chips'ngravy

Dunne you ****.....just cost me fanatsy points as well!

How many times has Gabby hit the man in front of him from wide right now? Hehe....Heskey first touch....gets a foul.

Collins is head and shoulders above anyone else in this game again.

This is dreadful. Surely we have some options to change it. WTF has happened to 'genius' Young?

Midfield can't get hold of it and Carew doesn't fancy it.

I agree! IMO our performances have not been top4 or Champions League class. And I think Big Ron's style of play was fantastic! And I too hope you have to eat a huge lump of humble pie at some stage - although I'll be eating the same pie myself. But I'm still voting for MON to stay! I want to see if MON is right, I want to see how far he can take us. I want to see if it still can be done by Ron Saunders's style. Because I don't think we'll ever be spending the same amount of money on one single player than those big4 clubs, and pay huge wages. I believe MON and RL have the same vision. Instead of big star players, buy youth and hidden talent. But I don't think our recent signings are that great. They haven't shown me anything special yet. And I won't be fooled by a couple of goals scored by CBs. I need more evidence on their quality. (Further pie eating?) True enough we played the best football I've ever seen under Big Ron, but it didn't last very long as he remained overly faithful to ageing squad, refusing to blood youngsters. 15 years on the game has chnaged dramatically and the onus has shifted so much to power and pace in a way that wasn't present in those days. Now it is essential for a team to have these attributes just to compete.

Came on here expecting to find the stay voters castigating those who wanted him out. Can't believe people are genuinely still debating this! MON is not perfect and will continue to make mistakes. I've found him incredibly frustrating at times and although I voted stay I was beginning to wonder about him after the Wigan game. I'll gladly hold my hand up and apologise for ever having doubted him. After having witnessed recent performances it's fair to stay he knows a damn sight more than us lot put together. We are now beating the top four, something we were incapable of doing for a long time. On a personal level I've started to feel excited again about how we are playing, which after losing Barry and Laursen I didn't think was likely this season. I think it's unquestionable that we have progressed as a team and a club under the guidance of MON and I see no reason why that will not continue. On a side note, I couldn't be happier that we are out of Europe. I think it will be of tremendous benefit to us in our attempt to crack the top four.

I'd agree with the above. We looked solid throughout but will not threaten the top four if we are unable/unwilling to take the game to the opposition, especially when playing at home. The main problem once again was the lack of creative sparkin the middle. They'll be a lot of pressure on Downing to fill that void when he finally gets back to fitness.

I'm deadly serious, whilst the likes of Gerrard and Lampard may be considered as world class and are extremely good attacking midfielders there are few that do the same kind of job as Barry in taking responsibility in possession in a very important part of the pitch, which explains his place in the England side. His distribution and selfless play are but two of his qualities. I don't wish to labour a point, but I'd be interested to know who you think, of his style, is as good let alone better than Barry in the Premiership at the moment.

General, Whilst Barry may not be irreplaceable there are very few of his ilk in the Premiership, if any, as good as him. I think this is born out by the fact that he has become an integral part of England's midfield in the last couple of seasons. So, is he irreplaceable? Well it's a moot point. Have we replaced him? Definitely not. I think it's the latter question that most fans are more concerned about.

Great result, not so impressive performance. It was difficult to watch at times it was so dull. The biggest and most worrying problem for me is our midfield three. Whilst they do their job in shielding the defence more than adequately they offer very little going forward. Time again the ball went sideways or backwards as we laboured to build attacks. Of the three I'd probably replace Petrov as at least Sidwell offers a goal threat and NRC breaks up play. We need someone with the ability and confidence to make penetrating forward passes. Desperately missing Barry. He was the hub of the team today at Pompey.

Gerry Francis is about as relevant as his haircut.

The world player of the year is from the season before. Ronaldo scored in the final of the champions league and scored a rediculous number of goals for Man U last season. No problem with him winning it. Messi will get the next one though. Messi has been fantastic, but I think Xavi could pip him. He and Inesta are so important to Barça and Spain. I particularly enjoyed seeing Ronaldo losing his rag at the end. He should have been booked twice and Scholes deserved a straight red for his 'tackle'.

Typical Manc arrogance. So just because Man Utd couldn't do then no-one can. Can't wait till Barça do it again this time next year in Madrid.

So glad Barça won. They totally outclassed United. Loved seeing the Mancs minus their usual smug looks on their faces. They've ridden their luck a lot this season with far too many jammy 1-0 wins to be lauded as thoroughly deserving of winning the league for the money they've spent. Barça have won their Triplete with style on all fronts, completely battering the opposition around them and using a lot of home grown players: Xavi, Inesta, Messi, Valdes, Puyol, Piqué, Busquets, Pedro, Bojan.

Definitely a sitter. Wasn't aware standing was done by choice. My only experience of this has been when confronted with the old hole in the ground across the channel. Depending on the consistency of the faeces I'll dive straight in there with a kind of pincer movement creating a bit of a cone with the bog roll or I'll go for the flat paper dabbing approach, which in cricketing terms would require 'soft hands' to clear up the radial area of the anus of any backsplash residue. I've had a go on the Teutonic shelf and am not a fan. I like to take my time when dropping the kids off at the pool, but you don't linger when your turd lies there undiluted. I suppose it's efficient though.

That's a blinder. Love the ratty tache. Bet you fooled a few bouncers with that resting on your top lip. :winkold:

I agree that we'd all be overjoyed if Villa had gone and done the same but I think you're missing the point of how Chelsea have become one of the big players and where Villa currently lie. To have spent the kind of cash Chelsea have in acquiring some of the best players in the world and then play like a glorified Wimbledon is nothing to be proud of.

It seems that the public want what the public get as far as Arsenal's support is concerned. They were in perfect harmony with the lifeless performance of the players out on the pitch. They were shocking tonight, totally failing to get behind their team when they most needed them. Culminating in a mass walk out just after the hour as United's 3rd went in. They've been on a tremendous unbeaten run in the league since November as we are all so acutely aware and have done very well to reach the semis of the CL given their injury problems. Decent supporters would have accepted that they came up against a far stronger team both physically and financially than them and showed their appreciation for the job Wenger has done. Instead they turned their backs. Very poor indeed.

Agree. Getting tired of seeing these type of pointless threads. Surely there is a higher ground upon which we can debate.

I agree. I think we're all pretty pissed off at our slide at the moment, but this kind of stuff is rather pathetic.

UB40? :winkold:

I went to that too. I was only 15 at the time and remember the queue turning into a scary crush as everyone edged their way towards the doors even though they hadn't been opened. It was that bad that I nearly bailed out at one point after having already spent 6 hours waiting. Got in in the end and agree that it was definitely worth it.

I'm a big fan of Ian Banks too. Crow Road, Complicity very good but my favourite was probably Dead Air - thrilling story and very witty to boot.

Given the fact that it is nearly the end of July and that effectively we have only signed one player for the coming season does anyone think that there maybe some truth in what Barry said about MON not exactly moving heaven and earth to make him stay?