leffe186

They've been around for longer than Liverpool IIRC - were even formed three years before us. I like Fulham. "Proper club" .

Well I hope so, but they get a free stadium with fantastic infrastructure. There's a reason why we were interested too.

I'd hope that you'd get more than 3000 there.

Suarez.

No chance will they have same attraction without Ferguson and CL football. They won't be able to compete with the the best clubs like they used to, infact they'll have their best players like Rooney and Januzaj taken from them. They have a shit-ton of money available, so no. Just look at Liverpool - despite squandering a fortune on shite and finishing behind us for years, it was only a matter of time before their income meant they overtook us.

I'm biting my tongue cos you're a good guy, Leffe. That was steaming f***ing horseshit on all fronts. That b****** has taken 2 games to f*** us over again, the horrible corrupt piece of s***. You were there for the taking and what did we do about it? Absolute square root of f*** all. 0 strikers on the pitch. Incredible. Oh, look. We're 6th. Again. Isn't that just swell? By jeez, it's great progress. f*** off Bill you sanctimonious t***. Yeah, sorry, but I just couldn't leave that post of yours untrolled . As I just posted on a Spurs board; we're what you'd expect to see with a new (in every sense) manager taking charge of a mixed bag of players halfway through a season. Not particularly well organized and reliant upon players' individual ability and nous to get through...and we don't have all that much nous. It's frankly unbelievable that we're fifth, and I think we'll be lucky to get Europa this year. Rodgers and Martinez are far more experienced and established with their teams, and so is Moyes, despite all the problems he's had. Liverpool have a weaker squad on the whole but a better top-end, Man U are stronger on both counts, and you guys have some useful loan signings to help out. With every game, it's clearer that Sherwood will be a place-holder until we can get a heavyweight in. I'm hoping that we will have enough to attract someone good - we've certainly got a good squad and youth set-up and should have plenty of cash to spend. As for now, we are performing entirely to my expectations.

We're fucking rubbish. It's kinda hilarious that we're fifth tbh.

He's all right, but needs time to develop. Not a defensive midfielder though - he's an all-rounder, and it's pretty clear that that's what Sherwood expects from his CMs. I don't think he merits his place right now tbh, with Paulinho back, and Sandro returning from injury. We're definitely not getting top four this year though, unless something clicks soon, and I'd fully expect us to be seventh if we carry on like this. We just look like a bit of a mess, and really need the same team to play more regularly together. Dawson is staying in the team because he's the one real vocal leader on the pitch and he's the one centre-back who's been consistently fit, despite being our fourth best CB. Walker and Rose are being asked to do a little too much for their capabilities, I fear. The midfield under Sherwood just doesn't seem coherent at all, although we rarely play the same one twice, so it's not entirely surprising. Ade is Ade, and Eriksen is the one really consistently classy player going forward. So, naturally, teams (like Everton today) will single him out for treatment. I think Sherwood has been trying a few things out, and fair enough, but that will mean that we fall behind. Rodgers has been working with his team for a couple of years, Martinez has had since pre-season (and a team that has been - for the most part - together for a while), and Moyes has a handful of world-class players to bale him out. Sherwood is starting mid-season with a team that is full of strangers.

We're due a gift from the opposition, and Spurs are that type of team. Or Benny might score one of his once in a blue moon wonder goals. So a 4-1 defeat I reckon. I think the first sentence rings true. We're just so bloody sketchy right now, and the first goal will have a huge impact. I can see a red card from somewhere too.

Yeah, we've been playing it for a while . There's a fair few of us who have been trying to get rid - to no avail.

Well this has been shit. A lot riding on Rooney and Mata tomorrow.

Probably Sandro, Townsend, Vertonghen and Kaboul. Does this help?

Didn't realize Terry was missing out today .

Fucking hell. Webb essentially said "don't do that, or it's a pen".

That's a shocking mistake.

Plenty of red cards and red inj please, obviously.

...2018.

Relegation, lack of money, necessity of playing their kids. We have many of those same things going on. Very few teams offer kids the same first team opportunities we do. Whether or not they take them is down to them. I do think generally, that English managers don't trust kids. You'll never win a game with 11 James Miners etc etc. I don't know if that's necessarily true. AVB was noticeably less trusting of our youngsters than, say, Tim Sherwood. Much of the reason will be circumstantial - with the ludicrous attrition rate in Premier League managers it's no wonder they are reluctant to take many chances. Southampton are an example of a club that has made a clear decision to focus on their youth program because of their circumstances. They need the buy-in from everyone involved, and the manager is key. One reason (among many) suggested for AVB's demise is that he was unwilling to give youth products as much game time as Levy expected. We made our clear decision to focus on youth when Jol came in, and our squad was almost completely changed overnight, and AVB was seen as failing to back that policy.

I didn't think so. I mean, I don't think he should have been sent off because it was certainly ambiguous, but Carroll's movement was such that it's understandable that the ref could see it as deliberate on the one look he got. Even after looking at replays I couldn't say with absolute certainty that Carroll wasn't a bit reckless, and didn't know Chico was there. Chico cheated, and should be punished for it. I just don't think the red card was totally outlandish.

I really can't believe it took so many posts for someone to get this .

Taking us for granted there I guess .

I look forward to FIFA banning West Ham from all football. Don't they have a thing about not involving the courts in footy stuff?

Needs a poll for the new Director of Football somewhere. Harry Redknapp ?

A crushing defeat would be far better than a 2-0 because it piles the pressure onto the manager and owners. I don't think Chelsea will do it but we might get an embarrassing defeat at home to Spurs. We're wildly unconvincing right now though, and you usually manage to raise your game for this one. I think you'll get at least a point against us, but if we get an early goal it could get nasty.