shurlock

He's unphased about most things - at any rate, he didn't think their pen was a pen.

Bristol City - f**king hate them and the town. But they're not even close to displacing the skates. The blind will see and the lame will walk before they go out of existence. And I don't have a problem with being in different divisions and rarely playing them - that's what makes the derby so special.

By their standards, perhaps; but its an odd definition of purposeful football. Most of their chances came from corners/setpieces while Vaz Te's early shot came from a hoof which Jose/Jos failed to clear.

Agree with most of that, though I don't think Lallana was a 9. Big fan of his but he's not really threatening. We don't have natural pace in the side which makes it more important that we move the ball early and not dwell on it or take too many touches. Adam's guilty of that. One passage of the play in the first half when Richardson cleared the ball down the line (our left), Lambert kept it in and linked well with Sharp, with support players pouring down the middle showed what incisive football is really about.

Deluded hammers saying that Sharp went down holding his face as if he had been hit when the photo only shows Taylor with his hands on Sharp's neck

Not to mention he came sprinting over to do it.

Cardiff didn't outplay us - we were very unlucky up there. Reading should have beaten us; but generally our worst performances have come against the strugglers.

Nobody was singing those cringeworthy south coast brazil chants (IMO we are quite direct). The chant was a good, off-the-cuff respnse to their smug "only 10 men" chant - whether they played hoofball last night is neither here or there - with 10 men, they were probably clearing rather than hoofing the ball. Still there's no doubt they've gone long under Sam (something the vast majority of their fans are uneasy about, accepting it as a necessary evil) - hence why the chant touched a few raw nerves -and from where I was provoked the biggest reaction from them all game.

Are you serious???? 6 games and all the other teams -except Brum- are playing each other twice - from our perspective, that's as good as it gets; while teams like Brighton (3rd), Burnley (6th) and Ipswich (8th) are up there in the form table and will be no pushovers.

Agree Morgan had a good game - everything went through him and he looked for the forward pass more times than not. Cork was probably the weak link. Jos was excellent, though his ballwatching nearly let Maynard in at the end (it was never KD's ball). Still think Lallana is flattering to deceive - is looking better and is twisting and jinking again but its not particularly threatening.

Not quite the whole goal but about 2/3rds of it (probably too close to dink it over the keeper). Still he was only a couple of yards out and it was probably easier to sidefoot it straight (from which he would have scored).

Yeh, I'd go along with that, though it was also a case of repeating old patterns i.e. too many aimless, deep crosses, overelaborating on the edge of their box only to turn away from goal. We didn't make enough use of Fox who was working good positions all night and Sharp was virtually anonymous in the 2nd half whereas at least he moved the CBs around in the 1st.

Strange old game - a tad disappointed with the result but pleased that WHU are firmly within our sights again -and they've got some banana skins coming up while we are finding some form. Dunno what I would have rather had -the pen or the extra man; but those few mins changed and possibly killed what would have been an interesting contest. WHU started the brighter and were very dangerous from corners, if little else. Faubert, in particular, missed a sitter. Meanwhile we looked tentative- Cork seemed like a rabbit caught in headlights in the early stages. Clearly the pen changed things- looked a harsh decision from the away end - the fact that the ref/lino had given a handball to us a few mins earlier when their player was turning his back might have played in his mind. Anyway, Taylor f**ked up royally - as close to a freebie as they come. While he raised his hands out of frustration rather than malice, he gave the ref little choice. Other than that, the ref had a c*ntish, niggly game, blowing for cheap free kicks which probably suited WHU. Their lot was incensed by Kelvin's challenge on Cole; but it was six of one and half a dozen of the other and in those circumstances, the keeper usually gets the benefit of the doubt. After the sending off we took control. IMO we were more dangerous and incisive during that spell than the second half. Sharp was very narrowly offside when put through and then missed an absolute sitter. I wouldn't put the save down as a worldie simply because Sharp side-footed the ball back into Green rather than straight or away from him. Anywhere else and it would have been a goal. He also hesitated on another chance after Lambert had a shot tipped. Lambert then went narrowly wide with a free-kick. Interestingly, we created most of our chances in the 1st half by gambling and taking the shot on. We enjoyed the majority possession in the 2nd half but we didn't create enough. The deep crosses were too predictable -reminiscent of Cardiff- and while Green was excellent from crosses, he didn't have to make a save. Lambert was well-marshaled -sometimes by three of their players- and we didn't have a plan B. Punch looked good when he came on but we didn't flood the box enough with pace or Chaplow-type late runs. That's not to be too critical: we were the only likely winner. What WHU did create came from intercepting and breaking on our casual passes in needless areas. Cole was excellent early on but tired as Fonte and Jos who were both excellent did a good job of toying with him. Fox was also had a good game - got much further forward tonight than usual while Morgan looked very classy, spreading the play well. Cork was less impressive and Hammond perhaps should have come on earlier. As well as his misses, Sharp's play as a whole was rusty; but its still early days. I'd rather in our position than WHU's - would not want to watch their brand of hunger football. And its not even clear that the means are justifying the ends. The huge gamble they're taking to get promoted this season is only going to make fat sam more risk-averse and that's going to mean many more games that will turn on a knife edge and could easily go the wrong way. There's plenty to play for and while we're not firing on all cylinders yet, we're looking very resolute and difficult to beat.

Strange old game - a tad disappointed with the result but pleased that WHU are firmly within our sights again -and they've got some banana skins coming up while we are finding some form. Dunno what I would have rather had -the pen or the extra man; but those few mins changed and possibly killed what would have been an interesting contest. WHU started the brighter and were very dangerous from corners, if little else. Faubert, in particular, missed a sitter. Meanwhile we looked tentative- Cork seemed like a rabbit caught in headlights in the early stages. Clearly the pen changed things- looked a harsh decision from the away end - the fact that the ref/lino had given a handball to us a few mins earlier when their player was turning his back might have played in his mind. Anyway, Taylor f**ked up royally - as close to a freebie as they come. While he raised his hands out of frustration rather than malice, he gave the ref little choice. Other than that, the ref had a c*ntish, niggly game, blowing for cheap free kicks which probably suited WHU. Their lot was incensed by Kelvin's challenge on Cole; but it was six of one and half a dozen of the other and in those circumstances, the keeper usually gets the benefit of the doubt. After the sending off we took control. IMO we were more dangerous and incisive during that spell than the second half. Sharp was very narrowly offside when put through and then missed an absolute sitter. I wouldn't put the save down as a worldie simply because Sharp side-footed the ball back into Green rather than straight or away from him. Anywhere else and it would have been a goal. He also hesitated on another chance after Lambert had a shot tipped. Lambert then went narrowly wide with a free-kick. Interestingly, we created most of our chances in the 1st half by gambling and taking the shot on. We enjoyed the majority possession in the 2nd half but we didn't create enough. The deep crosses were too predictable -reminiscent of Cardiff- and while Green was excellent from crosses, he didn't have to make a save. Lambert was well-marshaled -sometimes by three of their players- and we didn't have a plan B. Punch looked good when he came on but we didn't flood the box enough with pace or Chaplow-type late runs. That's not to be too critical: we were the only likely winner. What WHU did create came from intercepting and breaking on our casual passes in needless areas. Cole was excellent early on but tired as Fonte and Jos who were both excellent did a good job of toying with him. Fox was also had a good game - got much further forward tonight than usual while Morgan looked very classy, spreading the play well. Cork was less impressive and Hammond perhaps should have come on earlier. As well as his misses, Sharp's play as a whole was rusty; but its still early days. I'd rather in our position than WHU's - would not want to watch their brand of hunger football. And its not even clear that the means are justifying the ends. The huge gamble they're taking to get promoted this season is only going to make fat sam more risk-averse and that's going to mean many more games that will turn on a knife edge and could easily go the wrong way. There's plenty to play for and while we're not firing on all cylinders yet, we're looking very resolute and difficult to beat.

nuff said.

Is a mix of teddy sheringham, le tiss and niall quinn. Seriously tho Burnley's defence was a shower of sh*te - as well as Lambo played, he's not going to have many easier days at the office.

Again would agree up to a point - they started the 2nd half brightly but faded by the midway point esp after DC came on. Hammond tightened things up -if only because of a fresh pair of legs; but by then Burnley had given up the ghost.

Sharp had a good game - while he's still learning the ropes, there were glimpses that he offers something quite different and a better, more muscular outlet than DC. Just saying that today being subbed wasn't a comment on any player's performance as Sharp showed. In Guly's case, we were 2 up and cruising and change was made in the 80th min - hard to see how much can be read into that.

By that inane logic, Sharp was sh*te (taken off much earlier) and far from one half of potentially the most lethal strike force in the division (your words).

Fox was much better, especially in the first half and every corner was on the mark. BUT he defended very narrowly and their RM was given plenty of space. Forgot how many times they were able to ping the ball out to him without even a challenge.

No, no, no - he was very good - kept the midfield ticking over and prevented it from going into its usual coma of late.

Agree - if we lose at WHU, it won't be the end of the world. What I mean is that WHU have two disciplined and physically dominant CBs and they will be a useful barometer of how far we rely on Lambert going into the stretch. We have all our attacking options back, so if there's a time to show we can mix it up attacking-wise, its now. If we struggle, it might tell something about our chances against other teams with good CBs as I'm convinced that many of our poor performances/losses have coincided with Lambert's absence or teams success in stifling him.

Excellent win but the performance didn't tell me anything I didn't already know: when Lambert wins his duel with the CBs, the rest of the team prospers. Burnley's defending at times was very lightweight and made Lambert look unplayable. We have other options -and I was glad to see Guly back in midfield and Sharp showed glimpses of promise playing off the shoulder of the last defender (some of his take downs in mid-motion were excellent); but whether they constitute a genuine plan B remains a live question. We'll find out soon enough: WHU's CBs are some of the strongest in the division and Lambert is unlikely to have as easy a time. We'll then see if it others can step up and provide the same threat. If we are serious about promotion and with a full squad to pick from, we have few excuses.

Just dont leave it too late http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying