it has been his recent failure to grasp his chance that has made things end up like this. He'll guarantee you six points against Boro every year at the very least, mind.

Chelsea as a club are vile. On so many levels.

But the media only pick on us for that kind of thing. Do you think so? I don't. It is just that, at the moment, you're the best example of managerial turmoil. That's the kind of shit they love, they use it to fill the time between GrandSlamSuperFuckoffSundays and in periods where there's nothing to say about the big four.

Chelsea fans are unbelievable. I was reading one of their forums the other day, and the level of fickleness was quite incredible.

I was going to ask you the other day actually, what is up with him? Maybe I am just making it up in my head but I am sure at one point he was looking a really good young prospect. He's the best natural finisher at the club, but he's a bit of a stroppy git, apparently. He's the textbook definition of a player who needs a move, tbh.

I read something this morning about Olof Mellberg being poised to join Birmingham City instead of Juventus when his contract ends, which I thought was the most ridiculous transfer rumour I'd heard for a long, long time. Then I thought about David Villa and Spurs and remembered it isn't.

Luke Moore will be leaving Villa soon. Worth a punt for someone. I've got a dreadful, dreadful feeling Gary Cahill will leave, too. He's meant to be our CB partnership of the future with Curtis Davies, but apparently there has been bickering with MON, which always results in only one winner. Someone is going to get an excellent CB if he does go. If we don't buy a right back, I shall be killing myself. Oh, and Harewood out on loan is a strong possibility, if we get a new striker in (Crouch, I believe).

Good thinking. I hope MON fights to hold on to "Berbs", too.