ashtoon85

The oxygen is out... looks REALLY bad. Taylor coming on.

You have got to be kidding...

Owen beats offside trap... great ball from Coloccini. Comes to nothing though

Its looking an open game so far

Had some nice interplay between Duff and Viduka there, then Butt gives the ball away.

Pav off, Campbell on... = threat of pace

Butt

Keeping the ball better now

Full Time: West Brom 2-1 Man City City in relegation places at Christmas!

enrique booked already... not good

Portsmouth pull one back (Crouch) Bolton 2-1 Portsmouth

Bolton 2 up already...

It wasn't just the positional changes, there were more tactical issues as well. 1st half Owen was dropping deeper and picking up the ball on the halfway line, in the 2nd half he was playing off the shoulder and getting more and more isolated. We also couldn't cope with Ricardo Fuller - it's rather ironic that we thought the aerial bombardment would be the problem, but it turns out we handled that pretty well in the 1st half but it was when there was pace that we struggled. Our centre midfield had so many problems 2nd half - in the 1st half Geremi and Guthrie moved into space for each other and retained possession well whilst also being able to fight for the ball when necessary. In the 2nd half Jonas hardly got the ball, rarely moved into a position to receive the ball and Geremi had no time on the ball. As for Beye as a winger... he is a full back that excels at defending more than attacking - never going to work. I think also that we naively assumed that Stoke were going to be as dreadful as they were in the 1st half in the 2nd. They were always going to improve - they certainly couldn't get any worse, and we just couldn't cope.

The Boro don't fancy it so they've turned on the smoke machines...

The table was last updated on Friday though and he played yesterday so I think it's a mistake...

Another game we could have won if we had turned up in the first half.

I was just thinking about our home game with Man City. When they were chasing the game they ended up with about 4 strikers on and had attack-minded midfielders as well. Sure, we only had 10 in that game so it wasn't as risky, but they really went for it and they managed an equaliser. We were chasing an equaliser, against a team that wasn't that great and to which we had applied decent pressure in periods against during the match and what does Kinnear do? Takes off Jonas and puts on Owen. Yes, a striker on for a winger could be deemed attacking but there were so many more options that he could have played. I agree with that line-up, though it would have put considerable pressure on our defence. But at 2-1 down, does that really matter? Also, the main problem with removing Jonas, despite him not playing that well, was that without him on, Martins was the only pacy player we had left. We would have been far more dangerous if N'Zogbia had come on, even if he was doing his 'headless chicken running'. Players running at Fulham's defence at pace would have been 1000x more effective than that long-ball nonsense we ended the game with.

So going by that, a win against Wigan will bring it straight back? Kinnear is doing as I expected really, I didn't think he'd be a complete failure but I certainly wasn't expecting much at all. The odd win under his reign will keep us hovering above the relegation zone. I don't think we'll climb out of that area whilst he is here. He really has to go. Agree totally. Decent man management only gets you so far. It's tactical nous that pushes a team forward.

Ameobi proves he has good touch for a big man.

Those who aren't going to back Barton, at least try to back Keegan judgment and the club's decision to keep him. How dare the media (in all its forms) try to tell them how to run the club? Keegan knows him better than any of us, and any of the media. Would they tell Ferguson or Wenger what to do and question their character? I highly doubt it. The club should not have to pander to these morons spinning ridiculous hyperbole and utter nonsense. No other club has to put up with the vitriol that spews from the pages of these rags. They have been negative towards the club for ages now and I hope, I really, really hope that Barton takes this final chance and makes something of it, if not to show the media up, just to prove Keegan right.

On Foxtel in Australia when chatting about recent transfers: Simon Hill: "James Milner to Aston Villa for 12mil" mention about a couple of seasons ago and how he nearly went to Villa Spencer Prior: "Well, it's a lot of money and Keegan sanctioned it" Simon Hill: "NO, NO HE DIDN'T. He didn't sanction it..." Ignorant rubbish.

Thing is, if we were to have signed 5/6 players by now, people would complain that they weren't taking the time to assess all possible targets and just signing the first available player in a position that needed filling. And if we had signed all our targets by now, with no further signings over the rest of the transfer period, people would complain as other teams made their signings, why aren't we doing anything, why weren't we in for them etc etc etc. There just isn't any pleasing some people.

They also beat South Korea. And finished top of their group.

We have to be patient, easier said than done, I know. The reason for the worry and impatience is the fact that we have absolutely no idea what is going on, anywhere. For a start this is Ashley's first full transfer window with his man in charge. We have no idea what sort of transfer budget we have, we don't know what sort of players we are planning on signing or what sort of players we are able to attract to the club after some poor recent seasons. We are being linked to heaps of players but nothing totally concrete is happening. All of the people involved in the running of the club seem to have added a heap of other variables - what sort of players are we signing (young, potential or established)? are there restrictions on the sort of players we are going to sign (age, wages etc)? We just don't know. And its the not knowing that leads to the worry. It also doesn't help that having watched the team all season we can see the obvious deficiencies in the first team and rest of the squad. We know these need to be fixed before next season but when we see players being signed by rivals, some players of which could vastly improve our first team, we have no idea whether they are the sort of players being looked at. We also don't know if the same problems are being seen by those that matter. Then there are contract negotiations, talk of disharmony behind the scenes etc that again creates further worry. The press is to blame for a lot of this, always seeming to want to have a dig wherever they can. All the optimism that had developed since KK's winning run has gone since the Chelsea defeat and those now infamous post-match comments. All the uncertainty has stemmed from this. If only we could turn back time... All that we can do is be patient. There is time left. But until anything of note happens, there will be worry...

This is the Arsenal celebration thread... http://www.redcafe.net/f7/we-won-throw-get-there-182559/