StanPetrovScreamer

Glad that Snachez will likely get his chance. The midfield craves variety.

Indeed, most of our midfielders are all too similar. Sanchez at least theoretically offers more defensively than the others. Push Cleverly further forward which will suit him more, allow Westwood to focus on moving the ball rather than trying to be a midfield destroyer (which is not his talent) and we might just look a lot better than we did against Everton.

The Keane effect was always overstated in my opinion. Far more significant being a back four strengthened by the re-integration of a reinvigorated Alan Hutton and the addition of Senderos and Cissokho. Even when we were getting results in the first few games we weren't dominating possession and having a lot of shots, we were just scoring from what little we had.

Keane's managerial record at Sunderland and Ipswich does not suggest a managerial or coaching genius. What he does bring to the party is a personality that differes from Lambert and a reputation of being both successful and a hard nut.

 

That is incorrect. At Wigan under Martinez he had some really good performances and not just near transfer windows.

 

Lambert's dire defensive set up sure isn't helping him.  Could be why along with Burnley we're the lowest scorers in the league.

 

In that Wigan team, he was something of a focal point for them. In particular in that run before we signed him where he helped to keep them up. For us, I suspect he won't be given such an important role and nor should he. As others have said, the problem is that we don't really have an alternative that can provide the same kind of creativity that N'Zogbia can (somewhat rarely). The nearest is Grealish and he's still a promising youngster who needs to be given a chance to prove himself.

I wonder if Grealish is being given a minimal amount of time as Lambert has veered from one extreme to the other with regard to young vs experienced players? Having spent two seasons circling the plughole with 'young and hungry' players we've now changed track with experience being our buzzword. N'Zogbia is experienced ergo he is better. A rather pavlovian response to two seasons of misery, but it would explain a lot.

Throughout his career, N'Zogbia has been consistently inconsistent and I don't foresee that changing. Grealish hasn't proven anything yet but he can't be any more anonymous than N'Zogbia on an off day. Give the boy a chance to prove something, even if it is only to put him on the bench and using him as a sub if N'Zogbia is having one of his frequent off days.

The issue I had with Far Cry 3 was very simple.

 

When you were left to your own devices and were hunting the wildlife and taking over enemy bases etc it was an absolute joy. As soon as you had to do anything to do with the tiresome storyline it became a chore.

I agree with that, I liked the game on the whole (and loved Far Cry 2 before) but never really bothered with the main storyline as some of the missions seemed to drag on.

Not sure if I am going to get 4 as I'm still thinking about upgrading to a PS4 and it would be pointless getting a new game if I'm going to upgrade my console so soon.

We'll lose, but we won't be disgraced. would be fantastic to see Benteke come back into the side.

As a rule of thumb, you can only slag off your boss directly and get away with it if you somehow make yourself indespensible. On the basis of Lambert's recent performance it could be argued (and by some will be argued) that he's lucky still to remain under employment of the football club. So that's why I think he has always backed Lerner so strongly.

An interesting one. He's too good an appointment for him to be a nightwatchman overseeing a sale. You wouldn't leave a plum job at Arsenal for that. At first, I was thinking he wasn't quite a big enough appointment to be the pick of a new owner but some of the comments and info on this thread has made me think he might be. He certainly seems to be well thought of and have some kind of pedigree.

That said, I still think this points to a sale being some way off. Lerner has done too much lately for a sale to even be in the initial stages. It is interesting that Fox brings commercial pedigree too. That could mean that Lerner wants to exploit this far more to bring more money into the club.

A friend lent me the box series of Boomtown...

watched the Pilot and first three episodes so far...It's quirky and rather good I must say.

Donnie Wahlberg is excellent as he is in Blue Bloods.

An underrated gem of a show. I loved it.

Didn't realise there was a Region 2 boxset out?

At the moment I'm going through all the episodes of 'Airwolf'. Good show...

Simple question, Moyes, Jol, and Hughes, as managers what have they won?

Now compare that to Ancelotti.

Surely the choice is obvious?

yeah, the choice is obvious if youre a huge club with massive resources. but apply the restraints of villa to this. who has most experience working with low wage ceilings? who has experience searching out bargain players? who knows how to get the most out of the resources at hand?

whats the last team carlo ancelotti managed where he couldnt just go out and buy whoever he wanted? he has operated on a whole different level to villa for years, expecting him to slot into buying players he'd never have considered at his other jobs is no guarantee for success

I'd assume he had to live with that when he started in Italy and managed to prove himself enough to get the job at Juve and Milan. Wiki says he got Reggiana up in his first season and got Parma into the CL. I don't know what kinds of constraints he has had to live with at these clubs as I am no expert in Italian football but I don't think he had a blank cheque.

He came a damn site closer than O'Neill or Hughes. It was a bout of sickness that stopped him rather than his own limitations.

Admittedly Moyes has actually broken through and qualified for the CL but there is just something about the man I don't like. Mostly the style or lack thereof from his Everton team.

It's not to say I think Jol is the perfect boss. I'd much rather have Eyebrows. I have my reservations about Jol (mostly to do with his spells at Ajax and Hamburg where the teams failed to deliver on their promise) but his record at Spurs was pretty decent. Unlike Moyes he would also not require any compensation as he is out of work too. There is nobody we can get who is completely without flaw.

Hughes would be a disaster not because he's bad but because he's mediocre. He'd hang around like a bad smell for years doing sort of OK averaging 7th, a few sort of alright signings here and there, vaguely respectable cup runs, playing negative football, 10 home draws a season, never quite bad enough to sack.

Ancelotti I would absolutely love and I think if we make a big play for him we'll get him.

Agree with all of that. I'm none too taken with Hughes for the reasons you detail. Like MoN he will do a decent enough job but play average football and never quite manage to break through that glass ceiling. For me the same goes for Moyes to an extent. All three of them Steady Eddies.

As such Ancelotti would be my first choice. Others I'd like would include Jol and perhaps Benitez (though would we see the good Benitez or the paranoid mentalist one?).

Psycho_Cuellar

Usually getting stabbed on MW2.

ELO- Evil Woman

5ft 11 ish.

Forever Young- Alphaville

Basically yes but with some reservations. My reservations are the size of our squad and the lack of activity on the transfer front. However, there is 27 days of Transfer Window left and this gives us time to rectify both issues. We really do need to do this to manage to even go sideways. Everton may be on a downwards trajectory but Man City, Pompey and Spurs are sure to be up there and I want us to be challenging them for the top five.

A guy my dad went to school with a bloke was in Rainbow.

I once appeared on a Danish television documentary.

Nah I'm a good boy. Not done drugs yet and doubt I ever will.