Hughesy

I disagree, like every footballer who gets caught out there would have been a bit of chanting at matches etc, and he would have been called a bit of a c***, but ultimately no-one would realy be that bothered. He would have been off the front pages/tele after a day or two and it would have just been 'another footballer shaggin about'. He looks an absolute pleb now though, and it's been dragged out right to the Champions League final. Can't see how this saga has played out to Man Utd or Giggs' advantage in any way. To suggest Ferguson has been behind the 'strategy' of this is bizarre.

Peter Ndlovu

What does he say? It is interesting that in the years after Bobby was sacked, he did actually have a few digs at players who played for him. Almost a bit out of character. Who do you mean? He has made a few comments about Shearer. Obviously the one above Harper. I seem to remember reading his autobiography a while back and being surprised about how forthright he was in his opinions about certain players. I am not here to comment on the veracity of what he said, more that it seemed out of character for him.

What does he say? It is interesting that in the years after Bobby was sacked, he did actually have a few digs at players who played for him. Almost a bit out of character.

He's still under contract and is a good looking lad. Why not? Is he? Something you want to tell us?

How strange, I had Grant as a good manager. He even gave Pompey some fight last season. I think I thought he was ok at Chelsea (although it's not exactly as if he had a difficult job there at the time). But he didn't a particularly great job at Portsmouth with the players he had and obviously did incredibly badly with the players at his disposal at West Ham.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-ham/8517564/Avram-Grant-stands-accused-as-West-Hams-fate-was-sealed-on-the-training-ground.html Spot on article there.

That is good... I like it.

In fairness Martin Samuel is a pretty good columnist to be honest. And is pretty scathing about the regime at West Ham. Oh.. and Avram Grant really is a terrible manager.

But colliding with one when you are jogging seems quite unlikely surely?

Colliding with a moose...!!! That's brilliant.. how can you accidentally collide with a moose? They are quite large. Or did he just decide to take the moose on?

Apparently he had broken his wrist a while ago so it was a 'weak' area for him. But still - sounds pretty odd..

Speed was so criminally underrated it wasn't even funny. It's only in recent times that NUFC fans seem to appreciate how brilliant he actually was.

It's got black and white stripes. Who cares if they get that bit right?

Because everything is static and nothing changes. Yeboah is undoubtedly a better player than Gyan right now. Would you not agree? Simpson may well have improved from his time at Sunderland but is still not a patch on Bardsley from what I've seen,an average player at the very best and watching him on TV against Liverpool last week it would seem he has a lot of improving still to do. Because Bardsley is more than an average player at best? Average player at best is his middle name.

Hope Dani Alves will finally get sent off today. And early enough - first half would be decent. As long as Busquets follows him.

I don't know why anyone bothers shooting from a direct free kick TBH, even if you're Beckham the percentages are tiny. I see what you are saying but how often does someone score from a cross from a free kick 25-30 yards out within the width of the goalposts? The angles make it almost impossible to put a cross in. A shot is your best chance of scoring.

That's part of the reason I don't rate him that highly. He is not aerially dominant or physically strong enough.

I'd probably agree with that assessment. If we are to challenge for top 8 next season, I think we would find it hard with him in the team. But I agree that his replacement is not a priority. I just don't think he has the attributes to be the ball playing centre half or the physical centre half (to further stereotype players) and I just can't see him getting any better. Would be interesting to analyse the goals we have conceded and work out how many he has been 'responsible' for. I seem to remember a few.

I reckon 14th.

Of course some are better than others. But Coloccini and Williamson have been our first choice pairing pretty much all season, and we've been in the top half of the league most of the time (more than 75% of the time in fact). I therefore can't quite see how you can claim he's not good enough to be a first choice centre half for a top ten side. What more proof can there be? What happens if we finish 15th? Is he then automatically a top 15 team defender? My assessment is based on the fact that looking at his strengths and weaknesses, looking at his performances this season, looking at other central defenders' performances and my past experiences of central defenders over the years I have watched football, I do not think he is good enough to be a top ten defender. I would be very very surprised if he remains a regular part of a top ten PL team in the coming years, whether with NUFC or someone else.

Do you acknowledge that within a team there are players of a different level? Not everyone within a top ten team is necessarily a 'top ten' player. They are merely playing in a top ten team.

Less than a week ago the table said otherwise. Did that mean that last week Lovenkrands was good enough to be a striker for a top half team? Lovenkrands isn't first choice. In fact he's started roughly half as many games as Williamson. My point was that stating Williamson was good enough for a top half PL team because he has been a member of a team in the top half isn't exactly a watertight argument. Plenty of other players in our team, to a greater or lesser extent, have played a part in our position up til now. This does not necessarily mean they are of a certain quality. I would suggest, for example, that Tiote is better than Williamson. But they play in the same team - so are they are both 10th placed team players? It's a flawed argument. Not quite sure why my analysis of Williamson as not being a top half central defender is an example of me being unrealistic (Canuck) or that he would be the first player I would replace (Dave). Complete non sequiturs.

Less than a week ago the table said otherwise. Did that mean that last week Lovenkrands was good enough to be a striker for a top half team?

Not good enough to be a 1st choice CB for a top half team. Ok to be back up for next season.