alpine_saint

On the basis of this performance alone, this was another 2 home points dropped. I dont see the relevance of who we were playing, the opposition were worse than us today, so we should have grasped the opportunity. But great how the defence has improved. Worried about it being unravelled by a bid for Shaw though.

Forget who we were playing - on the basis of this performance stand-alone, this was another 2 home points dropped. But great how the defence has improved (worried it will start unravelling due to a bid for Shaw)

Not this "big - bigger" name calling again. There are the top 5 or 6 clubs, then 30-40 popular clubs, then the rest are the little clubs. We are securely in the middle group, and the enitre "big" argument revolves around clubs fans, personnel and ex-personnel from this group, and is nothing more than handbags at ten paces, imo. The little clubs fans are just grateful to survive and have matches to go to and dont fixate themselves with this petty meaningless discussion

1. GK 2. CB 3. Puncheons signature 4. A Jimmy Case clone 5. Recall Billy Sharp

Have you forgotten our record level of spending for the previous two seasons for those respective leagues, when we were told it was spending in preparation for the Premier League ??? Sorry, I find the desperate hunting around for excuses / justifications to explain underperforming, bad decisions and screw-ups more than a little sad. There is NO excuse for the way the team played against Sunderland.

Spin, spin, spin. People like you will be posting happy-clappy stuff whatever the circumstances. A complete lack of balance makes your posts utterly ridiculous. For example, there is a complete lack of mention of us spending more money on the squad last summer than every club in Europe, bar half-a-dozen. The performances and results that leave you so delighted are a poor return for that, especially as the manager is clueless on who his best GK is (having brought in two very mediocre additions) and his substitution strategy.

2 points lost. 3-1 ahead and couldnt shut up shop. All the intermittent brilliance we demonstrate in attacking is undone by our inability to close a game down. This result on its own is great, but not on a backdrop of lost home points to Fulham, Swansea, Sunderland, Wigan. I think we are going down, sadly.

You want to take a look and see how much the Gerry Anderson Dinky stuff is trading for on e-bay nowadays. Its an eye-opener. Example : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dinky-Toys-Space-1999-Eagle-Freighter-Gerry-Anderson-No-360-Excellent-Boxed-/130813402322?pt=UK_ToysGames_DiecastVehicles_DiecastVehicles_JN&hash=item1e75161cd2

Superb post. RIP Gerry.

Because the OP asked if he had got anything right; of course he has, just not a lot. Many of the original points he made in the explanation have some validity; we dont have a a stable team or goalkeeper, and our substitutions often appear clueless in nature and timing.

A bit OTT, this thread. But, considering our mini-revival came to such an utter grinding halt in such mediocre manner against Sunderland following a break period, I do think we are floundering and he doesnt have the wherewithall to turn it around.

This. Some of our fans (and apparently our management) wrote his season off on the basis of a 25 minute sub appearance against Wigan. Some of fans are bell-ends.

Yep. Our Xmas and our post-break form is a f**king disgrace, and leaves question marks over the coaching.

Yet despite 30m smackeroonies of summer investment (7th highest in Europe), we are making an utter pigs ear of it. Go Figure..

Nope.

Apart from the fact its complete b*ll*cks, I suggest you quit your foul whining, you are embarassing yourself. We were poorly-prepared and f**king sh*t today, whether I was online or not.

Poor. Really f**king poor. Home defeat to Sunderland after 2 week break, FFS. We do not have the wherewithall to grasp our own destiny and pull away from the drop zone. The rest of the season looks like it will frustrating and disappointing.

Hes still a better manager than NA.

De Ridder coming on is waving the white flag. We're simply being done by the gap in ability between the managers.

We are always lethargic and sh*t after a break and at Xmas. Really, it does ask questions about the training regime.

On the 24th, we go to church in the early evening, then sing a couple of carols and listen to my eldest read the Nativity story, in classical European Catholic fashion. Once the kids are tucked up in bed on the 24th, we put the presents out for the kids in the morning, then our Christmas descends into classical British Whatever fashion - drunken debauchery. 25th follows the British fashion too - eating too much, drinking too much, Queens Speech, slobbing about. I am happy to follow a religious 24th for the kids and missus, I find it very uplifting. And I am also an engineer. Dont get the implication that being an engineer, atheism automatically follows. One of my uni lecturers was very religious, when one of the students challenged him he explained that the existence of silicon oxide, was all the evidence he needed (for all those not in the know, the oxide of Silicon has unique properties compared to those of other group IV elements, allowing it to be created and shaped to the required dimensions and thicknesses for MOSFET gates). Very odd bloke..

I got my eldest a Samsung Galaxy Ace when he went up to senior school in the big town 15 miles away, so he would always be in contact. Just about the worst mistake I've ever made with him. In 15 months I've had to confiscate it 3 times, the last time for over 2 months. Getting him to put it down to come up for air, food, homework, sleep, etc is like asking a seasoned heroin addict to go cold turkey. When I went to watch The Hobbit yesterday morning, the cinema inserted an interlude because of the length. I smartly stood up when it started, and watched over a hundred little glass screens light up with fingers zipping across them across the auditorium. I reckon 95% of the people in attendance went immediately to their phones. I sat with an old colleague at my company Xmas dinner on Thursday evening, and every time he wasnt being directly addressed, he got his phone out. Its really quite sad.....

Managed to find a cinema within a 30-mile radius of me playing it twice-a-week in English. Saw it this morning. Its an older independent cinema, so I am pretty sure it was only 24fps. But the 3D worked well, unlike the last film I tried 3D on at a cinema, Pirates of the Carribbean 4. As for the film ? F**king brilliant. Better than I expected from critic reviews (they are clearly suffering from Phantom Menace-level knocking-off-of-pedestal agendas), and as good as I hoped. Not too long, not too slow, plot development just right (loved the change-over of Bilbo from just before his hundred-eleventieth birthday party to 60 years before) and breathtaking action scenes. And ow, that Middle-Earth(NZ) scenery makes my balls and heart ache....

Pity you didnt follow your own advice, then.

Dont like the ones with the Pompey boy. Not because he's Pompey, but because there is a poor little kid, shaved head, probably with cancer, behind the flag at the back, in what appears to be semi-darkness, being somewhat ignored. The little chubby lad with the green T-shirt and shaved head also pulls my heart strings, he looks so sad I want to give him a big hug.