Stottie

I've not been impressed by SWP for a long time but he's got 9 goals and 15 assists in 60 games (48 starts) for Citeh second time round. They're good numbers and they must come from somewhere. Better than Jonas or Routledge, at least. Probably wants big wedge though.

Thanks. The Rawhide idea sounds good and good to know that at least there is the 2Unlimited one. If you can work the 5-1 (with the gesture) or Mackems hat-trick into the giddy up move em on part of Rawhide, you might get more traction. Its the same golden recipe as "Hark now here" and "Any any any O'Brien". Overweight, slow, and looks much older than he is, but scores tons of goals, is prepared to do an uncool celebration seemingly chosen by others, always says good things in interviews, and has an amazing record against the Mackems. In times gone past, that would be well into cult player territory.

Transfer request too, ferk me. Not the best team player as every says, but he scores goals. Not only does he score, he scores against everybody, a good few against the top teams included. Its not something everyone high up the goal charts does. If they buy Insomnia with the money, Wigan are down.

Do it mate, we need all the help we can get! Tiote's a big miss, so I think we might need some help from Gomes to get much from this game.

Thanks Dave, didn't know that about Fulham. Knowing us, we'd just pick up lots of injuries.

Unfortunately he didn't do it at SJP, but Bob Dylan's Positively 4th Street hits the spot lyrically. You got a lotta nerve To say you are my friend When I was down You just stood there grinning You got a lotta nerve To say you got a helping hand to lend You just want to be on The side that’s winning You say I let you down You know it’s not like that If you’re so hurt Why then don’t you show it You say you lost your faith But that’s not where it’s at You had no faith to lose And you know it I know the reason That you talk behind my back I used to be among the crowd You’re in with Do you take me for such a fool To think I’d make contact With the one who tries to hide What he don’t know to begin with You see me on the street You always act surprised You say, “How are you?” “Good luck” But you don’t mean it When you know as well as me You’d rather see me paralyzed Why don’t you just come out once And scream it No, I do not feel that good When I see the heartbreaks you embrace If I was a master thief Perhaps I’d rob them And now I know you’re dissatisfied With your position and your place Don’t you understand It’s not my problem I wish that for just one time You could stand inside my shoes And just for that one moment I could be you Yes, I wish that for just one time You could stand inside my shoes You’d know what a drag it is To see you

I'm overseas so I don't get to games, but do we have a song for him? For all his limitations, he deffo deserves one.

If Arsenal win the CC and say ManYoo or another CL team win the FA Cup, seventh goes into Europe. Is that right? If it is, we're not far off and results suggest another couple of players may be all it would take, even assuming a red or blue bindipper recovery. In that case, we should seriously consider buying, not selling. We dominated the team in sixth yesterday. For someone with our gates, scraping into Europe would get us what, fifteen million plus?

It sounds like Chelsea have run out of money. Lots of folks have done comparisons between their bench in the first Mourinho season and now. Before it was internationals like Crespo. Now its Sturridge and Van Aanholt.

Craig Burley tbf said the Tiote red card in the cup was an absolute joke and even pulled out the "all good defenders should hang up their boots now" chestnut.

During the Everton game, didn't he say Seamus Coleman's tackle on Nolan was fair when it was pen and straight red all the way? Remarkable change of tune from him, it must be said.

I mentioned it in the prematch thread, it's every fkn time! Jammy jammy twats. Not completely unexpected though, because they got a flukey pen right at the end against Citeh. If we'd pressed our superiority, it could have been wrapped up well before then. When it comes to this division though, I think we should be looking up not down. They're above us and that was all they had to offer with what should have been the ultimate motivation. If Seb Larsson wants big money, then ferk it they can have him, because they need him more than we do.

+1

Provided Shola isn't completely crocked, Smith is the only major problem in there for me. If the rest of them turn up we can definitely get something. Howay the Lads!

Has no-one been in for Elmander yet? I'm sure his agent will have put his name about looking for a pay rise. Bolton have to question whether he's worth foregoing three million or so for just for another fifteen or so league games.

On the subject of which, there is some twat on the pitch every time they score in this fixture. Why don't we have a word so the proper measures are taken?

Is Spuds as good as it gets for Carroll? He's better than Chamahk (sp) and Drogba's playing and scoring less now. Balotelli, Tevez, and Adebayor are also hardly the epitome of stability. At Citeh he'd get Rooney money. I'm sure we wouldn't be able to replicate it, but they sold their best striker for 30mill and it has done them much harm. Just saying like. Like them though, a bidding war involving Citeh is the best way to go. It put seven or eight million on the price of Berbatov.

Lets see how sharp Owen is when he has to fly in to training again.

Enrique and Jonas were a big miss against Stevenage, so it'll be good to have them back. Tiote out is massive, but if its just him out of the back eight and their midfield is also a bit depleted, I doubt we'll lose heavily. If it's Perch or Barton on the left or Guthrie or some other nonsense, then I'll be far more worried. Some combo of half crocked Shola, McLoven, Best, and Ranger won't amount to much, but after beating them 5-1, it will take more than poor forward play to give them sufficient revenge. Its not uncommon for one to bounce in off someone's arse or get bundled in in a derby. That said, I think we'll win 2-1. In the spirit of the original chicken dance, one for one of our center halves, with Barton or Nolan getting the other.

Surely the problem is not the red card itself but the automatic three-game ban? Why is slightly mistiming a 50-50 or in Tiote's case jumping at a ball with a raised foot at a distance that is borderline safe from an opponent deemed "violent conduct"? An outright professional foul that denies a goal (the biggest way to change a game) is only a one game ban. All this both feet off the ground=out of control is nonsense. Is every goalkeeper out of control when they make a save? Tiote is getting the same punishment as Barton for his punch and Colo for that elbow. The incidents are worlds apart. For Tiote, the sending off itself and disciplinary points are sufficient punishment, no further ban should be needed. For Gerrard at the weekend, maybe make him sit out a game or two. Three is too many for me. For Barton's punch, a five game ban wouldn't be out of place.

Any glimmer of a hope we had has gone now. fwiw (very little), Gerrard's was a more dangerous tackle because it was much closer to a 50-50.

Hope so! Only caught a couple of minutes of pregame but enough to fill the sick bucket already. "Its the English superclassico" "The biggest rivalry in English football" ....

I doubt it will be rescinded, though it should be. He got the ball well before the other player arrived. Its just another step in the crappy middle-classification of the game that sees rules and interpretations made by people who've never kicked a football in their life, let alone attempted a tackle on a surface that is soft enough to allow sliding tackles. The classic Beardo goal against Brighton would probably be a sending off now. [rules according to Delia Smith]Foot off the ground, studs showing, ....[/rules according to Delia Smith].

Very poor but with our left side lineup and Smith in the middle, not all that surprising. Front two struggled too, as did Ranger when he came on. We've had a good team spirit of late, but there was little of that on show and we were completely outfought. Motm was the Scottish fella on the ESPN coverage who was adamant that the Tiote challenge wasn't a foul and that the new rules are a joke. Like many it seems, I'm more narked about any suspension there than the actual defeat. A ban for Tiote possibly means we can't get rid of Alan Smith....

I know the feeling. I was dreading Boselli breaking his duck against us. Or Andy Useless Johnson getting a flukey deflection and some twunt on MOTD praising him to the skies.