Gallowgate Toon

Without him we lack pace, and we need that pace, it might not get goals every game but so many openings are created with it Owen would thrive off these openings and this is key to beating most teams, a la Derby. He has to start most games i think, especially away games for counter attacks. Apart from him we don't have anyone with real pace that threatens teams and its been apparent all season so far, its important to have a balance of power and pace and at the minute we have lots of Power and no Pace.

beastiality

Bet they wouldn't have stuck that in his fucking stupid prgramme.

We need him so Badly, when is his return date?

all 3 preferably, but Martins has to play i think and so does Owen, i think against slow defenders you have to play Martins and Owen together. But i think we need to play all 3 most of the time.

4 4 3

fuckin hell, still think faye is better than Taylor.

Ouch, thats pretty wrong. imho. Not really. Faye was leading CB last year for Bolton who finished 7th and conceded alot less goals than we did. i know taylor didn't play every game, and wasn't leading CB but even when he was in the team we conceded alot of goals. Bolton conceded more than us in the league... surely not, we had titus in the team ffs, we were awful in defence.

Ouch, thats pretty wrong. imho. Not really. Faye was leading CB last year for Bolton who finished 7th and conceded less goals than we did. i know taylor didn't play every game, and wasn't leading CB but even when he was in the team we conceded alot of goals.

We were exceptionally close actually. He had signed a deal to go to Spain and he was ready to go. not sure what stopped the deal going through, since it was meant to have been signed.

Tsylor is the only CB so far this season to make a mistake that cost us, against boro. he isn't as good as faye, his positioning and reading of the game are quite poor, however his recovery, and heading are good. Faye is as good as taylor at heading recovering and tackling, and much better at positioning and reading of the game. He is a superior player at the minute to Taylor, however i do think that Taylor will be great one day, but at the moment taylor is our 4th choice centre back and definately not a captain.

butt was making the forward runs (like when he first came here) geremi and smith were poor,how many balls did geremi play to n,zogbia ? Geremi was excellent today, he was everywhere he covered every position on the pitch and his passing was brilliant, Smith however wasn't but i think the criticism on geremi is harsh, his vision is what we need and with him and Barton in the middle we will be a much more creative side. Butt holds him back because he rarely makes runs he just sits, Barton however does make lots of runs and drives through the defence (not literally) he and geremi are perfect foil for eachother, we will be alot more creative with those 2 in the middle of the park.

Not Owen, because he might score the goals but he can't create them for himself. He's not the kind of player to take a game into his own hands. Barton or Solano because they can produce something when the team is playing shit, Owen can't. Martins can on the occasion as he showed vs tottenham etc but hes too inconsistant.

Played at CB more, his best position by miles, no point in wasting him at RB, Taylor is the worst CB out of Roz, Cacapa and himself, so i think its right Taylor plays RB not cacapa. I would rather play Solano as home RB and Taylor as the away RB though.

But Owen won't stay fit so he will play alot of games.

Geremi needs to start in the centre, and i think Barton will be his partner, Butt is dull and predictable and Smith has quality but can be inconsistant. Martins and Viduka imo is our best partnership as is Roz and Cacapa, Taylor RB or Solano and Zoggy left and Milner right with Enrique. That is our best team by a mile.

Bit OTT there don't tou think since its only our 3rd game of the season.

quite a bit

haha yes true but thats all ive been hearing about him, hes a beast and is vicious thats it, does anybody know what his other strengths are?

Isn't he the most well prepared out of the team?, played in the Asia cup, and it was proper competition not half hearted pre-seasons.

He's not a typical fancy dancy spaniard though, he's huge and never shanks a tackle apparently. Does anybody know what his strengths are?

It's no gaurantee he'll ever get his first touch "sorted" though, it's generally an innate thing. He can improve it, no doubt, but I doubt his first touch will ever be top class. Then, he has enough other qualities to his game that he can get away with his first touch only being alright. Oh no doubt he is a class player but at times his first touch is such a let down, it is a part of his game he can work on and I am sure is something Big Sam will look at with him. His first touch has looked alot better in pre-season i have to say. But Viduka, Solano and Cacapa.

Impossible after the Bungs scandal.

Given - 6 - had nothing to do, shame about his injury. Carr - 5 - caught out of position way too much offered nothing. Roz - 7 - 1 fantastic tackle stands out, his reading of the game is something else. Taylor - 7 - solid, some good headers. Zoggy - 7 - Was decent at LB but when he was moved further up he made some great runs and looks much better. Milner - 7 - The usual good shift some nice skills. Butt - 7 - Was a bit of a headless chicken at times, just aimlessly running around, but he gives his all and doesn't shank a tackle, spread the ball well. Geremi - 7.5 - A couple of bad touches but his effort and tackles were really good, has brilliant vision and always spreads it wide, nice corner for the goal. Solano - 6 - Was a bit quiet at times but his class is still evident. Smith - 8 - MOTM, was average up front but was class in midfield, nice touches, good tackles, and a classy header after a surging run. Viduka - 6.5 - His control is absolutely brilliant, slow but he shields the ball well and is a very intelligent player, has to start upfront as much as possible this season with either Owen or Martins. Ameobi - 6 - Quite lazy at times but did some good flick ons and looked lively enough. Martins - 7 - Played well on the wing but its obvious it doesn't suit him, had good control, got back to defend, and tried hard, but he is a striker that is obvious. His chance was not as easy as it looked as the ball was cannoned at him but he caught it a little late so it hit the outside of his foot and went up and hit the bar, still should have scored. Ramage - 6 - Solid enough but he is still s***. Harper - 7 - had to make a few decent saves but again didn't have alot to do.