Gallowgate Toon

Shooting will be down to confidence like, as much as people say he's never scored a lot he seems to get it on target at least for Argentina and i'm pretty sure he scored all his 5 goals last season iirc?

And Spanish. I agree. I think he's Spanish too. Spanish as in the relaxed approach to life, kissing each other when saying hello or goodbye, similar to the French and Italians tbh.

And Spanish.

I think he was thinking we're in the shitter, i have no idea what i'm doing, the players don't have any respect for me, i'm not a manager but in one of the most pressured jobs in football, what the fuck am i supposed to do? With the Owen thing i can see why he did it, an act of desperation really it makes sense in a way to play him, just to nick something. I personally wouldn't of as Lovenkrands and Martins should be the starters away from home imo, plus MO is crap when he's fit. BUT Geremi, Smith and Butt in the same side, i don't care how spineless or stupid you are, that is the most ridiculous thing i've ever seen on a football pitch. We're in a relegation fight, we need more than a point against the sides we should be beating but we go there playing 2! destroyers they've been woeful at the KC so why not risk it, we're not in a position to not take up opportunities like that. There's an obvious angle as to why Hughton did it, we're in the shit so get as much experience in as possible, but honestly everyone knows that's just not the way it works you need more than just experience to beat the drop.

Nah check his record everywhere he has been, goal scoring record is abysmal for a winger. Well yeah it's not ever been great but he scored a few last season for Mallorca iirc. On deliveries and assists he played with Mallorca last season, who had the top scorer in the division with Guiza, he must have set him up a few times?

We should switch around our wingers much more imo, Jonas can actually deliver on his right foot. Admittedly not spectacularly but he put in a decent couple with his right yesterday. His shooting is much more to do with confidence than anything else imo. I'm not sure how much people realise football is a confidence game. Colo will improve, CB and CM are undoubtedly the hardest positions to adapt to when moving from a foreign league that is very slow because that's where the pace of the game is really felt. Bassong's been ok because the French league, players wise is quite young and the games can be quite frenetic in pace. On Martins i think we're seeing a totally different player to 2 seasons ago, his general confidence is much higher and the improvements in his overall game of late have been great, his touch, awareness and most of all passing have improved a lot. It's a shame however his run intelligence hasn't improved much, he made a great one against Hull and nearly scored he should be looking to do that a lot more often.

Was hoping Quaresma might start today.

It's probably more to do with a lack of confidence than anything, see his goal against France and for Mallorca, although he didn't score loads they did well last season and he got a couple of goals and a few assists iirc.

He's not gay man, Andy Hunter's right when he's in town he's always with girls and i'm pretty sure i read someone on here that 'he's a right hit with the ladies' after they saw him at Oba's birthday party. Wouldn't matter anyway, wouldn't have changed the fact that he's a decent footballer when given a chance.

It's NOTW what's the fuss about.

This is what should be brought up at the next NUSC Llambias goes too. If they want the fans on side, they must know this won't do and there's not one fan happy with these decisions.

Honestly Chris Hughton is a fucking wimp. Playing 2 'destroyers' in midfield when we're sitting on fucking nothing above the relelgation zone and playing against Hull, yeah fucking Hull. Why change a team that gave Man U problems to suit the needs of some injured cunts aka Owen when he knew fine well he's fucking shite when he's not match fit. Clueless and gutless, fucking pathetic. I've never been as annoyed with a 'manager' in my entire life.

Youtube Martins goals and you could say exactly the same thing, he's already in a pretty class team at Inter and i've been watching him occasionally over the last few years and every time he's been pap, scored one nice goal though. The league makes him look a lot better than he is compared to our PL standards, i'm afraid to say it but Serie A has fallen from grace a lot over the last 5 years.

Problem with Inter is that every single one of their players are massively over-rated, to the level that they believe their own hype. Ibrahimovic is a shining example of this.

The only thing that needs to be changed about football is the ridiculous wages that players are on.

After seeing him in action on Wednesday i can definitely say Vidic is not the best CB in the world by any stretch, he's as overrated as any other player in the league. Martins gave him a right run around on Wednesday and all Vidic could do was hack him to pieces, after that display i must say i was sorely disappointed due to the amount of hype he was getting. If anything i'd say he was the weak link in their defence when the ball's on the deck, in the air he's a beast though.

Tbh Vidic isn't a great footballer when the threat's on the deck. Martins had him chasing shadows in the first half.

Awareness and manipulation of space around the pitch. Football is a common sense game as much as anything though, knowing when to do something and when not to do something.

Yep. I'll say this about Jonas, he does relieve pressure in a fantastic way as he can bypass two or even three players with nifty footwork and can also take the ball from one corner of the pitch to the opposite. He's obviously a fantastic team player but his technique really is shoddy which is a shame because he's a good footballer and it is actually surprising it isn't any better. You see him like tonight shift those feet with a trick or two which is great skill, then watch in astonishment when that same player just kicks a cross behind for a goal-kick or over hits a pass or shoots in the same vein a defender will pass back to his 'keeper. Highly frustrating. Very true, i haven't seen many players with as good close control when running flat out as Jonas and that is a very hard skill to learn never mind master. It may just be confidence with Jonas but i think it has to be kept in mind that on the left he does get forced out a lot, therefore using his much weaker foot, on his right he's actually decent tbh. Shame we don't switch wingers sometimes.

Owen needs a couple of games to be 'fit' why does he have to start. IMO don't start him for a couple of games if we're doing well then bring him on as a sub around 60 mins. He'll most likely be trying harder to put himself in the shop window so there will be double motivation for him, and hopefully for us, more goals.

Timing??? I mean the timing of the subs is a bit too late, they bring the right people on but just too late. They made changes around 75 mins today but we needed a change after 65 mins in my opinion.

Our line-up and positional tactics were perfect today and imo should be used for the next 10 games, regardless of Owen. Harper - 6.5 - He certainly ain't no Shay but is solid enough. I'm sure he'll be fine after a couple more games but he looks a little lethargic and his kicking leaves much to be desired. S. Taylor - 6.5 - Dealt with Ronaldo well enough imo he's still pretty rash though and his positioning can be a bit crap to say the least. Colo - 7 - Had a great first half imo and for the first time in a while he looked better than Bassong, some great interceptions and good strength against Rooney. Reminded me of Colo we saw earlier this season, a classy defender. Bassong - 7 - Was good but looked dodgy to me in first half, looked edgy as he gave away some easy passes. Improved a lot in the second half though. Enrique - 8 - Was a joy to watch today, and i think it's a testament to his recent performances that Fergie put Ronaldo against Taylor instead. My MOTM. R. Taylor - 6 - Would have been higher if it weren't for the mistake but i think he's a good player and he should be in our side still when injuries are sorted. Smith - 6.5 - Had a decent game, some good tackles but some stupid tackles, just a younger Nicky Butt but i thought he looked promising. Geremi - 7 - Was excellent in ball distribution, shame he moves slower than anything in the universe. Jonas - 7.5 - People say he 'looks' a good player, but he is so much more. Anyone with that dribbling ability, that gave a team like Man U so many problems is a good player, some good passing and a couple of decent crosses. Lovenkrands - 7 - Loved the way we played him 'in the hole'. Was perfect as when we defended he dropped into midfield and made it harder for them to score but as soon as we got the ball he used that pace to support Martins. This is the way we should play away from home imo. Martins - 7 - In the first half was fantastic displayed great touch, technique, vision and skill and gave the best defenders in the Prem a real run for their money, faded a lot after an hour though. Caroll - 6 - Didn't do much. Lua Lua - Not enough time.

Our build up tactics are pretty diabolical tbh, from Harper all we do is hoof it to Martins who was never going to win a header against Vidic. I was however impressed with the way Lovenkrands was deployed today. He started him CF but utilised his pace well, when we defended Love dropped back making a 5 man midfield but when we attacked he was straight up there with Martins running at pace. I thought this was extremely clever on Hughton's part. On subs, they're much better than JK's but the timing is still a bit off.

Although Ryan Taylor screwed up i still think he's looked a canny player for us and he should be accommodated into the team for his set-pieces alone.

My thoughts exactly, liability if there ever was one. Distinctly remember Colo saving his bacon a lot when Bassong wasn't in the frame for us.