Legod Second Coming

Hmm. Why didn't the incumbent management think of that...

Thank God someone else was watching the same game.

Same way I felt when Theo was sold, and Bale and Shearer I guess. A mixture of pride and disappointment. But with any luck it needn't come to that just yet. Certainly, despite having next to no income right now, I shall still be going on Wednesday and sticking my £30 in to delay it as long as possible! Until then though, I shall just enjoy the lad. After all, I could get knocked down by a bus tomorrow. And what good would worrying about it do? All it would do is stop me enjoying watching. And frankly, with the world economy falling apart, I could do with some more meaningless fun.

Not suggested by me, but I'm fairly confident the funding involved in music has changed in the past two decades... certainly EMI are not the company they were then - having been sold to private equity...

Gotcha!! Well, my gut feel - FWIW - is actually that all bar four/five clubs will be in our boat within two years... And I'm an optimist!!

So ring them up and ask them to invest... What on earth makes you think a single entity in the world WANTS to buy our club but has failed to have it pointed out to them?? Most billionaires (I would have thought) don't have the cash - they have property, shares and equity the value of which has been diminishing rapidly for months and it's getting worse. Hardly the basis on which to then spunk away more of your kid's inheritance on a football club?? There's only so many Abu Dhabi's - the rest like Gillet and Hicks have borrowed the money and are now in trouble, having to refinance their debts and putting off the new stadium. Even Ashley simply can't afford football and the guy was worth a billion (just). So, what's Plan B if there is no billionnaire interested??

Not marking Blackstock. Was that the role he was given? By whomever was 'supposed' to be organising the defence?? I have been to football games where I've blamed the person whom I think is at fault, only to have professionals tell me I'm wrong because so and so had been allocated to do something else. Yes, looked to me like James was at fault, but no more so than the entire defence who were simply not well drilled enough to deal with a set-piece.

Funnily enough we are using the same system as Arsenal on a smaller scale so I would say there is a model we can follow. The alternative is what?? Wander around Wall Street or Dubai City with a bucket and a prayer?? I love all this: "we need an investor" approach. Well from where?? Has anyone else noticed the world's fourth largest investment bank going bust today?? And these guys like Fulthorpe? All talk and no action because there is simply no way to raise the finance any more. So we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. At least we're trying to build a team for the future. It might fail. Well spunking £7million on Burley did a great deal of good too...

I didn't say they were doing anything of the sort yesterday. But we need full-backs who look up and use the ball, not a return to the dark days of watching Wright get skinned by one-legged wingers with arthritis thanks...

Not in my book, depends what you want from a player. I think you could call James culpable for the free kick which led to their off-side goal. Other than that, he gave 100% and struggled against Lee Cook - arguably one of the best wingers in the division. Cook would have left Wright for dead - every time.

And until that point, you had a persuasive argument... Wright was at best pedestrian and with no capacity to use the ball wisely. I liked and admired his attitude immensely, but not his ability. He would be as much use in this team as a propellor on Concorde. There are experienced players who might fit our methods, he ain't one.

Hmm, apart from Parejo. He was woeful and subbed - and rightly so according to the 3,000 QPR fans sat around me!

In my view if you're good enough, you're old enough. Nothing to do with age. It should be about ability. Do we have too much 'youth' in our team, or simply lack sufficient ability? Are we being undone by seasoned pros? Or simply being undone by better talent? I still dispute totally the idea we are not strong enough or somehow lightweight. We controlled long periods of yesterday's game, weren't ever muscled off the ball but were struggling to deal with Delaney and Cook's width - something that most teams struggle with. What we lack is organisaton at the back - that much is abundantly evident. Whether that needs old heads or better drills, I think is open to significant debate. What I do know for asbolute certain is that we were no better organised at the back last year with a number of affordable experienced players.

I personally think people need to 'blame' someone. I think we were an appaling lino decision away from an intriguing last twenty minutes.

Good times?

But the money doesn't necessarily exist to sort out our long-term health. There's only so many Abu Dhabi's in the world. So what happens, we get another Wilde/Crouch?? Local people who think they are doing us a favour but don't have the REAL wealth necessary. Or some foreign owner who suddenly finds all his wealth has vanished with Lehman brothers. You know AIG are about to go bust leaving Manchester United without a shirt sponsor??? If the world were overflowing with wealth we might have a squeak of someone thinking we were a prospect. But I give SISU a couple of months before their trying to sell Coventry to anyone at any price. There is ONE cast-iron way of saving this club. To make it sustainable in its own right. Old fashioned? My arse. You wait. We're simply one of the first to work out that white knights have a habit of turning into white elephants...

Precisely, Sir. Events unfold based on previous events. Their goal is chalked off for off-side. We take a goal kick, different mentality, different attitude. Football, like history, is not linear, it's unfolding like a Lotus leaf. We do not know what might have been, only what was.

Perhaps in November when the manager might have had a dozen games to see what the REAL potential of this team is?? Is that fair? Of course, we could judge him now and start again... And then what?? The Russian Revolution at Chelsea with all its millions still took more than five games - two seasons from memory (a season and a half for sure). If doing the right things, working harder and sticking to your principles is a recipe for failure, then I'm not sure how anyone succeeds for any time, with any credit and with any pride in their achievement. WHEN these boys succeed and I sincerely believe they will (and I measure success accordingly), I will take more heart and joy from that than from scraping by with mercenaries or a trophy room full of the spoils of wealth.. But that's just me. Because I value effort above everything I guess.

After a little time to reflect, my assessment is not as gloomy as some. True, we need to find a settled back four - upside, we finally agree Kelvin is the best keeper in our squad and (perhaps because he is now an 'elder') is starting to look more responsible (if not quite the commanding presence of a Friedel). I don't subscribe to the view we need a 'Darren Moore' - that would totally undermine the way we play. YES, we need to be more effective in the air and to organise the defensive structure better. But Cork/Wotton/Perry/Lancashire need to be tried to find a partnership that works. Or we find another ball-playing CB who only hoofs when absolutely necessary. Disribution from back to front was good. Even later in the game when KD went long it was much better than recent efforts. The midfield yesterday worked tirelessly and for long periods of the first half (even down to ten men) controlled the game. The understanding is there - it's a shame there was not an eleventh man to pass it too. As for the lone-striker, it didn't create enough chances in the first half but was starting to show some semblence of pulling us back into the game (Lallana great opportunity straight at keeper, two headers over from good crosses) when the sending off spoiled it. What our goal showed is HOW we should be scoring and attacking at pace, in numbers on the deck. Too often before and after, though, we found good scoring chances and failed to shoot to test what looked a dodgy keeper. It is hard to be too down when we were forced to play with ten men for so long, and when (having got back into the game) we concede a silly free-kick (again, and must be looked at at!), we defend it really well - stepping out, moving around to play their man off-side and a guy scores from a yard and half off-side position... Football matches are won and lost on wafer-thin margins (irrrespective of the score-line) and the timing could not have been worse for us. I don't want to make excuses and they can wear pretty thin, but this was really, really poor timing, threw us mentally and kicked both the team and fans in the nuts - you could tell. From then on, chasing the game, we were always likely to conceded a third - the fourth for good measure when the defending, tired and disorganised by this point, allowed Blackstock and Ageymong to dominate. I don't want to sound like Norman Lamont, but the people who cannot see green shoots from the game are, in my view, myopic. IF this team can stay together and continue to learn (and we can sort out the CB pairing), they will beat many teams in the league. To judge them harshly with ten men against twelve is just harsh. 100% effort is what I saw from my vantage point. With long periods of dominance, flashes of brilliance and some poor defending. It's far easier to take eleven players willing to give 100% and get them to work on their defeciencies than it is to take eleven players who couldn't give a to55 and get them to work. Our aim must be (and has been explained) as building for the future. No team was built in five league games - none. Will it be torn apart come January?? Well, that's not a problem between now and then is it. AND it IS now and then where the focus is. So, I will be back on Wednesday watching these lads again - because finally, I only have a score-line to moan about - not about the effort, attitude and commitment of my team - which is first rate.

Wouldn't be so sure Phil. Lallana was everywhere and Spiderman had a very quiet game by recent standards. Lallana was running the midfield but his footwork around the box was just sublime on occasions. He would hold the ball up and run rings around their midfield then lay a pass off to the wings. He really, genuinely reminded me of Stevie G today - no bias, just pure class.

Saganowski? Really? You were watching last season?? Not the one before when he didn't have a contract...

ah, my bad Phil. Agreed 110%

Adam Lallana. How fecking good is he?? I had the (mis)fortune to be sat on the halfway line and watched his footwork, again and again. He is incredibly talented with both feet, has superb vision and really does look the business. To me, he looks a young (but better footed) Steve Gerrard - seriously!!

Thomas yes, the others... the word erratic was created for them.

LOL!!! Not today friend no!