Window Cleaner

Which would explain why MP so desperately wanted a replacement for Cork and at that level of disapproval then you have to wonder why we didn't cover the position as well. No the problem here is JWP, he starts at DM when 2 of the 3 others aren't available but he really isn't good enough there, needs to be used further forward but Davis has made that role his own of late. Yesterday Mauricio turned them around after JWPs lack of presence for their first goal but it's didn't make much difference because Davis isn't all that good there either. The role needs players with exceptional defensive qualities and 4 players in that role isn't too much.

But he probably thought the gesture would mean nothing to the English and he'd get away with it footballing wise. The gesture was aimed at the French Government who as I say are considering banning Dieudonné from appearing in public. Anelka is much hated personality here for his part in the Knysna episode, the only one to have been banned from the French side permanently for it.

Are they not reviewing Anelka's case today ?

But is that what the only man who really counts wants, I mean a mid-table finish after last May's shennanigans with "the owners", do you think mid table is going to satisfy ambition like that. I really, really doubt it and am consequently concerned, do not forget I was of the few who saw the end of Adkins coming whereas the majority thought he was doing as well as could be expected in the circumstances.

The government here are trying to ban Dieudonné's shows, he's already been convicted of anti-semitism and incitation of racial hatred recently. The blacks love him, other people not so much. There is now a government enquiry into him. France is a powder keg, those of you outside it just cannot imagine how it is, rampant unemployment, merciless taxation to pay for benefits for people who've contributed nothing and never will, a totally useless president and the National Front running at nearly 30% for March's local elections with their lady leader in first place for the next presidential election if it were to happen tomorrow. Anelka knew what he was doing, the match was televised on Canal+ Sport (not a big audience) but every goal is shown all day every day on various channels so he knew his gesture would get noticed.

I'l happy as long as Nicola is happy, I just don't want to see a good manager sacked because of this youth policy that he's obviously had imposed upon him. To me it's a case of not spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar which continued reliance on garbage lke Fox amongst others might suggest is happening.

especially when trying to do it on bits with no snow. Schumacher hit a stone where there was very little snow and went ass over tit. He was skiing between domaines to avoid the riff raff in the ressorts I suppose.

Could be although I really doubt it, look at Everton yesterday Barkley isn't much older than our lads but he's already got 3 full caps. Young talent is good, top young talent is better.

Mauricio is a very good manager, question is can he get results with the club's youth first obsession.

What I am much afeared of is that NC looks at how someone he summarily sacked ( and I don't think he likes very much, just an impression) is doing with a squad that can't possibly have cost much more than ours, maybe even less, and the urge to react will well up in him. We're not there yet but we need to start winning some matches again, defeat against Chelsea will leave Mauricio with about 3 or 4 games to get good results I think.

he said he was staying here because we don't have the winter break so he probably is,yes.

he probably does yes, whether that will happen I just couldn't say.

those who saw the look on his face at the Spurs game might hazard a guess at what he expects, he was furax and showed it.

He expects the manager to give hm the results he wants, team management is the domain of the manager and his coaches and we don't have enough quality in reserve.

no but seriously DD the results are poor, Nicola judges on results. It's not something I'd like to see but the bloke is so totally unpredictable and single minded that it just wouldn't surprise me. I was absolute shocked by our performance against Spurs and when they showed images of NC on the TV you could see that he was as well, he looked dead flipping angry. I bet Mauricio got his ass kicked afterwards.

there's already a thread in the general sports I believe. Still when did that matter to people who think whatever they might have to say about anything totally un football related might interest everybody. Bloke has sking accident, happens all of the time, people die in the Alps every day but they're not former F1 drivers are they.

But has it really been a great season so far ? It was a very good start to the season but these last 6 weeks or so have been mediocre in terms of results. I'd be extremely surprised if Nicola is satisfied with our recent results, it just depends on where he's put the bar. To me we're not all that far away from another management change because our Chairman doesn't settle for average.

Playing home grown talent is all well and good, if it's good enough to get you where you want to go, I don't think it is that's all. For me if you have a young player on the bench he has to be able to offer something to the collective, if he's just sat there to look good and doesn't offer anything different then it's just a waste of space. Look at our young CBs, it was obviously judged that even senior players with niggling injuries were preferable to having them on the bench. Top clubs just don't do that so we have to decide whether we want to be a top club or just well liked because we give a lot of young lads their chance..or not. This is the advantage of seeing us from an outsiders view, every time the question of MS playing for France comes up (it did again on Saturday) the response from the football cognoscentii here is the same, needs to move to a better club and this s from people who know what you need to do to get selected, Saints are seen outside of Southern England as a brave little club punching above their weight and recent results have shown that to be about right.

9/10 is getting carried away, we've won one out of our last 8 games so something somewhere isn't quite right is it. Anyone in their right mind would point out our lack of decent squad depth and give us a 7/10 could do better. We have a team but we don't have a squad. Hull are just 3 points behind us and they've got a 7/10. To continue to talk of European football at this stage of the season is a bit nonsensical.

Probably ate a truckload of lobsters at Christmas and his allergy thing has flared up again. That's the trouble with food and environmental allergies, sometimes it takes a long time to pin them down exactly so that you know what you need to avoid completely.

they would have prevented the first goal as well, Coleman just walked round JWP, Shaw was nowhere and he had all the time in the world to crack it into the far top corner, you need to deny players that time and space because with these wobbly balls if they've the time to hit it correctly you'll be picking it out of the net come what may. Gaston's goal was the same, too much time, too much space and Wham Bam thank you Ma'am.

going forward yes although some of his final balls left a bit to be desired but on the defensive side he wasn't all that great. The solution is to sign a real left back and move Shaw forward to the position he will eventually be best in. You'll never be a great left back if you can't defend correctly. It would be a great option to have. JWP started at DML today but he was just awful at it, no surprise because he can't tackle and isn't very quick, then he went right and Cork moved left and in the end JWP and Davis ended up at DM, neither of them is really suited to that role.Why did we end up there then, because we had no realistic DM on the bench and Reed just seems to have been put there to please someone or other, never gets a game so what is the point of him being there at all. Reed is 19 next month so he really needs to be looking at getting some game time.

Well that's just to please the punters, I'm sure that when Nicola sees the results when depending on the academy it will soon change. He has 2 choices, either accept the pretty disastrous series of results that we've had since mid November which are probably totally due to injuries and suspensions to our principal players or get spending for young but experienced pros to get the club to where he wants it to be.

Swings and roundabouts, we've had iffy decisions that have gone our way as well.

of course Fox wouldn't have done any better, that's a no contest but Fox isn't the only alternative left back in the world. We need one and I'm sure that come the 31st Jan we'll have bought one, probably a starter.