benjii

If we assume that is absolutely true, by its own frames of reference I'm not sure how it translates to "screwed by this government"

I'm actually quite tempted by a trip to France next summer. With N Ireland, Wales, possibly Rep Ireland and England out there and it being ****-easy to get to it could be a right laugh. I'm glad these countries are qualifying. The Republic provided great entertainment at Italia 90 and USA 94. I went to a match at Sampdoria's stadium a few years ago and I vividly recalled watching the ROI / Romania pelanty shoutout there on the box when I was a kid.

Looks like team was: ---------------------Gazarrniggarr-------------------------- Mugabi---------Martina-----Caulker--------------Debayo -----------------Romeu-----Classie----------------------- Gaston-----------------Juanmi---------------Rodriguez -------------------------Seager------------------------- And the pen was a good tackle by Martina. I found it judicious.

Last time I went we actually stayed on Murano. It's a short ferry trip and there was a stop right outside the hotel. We stayed here: http://www.mgallery.com/gb/hotel-7353-lagare-hotel-venezia-mgallery-collection/index.shtml Very nice and new hotel. The restaurant and bar isn't cheap but is commensurate with hotel prices in London, for example. They will send their own water taxi to pick you up from Marco Polo if you're flying into there. There were a couple of decent places to eat on Murano (it is small); a small local restaurant and a nice pizzeria. As you note, tourist prices can be a joke around St Mark's Square... 10+ euros for a coffee, anyone? Look round the square and the basillica but take a short walk for your refreshments! That said, you don't have to go far to find "normal" prices. For eating, places where locals go will be best and won't take the **** like the tourist-aimed places will. Obviously if you want to go somewhere high-end then have a look on Tripadvisor and see what you like the look of. We went to a restaurant called Osteria Alle Testierre (I think). Nice but v small and quite expensive. Don't bother if you don't like fish or haven't booked ahead! The Doge's palace is worth a visit, along with the Murano glass factories and some of the other smaller islands but, as others have said, it is an interesting enough place to just wander around in and hop on and off the water busses from time to time. Gondola's are expensive and, frankly, I wouldn't relax on it enough to enjoy it any more than a water-bus ride. You should definitely check if flooding is likely when you are there and if it is take some wellington boots. I'm not joking, you don't want to be tetering around on the little tables they lay out and if you buy the plastic shoe covers then your feet will stay dry but you will become rather hot and sweaty and may knacker your shoes from the humidity anyway. Ugg boots beware. We went at the end of January and there was a good 18 inches or more of water in St Mark's square. I would suggest the chances of finding a noisy nightclub are slim to non-existent! It's a unique and atmoshpheric place. Enjoy!

I think he is just as good as, if not better than, Forster. I would be delighted if we signed him and Forster got back to fitness - we'd have two decent GKs for the first time in donkey's years.

He's not as good as Bale but apart from that he is probably as good as anyone since MLT.

Agreed. Long is a much better option. And Jay Rod deserves a fine/rest for that stupid haircut as well.

The Falco/Stek incident wasn't even a foul anyway; the ref got that one right. So Mourinho's a double ****.

Eamonn Holmes is an ignorant, obese ****. I thought everyone knew that.

I was one of the early users of Facebook I think. Back then, you needed an email address with a higher education suffix to register (.ac.uk, for example). It was a social network, not a dumping ground for the empty minds of the great unwashed. I no longer use it. If I was single I would though, for accessing flange.

Really? I reckon she seems filthy. Lovely stuff.

If only I was 35 years older, I could have watched.

I understood fully his use of the advantage rule and it's nice to see refs doing it properly. However he gave a lot of fouls incorrectly and the penalty, ironically, was a complete failure to consider advantage. His main saving grace was that he was conservative with the cards or we could have ended up in a spot of bother with the amount of dodgy free-kicks he gave against us.

Yes, that's correct. His body shape was wrong for a tackle. It was a block. Poor decision by the ref, especially as they scored about one and a half seconds later!

Our corners are interesting. Some matches we constantly hit outswingers (with the odd short one) and other matches we constantly hit inswingers. I'm not sure if this is designed to keep the oppo guessing or if we adjust based on the oppo's perceived weaknesses. All I do know is that if JWP is on the pitch and we have a left-sided corner, the inswinger always looks dangerous. We should have had a penalty from a corner yesterday as well. I voted Bertrand for MotM. To play near the top of his game following his injury was very impressive. The way he manipulates the ball and creates angles with running and passes is streets ahead of Targett. I hope Targett is watching him closely because Targett will need to add these skills to his game. I thought our pressing was good yesterday. We let them have the ball in the last 30 minutes or so but the game was basically won by then. In the first half we were aggressive with Davis, Tadic, Mane and JWP closing down well. You can see why Koeman us slightly loathe to deploy Romeu and Wanyama simultaneously because their tendency to play deeper means we lose that ability to hunt in packs - to press you need to work together. It's going to be intriguing to see how we set up when Classie is fit. Pelle had another good game. He won the ball so easily and normally used it well. Onwards and upwards!

If you're going to play the Estonia Prospect Variation (ratified) then you're leaving the door wide open for Shatner's Bassoon reversal. On that basis, Cockfosters! Get out of that without opening a straight double reverse!

What a pen!

I forgot Bertrand might be available so he could go on the bench instead of McCarthy.

VVD obviously had a tight hammy or something towards the end on Sunday so I would not bother him for this one at all. Likewise Targett went off injured so I don't see the point in playing him. Fonte needs to play himself into some better form so I would go with him and Caulker at CB and Martina and Soares at full-back. I like Soares and would not have left him out against Man U. Yoshida on the bench to cover all positions across the back. On the basis that I'm giving VVD and Targett a rest then if we feel we have to have another defender on the bench it can be one of the U21s. I would play Gazza in goal. If Stek gets injured he will be called upon and it's no good suddenly expecting a player who has hardly played to step right in. In midfield I would leave out Wanyama. He is important to us and I don't want him picking up a yellow card in this match. Romeu and Davis or JWP ought to provide a perfectly good platform against a second tier side. Rest Pelle and let Long or Jay Rod start centrally. The other can play wide. That leaves two positions. I would have Tadic and Mane on the bench in case they are needed. Juanmi must get a start, I want to see what he can do. I would play Davis or JWP in the other vacant position. That gives something like: ----------------------------------Gazza--------------------------- Soares---------------Fonte----------------Caulker-----------Martina ------------------------Romeu--------JWP-------------------------- --Davis-------------------------Juanmi-----------------Rodriguez-- ----------------------------------Long--------------------------------- Perfectly decent team if the players actually show up for 90 minutes. Bench: Davis, Yoshida, McCarthy, Reed, Tadic, Mane, Seager/Pelle

And a Tadanari Lee goal, to boot. Gazza was excellent in that match. He didn't have much goalkeeping to do but he strolled around nonchalantly, took an age over goalkicks and supplied exactly the right amount of Latino swagger to look faintly ridiculous and competent at the same time. Cracking stuff. It was Shaw's first start but he had previously played against Milwall in the FA Cup (so I think that would be his "debut"). Talking of dodgy defences, Danny Fox played centre back in that match against Milwall and looked much better than at full-back!

---------------------Gazza--------------------------- Cedric------Fonte----Caulker-------Martina -----------------Romeu--Davis-------------------- JWP--------------Juanmi---------------Rodriguez ------------------------Long------------------------ Bench: KD, Yoshi, Reed, Mane, Pelle, Seager, Tadic

I think there's some truth in this. Fonte is well below his best so far this season.

Strange game indeed. We played well for about 40 minutes in total and were a tactical mess for most of it but, all that aside, we would have won without an individual howler and a great goalkeeping performance. The fact that Man U will finish third or fourth shows how ****e the quality of the Premier League is again.

Yes, I agree about Koeman. The first part of my last sentence was in the past tense: "we needed...". That is why Koeman was a great appointment. If we have another couple of seasons in mid/upper table in the Prem it won't be so important as long as we have a manager who engages players and sells or supports a coherent and attractive footballing vision. We were linked with Tuchel previously, for example, who went to Dortmund. He isn't a giant of the game but he was considered promising enough for a massive club like Dortmund. Likewise, Swansea have recruited well under Monk. You don't always need a "big name" but I think a "big name" was perfect for us last summer with the upheaval we had to endure. It reassured the fans and, probably, the remaining players.

I agree. I think Koeman was the right man for the right time but I would like us to go for a manager with a more defined football philosophy next time. I think our team is lacking a little identity. Pochettino was too inflexible but he had a clear vision. I think Koeman is more of a pragmatist (the long ball fiasco against Midgetland being an example of false pragmatism). We needed someone experienced with the gravitas to bring in some good signings but I think after next season we should go for a younger manager with an emphasis on attractive football.