Interpolic

Not enough upsets for my liking, I've got my heart set on the Carling Cup now given the manner of our progress so far.

All going to plan man. This will be the 3rd manager I've seen off. What's the alternative like? Meanwhile there's a Parky vs Alex Ferguson war that tailed off at Parky 05 Ferguson 88 in the letter pages of the Sunday Sun in May 1996. Do you know what I mean? They'll never win, unless they're immortal super-managers. I really like these threads but you're nuts.

This.

Didn't think Simpson was any worse than Ferguson or Perch last night.

No idea, but I was thinking he must have been.

They tend to go with where there were the most cameras rather than base it on where the best action was.

That's really harsh and way off the mark. Definitely. I think Guthrie did alright last night, was more involved than Abeid. Impressed that he managed to put in 120 minutes after not having played for so long. Anyway it was a funny one last night. Goals aside you'd have to say it was a fairly drab match and there wasn't much pattern to the play from either side. Ben Arfa was brilliant, I really don't think I'm overreacting here () - he was quite quiet for the first 15 minutes but then he started getting on the ball a bit more. The guy is so comfortable on the ball, it always looks like there's nobody anywhere near him because he has such a confident air about him while in possession. There was a moment in the second half when he drifted past 3 or 4 players before encountering their last man - on that occasion he opted to pass (to Lovenkrands I think) but with a few more games under his belt I think he'll just go for it himself in situations like that. Another thing I liked was that he wasn't afraid to come deep to find the ball when he got fed up of standing and waiting for it. With a few players around him that have movement and intelligence (and we do have a couple) I'm just really excited to see this kid ingratiate himself in our side now. In summary, he's the fucking dog's bollocks. Ratings: Elliott 6, Simpson 6, Coloccini 8 (MOTM, looked solid and classy after an early wobble, kept Perch out of trouble, scored the winner), Perch 6, Ferguson 6, Gosling 5, Abeid 6, Guthrie 6, Marveaux 7, Lovenkrands 7, Ben Arfa 8 (subs Obertan 7, Sammy 6, Shola 6). Special mention to the kids behind us that were absolutely thick as mince. As soon as they got to their seats they opened (yes, opened!) with "McClaren is a paedo". Mere mortals would be discouraged by this chant not catching on despite 100 attempts at starting it (they even changed the melody to the Sammy Ameobi song halfway through, presumably to take advantage of its popularity) but no, these lads continued this long into extra time and I imagine long into the Nottingham night. Persistence outstanding, brains non-existent.

Thought he was pretty fantastic last night like, was very impressed.

why is the ball missing in that picture? Ball was in the stands by that point.

You seriously want to 'debate' the difference between 9 and 10? Give over. Well, yeah. You thought enough of the distinction between a 9 and a 10 to bring it up in the first place. It's the fact that you won't be drawn into more than 4 or 5 words of arrogant tosh that rubs people up the wrong way, and I say that as someone who usually quite likes reading some of the stuff you come out with. So yeah, I was trying to debate your original comment with you and got the usual response.

You've just chosen a line and stuck to it with vague 5 word posts when other people are actually trying to debate the point, I don't think you're in a position to call "gay" on the argument tbh.

There's very little to judge, as it's all in black and white, really. Shearer's record doesn't really match up to the very best, as good as it is. I need to clarify this, what do you mean when you say "record"? Are we talking numbers, are we talking finishing ability, are we talking goals scored at the very highest level?

Get angry all you like sweet cheeks, I think you're wrong. Next you'll be telling me that Nolan's not a 10 for goalscoring either.

The players ranked 10 for goalscoring don't have to be identically equal in terms of goalscoring ability ffs. It all depends on what proportion of players you think deserve a 10. I personally think there's room for a few more than just Pele, Romario, Van Basten, Ronaldo, Messi and Maradona.

Spot on as usual. Yep.

Erm, yeah whatever.

Most neutrals would give him a 10 on the basis I'm using ffs. If you're saying that only a tiny, tiny handful of players in the history of football deserve a 10 for goalscoring then fine, Shearer's a 9. He scored goals year after year against the opposition in front of him, therefore he deserves a 10 as far as I'm concerned. Short of joining Man Utd or Barcelona when he had the chance there's nowt more he could have done. You can say what you like about being biased and I could say the same to you about being contrary for the sake of being contrary.

Well we're talking about goalscoring and you're downplaying him as just an "exceptional domestic-level forward". He scored hundreds of goals in this country, 30 goals for England (including 5 in a major tournament) before retiring from international football when he was 30. I'm presuming that you're referring to his lack of goals in the Champions League or else I haven't got a clue what you're talking about. The debate is about goalscoring and he had an exceptional goalscoring record throughout his career.

Might as well say it's impossible for such a player to deserve a 10 in anything then, since you're basically judging him on the Champions League finals he didn't play or score in.

Jesus fucking Christ.

And also Shearer was a goalscorer above all else, it was his most prominent 'attribute'.

I disagree. Out of the thousands and thousands of players that have played down the years you're saying that only a handful deserve a top mark for goalscoring, and that the player with the best goalscoring record of the last 20 years in England doesn't get a look in, howay man.

Mental.

How doesn't he deserve a 10 for goalscoring like? Because in the history of football, there have been better goalscorers. Giving him a 10 for heading is ludicrous; Ferdinand and Carroll are two of our former players who did it better. I wasn't asking about heading, I was asking about goalscoring. To give him less than 10 for goalscoring given his record and clear goalscoring instinct would be ridiculous.

The "identical lettering" thing sticks in the throat as well, just indicates further that Ashley and Llambias take great pleasure is being deceitful to the fans.