Sheaf Saint

Defending too deeply now and can't keep possession when we get out of our half. I don't reckon we'll be able to hold on to this.

Should never have been a FK though cos of a blatant push from Sterling on one of our players right before it.

The Liverpool bias on Setanta is ridiculous. All the HT analysis has been about them and their inability to unlock our defence. Hardly surprising with John Barnes and Didi Harman as the studio pundits, but still it's very depressing.

Agreed. Wanyama has been a liability so far today. What the hell has happened to the man that looked so unplayable against WBA on the opening day? Lallana has been good but his touch lets him down too often.

Lucky let-off. Lovren clearly made some kind of contact with the ball though.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/unfortunate-bbc-moustache-for-nigel-farage-8829452.html :lol:

I'm not saying he is a better player, I'm just going on the evidence before my eyes. I watched most of the games last season and the fluidity that we had in midfield - the way we passed it around and worked the ball up the pitch - was of a much higher standard than I have seen so far this season. Last week Wanyama didn't release the ball quickly enough and that allowed him to be closed down by the West Ham forward players which prevented us from building our attacks in the way that we seemed to be able to do last season when Cork was playing alongside Schneiderlin. Just an observation. I don't doubt that MP and the coaching staff see something in Wanyama that convinced them he was worth spending all that money on, but given how effective JC and MS were in CM last season, I think MP made a mistake by dropping Cork from the matchday squad entirely to accommodate a very expensive signing who has yet to prove he was worth the money.

And it's no coincidence that Wanyama had a great game at WBA but has been less impressive in the games since then. Our midfield was so much more fluid last season when we had Cork and Schneiderlin at CM, and I really hope JC gets picked today and that Wanyama is forced to fight for his place in the team to (hopefully) prevent him from getting complacent.

Nice try George, but utterly wrong I'm afraid. The 'report' (I use the term loosely because it all stems from a 'Journalist' (again, term used loosely) in the Mail on Sunday) which claims the Arctic sea ice has grown by 60% and that the IPCC held crisis talks is completely discredited. The 60% growth claim is in fact a staggering example of 'cherry-picking data to support your argument', and the crisis talks did not happen. http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/09/10/climate_change_sea_ice_global_cooling_and_other_nonsense.html

Just been to see Rush - the biopic telling the story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 F1 season. As a fan of F1 it was amazing to see the racing scenes on a big screen but even my GF, who hates F1, really enjoyed it. Top stuff from Ron Howard. The two actors playing Hunt and Lauda are brilliant and they both even look a hell of a lot like them as well.

While you are absolutely correct that Wanyama cannot be blamed for our lack of creativity or goal threat, as that is clearly not his role in the team, I do believe that Cork would have made a difference yesterday in a different way. During the first half at least, Wanyama was guilty of dithering in possession: receiving the ball in or around the centre circle and taking an absolute age to decide what to do with it. This allowed the WHU players to close him down and limit his options, or close down his team-mates who were making themselves available to receive it. Quite a few times this resulted in him going backwards to keep possession or giving the ball away. JC, on the other hand, will receive the ball and release it much more quickly to feed one of the forward players, and that is what we were crying out for yesterday to penetrate their midfield better.

West Ham were crap. Utter, utter crap. They were there for the taking and we couldn't find the quality to unlock their defence. Not too dis-heartened because we looked rock solid at the back (apart from one pinball moment leading up to Collins' spooned effort) but we are 4 games into the season and we still haven't scored from open play. Worrying.

One minute left of stoppage time.

Opposing keeper gets MOTM. I ******* hate it when that happens!

Time-wasting from WHU by the look of it.

Comedy defending! Lucky let off in the end.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

Taylor gives away another handball at SMS. I wonder if he will cry this time?

Shaw injured. Chambers getting ready.

JWP looking lively since he came on.

Oh FFS Jasskalleiniennineen (or however the f**k you spell it!) Can't you ever have an off day when you play against us!?

Are you psychic?

JWP coming on

Handbags again. Always happens when we play West Ham.