oldtype

This is the most attacking movement I've ever seen without a single proper goal attempt.

He's had his mistakes. This is the first time he's had to pay for them though.

Lucky break in his debut. Time for the meltdown that a club run like ours deserves.

TV off. Time to go to sleep. Time for the meltdown and slow descent into oblivion that we should've got two weeks ago.

Welcome back to the first team Steve.

Go on Alan, shoehorn Smith back into the team so we can hate you like we should

If Ronaldo actually bets on everything he says he'll bet on, he's either swimming in money or too poor to be wasting cash on an internet connection.

The players have said good things about every single incoming manager up to and including Souness or Kinnear. I wouldn't put much stock into it.

Other than striker we actually don't really "need" first team players. I'd struggle to name realistic transfer targets that could significantly improve our first XI that are within our price range. "no marks to sit on the bench" is actually exactly what we lack. We need some reliable backup options about par with Routledge or S.Taylor quality-wise that can come in instead of players who have proven that they are blatantly not even good enough to sit on the bench. (Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Smith) January is a time to sign those last few role players who will help you meet your short term goals (for us, avoiding relegation.) It's not for buying big names who will instantly bring you up a notch quality-wise.

Not particularly, in my case anyway. I've realized that I'm just another mong because I honestly can't despise him to the degree that I did before the result.

The sad thing is that we're all warming to him now because of the afterglow of the Liverpool result but the second we drop points we'll be mauling him like a pack of wolverines.

Funny how all of our keepers for the past 10(15?) years have all had "dodgy distribution" Perhaps most keepers just aren't that good at kicking in general?

MLS?? SPL - Means we dont have to see it little our TVs. If we had a January WC, the training camps would start at the beginning of December and most players wouldn't return until February. We'd have players pulling out of league games so they dont get injured before the WC. Ridiculous predicament FIFA have got themselves into by giving the WC to a country about half the size of Jimmy Hills chin. Would be immediately after the end of the Asian leagues' seasons. By 2022 we could be good enough for this to matter.

Change of topic, but somebody I know who's not a toon supporter watched us v. Liverpool and said: "I saw a right-sided player with no.7 on his back delivering amazing crosses into the box and my first thought was 'David Beckham."

Nobody is defending Ashley here, just pointing out that the panic about losing Barton is probably unwarranted given that he's not a "fire sale" kind of guy. I'm surprised Dave doesn't see the distinction given his reputation for pedantry.

Just pointing out the truth. I think I've made it eminently clear what my general opinion of him is. (Somewhere between Hitler and Pol Pot) He's never been in the habit of selling key players though. (Except maybe Parker and Dyer when he first came in)

But it wouldn't surprise me if he did. It wouldn't surprise me if he's been secretly torturing and murdering Jews in an underground chamber below St James Park. It's still true that he hasn't so far though.

Mike Ashley has never sold a first-team player against his will. Hard to believe, but true.

He's a rarity because he doesn't have exceptional physical/technical attributes but has all the qualities that you would normally expect a young player to lack: first touch, positional sense, vision etc. He's also not being stifled by our admittedly rather unexceptional youth system and is being given European training from an early age. These two factors give me some hope that he could become something truly exceptional. Heck, he's playing first-team football in the Bundesliga at age 18. Barring a career-ending injury that alone probably makes him a lock for 100+ South Korea caps. I should also mention that there's another young Korean striker who plays for Ajax, "Suk" who's also looking very promising. He's huge and fast, Martin Jol (the real one, not the ITK one) used to call him the "next Adebayor." Been mostly stuck in the reserves but until very recently he was getting a lot more press than Son was. Already has an international cap too. I was at Hamburg-Leverkusen the other week and when he came on he was terrible. Lost the ball five or six times and looked incredibly nervous. Heard good things about him from other HSV-fans though. They're struggling bad atm so maybe not the best of times to force your way into the team. I think Armin Veh is on the brink... Well you'd expect him to be inconsistent at that age... HSV fans love him to bits apparently. Local press say that there's a post on one of their fan boards that says something like "Messi made his debut at 18 too" or something to that effect.

He's a rarity because he doesn't have exceptional physical/technical attributes but has all the qualities that you would normally expect a young player to lack: first touch, positional sense, vision etc. He's also not being stifled by our admittedly rather unexceptional youth system and is being given European training from an early age. These two factors give me some hope that he could become something truly exceptional. Heck, he's playing first-team football in the Bundesliga at age 18. Barring a career-ending injury that alone probably makes him a lock for 100+ South Korea caps. I should also mention that there's another young Korean striker who plays for Ajax, "Suk" who's also looking very promising. He's huge and fast, Martin Jol (the real one, not the ITK one) used to call him the "next Adebayor." Been mostly stuck in the reserves but until very recently he was getting a lot more press than Son was. Already has an international cap too.

Surely I contribute more to the conversation this way than just cut/pasting the entire Barcelona first XI like I no doubt would if I made a serious attempt at this.

Team of the Year: FC Seoul Player of the Year: Park Ji-Sung Young Player of the Year: Lee Chung-Yong Goalkeeper of the Year: Jung Sung-Ryong Defender of the Year: Lee Jung-Soo Midfielder of the Year: Park Ji-Sung Forward of the Year: Park Chu-Young Most Improved Player of the Year: Lee Jung-Soo Year to Forget: Lee Dong-Gook Player to look out for in 2011: Son Heung-Min Manager of the Year: Shin Tae-Yong Best League: K-League Worst League: J-League Most Improved League: K-League Favourite Football Moment of the Year: 2-0 domination over Greece Biggest Football Disappointment of the Year: Luis Suarez wonder strike knocking us out Most Shocking Moment of the Year: Chris Hughton http://cfs7.tistory.com/image/30/tistory/2008/05/27/02/20/483af15d48ae4

I'm sure I'd have other stuff to do yeah, but still, not getting to go to the match would be just about the worst thing ever. When I'm on these trips I have nightmares starting about a week prior about me oversleeping and missing the match.

I suppose the lesson here for me is never visit England for a match in the winter. Man how pissed off would I be if I spent $1000 for a plane ticket and the match got called off.