Straggler

I'd leave him behind. Nothing to do with success or failure in this tournament, I would just treat him like the child he is. If he can't behave then he is not alowed to play with his freinds. Maybe in two years time he will come back a little older and a little wiser. If he is constantly pandered to and able to walk back into the squad as "the big man" he has no insentive to change. He is basically spoilt and needs a little discipline. I would rather watch a team with a strong team ethic playing for each other and the country rather than a bunch of rocket polishers playing for the next big sponsorship deal. Sadly though we would probably replace Rooney with another of the rocket polishers as there aren't many good guys out there right now. Then again I can't wait for the football bubble to burst so we can have our game back, local lads playing for the local team and the England shirt is an honor you bleed for rather than an asset for you to bleed so I'm a bit biased against the modern game as a whole.

If all the money spent on QE was instead distributed to the population, we'd all have had over 4 grand. Which is going to improve the economy more? Relying on banks to trickle down the money all the way to the bottom, or giving everyone 4k to blow on whatever they want? I'm thinking the 4k would myself, rather than relying on the people that created the problem to solve it. Probably a fair bit more than 4K. they are not going to give any money to the kids so anyone under the age of 16 can be counted out. You also have to be able to track who the money is going to, so you will need to be one or more of the following Tax payer On the electoral register Claiming benefits OAP A real finger in the air figure / complete guess is that about 35 - 40 million would actually get the cash. Split 75 Billion 35 million ways and you have more 0's than my calculator can handle, but we all get a nice wedge and are told to go out and spend. As a good patriot I will happily employ the local plumber / builder / plasterer / kitchen fitter and get a new kitchen in. I will then employ a firm from Germany to come in and put all the stuff in correctly

Taking Oxford united through to be Champions League winners in FIFA 11 at Legendary level. Not long after my virtual pro retired leaving me as just manager rather than player manager. Lost interest then, but still proud. I recently dug up my first diamond at minecraft. I was happy way beyond the scale of the achievment.

Can I claim the Sept manager of the month award now please? 202 points in the month.

City might have all the money in the world, but I do wonder what selling Tevez would do to their "Financial fair play" stats? Whilst sacking Tevez will save them a huge wedge in wages, not being able to sell him will leave a £30-40 million hole in the income column that could have been used on buying new players without using debt. They may well have to up bid to sponsor their own stadium again to cover this.

About Gabby, did you see the very good post about the injuries he was carrying last season? I was also critical of him last season, but having read what he was playing through I am prepared to let it go. Seeing him playing like he did yesterday really brought it home that there is a good player in there and the reasons for his poor performance last season are valid. I disagree totally about Delph being too slight for the mid. Granted he is physically small, but he plays like a much bigger player. His aggression, energy, speed and enthusiasm for getting the ball back more than makes up for what he lacks in bulk. We have a much better chance this season with him fit and playing. About Robinson I thought much the same thing at the game. The first goal was a tough one to keep out, but I thought Emile rather scuffed his shot and was surprised that Robinson didn't keep it out. Bent struck his shot well, but it was chest height and almost straight at him. Again a better keeper would have got something on it, I'm just glad Robinson is not a better keeper.

I just got back from the game. Delph was my man of the match. Petrov had a very good first half and would have been motm if he could have continued it through the second half. Gabby was very good until injured and yes that was a penalty. How Robinson got a free kick for jumping on Gabby's back and dragging him to the ground I will never know. Zoggy looked like a decent replacement for Young, we will get goals with him on the team. Now I know Emile got a goal today, but I can't help how my heart sinks when I see him in the starting line up. We played our best football of the game when Emile came off and Bannan came on. I think Zoggy preferred playing with Bannan in the team too as there was another passer and mover in the team. The ref was shit and I would be spitting feathers if we had lost today. Dunn (the fat scummy Blackburn one that for me makes Barton look like a decent chap) must have got three warnings for his constant fouling and was not the only BBR player that got a stern talking too and let off. Then Heskie, Delph and Petrov all get bookings for their first foul of the day. To be fair I think the Heskie booking was fair enough, but the other two were no worse than the many Dunn got away with. It was like there was a limited number of verbal warnings to be given out in the game and Blackburn used them all up. (never mind the penalty). Warnock looked pretty good today, I was not so sure about Young though. Dunn may have lost some weight? he certainly looked a little more mobile. Collins sadly is still under the impression he is Alonso with the many ill considered and poorly executed 60/70 yard passes. Overall today was ok. Blackburn are rubbish (proper relegation standard rubbish) so I'm not getting carried away by beating them, but you can only beat what is in-front of you and we did comfortably. There were times when we had Gabby, Charles, Bent and Emile all watching our defense getting over run, however it was seldom and we in the main looked fairly well organized. We will have sterner tests and we will be better placed to judge in a month or so. The big concern though was the injuries. We have a well documented thin squad. Any long term absence will be tough on us, I hope the ones we picked up today are not significant. For the future I would like to see Emile on the bench and Bannan in the starting line up. This team can play football if given a chance, I just hope our manager has the balls to play football with Bannan rather than pinball with Emile.

I was going to vote for general apathy, but I can't be bothered.

Son the Zog is off and we need to sub Petrov, Emile, and Gabby? This was a poor team when it got sent out and is still a poor team. Heskie was not good enough for us last year, but is starting now. Our lack of activity in the transfer market was disappointing, the team is doing exactly what I expected.

My point exactly...Its a line up to shut up shop and close down Fulham's play, rather than a line up to take the game to Fulham. Heskey is in there because he closes down the play and grafts for the ball. Where's the brains in midfield to orchestrate attacking play? And where's the crosses from wide areas coming from to support Bent ? I don't see how this team will shut up shop though, which also concerns me. We won't win the ball until it reaches our back 4, so will probably be defending a lot on our 18 yard box and conceding lots of possession as we whack the ball out of defense. I don't see how this team can possibly go out there to draw the game 0-0, but I don't see how we will keep the ball long enough to score a goal. It looks to me like we will knock it long out wide to Emile hope to hell he can give it to Charles and he can feed Bent or Gabby. Our middle two of Petrov and Delph are going to look horrible as they get passed around, Petrov unable to get anywhere near the ball and Delph getting there just late enough to catch the man and get booked. I hope to god this doesn't happen but I can already feel my frustration build as we keep loosing the ball from poor passing and a lack of decent movement.

I don't like that team one little bit. If that is our best team I am very worried for the season ahead. There are only 3 people in that team who can pass with any consistency

It isn't a remake,but I want Buck Rodgers the movie

Why are the controllers attached to the console? Are Mark and Darren likely to be nicking them?

Sounds like a wonderful player let's sign up that NRC chap too.

A really nice analysis. Not being able to bring through the youth players is really frustrating.

I like the look of Makoun so far. Comfortable on the ball and able to do in one or two touches what much of the rest of the team do in three or four. I hope we move further towards this sort of player so we are able to retain the ball a little bit better.

And yet we won the game. If we'd lost you could criticise him for the substitution but as it is it was the right decision. You have absolutely no grounds to say it was the wrong thing to do when the decision is vindicated. I'm guessing you weren't there by your location. I think 90% of the ground was shocked when he bought NRC because: 1. He was the glue that was holding our CM together and had performed really well up until he was taken off - my MOTM alongside DJ. 2. It was absolutely the wrong thing to do when we were 1-0 up and it left us with only one real CM'er. Just because he got away with it doesn't make it a good decision. I hadn't noticed Raul Merieles until NRC went off and then, for the last 20 minutes, he was the dominant player with so much time and space. We only managed to hold on, IMO, because Liverpool were poor and could not take advantage. Yep totally agree with that. Where I was there was one hell of a lot of dissent about that decision. It could easily have cost us as the structure of the team pretty much fell to bits at that point and a largely ineffective Liverpool team started looking dangerous. I don't want Gary Mac anywhere near the dugout next season on the basis of decisions like this.

It's because we are not a team anymore. These players simply don't play for each other. It has been a real shame to see the fighting spirit just melt away this season.

Well that was a bit shit

So static. So very very static. I've seen cricket teams with better movement than we have.

The Wire wins it for me. Written by people with something to say and the skill to deliver it. I've not seen TV or a movie since that has had the same impact.

I forgot to mention Beye. I thought he did very well, not our outstanding performer, but against a very tough team and having to deal with Cole, Malouda and Zhirkov over the 90 mins he held up very well. He did get beaten a couple of times, but this is not bad as we did not really look vunerable down either flank. This is also a bit down to Downing which is why I had him as MOTM.

Funny game this one. Our outstanding performances were from the ones that I least expected. Downing was my man of the match, he put a proper shift in today and we were all the better for it. Honorable mention to Warnock who was close to Downing for the MOTM award. I was impressed by the way he pushed our defence up the pitch making several tackles and interceptions whilst stood further up the pitch than Petrov. Collins was really solid again, in this form he would be worth a place in almost any defence in the Prem. NRC impressed me today, I'm not his biggest fan, but if he plays like that week in week out, he will change my opinion of him. A shame about the finishing, but I can forgive him that as in this instance the rest of his game made up for it. It may be that he is now getting enough games to look like a real player again. Petrov was brilliant first half, not so in the second. Admittedly Chelsea came out with a real energy and purpose in the second half and it would be hard for anyone to deal with, however I don't like that Petrov drops back into the defence. Warnock showed that we could continue to press higher up the pitch by consistently making tackles infront of Petrov. Dropping backwards hands the initiative to the opposition and believe that if it was not for the rest of the team stepping up to the plate it would have been a much more backs to the wall second half than we experienced. Carew seemed to be struggling, not the player that he was last year, however he was did better than Fonz when he came on. Young had decent energy today and contributed to the overall defensive performance, although he didn't have quite the impact going forward that I would hope from him. This is not too much of a critisism as he was well worth his place, it is more that he has done so much so well that expectations are higher for him. Ireland looks like he is ready to pick a team apart, we just need to find him a little better. I think we are struggling to make the best of him as he is often making a run that will take a very good / high risk pass to find him, and he seems to be looking for runs that others are not making yet. I fancy that given some time to gell with the team he will get more and more effective, however today he was a bit of a luxury.

I just had a think about this. I earn just enough to have this benefit taken away from me. Not much more than the limit, but a bit and I always did think it a little strange that I would get child benefit. Now here is the rub, I knew as soon as the crunch hit exactly who would have to pay all this debt back. It is me and people like me. The bankers are all rolling in cash again as the very rich do (and will find creative ways with expensive accountants to avoid paying their share). The poor by definition can't pay so it is middle income Britain again who like me has a mortgage that gets paid, saves money, has a pension and behaves in a sensible, resonsible way and was in no way at fault that gets it in the neck financially. I'm not arguing that I should not have to play my part, but I am very frustrated. The various changes in taxation and benefits are costing my family around 4 to 5 grand a year. We will get by, but it does hurt. I work very hard and earn that money, however my income is going backwards rapidly in real terms. Equally the insentive to earn more is slipping away, again with the changes I have to earn another £10k (less than £5k after tax and NI etc) from my employer to stand still. Do you have any idea how hard I have to work to earn an extra £10k? It is pretty bloody hard and employers are trying pretty hard to keep costs down themselves. I'm inclined to say that this will not happen. So the question is "what do I want?". I can't help but pay as I believe in a society that helps the weak and protects the vunerable and I am in a position to do my bit. What I want is: To know that the steps have been put in place to make sure this never happens again (not the bollocks rhetoric but the clear and defined laws). To know who's head is on the block if it does go wrong again so I know where to turn up with the angry mob, torches and pitch forks. To know who was responsible for the last crunch and to have them held accountable. These contemptuos **** have brought down most of the worlds economies and had the rest of us clean up the mess with as far as I can tell little more than one or two getting a bit of an uncomfortable questionsing in public. They have reached into the pockets of every hard working person in this and many other countries and stolen the money to pay for their gambling debt. And I want the lot of them, not just the bankers, but the politicians who let Britain burn whilst they fiddled (and not the nice musical way either). I want their Ferraris' I want their houses, and I want them in the dock not just facing an uncomfortable question, but an uncomfortably long time in a cell with their minimum wage job contributing to the mountain (funny that the word mountain seems insufficient here) of debt. Then when we have worked our way of debt and we sell our publicly held banks back into the private sector I want them to get a fair price for them. We the public want our money back from the investment that we have made and I for one am watching this one as closely as if I had chosen to invest the money myself. The problem for me is I believe all polititians of any party once in power become self serving rocket polishers, with principles and truth ejected at the first whiff of the No 10 leather seats. The bankers..... well they seem to revel in the self serving wankerdom world in which they live and it is these toss stained rags that will be making the decisions that the rest of us will have to live with. Screw the individual policies, we all have to pay and we have very little choice about it, let us devote our energies to the witch hunt and make the bastards who have us wittering over the +'s and -'s of the next shitty policy desined to fleece us of a little more cash feel the pain they are putting the rest of us through. As you may have gathered, I have some closure issues with the credit crunch that I probably should deal with.

There you go, for all the Petrov doubters, take him off and we score. If only we had known this before, we could have won the league last season.