S-Clarke

Could have done with them staying in Europe for the run in. Bit of a bummer.

And it's really just as simple as that....

What is this guy all about??? Jeez, just retire. Surely we can sue him for gross misconduct? As I'm pretty sure he's been in breach of his contract a zillion times...

It'll be quite annoying to see our 2 full backs playing at Utd, but that's the name of the game and that's what we have to accept. We're a stepping stone club and will always be a stepping stone club. The hope is that we get a couple of top seasons from these players and they can get us into a position (like now) where we can attract decent level replacements. ...and there the cycle starts again.

Not just yet I don't think, will wait and see how he performs for barca over the next couple of years and what honours he wins, by all accounts he's had quite a slow start to his career there. And once he stops biting people...

In my mind there are levels of player - you've got world class, which includes the likes of Ineista, Messi, Ronaldo, Rodriguez, Kroos, Bastian S. , etc - players who have consistently performed at international, club and European level. They hold most of the major honours you could even earn as a footballer. Then you've got the next group down - the likes of bale, benzema, Aguero, Suarez, Di Maria etc The likes of Mane, Elia, Djuricic, Toby, Morgan etc are some way from that level and will probably never be world class. If we had a potential world class player in our side, they'd be long gone by now it pains me to say. - And they certainly wouldn't be offered to us on loan deals!!

They might as well not have broadcasted it at all, just a bit of a non-show. At least St Mary's looked good on it. I think we saw parts which would suggest it would have made a decent series, some good characters. but whatever.

I don't think they did a great deal to keep him as they couldn't offer him regular football. He did the same with Pique as you said, but I think that was more because he signed Jones and Smalling that summer. Still, not a great thing to talk about. Whops.

lol.

I know us fans like to have a good old moan and debate about the ref, but it says something when most fans of every team are having the same moans every week.....surely the top bods can see it? the standard is horrific right now. Not just ref's, but even the linesmen. Just basic technical errors such as not staying up with play, not being in line - basics for any referee. And what gets up my goat more than anything is that you can't critisie them, otherwise you get a fine (as Jose has found). I totally get his rant at the weekend, he can see it...and he's not stupid. The fact that 2 ref's have been dropped for this weekend says it all. You should not be in a position where you are dropping 2 top flight referees in a week, it screams that there's a problem right now.

It doesn't make any sense what so ever. If they've reduced it, then they obviously understand his reaction slightly to what was an horrific tackle. Yet they didn't punish the bad tackle.....so why has it been reduced? what's the reason? Just to keep Jose quiet? Staggering amount of incompetency and inconsistency among the associations and the officials these days.

Olsson isn't playing for them these days. Likely to be Dawson and Lescott.

That team just looks much better, that spine of Toby, Morgan, Vic is massive for us. Then as you said, we'd likely have Djuricic, Tadic, Long, Gardos, Yoshida, JWP on the bench. Then you've got the kids beyond that - Reed, Targett, Hasketh, Gallagher, Isgrove. The squad is looking a hell of a lot better and I'm still of the opinion that we have more depth than we did last year, once everyone is fit. We've got near enough a full starting 11 and bench of full internationals. That's impressive.

Lol @ Man Utd.

But that record is nothing to do with Forster trousers, nothing what so ever. He's crap, should be in L1 and Boruc is better. Get with the times and stop posting facts!!!

I think we saw the best from Tadic when he was predominantly on the left. He did have good games when he was deployed on the right, but he was much more threatening and 'cute' when coming from the left as it was his natural side, the downturn in form has coincided with his shift to the right (to accommodate Mane at the time). I know it seems the fashion at the moment to have wingers on their opposite sides so they can cut in etc, but I think a team is more threatening when you've got a natural left sider/right sider bombing down the flank and whipping a cross in. Bertrand is a great outlet for us on the left because of that. And I think when you're struggling for goals and struggling to break teams down, there's no harm going back to basics for a bit.

He was epic at Old Trafford, the ultimate CM performance. He struggled on and off with injuries and suspensions, so will be getting back into the grove soon. Massive to have him, Wanyama and Toby all back for the run in - a great spine.

In an ideal world the Barca interest is genuine, and we could potentially get another season out of him. I'd love it if he got a move there, and you'd have to say they are going to need to rebuild their midfield over the next year/18 months.

Do you have proof of that, or are you speaking waffle as per usual?

He was good at the start I thought, seems like a tricky customer, but he faded really badly to the point I forgot he was on the pitch. To be expected though given it was his first start. Looks to have ability though, we do have lots of attacking options now in Tadic, Djuricic, Mane, Elia, Long, Jay back at some point.....lots of competition and hopefully some raised performances from certain individuals.

I think our last one was from Toby up at Selhurst on boxing day.

Umm, yes.

Yeah, he went down too easily for the first. I didn't think that was a penalty on first viewing. The 2nd though...nailed on. Just infuriating that we didn't get that. The other call, the handball...again wasn't really a penalty I didn't think. The GK was lucky though, even though it touched his chest first...it still clearly went onto his hand and was pushed away due to that.....on another day, that could have had the same outcome as the Adrian incident. I think Elia should have done a lot more in the situation though.

Yeah that's what I mean, that chant was a bit OTT. What was the need for that? Don't get me wrong, I was expecting an atmosphere and a bit of a reception towards him as he was a **** in the way he left and the disrespect he showed. I just think it went slightly over the line on a few occasions. He couldn't handle the game though, he wasn't in it. He seemed to be playing on the edge as to not get noticed as he didn't want to hear the crowd.

We've conceded 18 goals this year, that would not have been possible if Fraser is as **** as some on here are suggesting. You can analyse every, single, goal if you want. I'm sure Lloris wouldn't be too happy with the goals he's let in in recent weeks, but it's clear he's still a good keeper. It's clear Forster is still a good keeper as well, you don't get to this stage with only 18 goals conceded with a **** GK between the sticks. Fact. We're just over-analysing something which doesn't even need to be analysed. And will some people please get out of Boruc's arse? He wasn't that good.