oldtype

Bolton in line to pull of a shock win, the way our luck's been going

Prayer. Constant, intensive prayer. The only remaining answer now.

you know how at the top of the page there's the links to page numbers? And then at the right of those there's a link to the bottom of the page that says "go down"? I just looked at that and did a double take.

It'll be the same team as today - apart from Jailbird Joey replacing Zog. I literally cannot explain in words how angry I will be if this actually happens. Sounds fairly likely though.

could be in the zone by the end of the weekend. oh God I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't think I can cope.

Come on Man City you idiots, why can't you score

you'll probalby have a stroke when you figure out how much Alan Smith cost then.

I'd pay some serious wonga for that. I would pay a thousand quid of my own money to have this season end right now. No joke.

Jesus Man City score a goal for fucks sake

* switches over to Reading-City match

Carroll: Fuck this, I'm not playing with this shit anymore.

It's probably difficult to go ahead with the specifics on this while we're in a relegation fight, even assuming that negotiations are taking place. As for the match itself, I have a personal resolution to never set foot on Chinese soil before I die if at all possible. This might test that to the limit.

Been f***** over developmentally!!!! Your having a laugh he was with the best kids & coaches in the country at Lilleshall. Went back to one of the best youth systems in the Uk at Leeds. He got to work under Fergie. He should be like Pele man. Fergie realised he was a crap striker, so he moved him into midfield because of his qualities, realised he was crap there so sold him to us. He has been s**** for us all season even Ashley has dumped wearing his shirt. I think Ferguson would be the first person to admit that trying to convert Smith was a mistake. He was never good enough for ManU but if he was sold to a mid-table side before he was fucked around with, I think he'd be a servicable Premiership striker right around now. (No, I don't really have anything concrete to support this.) Who are these midfielders? Regardless of what's happened this season, you'd have to think that he'd score more goals than a random midfielder playing upfront.

I don´t see any problem to throw in a young guy. I have seen it thousands of times and still sees it. it is just bullshit. I don't completely disagree with you, I'm just saying that neither you nor I is Kevin Keegan and obviously he has some reservations about throwing Carroll in. it's easy,you throw in the young kid if you think he's capable. (what would you know anyway at that distance eh oldtype?) (you've probably seen about 30mins less of him than i have) Lies! I make the $1000+ trip to Newcastle for every reserve game because I'm that much of a soopafan. (tongue firmly in cheek.)

So you think he is better than average Premiership player who cant play as a striker, attacking midfield or defensive midfielder. So just where should this "better than average Premiership player" play? Not sure he can be better than average if he cant play in any position to me that makes him pointless. Let me rephrase that. His goal-scoring ability/First touch in front of goal is better than that of the average midfielder. His passing ability/vision/defensive instinct is better than that of the average striker. So aggregating everything, he's better than average. Unfortunately, when you look at those abilities individually none of them are good enough to excel in their respective positions. And before you say how that's "meaningless because he's still shit," I'm not implying that he's good or anything. Just that it's kind of unfortunate because he's been fucked over developmentally.

Depends what you mean by average. He's not a Premiership player in a month of Sundays. I actually think he's a better-than-average player considering his work rate, physicality, decent all-around technique etc. Purely based on aggregate individual ability he's probably better than the average Premiership player. He just doesn't have a position. He can't play as a striker because Ferguson's failed experiment and a career-threatening injury completely ruined his goal-scoring instinct, can't play as an attacking midfielder because he doesn't have the vision, and can't play as a hard-tackling defensive midfielder because he was never properly programmed with the requisite defensive skillset. If he wants to be a valuable asset to any Premiership side, his best bet is to stay at Striker and train intensively in shooting so he can get that spark back. For now, he's a classic example of "jack of all trades, master of none."

I don´t see any problem to throw in a young guy. I have seen it thousands of times and still sees it. it is just bullshit. I don't completely disagree with you, I'm just saying that neither you nor I is Kevin Keegan and obviously he has some reservations about throwing Carroll in.

I would honestly be tempted to go 4-5-1 and try to choke them since they've been frustrated by weaker teams before this year. Harper Beye Faye Cacapa Enrique Butt Geremi Milner N'Zogbia Duff Owen But, of course, this is Kevin Keegan we're talking about so I don't suppose he'd be willing to play that way.

I'm normally very cautious about plugging in youngsters into the first team squad, but Carroll's exploits with the reserves as of late have been nothing short of ridiculous. I don't see what more he can do to prove that he at least merits a look in, especially considering that our established strikers are underpreforming at the moment. I think it just comes down to the fact that Keegan isn't prepared to slot in a 19-year old when we're smack dab in the middle of a relegation battle, and I suppose I can agree with that sentiment to some degree. I just wish we were comfortably mid-table right about now so Carroll could get a decent run of games.

That's ace. Just out of curiosity, would anyone be able to make an educated guess as to how the average Premiership reserve side would compare to the average Championship side? Carroll couldn't get a game for Preston but he looks like he's completely ripping apart the reserve league.

only two?

wtf, I am definitely going to our Craven Cottage trip next year now. ...wait, something is seriously wrong with that statement...

Gerrard, Torres and nine non-league players could probably beat our team to a pulp at Anfield, but if those two don't play I figure we're in with a chance. Really hope we'll get something, but honestly I'm more bothered about the games Sunderland, Birmingham, Bolton, and Reading play that week. Them all fucking up is a much more likely scenario than us grabbing some points.

I'm so fucking scared I can't even post on here because it reminds me how fucking scared I am which completely screws with everything else that's going on in my life. God, please. Have pity on us for once.

I'd be surprised if we'd be able to get anything final on paper while our Premiership survival is still up in the air.