claret75

I think in this scenario if he took three months, he needed three months. (In fact I'm not even sure it was that long, he was off initially, but was available for selection in September/Oct IIRC). I don't know the bloke, so second guessing is always dangerous. But part of his decision re England might also be a result of this. Easy to say on the outside looking in "get on with it, most people only get two weeks compassionate leave" et.c. But we truly don't know how much of an impact last summer had on his state of mind. I'm guessing as an older brother he would have in some way felt responsible. Sometimes you can't just crack on. If he decides that his time is better served with his family than training with England and not actually featuring, then fair play. Nice post HE.

If you legalised holding at line outs there'd probably be endless amounts of punch ups in games..........LETS LEGALISE IT.

Given the right tutelage and motivation I think Richards could be one of the best attacking full backs in the world. I agree with this. Potentially Richards is a fantastic RB.

Milner has loads of pace. You'd find very few top central midfielders that would be even close to Milner in terms of speed, Ballack, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Essien, Carrick, Alonso, Barry. None of them could get close to Milner in a foot race. Out of those players at their peak, Milner is quicker than maybe Alonso and Barry. You wouldnt expect Alonso to be quick either, given hes a passer, not a runner. Milners got a good engine, but no pace. I never used to rate him that highly as a wideman because of his lack of pace, being switched to the middle has made this lack of pace less important and suited him. He's quicker than Carrick, Barry, Alonso, Scholes, Lampard and Ballack. Gerrard is a lot quicker than him. I'd say Essien is as well. I dont think hed be quicker than Scholes, Lampard and Ballack at their peak. My nans quicker than Carrick so he doesnt count Anyway, dont suppose it matters.

Never been one to bet on scores myself, but nice one! Normally have a £5 accumulator on the footy at the weekend for a bit of interest.

Cant wait for the Chagaev fight :shock:

Rugby League scrums are a joke. No point to them at all. Havent been watching much Union this year so didnt realise the put ins were becoming an issue.

Milner has loads of pace. You'd find very few top central midfielders that would be even close to Milner in terms of speed, Ballack, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Essien, Carrick, Alonso, Barry. None of them could get close to Milner in a foot race. Out of those players at their peak, Milner is quicker than maybe Alonso and Barry. You wouldnt expect Alonso to be quick either, given hes a passer, not a runner. Milners got a good engine, but no pace. I never used to rate him that highly as a wideman because of his lack of pace, being switched to the middle has made this lack of pace less important and suited him.

Im surprised by the poll on here, thought more people would want to keep him. £30m is great business in my eyes. Milners good but not that good.

See, if Milner played for Arsenal I doubt you'd have that point of view. Milner is a player with tremendous talent. Equally strong with both feet, has very good close control, can pick a pass and will run all day. Yet even our own fans refuse to believe what they see in front of their own eyes. Milner has the all the attributes to be a superstar except one...... ego. If Milner had more "swagger" about him he would be a media darling. I think the one thing Milner lacks is pace. Almost all top players have it.

Rugbys not as exciting as it used to be. I think they need to change the offside rule to make the game more open. An extra yard from the heel of the scrum should give players a bit more room to attack.

Just won £150 on Blackpool 3-2. Hip hip hoorah. Had an insured fiver on Adam scoring first as well, get my money back on that.

Every man needs to be Blumpkinned once in a while :|

Bicks the point is, whether you agree or not, he's a zillion times better than Cuellar at right back, and could have added so much to our team, even after mourning the loss of his brother, he has wanted to play and simply hasnt been, for a CB who is shit at RB. I agree with Bickster. He hasnt been treated unfairly he just hasnt been picked. I never agreed with Cuellar being first choice, but its the managers decision. I didnt hear anything from Youngs interview that made me think he was treated badly.

Done well there, how much did you lose?

I watched the video 'faces of death' when i was about 13. For people that dont know it its a snuff/real collection of clips of people and animals dying nasty deaths. I felt amazingly guilty for watching it and havent watched anything like it since.

I didn't know quite how to put it but that'll do

Um, a doctor? Ive just come out of hospital and the ansthetic/painkillers/epidural has meant no pooing. Thanks for your suggestions, but something else has just got me moving, anyone guess what worked?? 2 litres of black coffee? No. I feel a poll coming on Snowychap was right then. More like a maltloaf. Mmmmm maltloaf.

Um, a doctor? Ive just come out of hospital and the ansthetic/painkillers/epidural has meant no pooing. Thanks for your suggestions, but something else has just got me moving, anyone guess what worked?? 2 litres of black coffee? No. I feel a poll coming on

Torn between Man U and no sell. Ive gone for Man U.

:?: Nope, but worth remembering for the next time.

removing the butt plug? No, that didnt work.

Um, a doctor? Ive just come out of hospital and the ansthetic/painkillers/epidural has meant no pooing. Thanks for your suggestions, but something else has just got me moving, anyone guess what worked??

POLL, POLL, POLL!!!!

You're half right, in my opinion.. The squad he has assembled lacks the quality for rotation while chasing a Top 4 finish. However, this squad has been assembled from a position of 16th. It's an evolutionary process. Moving from 16th to within 2 games of finishing 4th doesn't happen with the click of his fingers. The squad he has assembled is enough for us to finish Top 10, and the first XI got us close to the promised land. Now the evolution continues and the lesser players get moved out and replaced with sufficient quality to supplement the quality of our first XI. Even with the massive financial resources that Man City have at their disposal, they haven't been able to achieve Champions League football in the timescales they wanted. Spurs have achieved it, but it wasn't an overnight achievement for them either. We're on the right track, I believe. With some tweaking I'm sure we will get there. But a squad of quality cannot be assembled overnight, especially given the weak starting position MON was handed. Agreed. Don't quite agree. I think there has been room for considerable rotation, considering (a) the players we already have in certain positions, and ( the versatility of some players. Milner, can play on either wing, the centre or as full back. Cuellar (apparently) can play at full back or centre-half. Luke Young can play on either side as full-back. In the centre, attack-wise, we've got Milner and Sidwell, then more defensively, there's Petrov, Reo-Coker (when fit) and Delph. Apart from strikers, there's plenty of choice of good quality players to choose from. A useful comparison with Spurs would be players who were previously thought to be "surplus" and on the verge of being turfed out (yes, pun intended!) - the likes of Pavyluchenko, Bentley, Gomes and Dawson, only for them to rediscover their form, and fill the gaps when other players are injured (Lennon and Defoe weren't exactly missed when you consider where the Spuds finished up !). If only MON would rotate a bit more. I'm sure the likes of Davis and Luke Young would give him a real selection headache each week if given the chance. As for the rest. At the end of the 2008-9 season, I said the most improved players would be Milner and Cuellar. Next season, I think Downing and the Fonz are going to step up...hopefully Davies too. There's always another to come through. You cant compare Gomes, Pavlyuchenko and Bentley - to Sidwell, reo-Coker and Luke Young. Your talking about £40million for 3 squad players compared to what £18m? Gomes, Pavlyuchenko and Bentley are great squad players to have and if we had them wed probably have finished higher, incomparable to ours squadplayers. You say we have good quality with which to rotate, i dont agree. Sidwell has looked disinterested, NRC injured, Delph not ready, Davis injured, Fonz not ready (to start). The only real headscratcher for me was Cuellar being preferred to Young at RB, but thats not really a rotation thing, just MONs preference. I didnt understand when MON didnt chancge things late in games, like Sidwell for Petrov and Fonz on, but thats different.