fredbob

To be honest, i have to agree about his attitude, i dont really like the, play for a draw attitude, it just doesnt sit right with me, on the flip side, i can handle these poor performances for the time being because of the dierection the club is going, people like Allardyce should never be compared to Roeder of Souness because never in 3 years did th club look anywhere near like going in the right way. I personnaly can wait till next year to see what SA can do for us because of the vast improvements he's already made. I think people are being hugely unrealistic about our expectations in his first season, its been 5 months and he's done more for the club than Roeder and Souness did in 3, he's turning SJP into a fortress, we're going in the right direction, be patient,see where we end up.

To be honest, and im basing this on absolutely nothing i dont think Barton and Emre are gonna work. They remind me of Parker and Emre. I cant see any other way arond it, maybe in a 3 man midfiled along with Geremi or Butt but not as a partnership. I also notice that when Butt doesnt play well, the team doesnt play well, it'd be interesting to see if we can get a young consistent DM in Jan.

No no no and no. Sam allardyce will have at least till the end of next season before his future comes into question, (providing england dont come calling). I think Mort and Ashley have been almost reliant on SA in bringing in a modern structure to the club, i think this year is relatively irrelavent in the context of where we finish, providing it isnt disatarous. The important thing is that we're showing signs of improvement, and i dont think there is asingle fan who cant see the vast improvement he's already made. We're definetely going in the right direction, just like we were doing with SBR when he first took over, so thats how it'll stay. To be honest, this year i will be able to handle alot of crap perfomances away from home because for the first time in 3/4 years SJP is finally turning back into the fortress it once was. It's taken SA 5 months to achieve that, its something Roeder or Souness never managed. Next year, there should be a complete air of stability and that is when he could be judged, maybe if he doesnt qualify then, then we will consider his future.

First half was ok, we jus didnt create which is fundamental to winning a game, could tell in the first half we had 4 CM we kept possession really well but the obvious lack of penetration started to show in the second half, which got really stale. Lost all direction in the second half, to be honest ya cant really fault SA for making his changes when he did, surprised that he took off Martins to be honest, SA must beleive that if anyone could of nicked one it was gonna be Owen, to be honest i thought Martins was looking far more dangerous, I personally would of taken off Owen but i guess ya cant do that to Owen, can understand putting on Smith because there was absolutely no link betweeen the midfield and forwards, Zog needed to come on as well as there was no width, really dissappointing that we couldnt retain possession in order to provide to the wing. The whole, point of our team selection was to retain possession and in the second half we didnt.

Again, another problem that am grateful we have, to be honest i see both pairings beings as effective as each other, The only games that i wold defineitley want to see Viduka and Owen toegther is gonna be against the top4 who probably are gonna have more possession than us, its gonna be important in those games to be able to hold up possession in the oppostition third, theres not many better players to do this than Viduka, on the flip side i think Martins and Owen will be a more prolific partnership.

Yes. I was one to slate Anderson early on, especially after the Covenrty game, but his passing is nothing short of excellent. Looks promising. Nani, on the other hand, is the definition of useless. Never any end product. He is s****. Nani is hard to judge at the mo, seems like a very lightweight version of Ronaldo at the mo, 19 years old, good control, very little end product, i think he's definitely one for the future though, has no penetrstion about him whatsoever, dont like him at the mo but think he could be good in the future, seems to have loads of confidence which i think will carry his talent through!!

Watched Man U the otehr night and Anderson looked a tidy little player, he reminds me a lot of Scholes in the way he distrubuted the ball, looks like a fiesty little player! Scary times for Man U, there have some scary talent!

4 in 5 starts ain't bad. (4 in 8 appearances for Dave's sake) Lol. yeh, lets hope he keeps it up and gets the recognition he's destined to get!

How anyone with half a footballing brain can call scholes and rooney over rated is beyond me, there arent too many players in the league, nay world who can make things happen on a regular basis, Scholes has been a superb midfielder over the years and the only obvious difference between Scholes of past and present is his goal scoring prowess. Rooney on the other hand is able to do it all, link up play is fanstatic, his finishing is good, creativity is good, work rate is good, tracks back, strong like a bull, superb control, and as a striker is able to take the game by the scruff of the neck and single handedly win the game for you. There arent many strkiers in the world that can do that and by that count alone i belive he's a world class talent, plus he's 22 and hasnt had a decent strking partner or played in his preferred position all the time.

Wait till Martins becomes prolific in the permiership, then people will be bumming him more. Hasnt really proved anything premiership wise!!

Goodbye and good riddance. *Waits for NE5 to show up like a hungry T-Rex*

No man, i disagree, i genuinely think nufc is a toy with him, i know businessmen lie all the time like politicians but i cant help but think that his interview the other day had some genuine felings in there, showed to me that he just wants to watch football and enjoy life whilst making a success of the club as well as himself. Cool, you disagree and i believe he is genuine down to earth bloke too. However, his PR company have done a fantastic job and all of the meeting the fans, buying the drinks, getting to know fanzines has openly been expressed as 'PR' by Mort. Just because something is 'good PR' doesnt mean it has to be cynical or lying, its just that, good PR and in a customer-centric high volume retail business, PR is as important as branding. When it comes to taking over a football club its even more important. When it is seen in the context of the Glazers it becomes the most important thing in the whole piece. Will not hear otherwise either. His excellent PR strategy is a credit to him/them imo. Yeh i agree with most of that, except in my opinion PR is a cynical business tool. It's completely agenda ridden and is only used in order to entice customers with the belief that there is a relation occuring between the business and the custom, which in the end isnt true, PR is the stuff like player bag packing, or Mort going round schools and stuff. Ashley on the other hand just wants to watch football, i dont honestly think for one second he has beenadvised to go drinking with the fans for the sake of PR. Or sitting in a nufc shirt, it all genuine which completely rules of PR....well thats my opinion anyway, hope it makes sense.

In my opinion, Barton will start if he's match fit, SA will want a bit if bite in midfield away from home and Barton will provide that. cant really decide what formation he'll play.

By the way, does anyone else think that when Butt plays well, the team play well, i dont think that thats a coincidence.

No man, i disagree, i genuinely think nufc is a toy with him, i know businessmen lie all the time like politicians but i cant help but think that his interview the other day had some genuine felings in there, showed to me that he just wants to watch football and enjoy life whilst making a success of the club as well as himself.

I wanna know more about the Owen and Martins partenrship, from what i gather Owen was dropping deep, is that right? That seems strange to me if true. Were there signs that this partnership could work?

All that sounds absolutely spot on to be honest, would be a team i'd be happy with.

Passion and commitment to the cause of Liverpool or of Steven Gerrard though? Seems more like option B. Probably true, but i cant help but sympathize with him, i like that attitude of wanting to play all the time, it was brattish but honest, to be fair he's specified the derby as being an important aspect and hasnt complained (in public) when he hasnt played in other games, which to me spells out that he really wanted to play for the city. People seem to want there players to be robots, he says something he's a selfish ego maniac (Gerrard) he doesnt say anything he's a unloyal cretin (Owen) Damned if ya do, damned if ya dont, i'd rather have the "ego maniac" than the silent cretin.

i wouldnt be irratated in the slightest, in fact id love it, shows that all he wants to do is play football primariliy for his team and just as imporatantly for his City. Passion and commitment, something which has been missing for a few years now at nufc.

I know how ya feel, i dont want to jinx anything but i am absolutely salivating at seeing Martins and Owen start. Has anyone read the nufc.com quotes from SA, he talks about how he knows that Martins and Owen are different type of players and is gonna play to their strengths. Which means a passing game. Really looking forward to this one!

I think Faye is the type o defender we've been crying out for for years too, i.e. - a big strong centre-back. Yeh i agree, although i personally have been craving a defender who is able to bring the ball out of defence, even Bramble had his good days but i still hated seeing him hoof the ball to wembely everytime he got the ball, the number of times he gave the ball away eyes.gifin the middle of our half was unbelivable, its why i place more value on the likes of Roz and Cacapas who are able to play the ball to out of defence releasing pressure and retaining possession, which is 'nine tenths of the game' (Not sayin Faye cant pass the ball out of defence, just making a generalisation about all 'big strong defenders') I think both are equally important really, you need a good blend in that position, same as you do in the middle of the park and up front. I think the best combo is Faye and Cacapa / Rozenhal, especially in the majority of PL games. What we've all really been craving I suppose is a good back four and we actually look like we're well on the way to having that now. For the first time in years.

I think Faye is the type o defender we've been crying out for for years too, i.e. - a big strong centre-back. Yeh i agree, although i personally have been craving a defender who is able to bring the ball out of defence, even Bramble had his good days but i still hated seeing him hoof the ball to wembely everytime he got the ball, the number of times he gave the ball away in the middle of our half was unbelivable, its why i place more value on the likes of Roz and Cacapas who are able to play the ball to out of defence releasing pressure and retaining possession, which is 'nine tenths of the game' (Not sayin Faye cant pass the ball out of defence, just making a generalisation about all 'big strong defenders')

About the best summary i've seen on Martins!

Isnt it strange how historically we've craved a decent defence/defender and thats always been the stigma attached to our lack of success and frustration and yet when we finally have a defence to be proud of noone seems to be placing any importance on them. This is the reason why i think Roz and Cacapa are so bloody important, without them we are the last 3/4 seasons all over again.

Owen seems to be getting mentioned alot, i kinda disagree with it, i dont think he's as important as Viduka when it comes to our attack, for me its the team players who are the most important and Owen definetely isnt a team player. It's so refreshing to see so many options, this is the frst squad in 3/4 years which has such a good spread of talent, if only Mr Shearer were still playing.