S-Clarke

Oh well, probably now a pub keeper then!

That Sunderland game killed it for me, if I'm honest. He had no interest, no intention and no care about that game. The selection showed it and the attitude of the management and players showed it. We could have easily achieved a Hull City last season and reached the final, easily, but it would have required a manager who gave a damn.

He was released last summer I think, after his ridiculous 5 year contract. He's now on loan at Dartford town from Chelmsford, even they can't find a space for him. He was never a proper full time pro to be honest, just a part time pub player who somehow happened to find himself at a resurgent club. Lucky is one word for it!

They've had a fall from grace, that's for sure. They looked a decent bet for L1 promotion back then. Eastleigh have had an amazing rise themselves though, would be very interesting to see if they get promoted (tough ask, tbf) and end up playing the skates.... But if anything it shows you how quickly the football landscapes can change, as quickly as you can rise, the rug can get pulled from under you in double quick time. Just enjoy what you have rather than continuously wishing for more.

Burnley had a very average championship team who performed way above expectations last year. They've supplemented their squad with more average championship players. It's only going to end one way.

Jeez, your criteria for a striker must be totally beyond the realms of reality. You've just listed out all attributes which any supporter would want to see in a target man, yet you don't like him. Very odd, but entitled to your opinion.

He will frustrate and will bring 32,000 collective sighs in most home games...but he can do something randomally out of the blue. Such a good option to have, I'm not even sure he knows where he's going sometimes! Plays in a similar way to Yannick Boalsie at Palace, but seems to be up a notch ability wise.

How can you not warm to Pelle? He's everything you want in a target man. Can you tell me exactly what you think he should be doing? He wins a fair bit in the air as well, holds it and brings others into the game.

Horrendous WUM attempt. 0.5/10 and that's being generous! Need to try harder next time.

Yeah, they have a European game. That's why we play them on Sunday, 2pm KO I think. To be fair though, MP totally changes the team for the Europe games, so won't make much of a difference.

The thing that strikes me about Spurs is that they lack any real goal threat. Lots of passing and movement, but little punch. If we can frustrate and squeeze them in the middle, then I think we can catch them on a few breaks. I think it'll be a draw though if I'm honest.

Once he gets one, they'll flow. He makes the right moves, gets in the right positions, but seems to scuff his shots at the moment. Probably just a confidence thing. But you can't fault his work rate, he's putting himself up there and it'll come in the end. He's never really been that prolific anyway, and I don't believe he was signed purely for goals.

I don't think we're that far away from Everton if I'm honest.

Such a player, when you look for a player to play the role he's occupying....you look for all the attributes he has. Strength, mobility, a bit of pace off the ground, technical ability, assured touch, good head, good brain. Good hair He's just got everything you'd want for a player leading the line. At £8m we did one hell of a deal there. But at the end of the day, a goal scorer is a goal scorer. Leauge 1, NPC, Erendivse, La Liga. If they're as prolific as Pelle and Lambert, they'll score goals at any level given the service.

Chambers quite easily has had the better of experiences so far. For the others....grass isn't always greener, but at least the wallet is bigger.

That was probably one of our most impressive wins. I didn't think QPR played badly, I thought they offered a fair bit during that game - especially in the 2nd half, and we had to dig really, really deep to ground that one out - it showed different ingredients than we've seen in recent weeks, as it's not always about closing out 4-0, or 3-1 wins. Pelle has come into his own now, leads the line like an expert and is technically stunning with the ball. He's strong, mobile, not too slow either....and causes utter cahos for everyone. I could watch that goal over and over again, because it was a thing of sheer beauty. As I said after the Arsenal game, Mane is just a bundle of fun. He will frustrate, he will get bums on the edges of seats, he'll bring out 32,000 sighs of anguish during games.....but he'll cause chaos and havoc, it doesn't always come off...but you need players like him in and around the squad so you have an alternative option. I've been impressed with his first 2 games. Fonte was a leader, everything on the line. Organised, pushed them up, lead by pure example. He is more of a captain than Lallana ever was or ever will be - I was never happy with him being captain if I'm fully honest, seemed a statement thing rather than anything good for the team. Overall, amazingly 6 wins out of 6.....we've already bettered sequences of form from last season. We have an outstandingly professional, organised and passionate group - with a sprinkling of sheer sparkle in the right areas. The right ingredients for a fair amount of success. Well done Koeman, you're turning into a bit of a genius.

Jeez, this Karma stuff is true!

I've never really taken to the Tadic makes lallana look **** chant, it's just, well, ****! The ''dusan, tadic'' chant is immense, I think. It was epic hearing that on the way out of emirates and the surrounding area's.

Yeah, that does seem slightly pointless? Will have to see how that actually works over the coming years.

It could well catch up with him eventually, but he's always played lots of games each season looking at his records...so we'll have to see how he copes in this league. I do have to wonder what the hell is going on with Gallagher though? It's just a wall of silence from the club, it must be quite a bad injury? He was in and around the squad last season and has now vanished off the radar for what I can only assume is to be an injury (may have missed something official on that?) But he's the only player who can do a similar type of job as Pelle, but we do have alternatives - more so than last year I think.

You got a bit of a bargain there! Very solid buy. Where was that bundle out of interest?

Yeah, the impression I got from Koeman is that he'll start - in fact I think he's been chomping at the bit to pick him. He's obviously fully fit as he's been playing regularly for Senegal in the last few weeks as well, so fitness isn't an issue. I'd stick with him, rather than bench him....but play him from the left from the start, he looked a little unsure on the right. (and isn't he a natural left sider anyway?)

Not clear cut though, to be honest. I thought he should have put one in against Arsenal, but his overall game is what's improving. His touch, movement and general 'target man' play is coming into the fore and it's making us a pretty formidable attacking outfit. I reckon he'll finish with somewhere between 10-15 goals, which is a fair return I reckon.

Slightly more confident now. Mutch, Barton and Sandro, Kranjcar and Taarabt all unavailable for this one according to their forums. And they're all predicting 5-0 / 7-0 losses for them. Quite a happy bunch.

Yeah, at this stage you can kind of map out a route and it looks likely that we'll have to play a City or a Chelsea to get to the final. But we beat Arsenal on their own patch, so who knows what could happen here. I think a result such as the one we had will give belief to everyone, If we're as pumped up as we were on Tuesday, then we'll sort out Stoke - no worries.