Lighthouse

Okay, how about a build up thread which isn't orchestrated by a tedious troll? I would personally put Fonte back into the centre of defence. Im not entirely sure why he was dropped, unless there was some injury I missed. I'm not sure what other changes need to be made. Cork needs time and patience. I don't think we will win and we shouldn't be too disheartened if we do lose. Villa was a shock result but everyone gets those. Arsenal lost at home to Villa too, Man Utd lost at home to West Brom and Liverpool lost at home to us.

So you think we should compromise our team in winnable games against Villa and Newcastle so that we have him available for a game we are unlikely to win against one of the best teams in the league? If Vic gets suspended tonight then so be it, suspensions happen. I don't see the need to put 6 much more realistic points at risk though.

I think yesterday was only the second result we've had which was worse than last season (losing at Norwich being the other). That's 2 points dropped but they are cancelled out by the draws we picked up OT and Sunderland at home. However we've won many fixtures we didn't last season. West Brom, Liverpool, Palace (instead of QPR) , Swansea, Fulham. That's an extra 13 points in 13 games. Based on the final league standings last season, an extra point per game would have given us 79 points and finishing 2nd in the league. I don't think we will finish 2nd or even top 4 but it does highlight just how much we have improved. Arsenal got outplayed by Man Utd and Villa in much easier fixtures than our last 2. Doesn't mean they aren't a seriously good team.

No it isn't. What actually happened was that the large majority of fans were excited because we had signed a current Italian international striker and the third top scorer in Serie A. Now I, like many on here, had seen little if any of his play, however given those credentials, we could all have been forgiven for thinking he could play a bit. Afterall, the club had clearly done extensive research and decided he was worth a club record fee. What is happening now is not people writing him off after 10 games because he "wasn't brilliant from day 1". That's the Turkish version events. Make something stupid up, claim that people supported this argument and then ridicule them for it with an aura of superior intellect. In actual fact this thread is people expressing doubts over his performances so far because he has displayed little if anything to suggest he is a €15m player. Hope this clears things up.

It reminded me of a goal he conceded at Goodison last season. I think it was against Jelavic but in any case he should have got down much sooner for it. Without wanting to be too harsh on Gazza, who was certainly thrown in at the deep end, I'm fairly confident Boruc would have got something on that.

Because he is a troll who has 'predicted' defeat before every game for a couple of years now. Another strong candidate for the ignore list. Villa are better than last year but nothing particularly special. We matched Chelsea for 55 minutes even if they did have more chances. Boric will be a loss but not irreplaceable. Gazza now has a month to prove we don't need another keeper in January, assuming he keeps his place of course.

I don't think that has any relevance whatsoever. Gaston has been failing to make the match day 18 recently, I suspect his career here might already be over.

Kind of an ironic statement given that a team currently in the top 4 also lost 3-1 today... Against Hull. Why do these 2 games define our ability and not the games at Old Trafford and Anfield? Or even just the League table?

I wouldn't blame him for today, it was a poor team performance by everyone second half. However based on everything I've seen of him so far, he needs to seriously get his arse in gear. If Lee Barnard had put in identical performances this season, we would all be gobsmacked as to how he was still in the team. As others have said, players like Wanyama and Gaston are young and deserve a bit more patience. When you sign a 27 year old for €15m you expect a more refined article.

The score line is a bit harsh on us but Chelsea have deserved the win. I'd take a defeat here if we beat Villa.

It's December and we are above Man Utd and Spurs, 2 points off a Champions League place (assuming we get nothing here) We've taken 4 points from our fixtures away at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Utd. I'll take that for reality.

Ah s**t nevermind.

Good half. Defended well against a decent side.

I don't think my ticker can last 90 minutes of this

It's not even a record for this fixture.

JRod!!!!! Oh yes!!

Can't see one anywhere else, so COYR

Well done Hull. Win and go second it is then.

I said not much, not nothing. Lambert is indeed a good payer to have on the bench but I'd prefer to have 3 or 4 to go with the keeper and a couple of defenders. Cork, Jos, Yoshi and Chambers aren't going to change anything if we're losing. Davis is a hard worker but is hardly one to unlock defences.

Like the look of the first 11 but theres not much on the bench to change things on the bench if it's not going well. I can only assume Gaston's future now lies away from SFC as he is regularly failing to make the match day 18 (unless he has a serious injury I don't know about). Would have been nice to see someone like Isgrove or Reed on the bench as I don't see the need for Jos and Yoshi to both be there.

A draw for Spuds and Utd keeps them both below us. The Sky tater seemed to think we could drop to 9th if both teams won that game. Not sure how that works. In other news Moses starts in place of the injured Sturridge. The pundits seem obsessed with the phrase, "SAS partnership" normally but not one mention of Liverpool's "S&M partnership" so far today.

I like chicken wings, so this seems like a fairly good proposition to me.

I wouldn't have thought they would lose to Basel twice either but it happened. I think we probably will suffer a narrow defeat here after a decent enough performance. Would play the same side as Arsenal but with Ossie in for Lambert.

What he said. If you like a good atmosphere, turn up at La Folie Douce at about 3.30 pm any day of the week. Drink, party and then attempt to ski back slightly ****ed.

It depends in what context the words are being used. For example, I could walk into work tomorrow and say, "f**k me the weather's sh**e," and nobody would bat an eyelid. On the other hand, if I walked in and said to someone, "f**k you you f**king c**t, you're a complete f**king pr**k," I probably wouldn't have a job on Tuesday. Personally I don't see why the latter should be tolerated just because you're in a football stadium. I don't have a problem with people swearing and taking the **** but some people take it too far. Without witnessing a particular incident I can't really pass judgement.