millbrook85

*ahem* Might I be so bold as to suggest "Fabian Delph" sung to the tune of the 1970's power ballad "All by Myself"?

Adding to that, while this doesn't exactly set any pulses racing, at least Holt has been successful playing for Lambert (even in the Premier League) in the past. If he can rediscover that form in a comfortable situation, he'll end up being useful. In fact, I'd offer up this signing as a metaphor for our current season (though in a different way than many would, I accept): not exciting, but ultimately decent. I'd have taken a boring, mid-table finish at the beginning of this season, and while saying that in foresight is different from enjoying it in its materialization, that appears to me to be just what we're getting.

His weight in stones? Am I doing this right?

How more of y'all aren't talking about Norwich is a real surprise to me. Their final three fixtures are against us, West Brom, and Man City. If we beat them next weekend, I think it's extremely realistic to wonder if they will get another point, especially after seeing West Brom pound Southampton yesterday afternoon while Norwich lost to a really poor Stoke side. In my view, it's more likely that we will beat Norwich and draw with Sunderland than the other way around, and if we are in fact level (at least!) with them after next weekend, I'd back us to get more out of Chelsea and Wigan than they do out of West Brom and Man City. If we survive, I think we will have done so by getting enough to finish above Norwich, as well.

I don't think anyone is saying he did write it, we all know we have a PR team for this kind of thing. Says all the right things, but every letter/email to the fans does. Optamistic for the comming season and really looking forward to seeing where we are in a few years, but no more so after reading the email. On the contrary, I assume he did write it. It's not terribly well-written or grammatically clean. That being said, it's a nice letter without saying anything particularly revelatory. I agree with the poster above who said this is the best he's felt about the club since somewhere during MON's last year. Say what you will about O'Neill (many have, and it's not my intention to re-open the discussion here), but I always felt like he knew exactly what he was trying to do and had a real vision for the club. It didn't end up working quite how he or we would have hoped, but all the same, I felt comfortable with him in charge. I feel the same way with Lambert; I think he'll have a vision for where he wants to take the club and a real idea of how he wants to take us there. I, for one, am eagerly anticipating the start of what I hope (and, what is more, am actually confident) will be a long and successful PL tenure here. UTV.

I will miss him. I understand that we can't offer him a new contract right now since we don't know who the manager will be next season, and I understand that he will probably have quite a few offers to move on, particularly from mid-level Spanish clubs closer to home, but I wish we could keep him. I think he's every bit as good as Collins (the highs not quite as high, the lows not quite as low), and he also seems like a great guy at a time when, as another poster has already said, we seem to have a lot of assholes in the squad.

I thought he played very well last night. He worked hard and was involved in a lot of our threatening play. However, he was always just a bit off - a bit late for a crossed ball into the box, a bit too heavy on the touch, etc. - and I think it's all to do with the fact that he is sorely lacking in match fitness. He hasn't had a run of games (has he even played a full 90 in the last 12 months?) in two or three years now. I hope he continues to keep his head up and stays in the team, because he has talent, and we sorely need it at the moment.

double post.

Silly challenges often happen when your manager emphasises aggression and 'getting close' to the opposition every five minutes. Also when you're playing young, inexperienced players. I'm no great McLeish fan, but honestly, not everything is his fault. Honestly, we're well outplaying Arsenal at the moment, and I hope we get our goal before they can get a grip on the match.

I just have one of those feelings today. I think we'll outplay them and grab a deserved but nervy victory, 2-1. Gabby will tear Vidic to pieces as per his usual, and Bannan will have a hand in both goals.

We're football fans, so we want instant results; however, I think that given our current situation, we need to be keeping the faith with young players like Delph. We're far too good for relegation, but won't really be challenging for anything significant, so why not give our young players time and build for the future? I think he's still quite a promising young player. He has been a bit overwhelmed recently, but he has time and talent on his side.

I'd be disappointed to see him go because I rate him as a player. However, I also think that McLeish needs to be able to shape the team, so I won't be crushed if he goes because it means that McLeish will be able to bring in someone that he thinks fits our squad better. In my opinion, we should either use him or get rid of him and bring in someone we actually will use; either way suits me.

Excellent performance against a side who will do well to stay up this year, but if we play this well against all of the crap sides, we'll be comfortably top half. As Pilchard said, it's a credit to our determination and calm to have responded so well to the Blackburn goal, and I'm tempted to credit McLeish for that. He may not have been the choice of the fans, but he seems to have had a good effect on the team's spirit and mentality. I gave MOTM to Gabby for the brilliant first goal and for his role in our second. Even though he only played the first half, those two moments were enough for our win today. Delph also looked assured and promising, Petrov was steady, Collins won everything in the air, and N'Zogbia showed skill in bursts. I was also pleased with Bannan when he came on, and I would expect him to get the start mid-week against Hereford. Overall, there are lots of good things to take away from this match, and I hope we continue playing like this. If we do, we'll be in for a decent enough season, and there's potentially some excitement in store if our young players continue to come on. UTV!

Great play again from Gabby Heskey's goal to hold the ball up and pass to Heskey in acres of space. Very impressive attacking start from us!

Holy Shit GABBY AGBONLAHOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!