Foxy1

Realistic and worthwhile targets for me would be:

Upfront -

Cole or Jones + Doyle or Keane

Midfield -

Parker or Ireland + Nzogbia or Eagles

Jimmy you could still be Dorothy!

because we always fail to dominate games. we really hate being the 'bigger' side. We prefer underdog status, and we don't know how to cope with being the better side. 2nd goal though and it'll be alright, though no doubt we'll show no ambition at all and sit back and defend AGAINST ALL THE FORCES OF HULL for 40 minutes.

Mange Tout Rodney, Mange Tout

I'd like to see NRC on for Carew - pack the middle and hit them on the break

Is Downing still on the pitch? haven't seen him since the 15th minute

I thought Ashley Young was our best player, how some Villa fans can want him to be sold is beyond belief...

Cuellar, Warnock, Milner, and Petrov were all shocking

Although the worst performer on the pitch was again the man in black...Shocking, just shocking, how that stumpy pile of shit can ref in any league higher than the Bristol Downs League Division 4 is beyond me...

Milner shocking? Have a word with yourself

frustrating game but MON deserves credit for the subs this time

Really hope we give Delph a start and poss one of Fonz or Albrighton. Also dunne should be rested. 4th is such a long shot anyway against Pompey why not?

i think the point is that mon doesnt give the players that he has the best chance of competing, not that the defeat is the managers fault.

Sorry what do you mean by that?

you were attacking another post, i said what i feel the other poster was trying to convey, in an albeit over-the-top way. if you dont get what i mean then ignore it i'm not going to spell it out or draw pictures.

Thats great respond with a point and then don't explain it - well done

The OP was clearly indicating the defeat WAS the manager's fault and you seem to agree by saying that MON doesn't give his players 'the best chance of competing'

Now draw **** pictures if you like but explain what you mean by that statement

i think the point is that mon doesnt give the players that he has the best chance of competing, not that the defeat is the managers fault.

Sorry what do you mean by that?

I don't agree that Petrov tires.

I do agree that the referee was fine except for the PK. Malouda holding Gabby. Terry for a horror tackle. It's probably just coincidence that they all went in Chelsea favor.

I thought Milner throwing the ball into Alex's back to allow himself the second touch was hilarious.

I don't agree that we created no chances. Milner missed by less than a foot. Carew's flick missed by very little. Cech was frantic in his effort to push out a cross from Ashley.

I do agree we should have created more chances.

I thought Chelsea first goal was a really poor headed clearance from Dunne. And that most of our team relaxed cause Dunne was heading clear as always. We were flat footed and drifted off our marks of Terry who wanked it, and Drogba who didn't.

I thought the sheer luck of that goal off a bad clearance be a man that

doesn't make bad clearances added on top of the lack of the PK call crushed our spirit (we're doomed - we never catch a break). I did not think it made us too tired to play.

I would have liked to see Delph on for Petrov (for speed and quickness, not for tiredness, which I agree with others is a myth) and Delf on with Cuellar making room (just for attacking intention when behind). But it would not have helped. It would have looked good to the cynics. MON doesn't make decisions to shut up the critics. I probably would. I don't manage a football club.

I agree with every word of this great post mate

MON was pissed off and rightly so. **** John Terry.

MON might be pissed off about this and the 'penalty', but I think its a very valuable diversion tactic or him.

Diversion from what?

Thats pretty obvious.

But if you need it spelt out...he is diverting attention from the abstract failure of his team to muster a single decent atempt on goal in 90 mins.

He is diverting attention from the fact that despite his captain being being absolutely knackered, he was unable to change things and bring some fresh legs to the team when they badly needed it.

He is diverting attention from the fact that our best hope of rescuing the game was to bring on **** Heskey.

He is diverting attention from the fact that he is tactically inept, and when push comes to shove and when we REALLY,REALLY need a result, HIS team is not good enough.

mate what planet are you on? Seriously...

Chelsea are going to win the Premier League, they are one of the top 3 sides in the world right now. They had 3 of their first choice defence out but were able to call on 3 £10m+ players in Alex, Ferreira and Zirkhov to come in. They had Anelka and Ballack on the bench!

Anyone criticising MON for not being able to compete with that is living in a dream world

Our boys did very well yesterday and were unlucky. Ok we could have brought on Delf and Delph but do we honestly think these young boys could have made a difference in a game like this? Hopefully in a few years these two will be big players for us but not right now.

Disgusting performance by Webb, that was a clear red

Deflating 2nd half after an excellent 1st.

Pretty much every player drifted away after the break, particularly Young. Downing's crossing is on a par with Carlos's, it's really starting to piss me off.

We got 3 points but that second half performance won't get us very far in the long run.

Mate what is your problem? 3 points and well deserved. Not a classic game but we were clearly better side and restricted them to half chances.

I haven't got a problem mate, I know my football and I know that second half was poor.

We were great in the first half but Bolton pretty much dominated play after that. We need to learn how to keep the ball if we ever hope to finish higher than 5th.

If you knew your football you'd know that away from home 1-0 up is a fragile position and you expect pressure in the second half from a home team. You may have noticed certain Barcelona - who know a bit about keeping the ball - succumb to this effect last week

Come on Burnley!!

Collins MOTM for me today

Deflating 2nd half after an excellent 1st.

Pretty much every player drifted away after the break, particularly Young. Downing's crossing is on a par with Carlos's, it's really starting to piss me off.

We got 3 points but that second half performance won't get us very far in the long run.

Mate what is your problem? 3 points and well deserved. Not a classic game but we were clearly better side and restricted them to half chances.

Marmite O'Neill - I still love him!

See the kids are out in force on here tonight.

Decent performance and result IMO. Of course we will have better games but really can't believe some of the negativity whenever we fail to win. Stoke are a horrible team to play against especially on their own turf.

In terms of changes people need to accept that Delph and Delf are not ready for regular prem football yet. In this particular game they would have been bullied out of the game.

Heskey has been terrible

Don't understand the criticism I thought we played well in the circumstances, it was a great cup tie and the draw was a fair result.

Thought Carew did really well when he came on, much better from him.

Didn't think Delph was all that great, a bit over rated on here IMO. Yes he's shown glimpses of quality but he also still looks very raw to me.

Personally I'm more excited by Delfouneso who was great in the time he had, and unlike Delph has delivered in pretty much every game he's been thrown into. Really hope he starts in the replay.

We don't have some divine right to beat teams like West Ham who come to VP and defend well.

We will have better days hopefully starting Weds. Clearly we would all like another striker (I started the 'can't shoot' thread) however such players are like gold dust esp during Jan.

I was sat quite near the pitch in the trinity and you can really see the quality of Downing - not his best game admitedly but his ball control and first touch is impeccable. Just not qute delivering in the final third yet.

I think its a sign of how far we've come that we can look so comfortable in games like this.

Just got back, excellent first half but we should have been out of sight. Lost our way in second half but Blacburn rarely threatened and just stuck their 10 men behind the ball.

Cuellar looks immense these days doesn't he - really nice header for the goal too. Young was MOTM for me though despite the miss.

Simple question but not an easy one to answer

4th would clearly put us in a potentially excellent place to build - but then it didn't do Everton much good.

Can this really be a substitute for a piece of silverware?

Masch is a big miss for them. Also famous last words but Torres doesn't look fit to me.

My team would be

Friedel

Young Collins Dunne Warnock

Milner Stan NRC Downing

Carew Gab

Not convinced by Delph starting this one - he looked like a little boy lost against Arsenal

Credit to Stoke they gave us a real game today and deserved more.

Still its another 3 points and clean sheet whilst Utd and Liverpool are comprehensively beaten :-)