Punk77

But he still had to play under Souness

A great player and very likeable lad certainly, but you make a valid point in that LB is not a key position and finding a replacement is normally easier that a top CB or playmaker. I'm not certain he will go, he may do, but I'm not sure he'd walk into any team in Europe as some seem to think. Marauding forward and in defensive situations where pace and power is required to retrieve or shield the ball he ticks the boxes, however defensively in possession he's prone to lapses and often gets caught out. I really hope he stays, but if he does go I 'll understand. Often players need a new challenge to freshen them up and after 4 years at one club he may feel a change is needed to improve. If he does go he may in time regret it and wish he'd stayed at Newcastle with a team and fans who adore him. Exactly. Being caught out of position is his biggest weakness defensively imo. Goal against Fham a very good example of this. We should get some decent money for him, and he's on solid wages too. If Enrique's sale could eg. finance buying Hangeland and Van Aanholt, I would have sold him in an instant. Hangeland was class against City yesterday. He wins everything in the air, and also has good passing abilities, eg. he set up the goal with a nice longitudinal pass. He would complement Colo perfectly, handling the air duels, whilst Colo handles the balls that drops behind the defense. Hangeland and Colo together would tighten up the defense in a greater degree than the loss of Enrique's abilities man against man i would believe.

Carr was shit, but remember that Bobby was sacked just after his arrival. Carr then had to play under some of the most incompetent managers on this planet. No wonder it affected his mood. From Bobby to Souness. From Legend to Incompetence Personified, what a transition.

4 years of quality service? I think he had some weaknesses the two first seasons. This is his 4th year, and it's first now he's playing well in PL. He's a good player, defensively in particular, but he will not be as hard replacing him compared to Colo, Tiote or Barton. Both Colo and Tiote are very skilled with the ball, which is unique when considering the position they play. Replacing his offensive play will not represent a challenge imo. He's too ineffective in good positions, compared to eg. Baines. The challenge is to bring in a player that's is as good in defense. Although, we got to remember that he got one of the best defensive supports in PL through Jonas. I remember that Enrique had a couple of weak matches in the Championship when Jonas was injured..

Good move imo too. They wouldn't have done this without Ireland and Gosling being very close to starting. And probably, the injury on Barton is not as scare as first feared. Guthrie needs playing time. If he performs well, that will also increase his price too, as already mentioned.

Tiote was class agains Bolton. He had a dip in the second half, but that was after the red card and Best and Loven started to feel tired. And Nolan is not particular helpful either. Iow he could not find one single passing alternative. But he was back to him old self after the substitutions..Then we had movement again

Well, we'll take the 6th place then. Will irritate the hell out of me if we now secure the 7th spot. But on the other hand, this is the first trophy for Bham for over 40 years. They will celebrate as if they won CL and for the supporters this will stand for many many years. For the likes of arse, shitty etc, the Carling cup is forgotten the next season, or the next day. It's good to see the smaller teams winning something too,,

It's because there are parallels to be found. Everyone acknowledges that the levels of skill etc. are completely different though. Exactly, just because I'm not professional doesn't mean that I cannot pass or shoot with the wrong foot. "Oh my god, I'm only an amateur, thus I must not shoot with my lefty." I actually trained that foot when I was young, didn't have any professional career in my mind when I did so either..

That quote from Pardew really says why he's unique as a DM and so invaluable for the club.

Agreed. He should have been more cynical. Bolton is all about being aggressive around the opponent's box, winning the ball back , crossing it back in. But they're suffering much more when playing against an established defense. Williamson was down, and for that reason alone, Colo should have booted the ball away. So, both Colo and Tiote are somewhat to blame for that goal. But again, it was very weak of Harper not grabbing that shot. I was astonished when I saw the ball in the back of the net. Sturridge had almost no space to finish.

They'll do well against the better teams. Nah, the bubble has burst for them. They've got Carroll to comeback and form a partnership with Suarez, it could be lethal. Their players are conditioned to respond to big games, and will step up their efforts, pressure is still off them, underrating them is dangerous IMO. Hope I'm wrong, and you are right, but I doubt it. You're completely wrong First of all, Suarez did not score much against the better teams in Holland, and Lpool is up against difficult opponents soon. Second, Carroll's injury is uncertain. He can run, but he cannot kick a ball. Third, Carroll is dependent on solid wing play to score goals or to assist. Barton was behind almost every assist Carroll had and most of the goals Carroll scored. This is the Morientes episode in rerun: Morientes' performence for Monacco in CL, could be ascribed to him being served by two of very good wide men. But Lpool had no wing play when they bought him, and he failed, as I predicted. Unless Lpool move Gerrard to rm, I cannot see who's able to serve Carroll those crossers he needs.

They'll do well against the better teams. Not a chance in hell. Their revelation came as a result of a couple of lucky results, or because they met teams that suited their physical play (stoke and wolfes). And they were up against a Chelsea completely out of form. If you don't move, you're never going to win against Lpool, and that's the trap Chelsea went into. Meireles was injured today, who is going to score their goals now?

He's now in the right club. He's in a solid player group and is already adored by the fans who's willing to give him time. That's the TLC he needs to blossom, imo.

Now, King Kenny is appearing, as we know him..1 point against two relegation candidates. And the best thing, they got a seriously difficult schedule left.

I'm genuinely mystified that you're using your own personal experience on a football pitch to make a judgement or comment about a professional football player. Unless, of course, you are a professional football player. It got nothing to do with me being a professional football player at all, which I'm not. It has about the advantage of being able to finish with both feet. Consequently, you don't have to "think" , you just finish with the foot that's natural for that situation. " Is the ball on my left side, fine I'll finish with my left, no need switching over. " Steggy, being two footed, you could probably confirm this too?

Still risky business from Colo. He saw that a player was closing Tiote down. And Williamson was injured. In such situations, it's much better to get the ball away, so we can reestablish the defense. But anyways, the shot should have been saved by Harper. It was a huge mistake by him.

Woodgate always looked a better centreback than Rio imo when they played together. The key with Woodgate was injuries - he started getting them at Leeds, and it only get worse with us. That, and Leeds' reluctance to sell him at the time (he was their "crown jewel", so they let Rio go thinking they'd build around the better defender) are the primary reasons as to why Rio moved on to a top CL club and Woodgate stayed (plus the offer from ManU was too good to turn down). He only came to us a few years later when Leeds' financial position became dire and Woodgate had struggled with injuries. £9m was a heavily reduced fee, one of the few times we managed to hold another club to ransom. On a side note, ManU paid a premium for Rio too because of the almighty wankathon that followed his performances in the 2002 World Cup, where he did brilliant things like closing a Nigerian striker down who he had let go in the first place - that wankathon was prior to getting raped by the Brazilians of course. Not that it was a bad deal for them, but certainly Rio improved with ManU and turned out to be good value because of his fitness and consistency on top of being a very good centreback. And it needs to be remembered that Real Madrid, a bigger and more prestigious club than ManU, signed Woodgate for more than what we paid, despite his constant/persistent injuries with us. If he wasn't a phenomenally good centreback, why did they do that, especially when they had signed Walter Samuel at the same time (one of the best centrebacks in the world prior to flopping there)? Dodgey handshakes and brown envelopes is the only explanation that would make any form of sense, and that would just be clutching at straws to avoid acknowledging how good Woodgate was for us.

Not that I've seen Suarez that much,except the WC-matches. But I read a comment about him at Teamtalk that from our perspective is promising. It was from an Ajax fan. He wrote that Suarez scoring ratio was due to one thing: He scored a shitload of goals against the weaker team (Berbatov). But on the other hand, he scores none when playing the best teams. That's promising for us, since PL probably on average is better than the Dutch League. Also, I don't think Suarez har the physique or the speed to handle PL, ref Kezman.

Coloccini gets very little blame as he made a perfectly good pass to Tiote who then tried to get the ball to Enrique but it got nowhere near him and went straight to Elmander. The pass was stupid because it put Tiote under immense pressure. Like it or not, it was not a very good idea. Exactly!

Shut up Chelsea are not going sell both of there back up leftbacks are they. I know.. But I really want Aanholt if Enrique is sold. You ruined that for me..

Wrong. He is a natural lefty, but is capable of hitting it well with right as well. A natural right footed player wouldn't make the 3 against West Ham the way he did with his left if he was a righty. Specially the last one... FFS! He's right footed. He ushers the ball with his right foot. The big advantage with being two footed, is that you're able to shoot early, regardless of which foot the ball lands on. Thus you save time and avoid being closed down. IE if the ball lands on Best's left foot, he shoots with his left, and if the ball lands on his right, he shoots with that one. Van Persie on the other hand has to switch the ball over to his favorable left foot if it lands on his right. And that's precisely why Best finished all goals against WH with his left. In all three situations, the ball landed on his left, and that's why he finished with that foot. At least one of those goals could have been saved if he had switched over to his right. I actually speak of experience. The only strength I have on the pitch is that I'm two footed. In other words, to avoid being closed down, I shoot with the foot the ball lands on..

Shut up

I would take Brunt in a heartbeat. Look at his assists ratio. His free and corner kicks are lethal.

Bloody hope we do go for him, and that Tiote's convinced him to come. Haven't you learned anything yet? Tiote doesn't need to convince, he commands! Gervinhio suits us perfectly. Works hard, and is hard. Two important factors if one wants to succeed in PL. And we should go for Aanholt instead of Gibbs. Aanholt will never play as long as Chelsea have Cole. And we should be able to get him on the cheap.