Neil

And it's absolutely ludicrous. It is. The Premier League are meddling in affairs that should frankly have nothing to do with them. The only people McCarthy should have to answer to, if any, are the fans. Do they only support the club if all of the top players are taking part? I empathise with the fans from a personal point of view: spending that money and time to go there to be given a line-up that smells of "we're not going to win this, why bother?". My point is that McCarthy is well within his rights to give that line-up: his aim is to stay up, and that means considering the long-term, i.e. a 38-game season. Ultimately, fans should support the club, not just the starting XI, yes.

And it's absolutely ludicrous. It is. The Premier League are meddling in affairs that should frankly have nothing to do with them. The only people McCarthy should have to answer to, if any, are the fans.

As I've already said - I expect every team-sheet to now be scrutinised. Resting numerous players = enquiry. The PL have set a dangerous precedent.

zomfg!!1! Is that your losing streak over now then? I've had a cracking week. Coincided with not posting my selections on here too! Was a little wary of mentioning BATE but the run continues... Nope - I didn't bet tonight, didn't really think about it tbh. I'll be sure to make a disproportionately big deal of it if I win at the weekend though. Nice one mate.

zomfg!!1! Crazy odds with the team Everton put out. Absolutely. If people did a little bit of research then they'd be on for some money. Must say it seemed to be petering out into a 0-0 draw though. Edit: I didn't put a bet on tonight. Think Ash did though.

I had to cheer because of my bet. :-[ Nah man; as much as I wanted us to win, it was one of the most meaningless 'competitive' games in my lifetime.

zomfg!!1!

My heart was ripped apart when they scored.

Boring game as expected, but it's unbelievable. "Right, got a lot of injuries, meaningless game, let's rest most of them". Rodwell gets injured after 6 minutes. Big sigh.

Celtic got it back to 3-3 btw. A brilliantly meaningless 6 goal thriller.

Ban smoking? Dunno where that will get them like.

[overusedpun]Hope our kids master BATE tonight - it's the first time for some of them.[/overusedpun]

But he looked all angry and stuff when he scored the other week. Obviously the sign of a good player.

It's completely different playing a second string in a competition that mean the least of the cups in the English League. He's quite right. He and Ancellotti should expect McCarthy to field a second 11 when he plays them next time, in fact why don't all the bottom 6 do the same and field weakened sides against the top 6? I mean they won't win against the top 6 so why try? Do you really want to see that? Who's he to say what competition is important and what's not? McCarthy took that decision on this occasion and I back him because he obviously thinks that's the best decision in the long-run.

Arsene Wenger, of Carling Cup fame, has hit out at Wolves:

Wenger's also now moaning about the fixture list regarding Hull having a free mid-week to prepare for the game at the weekend. Jesus Christ.

Well they had an absolute bargain lined up to replace him.

If BATE are playing a strong side, it's good value.

You seen the team we're playing, right?

You = Ashley Hospital = NUFC Who are the people? Your league status, I'd imagine. I'm proper clever me.

Whilst I say he can do what he likes regarding team selection, there is a lot of pressure on him on Saturday to win.

You = Ashley Hospital = NUFC Who are the people? Your league status, I'd imagine.

You'll know more than me, but I've never understood why McFadden hasn't played more, I've always thought he's a really tidy player. At Everton, it was inconsistency. 1 game a class above, then the next few, nowhere near that level.

So pretty much everyone's underrated, it seems. Not good - just underrated.