Mistle17

Who thought it would be a good idea to Niall Quinn a microphone? The chap hasn't a clue.

I still think that had we lined up in a more dynamic shape, such as 4-2-3-1, then we could have got at Chelsea more- certainly in the first half. But I think we have to be realistic and take into consideration that we played in Athens on 48 hours earlier, and also that it was a completely new midfield partnership with Anita-Cabaye. That is more significant than people think. Plus, playing against a team containing arguably the two best attacking midfielders in the league in Hazard and Mata was always going to be very tough. Having two full backs with the quality of Ivanovic and Cole is a huge advantage too, they looked so much more balanced than us in that respect. Having said all that, they do look soft defensively and I think against the better teams such as Man Utd & City they'll be outclassed. My main concern is that we've looked fairly below par in all our 3 games so far this season. After seeing how poor Villa are this season nothing but a win will do next week for me. But first we must make sure we finish the job at St.James on Thursday against Atromitos. No need to for a forum meltdown just yet.

This guy is beyond shit.

Haven't been overly impressed with Chelsea, tbh. Bar Hazard, Mata and Torres they don't look unstoppable. We've seriously lacked any intensity and attacking instinct. We've got to score first (and soon) to stand a chance.

Delighted if this is true. Sign Debuchy and we are in business!!

Cant wait to fucking batter those horrible cunts

Exactly! I wish they'd send a bloke out with a sponge to sort it out. It's been like that for ages. I'm sure they were stickers with 'FTM' on it, i was completely rattled. 'Brewcies wun ov us. BNP. FTM'. Rattled.

On another note, Berbatov wants out at Man Utd. I know he goes against our age and wage policy so it's never going happen but I'd far prefer someone like him. Top quality player. Again, I'm not suggesting him as a possibility, just the standard of player we should be aiming for.

We'll be taking a big step backwards if he's Demba's replacement. Ba is such a better player and goalscorer overall than Carroll, imo. I think its clear now that we've worked through a list of targets that haven't come off and our finger has slid down to Carroll. Despite our calibre of players I'm still sceptical as to our style of play reverting back to what it was back in January/February under Pardew.

No thank you. I really don't want him. I imagine we'd be paying a fee (small compared to what a permanent deal would be) for his loan regardless. We have Ba, Cisse and Ameobi already. Playing Ben Arfa/Obertan and Jonas/Ba wide doesn't accommodate him best either, with both wings generally cutting inside. We've found out what style of play suits him best and I don't want that again- not with the quality players we have in the side now. Surely, surely there is so much better out there for us. I don't know what we're doing here.

Looks like something out of Pro Evo.

Really liking the training gear this year, best Puma have done yet. Not buying any of that shit with a SD logo, though

Ah man, I'm dead jealous at that! Two cracking fixtures they are. I must get to the Mestalla before Valencia move (could be a while)! Plus, I'd love to go and see a game at the Riazor. To echo others on here, I too would like to see Valencia sort themselves out and pose a challenge to the 'untouchable two'.

Just imagine how fantastic it would be for him though; the stadium is re-named after his company with SD signs spunked on every corner of the stadium, and it's our main shirt sponsor! It could take a while since we've just signed that deal with Virgin, but considering the new TV deal with Sky he can afford to do that. Don't be at all surprised to see our players in post match interviews with the SD logo on their tracksuits.

No it isnt How do you know? First it was only a small sign on the Gallowgate, which nobody thought that much of. Now the whole stadium is covered in them no matter where you look- even the dugout seats- and the stadium is even renamed after it. The signs are all around the training ground pitches, too. Now there on our training kit. Who's to say our strips wont have two 'sponsors' on them like the training shirt? It's going to happen imo. But that aside, I thought last seasons (just gone) training gear was better than that one on show. But, you're not allowed two sponsors on the official kits, are you? No. Apologies, I didn't realise that rule applied in the Premier League. But nonetheless, my point still stands, I'm (regretfully) confident that SD logos will end up on our shirts. It sounds absurd, but so did the thought of St. James' Park now being called what it is. It pisses me off no end this pathetic SD business.

In fairness, the group stages were quite exciting this year! Lots of surprise drop outs.....Netherlands, Russia, Poland etc. It's just the knockout stages have been pretty dire in terms of excitement. But I do agree that 2008 was miles better- that was probably the best international tournament I've ever seen!

No it isnt How do you know? First it was only a small sign on the Gallowgate, which nobody thought that much of. Now the whole stadium is covered in them no matter where you look- even the dugout seats- and the stadium is even renamed after it. The signs are all around the training ground pitches, too. Now there on our training kit. Who's to say our strips wont have two 'sponsors' on them like the training shirt? It's going to happen imo. But that aside, I thought last seasons (just gone) training gear was better than that one on show.

FUCK OFF WITH SPORTS DIRECT!!! It's slowly making it's way to our strips. It's only a matter of time before that scummy logo is plastered all over our shirts.

I don't have problem at all with the way Spain, prior to this summer and currently. I enjoy the way they keep the ball and bid their time. And, as Ian W quoted Iniesta saying; teams set up to shut out Spain and prevent them from playing in behind, and without a recognised striker (open to debate) that's going to prove difficult. If people think Spain are boring then Jesus Christ I take it no one watched Ireland?

Oh, a massive cash injection into the club, you say? Well Mike, now we don't have to generate extra revenue via renaming the stadium! You can take all that silly billy Sports Direct writing down now and call it St. James' Park again

I thought something to commemorate Miki Roque instead of that Diversity speech that essentially means nothing to everyone, would have been more appropriate.

Looks a bit like our old training gear from when Allardyce was in charge of us (07/08?).

Shocking news Poor guy. R.I.P

Premier League aside, I think that over the years we've always been far more inclined to review our failures with regards to external factors i.e penalties, bad refereeing decisions, foreigners winding us up etc etc. as opposed to internal factors such as a failure to build a recognised national football centre, or a centre of youth excellence, or review our youth development system. It's just a shame it took us until June 2010 to realise our own faults.

The Premier League is far closer to being the reason why England are s***, not a reason why we shouldn't be so. Look at some of the players who got into the England squad this time. Downing. What kind of a season has he had? Was it zero goals and zero assists? Henderson? A kid who had one half decent season at Sunderland, then an utter stinker for Liverpool. England's third choice goalkeeper is Jack Butland. Honestly, I wouldn't recognise him if he turned up to empty my bins (and given Birmingham City's financial situation, that's not out of the question pretty soon). The Premier League is not the best league in the world. it is the best marketed league in the world. Once you get past that, you have to look at the fact that there really aren't that many very good English players in it, so stuffed full is it of foreign players. You can then look at the fact that the money grabbing clubs, with the equally avaricious agents and players ensure that nothing like enough money trickles down to grass roots football education for kids. Just like none of it trickles down to create affordable tickets for fans, absolutely everything about the English game is short termist, and centred on greed, and that is why we'll never achieve anything at international level. Can't argue with a word of that.