Cabrone

The greedy Premier league is going to topple over the way it's going, can't happen soon enough IMO. Bundesliga is the way to go, big stadiums, big crowds and cheap ticket prices. The average Man City fan might even be able to fly over to Germany and watch a Bundesliga match for a similar amount to what they'd pay to watch their own team Bundesliga puts the Premier League to shame

Totally pointless gesture. It's pretty simple really, clubs will charge what fans are willing to pay. At the moment Arsenal appear to be able to get a full house for £62 so they will charge it. If fans don't like it they need to grow a pair and stop paying. Complaining whilst still paying up will have no effect.

Phew. Started watching on 65 mins and the players that stood out were Lambert, Rodriguez, Puncheon and Boruc. Lambert and Boruc the stand outs. Maybe the Boruc haters will calm down a bit now, he's a solid keeper. Villa look relegation bound from what I saw. Infact they looked a bit like us in 04-05, devoid of confidence and ready for the drop.

Firstly I'd be absolutely gutted if NA was offloaded. It would be a really shoddy way to treat the guy plus I believe he's our best insurance policy to get us out of the champ should we get relegated. Secondly I'd be pretty neutral to Di Matteo (whilst wishing him the best), he's an OK manager but not better than NA. He'd also need a certain amount of games to find his feet and we are running out of them. For that point alone I believe our chances of survival would reduce if he was to be brought in. Thirdly I just don't believe it is a good idea to change managers half way through a season especially when you are in as vulnerable position as us. For us to have a good reason to change now we'd have to have a total incompetent in charge and be able to bring in a much superior replacement. Point 1 is categorically not true and point 2 is highly debateable.

I like him, thought the way he took his goal against Chelsea showed class and as the season unfolds I've no doubt he'll get more of a chance. I'd like to see him play alongside Ricky, I think they would be a good combination.

No, we can get the 3 points and make another massive dent in Villa's fragile confidence. We need to go for the kill here.

Can't really look at DiMatteo's Chelsea tenure as the whole setup was on autopilot at the time. Better to judge him at West Brom and when compared to Nige I don't think he is any better. Gross is an odd one, wasn't exactly great last time he was in the prem. Best to keep Nige.

Oh come on, on here everything is Boruc's fault - didn't you know that? I quite like the nutty Pole in the goal, he might be a bit of an acquired taste but he does add a bit of colour to proceedings and will turn out to be a fine GK given half a chance IMO.

There's 3 points definitely up for grabs here and looking at the upcoming fixtures (gulp) what a big 3 points it would be. Their last 6 games (all competitions) are W 1, D1, L4 ; goals for 5, goals against 21 so their confidence should be nicely shattered. However whilst Villa are still my pick for relegation some of the comments on here show real hubris, sure they blow cold but they can also blow hot as their victory against Liverpool and their draw at Swansea show. Produce a QPR performance and we can win, do a Sunderland and it would be a draw at the very best. Just hope our own recent tonking hasn't had any mental effect.

You also have to look at the performances to get a better comparison. In 04-05 we were shambolic and looked like a beaten team. This time around we have a lot more belief about ourselves. In 04-05 I thought we were champ bound quite early, morale was so low and Harry was our 3rd manager just that season but this time we have more than a fighting chance. Just need to get that 17th place and it will be job done for this season. Not sure I agree that the prem is any weaker TBH. There are no mugs in this league and avoiding relegation will be a great achievement for me.

Probably a bit of both but with so many technically excellent Italian players we might as well use whatever advantage we have. Some of the players we are being linked to are of the calibre that we would never have dreamed of getting during our last premiership spell. All pretty exciting stuff.

Swap deal?

I have to be honest, Chelsea were magnificent and gave us an utter pummelling after 35 minutes. Yes, we played a weakened team but the mood they were in meant we would have gotten beat anyway regardless of lineup, that's just the way it goes. TBH I'm more gutted that we couldn't seal the wins against Stoke and Arse and that QPR got 3 precious points at their place because I can't see us getting anything out of them. Ba looks like he could be their own Van Persie. JRod showed some real class with the goal and Boruc showed enough to persist with him, the rest were pretty anonymous. On to Villa and a full strength team, 3 points are very much up for grabs.

Play your strongest team and go for it. If it looks like we are going to go out then sub key players early, they will have plenty of time to recouperate before Villa. We are no good after extended rests anyway.

With a run in like yours you've definitely got a chance, no doubt. If your confidence rises then I can see you getting a decent haul of points from the start of February onwards. As I've thought from the very start, there is going to be a real scrap at the bottom and I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Newcastle evn got sucked in.

Really not sure who is going to go down - as we saw last night anything is possible. Villa and Reading look the weakest but both are still capable of putting some results together. However I do think that we will need at least 40 points to escape and even then it's touch and go as I can't see 3 teams that will get less than 40 points. Last night just bolsters that feeling for me.

Before the match I'd have taken a point but I'm a bit gutted we didn't get all 3, Arsenal were having a real off day but we didn't quite manage to put them to the sword. Thought Gaston was a very classy attacking link, the lad is really finding his feet and will only get better. After his initial bout of nerves Boruc looked pretty assured too, I just hope he gets a proper run of games now. A point against Arsenal is nothing to be sniffed at but I can't help feeling it was 2 dropped.

Before last night he'd done 2 games in the last 6-7 months. He's obviously going to be rusty and the initial fumbles were probably a symptom of that. After those initial blips I thought he looked pretty assured and had a presence about him, something that the best GKs all have. What most reasonable fans are asking for is to give the guy a chance, you never know - he might turn out to be quite good. It would be tragic if we let a top class GK slip through our fingers due to impatience - especially when we are so lacking in this department.

Give him a chance, that was his first game for over a month and only his 3rd this season. He's bound to be rusty. I'll judge when he gets a good run just like Gazza did. I find it wierd that so many on here are itching to jump down his throat whilst Gazza got an amazing amount of slack.

Couldn't agree with you more, this whole GK situation is utterly bizarre. Boruc is our best GK yet for some strange reason he isn't getting any games. Gazza and KD can't seem to take advantage so we seem to be in eternal GK limbo land. If we aren't going to play the Pole then let him go and get a top quality keeper that we will play. GK was my top priority at the start of the season and is still my top priority now. With a decent guy between the sticks we would be 6-8 points better off and comfortable mid table now. Sort it out please.

DC was a great player for us and scored some important goals so I wish him the best of luck at Pompey and hopefully one day we'll be able to have another derby with them as its always a great occasion. Can't see it in at least the next 5 years though.

40 points for me and even then I'm not overly confident. I think there will be an almighty scrap from here on in to avoid that 3rd from bottom place.

Gutted not to have gotten the 3 points but can't complain really, we managed to get a point scoring one less than the combined tally of last 9 teams that have visited the Britannia. Performances like this are exactly what we need if we are to survive. All in all it was a good day at the office.

There's still far too long to go yet to have any confidence but I do think we'll be in the mix come the last day. Of the teams immediately around us Reading have a good '2nd half of the season' track record (as we know only too well), Harry will look to make some big changes to QPR so expect things to change there, Wigan are a tricky outfit that are well capable of escaping and Villa seem to blow hot and cold. Also Newcastle could lose Denba Ba so the goals could be hard to come by for them and Fulham are in a big slump. I also wouldn't rule out one of L'Pool, Wham or Norwich having a bad run and getting sucked in. If I had to put money on it I'd say Reading and Villa and any 1 from the rest (including us).

Kevin Strootman