Cizzler

Wilshere. Before Wilshere suffered his injury setback he was producing incredible performances for a 19 year old - including running the midfield at the Nou Camp against Xavi and Iniesta. Delph took absolutely ages for his form to recover after his own injury problems. It is only really in the last few months that he has started to perform at a good level. I remember listening to an interview with him on AVTV where he described how hard his recovery was and that, among other things, he was only just turning with the ball as well as he had done previously. Wilshere is in a comparable period of trying to recover his pre-injury form. It's just fashionable to hate Wilshere cos he's the media's golden boy and a bit of a nob on the pitch, but, personally, I hope he has an injury free season and finds his form again. I like watching exciting players play.

We'll have had only 48 hours between the end of our last game and the start of this one which is not enough recovery time and really heightens the chance of injury, for these reasons I'd be amazed if he plays someone like Dembele. Also, Defoe's injured. Apart from that I think that's probably the team. Ah, didn't know Defoe was injured. I guess it will probably be Kane then as AVB surely won't risk Soldado. That's good news for us. I saw Kane play a few times for Leicester last year and, to put it nicely, I don't think he'll cut it at Spurs. Dembele's form seemed to dip at the end of last season. This season, I've only really seen your game against Arsenal where he was probably your worst player, but I assumed he'd play as AVB will surely want to rest Paulinho - and with Capoue's injury and Carroll being loaned out, you don't have too many centre mids who are going to sit behind the likes of Eriksen, Sigurdsson, etc. I think we'll lose. It's a real shame we don't have Benteke, Gabby and Westwood as our first choice team would have been heavy favourites to be beat Tottenham's reserves. Zeki Fryers is a real weak link at left back - would have loved to see Gabby have a run at him.

-------------------Steer------------------- Bacuna-----Vlaar---Baker-----Bennet ----------------KEA----Sylla-------------- -------------------Tonev------------------- Weimann--------Kozak---------Helenius A shame we have been so depleted by injury! They played on Thursday and Sunday. I imagine we'll see a similar team from them that beat Tromso. Something like: -------------------Freidel------------------- Naughton---Chiriches---Kaboul---Fryers ------------Sandro----Dembele--------- -------------------Holtby------------------- Sigurdsson-----Defoe---------Lamela

First off, I'll repeat myself - I think Guzan is a great keeper, I just don't think he is beyond reproach like some here are claiming. Also, just because I offhandedly referred to a couple of mistakes he made towards the end of last season does not make these his only two mistakes all season. Nor the only type of mistake he made. It was merely a response to the poster who could not recall a single mistake he had made. He is human. His poor decision-making at times proved that. I am sure you are only too aware we let in 69 goals last season. Worse than QPR. Worse than any club that stayed in the division. Surely, it is difficult to claim we have the best keeper in the league when we conceded such a ridiculous amount. I am not saying all these goals are Brad's fault - he was tragically our MOM when we got spanked 8-0 at Chelsea - however, it's a phenomenal amount of goals and in my opinion Cech or Lloris would have done better. Guzan looks to have continued his good form into this season and I'm delighted at that. I just think some on here are all too quick to become caught up in our own player's form/ relative success. The Matty Lowton thread was littered with comments that he should be in the England squad, some even said he should be first choice for his country - but after a below average start to his season, he's not even starting for us. For the record, I really like Lowton - he's just an example. All I am doing is attempting to reign the hyperbole.

I'm going to have to call you out on this one. In my opinion, Guzan is better than De Gea, Cech and Hart. I can't say for Lloris cos I haven't really seen him. And I would say that Mignolet is probably the best keeper in the league. I don't think this is being bias or unrealistic either. When does Guzan ever make mistakes??? And with a defence like the one he has to put up with it's a wonder he has done so well. I think he is a fantastic keeper but he does make mistakes. I remember when he needlessly flew out of his goal against Norwich (A) last season and was beaten to the ball to give them an open goal - luckily they missed. He did something similar in the 6-1 against Sunderland too, if I remember right. I think mikeyp was fair. For me, he's behind Lloris and Cech definitely. De Gea improved a lot last year and is probably a better prospect than Guzan - not sure I'd swap them on present form, though. Hart seemed to regress last season - perhaps he is no longer with the elite. In my opinion, Guzan is amongst the next tier with Begovic and Mignolet. A masterstroke by Lambert to, not only re-sign him, but to drop Given amidst overwhelming pressure too.

Did Teddy Sheringham ever play with his son Charlie? I think they were at Colchester together at one point. EDIT: Nope. Charlie never even played for Colchester. I think this article is how I got confused - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2316397/Sheringham-ready-to-face-son.html

Clark impressed me - slotting into the back four in difficult circumstances and defending well. KEA also. He really harassed the Arsenal midfield and made sure we didn't miss Sylla. Fantastic effort. Guzan made a couple of great saves, also. On the other hand, Weimann looked poor. However he did play a couple of key passes towards the end... And Vlaar looked a bit suspect on occasion. Anyway, what a fantastic start to the new season! Such a difference from West Ham away last year. I reckon the team is really starting to reflect our manager's vision.

Teams within the tiers pretty interchangeable. 1. Chelsea 2. Man City 3. Man Utd 4. Arsenal 5. Spurs 6. Liverpool 7. Everton 8. AVFC 9. Swansea 10. West Ham 11. Southampton 12. Norwich 13. West Brom 14. Newcastle 15. Sunderland 16. Fulham 17. Cardiff 18. Hull 19. Stoke 20. Crystal Palace

Utter nonsense. With this logic, he'd always get beaten on his outside when he plays on the right? He can tackle with his "unnatural tackling foot". He got beaten by a skillful player who was having a good game. He played on the left for Feyenoord and if he has to play there for us, I'm sure he'll be fine. Did we have this conversation when we had Laursen, Mellberg, Dunne, Collins, Knight, Davies, Cahill or Cuellar at the back? I don't remember it. It's because they are all right-footed and we happen to currently have two left-footed centre backs. Let's all panic when Westwood, Sylla and KEA play centre mid together. Whoever plays on the left-side won't be able to tackle properly.

Funny that the better players tend to be at the better clubs, isn't it Can't believe the amount of people so enthusiastic to slate our country's young players. 'Wilshere's shit. Cleverley's shit...' Yawn. They wouldn't get into Spain or even Belgium's side but that doesn't condone the abuse they are getting. It's ridiculous. It's hardly like they are preventing an array of talent from playing either. People lambasting Welbeck... Why shouldn't he be playing? I can't name four better English strikers than him. Rooney? Sturridge? Whoever Hodgson picks after these two will draw criticism. Whether its Carroll, Welbeck, Defoe or even Agbonlahor. It's much of a muchness really. Are any of them that good? Seeing Lambert score was a nice moment but ultimately he's 31 and very average. Apart from scoring from a corner he shinned one onto the post and hit a one-on-one straight at the 'keeper. He shouldn't go to Brazil (if we do manage to qualify). It's a shame, really. I'm not lecturing anyone. I guess it's just a reflection on how distant we as a nation feel from our footballers. Joe Hart is one of the world's best young goalkeepers but he makes a mistake and he's "shit" and people clamour to prove they've "been saying that for years" and never rated him. I'll remain in the minority and actually be excited by some of the young players we have. We're not going to win a major tournament. But the current players shouldn't be ridiculued just because they're the best players of the weakest generation we've had for a while. Besides, is this team really that bad? Hart Walker, Jones, Smalling, Luke Shaw Barkley Ravel Morrison, Wilshere Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sturridge Rooney Subs: Forster, Caulker, Gibbs, Rodwell, Cleverley, Will Hughes, Sterling, Zaha, Berahino, Welbeck

I didn't see Lambert dive tonight? If you're referring to the game Southampton beat us 1-0, it was Rodrigues who dived. Reading through the thread was just depressing. So much vitriol for young players like Welbeck, Cleverly and Wilshere. Not obnoxious people, just the best prospects this country currently has.

Fulham close to a signing apparently. Can only hope it's Darren.

Do you know why Karl Darlow was released from our academy, Andy? (or anyone that has been following them for a while!) Obviously a talented lad, as he now first choice for Forest at the age of 22.

"Tried to order some tickets for Hull City Tigers' first home game in the Premier League and got through to their operator. 'We've sold out' he said. I said 'I know, but I'd still like some tickets please'..."

What position does 'Mate' play? I've never heard of him. Defensive midfielder Mate Simao Jr.

Petrov was diagnosed after 30 games. We were 15th with 33 points. We ultimately finished 16th with 38 points (after 5 more draws). It's so disappointing to hear Petrov's illness as any justification for the results of that season. The football was consistently utterly depressing and I don't believe injuries, or Petrov's illness, affected how painful and unimaginative McCleish actually was.

From the fan's forum - Lambert on Petrov: "When I first heard it was devastating, I think there has to come a point when the 19th minute applause stops." It's been great, but it needs to stop now. He's in remission. He now works at the club. Let's look forward, not back.

Pathetic and obvious trolling. Yawwwn. They could easily go down this year, they have a terrible team.

Used to enjoy this show too. I remember when they stuck one of the defenders (Tyson?) up front basically because he looked a little bit like Dider Drogba and consequently made the highlight editing far easier . Can unfortunately only find series 7 online also, sorry pal.

Maguire is a good young centre back, but I think he's too slow to improve our defence. On topic, another good performance and top assist from Matty today. I really enjoy watching him play.

Will Hughes was MOTM in Derby's game today. He's a very tidy player who plays in the position I think we are aiming to strengthen. I don't think we are in for him, but I wish we were.

Think that's being a little harsh, OBE. He did miss a good chance today but, going on the youtube videos and what the AAB fans said, finishing is one of his best attributes.

Lowton and Benteke the stand out performers. Weimann has looked good too. Tonev guilty of overdoing it and a bit of rustiness. Trying a bit too hard to impress. Luna looks excellent on the ball and errr.. interesting off it. Worried about the space in behind him.

Tottenham use that bam-a-lam tune to chant about Dembele. They sing 'Ohhhh Dembele. He's a yid'. I think the current Benteke song is so easy/ popular it will be difficult to change.