S-Clarke

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.

He was late, the club dealt with it, he still played a part. End of story.

I was surprised at how vicious and intense the atmosphere was towards him. I expected some boos and a bit of a pantomime villain type of atmosphere, but it wasn't like that, it was quite horrible when he was being subbed. I don't think he deserved that to be honest and on the highlights, you could see he looked somewhat bewildered by what he was hearing.

I'd love to know what has happened to Tadic, he was providing that movement and the start and floated between the lines all game. He was a stunning player, but right now he looks as effective as Gaston. I think we're just too slow though, generally. We don't even utilise the pace we have. If you look at one of the free kicks yesterday, in the 2nd half I think, it was a decent delivery played in the box...but Durijic was too slow to react and it went out of play. Pelle isn't helping things by his constant overplaying and flicks, he needs to sort himself out. Do you know what I'd be tempted to do? Forster Clyne - Fonte - Toby - Bertrand Wanyama Morgan Mane Tadic Elia Long With Long, you've got someone who stretches the game and plays into the channels - which will open the space for the likes of Mane and Elia to exploit. Pelle doesn't give us that right now. He'd be a decent option off the bench but I think he's hampering our style at the moment.

Loads of twists and turns yet. I think we should just enjoy it before getting too downhearted, what a position and a race for us to be involved in! If we don't make it, so be it, but it's good fun to be playing up there with the big boys...

He's gone up a level for sure, it must help playing alongside someone as good as Fonte though. The guy is a rolls Royce.

We've put ourselves in an amazing position and I think it's incredible how well we've done, given all the changes in the summer. We've punched about our weight for sure, but I think this currently represents one of the best ever chances we will ever have of finishing in the Top 4, that's why yesterday has left me so frustrated as it would have been a massive, massive win if we got it. It's not over though, not by a long way. Just look at how tight it is from 7th upwards, it's ridiculous. 3rd and 4th are up for grabs, on history you'd say Arsenal will get one of those slots - but between ourselves, Utd, Liverpool and Spurs....I think it could be any, we'll all drop points between now and the end. I think our run-in, on paper, is really good....but this is the stage of the season where you often see bottom sides beating the top teams due to what's at stake down there, so there will be plenty of twists and turns. I think we're a good side, with a good foundation. The basis is still there, but we need to speed up the attack, and the front 3 need to get their heads into gear as they are not providing any movement of note. Liverpool didn't play well yesterday, but on the occasions they did attack...they attacked with pace and purpose. We don't do that, we pass the ball around so slowly that any gaps just close up, our midfielders are guilty of overplaying at times and our front 3 are currently guilty of being too static. At the start of the season, and even last season, we moved teams around but we just look so rigid right now in attack.

It's so easy to say that now, but this just seems like a pretty feeble reason to try and make themselves look less of a ****. They played our board, MP especially. Our board were naive at the start and I think we were caught a little bit surprised by how it all escalated. We got a handle on it eventually, but by that time all these greedy players sense their opportunities and made the most of it. And how unhealthy was the club if the players are here at the wim of a chairman? I don't like that, I think it creates a very fragile environment as we saw. Chairman come and go, but the club is still here. I think we need to ask who they played for....Southampton or Cortese FC? I have no time for either. They both could have stuck around and been patient, especially as Ronald Koeman was in charge before Lallana had even been sold. I will respect Adam for how he played for us through the leagues, he's one of the main reasons we are here right now. But I don't respect him for how he tried to instigated his move. It showed a lot of disrespect.