S-Clarke

One thing you can say from the start of the season, Villa and Reading have looked complete dross most weeks. Very little flair, very little technical ability and very little quality. Our front 4 will cause anyone trouble, that's been proven in every single game this year. Our main achilles heal has obviously been our defending, but you can't argue with the quality we've shown over the course of the season in the final third. On tonights showing, we're at a different level to these 2 sides in that respect.

TBF if SDR can win player of the season in the dutch league, then it can't be that good.

I generally think Yoshida has been excellent in the last 2 games. Very composed, reading situations very quickly and reacting with the right decicions. If he has a weakness it would be his lack of physical presence against big strikers, and that his headers don't always have great distance on them - but generally, in terms of his all round game, he's improved as the rest of the side have improved. Will be interesting to see how he plays vs Holt...although I expect Fonte will be giving the instructions to mark him. I also agree that Fonte's game has come on with Maya alongside him, and we're now starting to see the fonte we all know and love. What that blip was about last season though, baffling.

There will be no problems what so ever.

will be the chelski game I expect. Rubbish game, but new manager etc. who was actually roundly booed at ko by the Chelsea fans

Fonte has probably been our best CB this year.

APP3 and the other companies do pay $$$$ to be shown a certain amount of times per game though, so that needs to be taken into account as well.

As premature it is to write us off after losing games, it's also premature to say we're on the way up after 2 wins against shoddy opposition. We're on the right track, things are improving, but we're still in a dog fight.

The big screens just take the TV feed of the game, so that will include replays, close ups and the like. The club have control of the advertisement splashes though, which is why you often see a ''controversial'' replay covered up.

He's in the JWP category of looking a hell of a lot older than he actually is - has a bright head on the guy, reads the game well, quick off the mark and defends very well. Very rarely did a player get the wrong side of him. He'll have tougher tests than the last few games, that's for sure, but for a 17 year old lad he's got a bright future.

He's a young lad, he will make bad calls, but it's hard not to see the obvious quality he has in there. Very talented, but still raw. Not worth chopping and changing him, he needs to learn and grow. We didn't pay £2.5m for a bench GK.

These sort of performances have been building since the WBA game, in my opinion. In that game we went back to basics, and even though we lost, we had a new solidity and organization about us. We've carried that same method into the upcoming games after that and got our rewards. As a team we are tighter, we are quicker off the mark, we read situations quicker and we're quicker to cover for other players. Generally it looks like the entire team have grown up. A hell of a lot is down to us having Ramirez available though, the bloke is just unbelievably good. Amazed he's playing for us, we should be very, very grateful we get to see a player of his quality grace St Mary's....for us! Also, obvious credit has to go to Cork. He see's and plays the easy ball, might sound plain and boring - but it keeps possession. He's also bloody good at reading the game, and has so much energy that it's transformed that defensive side of our midfield. For the majority of the season our attacking play has been quality, that's the one area where the team has delivered this year - we just couldn't defend as a unit, we couldn't get the balance correct. We now seem to have cracked that, and we defend well in units and attack well in units - it was good to watch us today, a well drilled, disciplined and organized performance. I think in a way we've been fortunate with the last 2 games, because we've faced 2 teams on their arses - but we've caught them off guard and battered both of them it has to be said. Wednesday will be a different proposition, Norwich have been playing well and have a new found defensive resolve about them as well. Obviously it's a game we need to be winning, but it can't be taken for granted. This month was a huge month for us, and it has to be said - we've delivered.

Will be interesting to see how fit Cisse and Jonas actually are, they were both rated 50/50 for this and have probably been rushed back just to make up the numbers.

Wigan win

norwich equalise, balls

Ruddy injured for Norwich

2-2 wigan/reading

Reading were winning when i posted that

Wigan equalise, that's more like it

This is a pretty rubbish day for us as it stands.

And for me, that game was the start of an upturn for us. We looked much more of a team that night, and even though it was pretty comfortable for WBA, it wasn't the massacre many were suggesting it would be, and we actually competed well. So in the grand scheme of things, that performance wasn't that bad at all.

That's an important point....most teams struggle in the weekend games, if it's the same as the European squad. But most teams would have the ability to tweak it around so it isn't too problematic in the league game...but Newcastle can't do it at all. They will be without all their key players down the spine of their team, and they will be exhausted (and the European game was away...) I would agree with everyone else s view, there is never a better time to play them. If we can't beat them with this lineup then we'll never beat them. Stranger things have happened though, but with our new found confidence and their poor form, it's kind of pointing in the right direction...

They are on a different planet to us.

Wow, they really will be stretched. That's a big chunk of their spine ripped out.

Quality news, will be an england player in time.