parisvilla

But what about Subs? The fulham game, we were comfortable, 2-0 up. No subs. 3-0 against Hull. 1 Sub. no, very true. theres been instances where I have been bemused that we havn't taken players off and I cant really think of an explanation. Regardless, Martin gets criticism for whatever he does on this board which kind of pisses me off. I reckon that our home form has faltered in the last couple of months because of the negative stuff coming from the terraces when things aren't going our way, as much as it has anything to do with player fatigue. We're too quick to get on people's backs. Today's result was a farce but it only happened because we gave up. I'd like to think that folks on here are normally proud of the commitment and fight the lads show when they put on our shirt. This is instilled by the manager, who I consider us lucky to have.

to be honest, is playing the likes of Beye, Craig Gardner, Sidders etc going to have a realistically positive effect on fighting for 4th. I think Martin puts out the same 11 pretty much every week because he is of the opinion that it is those players that provide us with the best opportunity to fight amongst the top teams in this league. Whilst we have at times over the last couple of months looked absolutely shattered, having rested Petrov or Milner or Gabby earlier in the season would have increased the likelihood of dropping points then and thus its doubtful we'd be any better off than where we are now. the fact is our team isn't good enough for Champions League football, i don't think thats something we should be ashamed of considering where we were say 4 years ago. I think a lot of people on here underestimate how difficult achieveing CL football actually is.

freak result, was 'one of the days' rather than us being shit or having an inept manager as a few on here suggest. i expect a response from the lads next week given how lacklustre we were in the 2nd half. no midweek game this week so should have a good amount of rest before Bolton. 4th now a massive task, but still not impossible given Spurs fixtures to come. lets do our best to forget this ever happened :oops:.

remember when the 4-4 at the bridge a couple of years back... i think gabby and maloney played wide with big John through the middle and we tore them to pieces, only ballack's dive and zat knight's subsequent red card prevented us getting a really good win. hopefully Mo'N is going for a similar tactic today

good team selection. will be interesting to see milner's impact back in a wide position. hope gabby is actuallly 100% fit

big setback tonight but we ought to bare in mind that spuds still have chelsea (i think), arsenal, man city and united to play.

this result much more than so than the wolves one has got to me. absolute dagger in terms of our aspirations for the CL, i think we've blown it. oh so reminiscent of this time last year

this is all fairly irrelevent as we know martin will start with JC and Emile anyway. having said that hopefully Fonz will get a run out at some stage tomorrow.

i met an arsenal fan in the queue for a club the other week and he said gabby was almost as good as rooney and that they should start up front together in the world cup. obviously hes not THAT good, but i think hes integral to our success... hes made significant strides this season.

whilst i understand those wanting luke young in the starting line-up, i dont think any match is 'crying out' for swapping your right backs. if we're relying on luke young to change games for us then we definitely are shit. Young Fonzy mate... You no the centre forward not right back!.. haha my bad :oops: , assumed he was referring to both luke young and fonz

whilst i understand those wanting luke young in the starting line-up, i dont think any match is 'crying out' for swapping your right backs. if we're relying on luke young to change games for us then we definitely are shit.

think martin will stick to his english players/players who have prem experience buying policy. not likely to set the world alight but i like piquionne as a player... seems decent. if we are gonna spend 20mill though i hope its not darren bent, for me that figure is far too much for him

to be honest sidders did a decent job after he came on, i realise 90% of the time hes utterly anonymous when he comes on the pitch aside from some dirty fouls, he does actually get into some dangerous positions and from what i could see from the holte his pass/shot thing was going in regardless of carew's final touch. as i said earlier i dont think heskey merits all the abuse he gets on here but bringing on delfouneso for him in the last 15/20 seemed a pretty obvious thing to do, but i guess as he was involved in the goal we don't have too much right to complain. i hate to think people are turning against Mo'N: he has his faults but in my book the mans a legend

so frustating that having got the early goal we immediately proceeded to sit back and allow wolves to play and they gladly obliged and thought they deserved to go in front. second half didn't force hahnemann into enough saves so a draw was probably all we merited. plus points: though ashley young was excellent, also thought carew put in an impressive shift and won a hell of a lot of balls off their backline to allow us to keep the pressure on. i dont agree that 'heskey is shit'; we all know hes not going to bang in the goals so we should wake up to that fact. hes supposed to link the attack with the likes of milner and downing which he does effectively. downing really pisses me off however, his lack of commitment/bravery/call it what you want is embarrasing- thats about the 4th header hes missed from inside the 6 yard box this season. we need gabby

my stream was extremely unreliable but from what i could see gabby looked threatening throughout. milner definately my vote for MOTM but carew and ash also looked lively - really hope carew and gabby continue up front for the next few games, i think JC has got a spree of goals in 'im.

anyone aware of a replacement stream?

think theres pretty limited availability left now pal, 0800 612 0970 is the number they'll need to ring to ensure they dont miss it. i think at least one booking history might be required however....

I posted that on the 23rd on Janurary! first time I heard this was when the bloke in front of me sang it at Pompey in the CC quarter final...

pretty disappointing that there seems to be availability still in almost all areas of the ground

Gabby has to start and whilst i am normally an advocate of Heskey starting, I think i'd opt for Carew for this one. I have no confidence this will happen but Luke Young should be starting, rest either Collins or Cuellar.... our ball retention is better with him in the side and hes less ponderous in terms of attempting to overlap, get balls into the box etc

The more I think about Stoke the more ridiculous their entire philosophy appears. Their fans might say otherwise but throwing the ball into the box from anywhere inside the opponent's half just isn't football. I'd guestimate that Delap wastes/uses up about 10 minutes per match getting towels and drying the ball - this isn't accounted for by match officials. I don't know whether Cuellar was given a towel today but in some Stoke games I've seen other teams wanting to take long throws have been declined a towel... surely this isn't fair? It's even gotten to the stage that a key feature of Burnley's gameplan against them in midweek was to move the advertising boards closer to the touchline to prevent a decent run up. Fair play to Pulis because their strategy evidently has had a degree of success, but I find myself wondering whether something ought to be done? What are people's thoughts? (Especially those who have spent 30 bones watching the dross today)

I fail to see how Downing merits a first team place with his performances over the last 10+ games and arguably Collins too (before today) has looked fairly out of sorts. Why not put Delph in the middle and Milner wide to shake things up a bit? And/Or shift Cuellar over to CB and play L.Young? With regards to our top 4 credentials... do we actually have any? I can't remember the last time I watched a game and thought we'd played well. No denying that everytime Martin sends the boys out they're fully committed and the work they do as a team is outstanding but we are so disjointed going forward, it seems the only way we score is via set pieces or when we come up against a joke side like Burnley who try and defend with an incredibly high line and gift us endless opportunities. All endeavour and no imagination

could be a massive week for chelsea: they've got man utd away on April 3rd, hopefully a CL quarter final on the 6th or the 7th and then us on the 10/11th.

disagree with this, thought heskey had a good game. also though jonny evans looked uncomfortable throughout

warnocks slip was when they hit the post at the end of the 45th minute ... wasn't it ? Indeed. In fairness to him though the pitch was very slippery and in a poor condition. His tackle on Valencia in the first half when he caught up with him was brilliant. the pitch was absolutely dire! during Valencia's run that you refer to the ball kept jumping about a foot off the surface. not good enough really - then again they probly used it for american football/rugby league/car racing during the week :shock: