shurlock

Jimmy Hill?

I question his temperament - bound to crack under the pressure.

7. you take it up the ar$e from John Westwood to consummate the whole perverted marriage/merger.

Farking brilliant - bring on the OED.

Totally moronic to base assessments of Pericard on his time with us. I still remember his debut up at Hull where we were smashed 5-0. He joined a team that was in freefall and couldn't create chances for sh*t. Shouldnt forget that.

Cant find anything on the website but they counted in the LDV Vans Trophy- I'm assuming they do here as well.

At most away games, ever since Hartlepool, the Jackie Wilson Said chant still seems fav. Can't see any of the others catching on while the hardcore are still trying to get this one going...

Leeds are the tightest and most organised side in L1 - Kisnorbo is easily the best defender in the league; Norwich are the best attacking side. Leeds are still dirty in a way that Arsenal are no longer boring - their c**tish fans ensure they will never be loved. And the dirty reputation isn't just a legacy of the 1970s - its the product of more recent times - think Batty etc, so memories have tended to last longer.

Interesting piece in the FT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a672ae68-f897-11de-beb8-00144feab49a.html Basically Man U in talks with banks about a possible bond issue to help refinance its borrowings. Debt is close to £700m which they're struggling to bring down.

Was trying to think of cultured CBs the other day. Hard pressed to think of one in the championship let alone L1. Its one of those areas that you have to go foreign - thought JPS was fairly assured on the ball. In the absence of one, Hammond and Schneiderlin have to come deep a la Safri. Hammond hasn't got the passing range to do the role and to the extent Schneiderlin can pick a pass, there's not enough movement in front of him to cause damage. Any club will that does its homework will know to cover the flanks for the cross field ball which is often the only option open to Schneiderlin. As such I don't think Schneiderlin and Hammond are balanced. Neither has the pace or power to pass and move and break beyond defenders and take them out of position - so that even with a cultured CB, its unlikely that either would be a genuine outlet. It leaves us very reliant on the wings who are usually found with a slow-moving ball played square or bits and pieces breaking off Lambert. Our midfield desperately needs more movement and mobility.

Pompey anytime, anyplace. Notts County/Forest Green at home. Also think Leicester and NP again at home would be an interesting test.

The way AP has been talking it seems that the priorities are replacements for the loanees we've lost i.e Trotman so Ward makes sense. That would suggest we're after somebody in the Mellis mould - a bustling, ball-playing midfielder. Yesterday again showed that with Hammond and Schneiderlin's tendency to sit back, there isn't that drive or movement in the middle that can sometimes get beyond the forwards. Interesting that Gobern has seen alot more playing time in the middle of late. While he's got bags of potential, he's far from the finished article. But the fact that AP is willing to throw Gobern in there suggests its an important area of the pitch and somewhere AP might seek to strenghten.

Huffed and puffed. Lucky they missed an open goal. Even lambert's goal was never a free-kick.

Nice quote from Arsene Wenger “Professional football is about winning and balancing the budget. That is the basic rule, and one which I fought for. All the rest is half cheating"

Go wreck a few more looms Luddite! Not going to happen anytime soon - there may be corrections at the margins - salaries might not rise as quickly and ambitions might be scaled back as some clubs focus on paying down debt. And a few who had their fingers in finanace and property will get burnt but apart from Ashley that fallout has been limited. The biggest risks are at the yo-yo clubs who tried to break into the premiership at great expense (a la skates) and/or were relegated leading to a collapse in income (a la saints). Debt magnifies the yo-yo effect, so we might some consolidation in the areas but the rest, especially at the top, is as sustainable as ever. When I compare what I pay to watch a game and how much I would be willing to pay to watch a game, reflected partly by the sheer money I throw at transport (4-5 times what I pay for a ticket and sky sports subscription), the difference is extraordinary. Factor in all the other efficiencies and improvements that can be made - live streaming of your clubs games etc and add all that up on a global level and there's alot of pentup demand.

When the likes of Boothroyd are considered the bright young things in the game, no wonder why an englishman is unlikely to manage the national side anytime soon. Lets not kid ourselves either - Pards isn't playing pretty football. Whenever he's criticised the side, its usually been for not getting the ball up quicker to the front men. For better or for worse, we're currently a long-ball side, though I trust this is pragmatic rather than philosophical.

Transfer window is reopening which will allow us to add more depth and quality to the squad, so why should we worry about resting players?

Why would I? The point of the game is for the ball to be in play as long as possibe and when play stops for it to resume as quickly as possible. Do we f**k away teams over when we play the multi ball? Do keepers (as Bart did) have to run all the way over to the corner flag to pick a ball up for a goal kick, even though the ball is within spitting distance of a ballboy? It wasn't a one-off but it happened time and time again today - conspicuously and cynically. Yes the ref can add time to the clock as others say but that doesnt make up for the disruption in our play and flow (admittedly there wasn't much of that on show but to defend it is horses**t). In theory, players get booked if they waste time; whereas ballboys can do what they like.

The fog was pretty thick but hard to see how the game would have been called off. the view from the stands was arguably misleading - no doubt was easier for the players at pitchside than our angle suggested.

talking out of your ar$e - there are plenty of good honest clubs around - don't be a sanctimonious kn*b. point is that they spoiled the game and ******ed over any notion of sportsmanship. point is boothroyd's got a history - recall the red towels given to ballboys to dry and wipe the ball at Watford, a privilege not afforded to visiting sides. fine if they get away with it but doesn't mean others have to tolerate let alone justify it.

You actually seen him play? Think he's distinctly ordinary and by all reports he's already signed for Coventry.

F**king awful, under-resourced shuttle bus service to boot. And christ I thought only we had one song.

Just back - close to three hours to get back to London. I dislike Colchester and Boothroyd - saw comments from the Colchester fan abpve - if today wasn't pumping the ball forwards, they must be starved of football in deep, stone-age essex. Even without Platt, Boothroyd showed that he only knows how to play one-way - physical, longball and push come to shove dirty and cynical. I haven't been so p*ssed off with a team's spoiling tactics, from players to the groundstaff- for ages - how Trotman and Thomas got booked also totally eludes me. A draw would have been a fair result. Shame we didn't get out of the traps quicker. In my mind, Pardew underestimated our ability to deal with the physical stuff and didn't put our best eleven out. I thought our defense did well - Jaidi and Thomas had excellent games - incredibly THomas was the focal point of many of attacks in the 2nd half, delivering some dangerous crosses. While Im not a fan of James, he had a decent game. Problem is that none of our CMs are forward-minded enough, leaving Lambert isolated while Schneiderlin and especially James don't like to put their foot in. We need a strong bustling midfielder in the mold of a Racon; otherwise 4-5-1 simply puts too much pressure on the likes ofLambert and Lallana. Pards also bottled the team selection over Waigo. Perhaps it was a hangover from Leeds and the belief that a boothroyd dogfight would not be Papa's kind of game but the difference between him and Antonio was light and day. Antonio has difficulties picking up the ball in deep positions and linking play up. Again pards possibly paid the price for being too cute and showing the opposition too much respect. Colchester are an organised side and Lisbie is a slippery customer but they're no Leeds or Norwich. Once we started to play our own game, inspired by Connolly and Papa, we got a grip on and took control of the game - Jaidi should have done better with a near point-blank header, Lallana had a free header which he put over, Lambert hit the post, Connolly almost lobbed the keeper etc. Its not surprising that their no.4 their massive CB was voted MOTM. Even as their second went in -straight after a great Lambert freekick and a Connolly follow-up shot that was miraculously blocked on the edge of the six yard box, I thought we still had a sniff. Fortune favours the brave - its in that mood that I left the game not so much disappointed as frustrated. Colchester were there for the taking.

Who to play on the right then?

Lads waving their season tickets at unfamiliar faces in the Itchen North, especially those moaning at regulars to sit down. Like the good old days! While we're unlikely to hit the heady heights of 30K anytime soon, I hope a few more stay aways were converted today - and the divide between regulars and the rest continues to thaw. Also hope that the club will pay a little more attention to us in the Itchen North - we've put up with alot of s**t in the last few seasons and alot of resentment ultimately spills over into relations between fans. Again unnecessary and unfortunate stuff.