benjii

Lambert still has excellent games but he provides little impact against the better teams. Good squad player but we need better.

I actually agree - Barry and Carrick are the only two who compete with Cork really. No doubt Gerrard will play that position though and will constantly play stupid passes and give the ball away.

I'm with Art. Give Gallagher a run out but stick big Kenny Monkou up front and pump it forwards for the last ten minutes.

Lol. Thanks so much. #ITK

i think we always have targets, it's just a question of whether we decide to buy them or not in any given window. We are pretty certain to finish 9th or thereabouts so it was probably felt that we should give the squad the chance to develop until the summer as there was no point investing a load of cash to finish 9th more emphatically! With Ossie-gate, we have maybe accelerated on a target on the basis that it's now worth it overall to spend some money. i think we will be looking for a loan for Osvaldo with a permanent transfer obliged in the summer.

MP sounded pretty confident of a signing which makes me think it's a long-term target that we had lined up rather than an opportunistic swap or someone being hawked around late in the window.

Sadly, it's hardly a problem with the way he's been playing lately. We looked so much better night with a centre forward who can actually receive an offensive pass without killing the attack.

Does anyone think the Syrian champions from a couple of years ago will be crowing when the civil war ends? Perhaps the winners of the Rwandan Cup in 1993 look back fondly on the "great" year of the genocide when their adversaries were too busy hacking/ burning/being hacked/ being burnt to pit up a decent challenge? Apparently FC Hiroshima didn't lose many matches in 1945/45 season and are rightly proud of the fact. None of these losers have anything on mighty Portsmouth though who can look back with the utmost pride on seven years of pain, genocide and obliteration and know that they are, without a doubt, the world's most bestest trophy caretakers.

Some of the negativity on here is amazing. Personally, I am excited to see him tonight. Much more excited than I would be by the prospect of watching Lambert lumbering around and getting tackled or passing to a defender, as per usual whenever we play a decent team.

If we sell him for 18million Euro he would have turned out to be a pretty good signing TBF. Played in excellent results at Anfield and Old Trafford, scored important goals against Palace and City, sold for a profit, contributed to team bonding by giving the players a cause to unite around. Fair play.

Not a bad draw really. They have Man City away in the league on the Wednesday before (we play on the Tuesday) and they have Arsenal away in their following league match. They also have the League Cup final two weeks later. Can see them resting a few for our match.

Boruc Clyne Font Yoshi Shaw Cork Wanyama Morgan Lallana Guly Jay Rod Subs: Davis, Chambers, Hooiveld, Davis, JWP, Lambert, Gallagher

Sports Direct news is unmitigated ****e.

Utter guff. 9th it is.

Bear, you're a ****ing legend.

Somewhat alarmingly, Moyes seemed to think Fellaini was a top quality CM.

Not at all necessary. We are going to finish 9 th regardless.

I doubt it will have any effect on us finishing anywhere other than 9th to be honest. No point buying a centre back who might be a bit better than Jos or Yosh just because Lovren is out. Any centre back we do buy needs to be good enough to get in the first team when everyone is fit. In any case, Fonte and Yoshi should be fine as long as Boruc and Shaw are around. People seem to forget that we had a decent defence for much of last season without Lovren. If a CB is available who is at a similar level to Lovren then great. If not, it can wait to the summer. Three top quality recruits (GK, CB, AM) and no unwanted departures and we would be significantly closer to the top four IMO. As it is, we could sign just about anyone and it would be hard to close the gap on the likes of Everton and Spurs at this stage. Likewise, the teams below us have little chance of catching us.

Do you think Mr Wanda will keep him on?

Certainly would be a strange time of day to be getting non-critical medical news....!

Only because Lallana has stayed fit. If he gets injured or his form drops then with Gaston out as well we will have no creativity at all. In any event their position is one where there are effectively three players in the team, so we should have about six people competing seriously for those spots and it's an area*where we can certainly strengthen the first team IMO. Davis, JWP and Guly are steady but there is zero serious competition with Jay Rod and Lallana for a starting role in the supporting three. Over the summer, at least, we should be signing another creative/ explosive player regardless. We're fine at full back, striker (I have faith in Osvaldo) and centre mid. GK, AM and CB are where we need more competition.

My pick, assuming Lovren and Gas are out of the Arse game as well: Borat Chambers Font Yosh Fox Cork Morgan J Rod Lallana Guly Ozzie Bench: KD, Clyne, Jos, JWP, Big Vic, Lamberts, Reed/Isgrove/ Rowe

Based on this season's form he wouldn't be anywhere near the national squad. More bad games than good.

Despite being a skate and always seeming to have a blinder against us I've actually always had a bit of time for James. Seems like a decent bloke.

Liebherr's have invested about 50 mill at least. The purchase price plus 33mill loans converted to equity (effectively written off when you are the sole owner). Yeah, Cortese should've just popped down the bank and asked for 50mill for a high- risk football investment. FACEPALM