Segun Oluwaniyi

The whole of last season after Arsenal away was insanely chaotic and if you want to give Hughton the West Brom game then he won 1 in 9 and drew 2. Shearer won 1 in 8 and drew 2, not that I'm trying to big his results up anyway. Points taken man, and no one deserves to have anything "bigged" from that awful season. I said that about Hughton because he had to manage us in the crazy aftermath of the Keegan quitting/Fans protesting/Ashley deciding to sell games before Kinnear. Also, he had to come in when our manager had a heart attack.

I wonder if Hughton would have had the balls to drop Owen or to take on Joey Barton? I doubt it. At least Shearer didn't pick by reputation. Also, we were playing in a much tougher league last season. I'm sure Hughton had a record last season which read 8 games played, 6 games lost, 2 drawn and didn't look as if he'd get a win in that division if we played 100 games under him, he had a worse record than Shearer. I'm almost certain Hughton won at West Brom. (also tbf, Hughton was around during the most insanely chaotic parts of our insanely chaotic season) Pretty sure Shearer won 1 in 8 last year as well.

True. However, the point should also stand that Mr. Shearer has not even proven himself to be an average manager at this point and there is no reason that anything should be brought over from his short and ill-fated regime.

Can't understand the appeal of match-worn shirts. I really can't fathom the idea that someone is about to pay for a shirt that was worn by Nicky Butt.

The ESPN announcer mentioned that they had gone three or four matches without scoring three or more goals. Which is more than they had ever done last year. Almeria did the other week. I've never seen a better man marking performance than that of one of Almeria's players against Xavi, just followed him for the whole 90 minutes. The whole ream were very organised and ran all day, closing them down at every occasion, attempting to score on the break and only lost 1-0. Tbf, It was unfair to generalise all La Liga sides. I've just noticed that a decent proportion of teams just seem to roll over, to Barca especially.

Think Jonas is a very good player who could walk into a lot of sides better than this one and nt look out of place. He's clearly not "great" though. Disagree with the notion that "great players score goals" as posed by NJS.

Even with that luck, he'll be lucky if his team finishes fourth this term.

I feel like these La Liga sides don't even show any resistance to humiliation against Barca. They sit in their own half. yet they don't really pressure or close down to any great degree and they don't break in numbers. They don't really do anything.

It is biggest match in France. Not a true derby in English sense, actually. French equivalent of Madrid-Barca or Man U-Liverpool. Please say you didn't compare Madrid-Barca to Manu-Liverpool..... What would you compare it to in England? Ligue 1 has quite a few good teams to be quite honest. PSG aren't bad. They're talented, but not talented enough to challenge for the title.

and then needlessly take on three men, ending up on his arse and losing the ball Or getting us a freekick in a good area.. remind me when we last scored from a free-kick this season? Why don't you post this in the Ryan Taylor thread. Actually, I think him and Guthrie are the only two players boring enough to not have threads.

It is biggest match in France. Not a true derby in English sense, actually. French equivalent of Madrid-Barca or Man U-Liverpool.

The Marseille-PSG derby tonight has been cancelled due to H1N1 outbreak.

I could swear everyone thought he was a DM 2 or 3 years ago, despite the fact that he is about 5 foot 7 and skinny.

What exactly are us foreign supporters supposed to do? My hometown club are Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan. While I still try to follow them and hope they do well, it doesn't make for an interesting life as a football supporter if you exclusively follow a team that most have never heard of and whose matches aren't televised for the most part. European football is brilliant and I don't see why us third-worlders shouldn't be allowed to take interest in the highest level of the sport in the world. *He's still an idiot for supporting Man U though.

Losing to a goal by Glen Whelan has got to be depressing.

Probably, but you've got Ballack, Lampard, Deco, etc. But he could really pull strings in there. Deco doesn't really need to play. He's been very rubbish for them. It's fairly easy for teams to defend against him in this league. If you put any sort of pressure on him he doesn't get the time to influence a game like he likes to. Shame because I think technically he also is a cracking player, the game just passes him by all too easily. You're forgetting the part where he doesn't close down, tackle or generally show any effort other than we he has the ball. Whatever legs he once had have departed him.

Probably, but you've got Ballack, Lampard, Deco, etc. But he could really pull strings in there. Deco doesn't really need to play. He's been very rubbish for them.

Yes they did, poor things. (now karma will dictate he has a blinder tomorrow) I wonder if Darius Vassell is living up to the hype in Turkey?

I don't think he does enough work to play in midfield for Chelsea.

He's the same age as Carroll isn't he? It's not like he's at his peak or anything.

Is Jermaine Pennant doing anything useful at Zaragoza? It wouldn't surprise me he isn't. He hasn't done much decent in his whole career.

So what's the verdict on the Zurab decision? Have we grounds for appeal?

3-0. I don't what the hell happened to them. French League is mad this year. Just as Lyon look set to take a firm lead in Ligue 1 they lose to two of the worst teams in the top flight with a win against Liverpool sandwiched in between. Montpellier have a chance to leapfrog Bordeaux into top spot but are currently losing. All of these events make tommorow's Le Classique even more vital.

http://www.dallasnews.com/img/photo/08-02/Score.jpg Rashidi Yekini...love his passion http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/images/domr/TaiwoGerets205.jpg Taiwo and Gerets. Brilliant moment. I loved Gerets man. I wish Newcastle could have that kind of togetherness as well.

Clairefontaine. Although it is not actually a club I suppose. He's younger an does more with less.