Arizona

We're going to get raped. I'd say 4-1, with a brace from Beatts.

1. So you are saying our results occur on an entirely random basis, it has nothing to do with which players are on the pitch. If we play better when a certain player is on the pitch, it's coincidence. 2. That's the thing. John doesn't score goals unless there is someone along side him with a decent work ethic. Without Saga, there is no one who fits that discription, hence John has failed to make much of an impact in his limited appearances this season. 3. So the 11 games Saga started in 06/07 were just a "magical glimpse", but the 15 he started last season were, "more than enough chances"? So by that logic you can only form an accurate oppinion of a player if he has started between 12 and 14 games for the club?

"Only" 7 points off the playoffs... "only" 9 points off the drop zone I think. Lets not kid ourselves into thinking Burley was a good manager last season. I would also have expected better from £10m spent over 2 years than one, very narrow, playoff place.

How do you know Saga is just as bad, are you an ST holder at Aalborg? I said he had scored at least one goal, which was in a CL qualifier. I couldn't find any stats for the Danish League. We never lost a game Saga started when Pearson picked the team. To me that shows just what a little work-rate can do to aid your defence. If we have lazy players like John, BWP and DMG who just can't be a*sed chasing down defenders and tracking back, then we will (and are) concede more goals. There is also the small issue of John only scoring 5 of his 19 goals last season during the long periods Saga wasn't on the pitch. Why don't you get a partial grip on reality and admit that just possibly a player who is regularly in a Champions League team, might just be better than our current shower off sh*te. Saying they left to help balance the books is all well and good, but it is no help what-so-ever to the squad. Your comment about Rasiak is pointless. AFAIK he has never had persistent shoulder injuries and his current knock is entirely down to circumstance and not some Powell-esq glass skeleton.

I think Higgy wanted to go in order to be further North, although Burley wasn't exactly keen to hang on to him, so they were both happy. Just a shame we weren't. With a back four of Bale - Higgy - Baird - Ostlund we might just have got promoted automatically.

At Hockenheim Hamilton was clearly much faster. After passing Heikki, he went past Massa and Piquet with very little resistance. I doubt either of them had orders to let him through. Letting a driver past who is clearly faster is all well and good, but Kimi was quicker than Massa all weekend until suddenly becoming slower right at the end. Of course I understand why Ferrari did it, I just thought they'd banned such tactics after races like Austria 2001 and 2002. Read the first paragrah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Austrian_Grand_Prix

How did I forget...

Off the top of me 'ead: Wotton - Watford (h) DMG - Watford (h) Surman - Doncaster (a) Last season: John - Norwich (h) Rasiak - Bury (h) - Scored on rebound Euell - Blackpool (h) Before that, I think only McQ has missed one (QPR away) since Mazza missed in a CC shoot-out in the late '90s. Skacel is the only player at the club with a 100% record (1 from 1).

Due to the marvels of modern medicine, it is possible for players to recover from some injuries. If Davies were still here, it is possible he'd be amongst the this lucky few and be available for selection some time in the future, at which point he wouldn't be allowed to play because Mr Lowe says so. See, we can both be needlessly sarcastic.

No, he can hold the ball up pretty well (on a good day) but if there is nobody to support him he will soon lose it. Given that Jan insists on playing one up front, that is going to be more often than not. Saga is the only striker we've have recently that really defends from the front. Putting pressure on the defenders and not allowing them to play the ball. John is too lazy, Rasiak is too slow, BWP is both.

Davies may well be still injured, however I doubt he will stay that way all season. Saga has at least one goal so far and is being regularly selected by a team in the Champions League. I'd have him over DMG if I am honnest. Rasiak wouldn't have broken his shoulder if he was still here, on account he wouldn't have been playing in that match and wouldn't have been involved in the challenge that caused the injury. In any case, I doubt Lowe got rid of him because he knew he was going to injury his shoulder. Correct decisions I think not.

People laughed when I said we'd be better off keeping Saga than John. Kind of hard to say who was right because neither is in the team, however I still maintain we need someone with a decent work rate up front. Despite last season he does know where the goal is in this league. Davies... that goes without saying. Even last season he was our best defender. I doubt Jan would be allowed to play either if they were still here.

Is that a friend who's a pole dancer, or a pole dancing themed party?

I don't get it. If it is blindingly obvious to a bunch of people on an internet message board that the defence just isn't good enough, why has it evaded a succession of managers and chairmen.

A large step towards the title. Well done Lewis. I thought team orders, like the Ferraris swapping possition at the end, were banned. No doubt both drivers will be disqualified from the race now.

Again, beside the point. Why are we offering Dyer a new contract, then offering him out on loan a few weeks later. Can only be for financial reason surely.

I'm not saying for a second that BWP should be in the team. If we can't play him because of financial restrictions, then at least we have found one good thing about being skint. My point is that he is, in all likelyhood, being left out for financial reasons and not because of his apparent lack of ability. Players like DMG continue to hold down a place in the team, despite numerous poor performances, yet BWP isn't even in the squad. Then there is also Nathan Dyer. I just do not get that loan. IMO we loaned him out because we pannicked in summer and offered him a nice juicy deal we couldn't really afford. No doubt thinking we could sell him for £3m in January after a few good performances. Then when Jan realised he wasn't actually all that good, we shipped him out to Sheffield to save cash.

Well, something is preventing Skacel, John and BWP (appart from the obvious lack of ability) from playing regularly. I don't see why the same shouldn't apply to Davies. Will be interesting to see if Thomas or Euell ever makes it back into the first team.

I think it would be great to send the players on holiday, but only if DMG is forced to spend a week in a villa in sunny Groznyi.

Wotton and Perry were free from Luton and Plymouth respectively and I doubt they'd be demanding Heaven and Earth wage wise. Davies on the other hand came from a Prem side and had a bright future. He was probably on more than CP and PW put together, ergo; he wouldn't have played. Davis is probably only in the side because we need an experienced head to keep most of our games in single figures behind such a dodgy defence.

Relax, if he was here, he'd only be sat in the reserves with Rudi, John, BWP and any other players who've finished puberty.

I hope it rains. Hamilton SHOULD sh*t all over Massa in the rain, and it might give Bobby K half a chance. I just hope Heikki ploughs into the back of Massa at turn 1, although after Japan I suspect it will be a very 'diplomatic' first lap.

Well, that's the obligatory getting hammered by Watford over for another season. Oh sh*t, we've still got to go to Vicarage.

Leicester beating Oldham. We should get their guy in charge!

Final score sweep-stake I'm going for 1-5