Pilko

1-1, the slide will continue.

Negatives: - Our midfield and strikers don't know how to counter-attack without dallying, playing triangles in our own full-back slots allows the opponents to regroup and easily get the ball when we try to attack. - We give everyone far too much time on the ball, especially in midfield. Some of our players (Duff, Nolan and Ryan Taylor in particular) have no idea how to track a runner. - We are very vunerable to a ball played through the centre-backs into the channels. Only a number of lucky deflections and good blocks stopped the cut backs from this being effective. - We have possibly the slowest central midfield pairing in the league. Butt and Nolan (especially Nolan) were shocking today, it was alarming how neither could either use or retain the ball. - Our set pieces are dreadful. All bar one hit the first man or were easily cleared and then countered from. - Ryan Taylor. Think that should be a suspension now? Thank fuck. - No matter how ineffectual or shit he is, Shearer won't drop or sub that mercenary bastard who wears the number 10 shirt. (and for some reason, the captains armband?) - Injury to Steven Taylor. - This stupid new 3-5-2 thing just doesn't work. Positives - Shearer isn't scared to change things, Martins and Viduka were on after 61 minutes and we went (more-or-less) 4-3-3. How many times has Kinnear/Hughton waited till the 84th minute before making a change? - Alan Smith came on and settled in the midfield well. He isn't the fastest but he covered more ground than the 'experienced' Butt and the overweight, one-paced Nolan. People will most likely disagree but he didn't waste a single pass today. - Harper had a fine game, saved a few shots with his fingertips and came off his line well. Was unlucky for the goal. - We didn't fold after going one down like under Kinnear/Hughton. Alright, they had a few chances but we blocked them well and more or less nullified them until the break without too much effort. - Steven Taylor had an excellent game before his injury. - Gutierrez made some class probing runs, used the ball well, held onto possesion and won us a number of free kicks either in dangerous positions or at our own end when we needed to get out and regroup. - Dowie looks like he uses any breakage in play to his advantage by getting as many players over to the dugout as possible and telling them all what to do, or what's going wrong. Never saw that under Kinnear/Hughton, not once. - Ameobi didn't get any pitch time. --------------------- We were shit today, but provided Shearer starts with Martins and Viduka (- I did say we should rip his contract up but after today, he looks useful and I'll happily retract that statement) in the next home game, we should be alright. I'm seriously worried if he continues with this wing-back malarky, because it's a load of fucking cobblers - who knows, it may be an excellent idea, but not now. We simply don't have the correct personelle.

Very harsh on Edgar.

The reason we'll go down (if we do) is those 4 dropped points at home against Wigan and Stoke.

No, Mowen is right. Even if we lose today, there is still 15 points we can get - 9 of them fairly achieveable at home, and another 3 on an anything-can-happen-because-teams-play-unpredictable-teams final day of the season. It isn't over until we're mathematically down.

Silly idea. Even things like mainly pay-as-you-play deals (not dependant on a result/performance) are only given to really old, injury prone players (see Anderton at Bournemouth, Savage at Derby).

I've watched Fulham a lot this season, and he's been pretty good imo. Needs to score more though, that's for sure. His finishing is awful though. He's like a much less effective Heskey.

Actually, Ronaldo, you're probably right. Zamora is easily the worst striker buy in the league this season.

Gomes Meite Coloccini Bridge Bentley Giovani Tainio Diouf Xisco Pavulychenko Berbatov

Cech and Fabianski seemingly playing "anything you can do, I can do shitter"

I hope our two tribute acts, Nile Ranger's Dreads and gogonileranger start posting again.

The most depressing part of that table is that even an emphatic win tomorrow can't get us out of the relegation spots.

TalkSHITE tend to spend more time giving updates about the rugby, F1 and cricket that are live on terrestrial fucking telly than the actual featured game.

Alves Diego Tristan gets West Ham an equaliser at Villa. 1-1.

I'd prefer a draw, for sure, but after that I'd rather have a Sunderland win. Apart from the game at West Brom, they won't get many more points imo.

Women will be falling at your feet, Dave, with that attire.

Pre-season and youth tournaments. for christs sake. the idea is, you actually have a chance of guessing it without being an anorak, surely?

http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/Images/Dynamic/i10/friends_joey_240x260_052820041524.jpg FAIL

Excellent shout. In that case, we're looking for a player who has played for one of the two, Chelsea and/or Arsenal as well, and who could have appeared in Champions League or UEFA Cup finals in the countries specified. Not impossible. Emmanuel Petit springs to mind, maybe? man utd or liverpool ? Could have sworn he spent a season at Man United. Possibly just a crazy dream, wikipedia confirming to me that he didn't play for them.

Excellent shout. In that case, we're looking for a player who has played for one of the two, Chelsea and/or Arsenal as well, and who could have appeared in Champions League or UEFA Cup finals in the countries specified. Not impossible. Emmanuel Petit springs to mind, maybe?

The answer probably depends on someone who scored for one against the other in a testimonial match or something? Maybe its Phil Chisnell? Him and Ince are the only players to have played for both that I know of.

he is, but viduka is injured 90% of the time, berbatov hasn't exactly set man utd a light Probably because he was Spurs' best player by a country mile, and now he's probably just in the top 9 or 10 players at Old Trafford.

Paul Merson reckons that Viduka is better than Berbatov when fully fit.

I thought yesterday, especially in the first half, almost every City move that involved about 11 touch and move passes broke down when Robinho tried to pass the ball. For someone they paid so much for, his distribution is fucking shite. Caicedo's goal was a good take, although that sitter moments later from the corner was Shola-tastic Fatty Dunne has always been an oaf, that booking he got after about 10 minutes for charging in and getting turned by Olic, you'd think he might learn, but no, later in the half he gets "dunne" in exactly the same fashion, in the same section of the pitch, by the same player, and was mysteriously ignored by the ref. So pleased we didn't sign him.

The last time we were told Viduka was "fit", he came on for about 10 minutes at West Brom, just to hold the ball up for a bit, and even then he was panting like an old pit pony afterwards. The bloke is a write off, may as well just settle the fat fuckers contract and send him on his way. 1 and a half seasons of fuck all on his wages is totally fucking criminal. Shame, he showed early promise.