shurlock

There's no double bluff - man u have seen AL in training, so will now prepare on the off-chance that AL plays: he doesn't they lose nothing; if he does, they're ready and waiting. By contrast,they would have been less likely to prepare if they had't seen him in training and thought he was still injured, something which would have given slight advantage should he actutally start. That's certainly Fergy's way - he'll talk up players injuries and say they're some way off recovery e.g. Rooney last season only for them to miraculously start the next game

Just assuming that opposing managers look at OS, your point makes no sense - if you are NA- you want manure to think that lallana ISN'T playing - that way, Man U won't bother doing their homework on his strengths/weaknesses and figuring out measures how to neutralise our best player. Showing him in training raises the possibility that he might play and so as a precaution Man U will do their homework. If he doesn't play, no big deal -its not as if we have many other aces up our sleeve - and that focussing on Lallana has allowed them to escape manure's attention; but if he does, bingo, they have their bases covered. The biggest element of surprise would have been to show no photos of AL and simply play on the uncertainty that he has missed the last two games.

Cordon's a west ham fan as well as mates with half the footballing fraternity- wouldn't be surprised if he fishes in the same narrow london pool that mssrs ashley and pardew hooked up in. Reckon its true - fatboy is a minor celeb - has no additional incentive to attention-seek by breaking news that at any rate is unlikely to cause many ripples.

disagree- 3 months is a lifetime given how explosively and unforeseeably AOC's career and interest in him have grown- the kid wasn't even regularly starting and finishing games three months ago. It was his SUB performance against Oldham that first raised eyebrows

This from woman who's made a killing selling smut.

who leftback or northam lights? How the f**k did one morph into the other...

Agree as well - take the united game. he's the only one who created a chance against them dribbling around a couple of players and getting behind their defence; but people only remember him ballooning his shot.

Mate's a leicester fan - points out that he never really held down a first team place for them, because the squad moved on quite quickly after aigning him and he couldn't keep up. Leicester already had a tight squad following promotion from L1 and did really well in their first season in the NPC, so it was a case of not tinkering too much. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. Thinks he's still young enough to learn and at a minimum we can use him as an impact sub to change games with his pace and energy.

Why is this relevant - its a catch-22: they are only worth these amounts because they've played at the highest level e.g. Champions League, but they are unlikely to do that with us. As such we could never the demand the prices that are touted for these players.

Can imagine the SUN headlines if Keys goes as well: "Sky gets its tits out (keys sacked with gray)"

Brighton have scraped alot of results, especially in the last couple of months - they are catchable - why should we settle for anything less. to do otherwise is defeatist.

TBF to them -in previous years, they've used the league cup to blood in their youth players and still managed to play most teams off the park.

hypo and his manc w @nk - known for his gushing praise of mancunian casuals who are the beating heart of the game. presumably he thinks we should all dress like this:

Oxo is less quick than theo but has better awareness than him - wheras theo seems suited to the wing, oxo has the potential to play in the middle of the park as a proper no.10.

For those who prefer oxo to stay, its not just about the player per se, its about the intent - that we're no longer a selling and that we can hold our own against the bigger clubs who expect us to capitulate at the first hurdle. If he does go, I just hope people don't get on NC's back and accuse him of a lack of commitment to the 5 year plan. That would be moronic - if a player is intent on leaving for a bigger club, there's ultimately f-all we can do - irrespective of how financial independence. The better mindset to adopt is that its his loss, not ours.

Think he fits into the Adkins mould: energetic, mobile, always looking to receive the ball and willing to track back and cover for others. That was scunny personified. Would be interested to know how he compares/differs from barny who also has some of these attributes.

Here's skate claridge's take on the player: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/sep/23/peterborough.leagueonefootball

Agree with this, esp your assessments of chaplow/richardson and the point about guly/lambo being miles about. Re. the pen - thought it was one but i) don't why lambo didnt shoot just before as he was in acres of space (though at an angle) ii) barny's turn totally did the first defender but the ball wasn't quite under control and iii) he was pulled back, so I don't why he threw himself foward as dramtically as he did.

thought jennings was pretty average from where i was stood.

I thought Richardson was our poorest player yesterday but its a question of chickens and eggs. In his and the defense's defense, they had few options to pass the ball into the midfield where we were outnumbered and being hassled. The rational thing was to clear our lines (though richardson's problem was less the hoofing than the hoofs not clearing midfield and going straight to an opposing player). We missed Lallana yesterday not because of his creativity and vision but his ball retention - the only other player who seems to have extra time on the ball is schneiderlin, though it was not until the 2nd half that he started to play. Of course, you can also make your life easier: if the opposing team packs the midfield and plays just the one striker, you either go narrow or push your full-backs slightly up.

Can't understand how you gave both chaplow and richardson a 6 and suggest they were some of our better players. Richardson was incapable of clearing the ball or finding a pass while Chaplow repeatedly took too many touches anf gave away possession - i would say morgan was the better of the two. Oxo also looked much better when he was moved to a more central position at the beginning of the 2nd half. However bad we were in the 1st half, nothing about Tranmere suggeested they would hurt us - yes they controlled the midfield and their number 7 was a beast but he was isolated and kelvin had a quiet afternoon. Most threats came from our errors - going to sleep on short corners/set-pieces etc. On tactics we should have responded earlier to their 4-5-1/4-1-4-1 - we were always going to find it difficult to boss a packed midfield. We either should have played more narrowly or pushed the fullbacks further forward. Tranmere knew they would not win an open game of football and deliberately set up to nick it. The importance of the first goal can't be underestimated. Finally, complacency is the wrong word - the team seized up after the goal went in. Nobody on the pitch was willing to take responsibility and show leadership, instead waiting and hoping to follow others.

Every point spot-on.

Agree he's full of sh*t. Everybody was touting Lambo as he was one of the few names in L1 that anybody knew-doesn't mean he was ITK. Says more about our insularity and lack of knowledge outside the top leagues. Since then he's not even been faintly close even when assuring us that deals were imminent. A deal falls through- the great, face-saving unverifiable. Apart from Leftback, the rest is educated guesswork and birthday wishlists.

The priority is a left-winger.we have better cover on the right- chambo,lallana. It's not just about replacing punch should he leave - we haven't addressed holmes injury/mills absence - both of whom could have done a job on the left.

nathan dyer well before he was a thieving c*nt, people were writing him off.