dubai_phil

Seriously. OK I won't comment about the rights and wrongs of both sets of idiots up in "the Promised Land" but to do this at 9pm on the night before NYE...... Luckily I was staying in for a bbq but a lot of tourists came into town just for this - ouch:mad: http://www.wam.org.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamLocEnews&cid=1226857905842&p=1135099400124&pagename=WAM%2FWamLocEnews%2FW-T-LEN-FullNews Mohammed bin Rashid orders cancellation of New Year's celebrations in Dubai Dec 30, 2008 - 09:16 - Dubai, Dec.30th,2008(WAM)--In his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai has ordered the cancellation of all forms of ceberations marking the new year in Dubai emirate. According to Sheikh Mohammed's order, Dubai emirate will mark the New Year with a sombre tone as a token of solidarity with the Palestinian people in genera and Gaza strip in particular which is currently under the barrage Israeli's military fire.

It did sound that way on the radio. Compared to last week I couldn't believe the atmosphere (mind you I was in the Chapel) But what was the actual spark, the real difference between this week and last? On the radio I only heard Cork's name about twice, but Gobern & McLaggon seemed to be all over the place. Was it the return of a real defensive midfielder (Gillett) or the fact that DMG player the "in the hole role", it sure sounded a good game to watch. Is there a lesson for us to look out for in the team selection for Man U and beyond?

Listened to the second half. To be honest was so down after my trip last week I was even trying to find excuses not to tune in at all. Have to say it was enjoyable, sure it was obvious what was coming, but it did at least sound like a good game for a change. It at least got me off Facebook and into actually LISTENING for the first time in a while Still think we're in trouble and agree with Chi Saint that we need some quality in during the window, but no idea how or where from. Worryingly though, I find myself almost in agreement with Alpine. If I want to be entertained I can go and watch Kylie in concert fluffy, bubbly and no substance, but sort of leave not feeling very fulfilled - bit like Saints have been on and off this year. Unfortunately I want to see (or hear) my team win, and just one dirty gritty battling win would be SO much better than a season full of Kylie gigs... But we now need much more than just one....

The problem is SoG that while many agree the logic of the stewardship of Lowe & Cowen being the best at the moment for the "day to day" financial state of the club, we are developing a far more pressing problem on the playing side, which of course will make their other work irrelevant. Now I sure don't have a magic wand to understand what is really going on, but somewhere from afar it just seems that the wheels are coming off on the playing side rather faster than on the finance side. My worry, and I am sure many others have the same, is whether Lowe with his "3 year plan" has sufficient football business skills to review his plan with the performance and make ANY of the necessary adjustments. Plans are critical, but so is the ability to adjust as cirumstances demand. I think the majority feel we aren't seeing that and hence why we have almost achieved unity now in wanting change. A wise skipper knows when to put a hand on the tiller to take account of changes to the wind and tides while still heading in the same overall direction. A blind skipper sticks to the compass heading and "Damn the Torpedoes" (or Klingons) off the Starboard Bow. Run aground on the sandbank of finances or crash headlong into the rocks of relegation. Which is the greater danger NOW? (Sorry, it was FF that started the nautical analogies!)

Nick Holmes - Why? because we have a collective memory loss, in the old days, the number of times the "Under West Stand" central stander uppers moaned and groaned at Armstrong, you'd think at times he was Terry Curran. Quality footballer, but over the length of his career, Nick Holmes would be my nomination. Never a superstar but always missed when he wasn't playing

Merry Christmas EoA. Can't take having footie on a Friday after a birthday brunch.... Still dulls the pain of the commentary! Goodfellas for ManUre?

I got a hangover for Christmas

Difficult to call. If last week really was down to a post party hangover then maybe playing away is a good thing. But if we play like we did against Forest then Turkey's and stuffing spring to mind for some obscure reason.

Just so I know for sure from more regular experts out there, I assume none of it was played while I was there on Saturday? I wouldn't want to sit here for the rest of the season and think that was the best football ever played at SMS. Although I am sure we have played well I think the caveat sometimes comes in to use.

Good opening post UP and I agree with the basic tenet that this is starting to appear to be a very false economy now that we have had half a season. But the intriguing question is, knowing that NP is obviously doing well and under contract at Leicester so ain't going to come back soon, and knowing our current cash flow suituation, any bright ideas how or who we could get to come in now? Personally it's obvious we need better balance to help the kids on the pitch but if YOU had to make the decision if you got appointed as Rupe's successor tomorrow would you invest our limited monies in players or a manager, and who would it be? It's been doing my head in all weekend and I don't yet know the answer. It's easy on CM 2009 but.........

Back home in Dubai after a brief sojurn over a long weekend to take in the Christmas spirit and SMS. My thanks to the big man upstairs for the weather and making sure so many people I know back home were in the right places at the right time so I could see and speak with them. For a day or two, let us enjoy stuffing our Turkeys and panicking about the Parsnips being properly done. (And may we all remember where we hid that left-over Brandy for the Pudding) For a day or two the kids can wonder about the magic of Santa, whereas we all seem to have lost that belief now. Peace and Goodwill to all and sundry out there in internet land and may your Christmas be filled with the warmth of family and/or having your friends around you.

If I could say one thing I was impressed with was that we seemed to have pace throughout the team. the whole game was played at a much faster pace than the games I saw last season. But of course the down side is that a headless chicken has a lot of pace.... At the end of the day, Euell was the only one who even came close to giving their CB's any sort of trouble, and that was mainly because he arrived late, was falling over or was trying to get back into whatever non useful position he was supposed to be in, and DMG just seemed to have spent all week reading the criticism on here of him and then decided to put on a performance that showed me what I had been missing by doing everything you all moan at him about. In the first half with Holmes we had some shape down that side, but again over on the right there was nobody in red between Lloyd James and their corner flag. Very worried now.

It's about the Football Rupert, not the PLC Or similar

So the critical question is??? What happened to the money? May be enough to afford another Dutch coach to add to the staff

OK so it was my first game of the season. Went with my son and mate. It was awful. Heartbreaking and just poor. There is no light, no spark, and I cannot see us scoring another goal from open play this season. My son's comment was pretty much how we felt. We looked damned good attacking backwards. In the words of many. This ain't going to work, and somehow something must be done. Pretty gladd I couldn't get onto the internet all weekend as at least I could calm down enough and post something without a lot of *****'s in it. Bitterly disappointed in what I saw

I'm there, we'll win 2-1

Man that's like less than half the daytime temp here - youch! But thanks for the tip, won't need the long john's then!

Yes YES YES!!!! Hoobl**dyray. FINALLY I get a trip back to blighty this year Will be doing a sardine impression coming over tomorrow in a full-up A380 and then down to the game Saturday. Wish I had room amongst the Christmas prezzies for my flag but unfortunately it was me mate's duty free or the flag - no DF smokes for him, no ticket for me - no contest I'll be easy to spot - the VERY cold person with a suntan in the Chapel End (yeah the mate got it not me ok!) Will my pilgrimage start a change of fortune at home for the team? Well it always used to, but won't hold my breath COYR! Keep my seat in Goodfellas warm Eric! Bullfrogs on Christmas Eve when I get back!

But surely there's one girl missing that we all know and love? You know her, she's one of the hottest on the innernet the chick from that Body Builder Blog forum.. After all she was supposed to be sexy..... Meanwhile, for those willing surfers out there a new up and coming Lady Golfer... Maria Verchenova... If I could access image shack from here I would but she's also quite good at golf

The trouble with all this bank stuff is a sort of collective insanity. What ever happened to the old maxim "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" I had a savings plan in a professional operation, it's already lost 40% of what I put in for my pension before this happened. It isn't just the rich, it is people who put money into funds who put money into funds who put money into the likes of Madoff. I'm with the lock them all up and throw away the keys brigade. All this debt boom was just like this city - all built on sand and no substance

Had a lady of Asian extraction hired into my office by somebody else. 3 days after being hired we had a tech problem request how to get Tippex off a computer screen

I can't believe it! After collecting my perfectly pre-cooked Turkey on Christmas mornings religiously for the last 12 years, I find that Bl**dy Spinney's supermarket are only cooking them on the 24th this year. Who wants a stale Turkey for Xmas Dinner. Reckon it's another Johny Foreigner conspiracy. Nothing for it now - pub again......

I don't think the whole "experiment" is wrong. Having an overall strategy, and making the club self sustainable seems to even have Leon's approval. It is in the IMPLEMENTATION of the experiment where I think we are in trouble. What I think is wrong is the fact that we seem stuck in glue and suffer a complete lack of "creativity" or innovation" in the coaching structure. Lowe was renowned in his first iteration as being incredibly set in his ways - his was the only way. What I think we are seeing now is the fact that dogma is impacting the team. IMHO there is nothing wrong with having a plan, having a strategy and having a style, but in ANY walk of life, not seeing what is happening around you, not taking into account external factors and influences and NOT being creative to adjust your plan to make it WORK is doomed to failure. Liverpool play the same formation as us. BUT depending on the game, the opposition and the circumstances they DO change it around, we just keep plodding on with the same old tactics, and like many said, teams have learnt to sit back and when they get the ball just bang it back up front into the gaps left by our lot running around in circles. A GOOD coach would be spotting this and making the adjustments to cope. Sure there are manuals that say if you are good enough then your system doesn't need to change as you impose yourself on the opposition, BUT we aren't good enough to take the chances we create and so we HAVE to adapt. Sitting back and hoping that one day DMG will click in front of goal and bury all 75+ chances we make is just NOT a plan. The problem of course is does JP know this, does he have the nous to actually start to tweak the system or are his hands tied by others?..... JP doesn't come across as a total idiot so it leads me to believe more and more that his hands are tied.....

OK while you're doing that can you also get some made up of Forest's defence, especially their keeper and do the same thing any time we get a shot on target. Oh no that wouldn't work would it, silly me

Love it. Our lot on here can argue about anything! OK I have RTFM'd and as a result I go for the tactical non-positional vote of stickeing Danny on the right wing. This poll reminds me a bit of the last time I was able to vote in a general election in the UK donkeys year's ago. Had a whole list of names and missed the one critical one... none of the above.. (Oh and for the non-techies RTFM is a standard IT word thingy)