Lighthouse

I would be surprised if Burnley put out a full strength team for this, promotion is worth so much more to them than a small cup run (realistically, they aren't going to win it). I would also put out a reserve team as the fixtures always pile up around this time of year. Maybe give Banega his debut too. Kelvin Chambers - Yoshi - Tuesday night Jos - Fox Cork - Reed Davis - Gaston - Isgrove Lambert That would pretty much have been our first 11 at the start of last season and it should have enough quality to do the business against Burnley reserves.

Weren't Beatts and Matt Taylor pretty good mates when they were down here? Just a shame Bradley didn't ask for an autograph, the Skates would have blown a fuse.

The table is starting to take shape and we are getting a rough idea of the teams around us. I think most agree that the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City have too much quality and will be out if reach come the end of the season. Below that though the rest is still up for grabs. Liverpool - if they hang on to Suarez in January I can't see us catching them. If he leaves or gets injured we might have an outside chance. Everton - Martinez has them playing brilliantly and Lukaku is probably better than any of our strikers. I think they will beat us too. Spurs - I think they will finish ahead of us but not by much. AVB is a good manager and when he gets his signings firing on all cylinders they will be a tough side to beat. Newcastle - probably the form team at the moment but whether they have the depth to keep it up for the rest of the year I don't know. Next weekend might give us a clue but I can't call this one. Man Utd - I remember the start of the season and the 'we're above Man U lolz' posts. Now it's December and we're still there. They've lost their last 2 games, both at Old Trafford and don't look like turning it around any time soon. I genuinely think we can beat them this year.

I wonder how well we might have got on Yesterday if Shaw and Lallana were injured too. Saying we might as well have played the first team at Sunderland is naive as you're assuming these injuries are the worst case scenario. It isn't. Half the reason we got relegated last time (I'm not suggesting it would have happened again) was that huge injury circus we had at a similar time of year. Back then we were forced to play Best and Blackstock up front for a few games and had an emergency keeper on loan from Spurs. We coped well again City with the kids on the pitch but let's not push our luck. The trip to SJP next week will be a much tougher test of their nerve.

No, Britain acted too late as the League of Nations was pretty much useless. They should have acted as soon as Germany marched into the Rheinland.

True but City's away form has been patchy at best. I won't lie, I was expecting a spanking today but City's flat performance won't come as a huge shock to most pundits. If Clyne is fit I still wouldn't drop Chambers after today. They will have to fight for that RB slot. Having said that, Clyne coming on after 70 minutes and running at tired defences is a good option to have.

If there's a form team you don't want to be playing at the moment Newcastle are pretty high on the list. They are fresh off an excellent win at old Trafford, much to the amusement of the City fans in the Northam concourse just before kick off. I don't see any reason to change the team. Let's give Ossie a chance to build on 2 goals in a week. Want and and Boruc will still be out. Any news on Morgan and Clyne? The only other worry might be Lovren who tweeted a picture of a nasty looking gash on his leg. Hopefully just a scratch for 'Animal' though. Who's going up for the game? I wanted to go but can't really justify the cost of such a far away trip just before Christmas.

I think animal is a great nickname for Dejan. Loved the skill when he put in a monster tackle to win the ball by the touch line, then waltzed his bay past 2 defenders and put in a terrific cross to win a corner. Also got a great reception when he came back on after picking up a painful looking injury. Needs a decent song too, rather than just a rehash of the JRod song.

Today 5 academy Saints were better than 1 billion Arabian Dirhams of talent. We outplayed them the whole game, I can't even remember a 10 minute spell of consistent City pressure. What a goal from Ossie too. Tikkabooson!!

*Alpine mode activate* We're going to get spanked *alpine mode deactivate*

I can't believe some of the ignorant sh*te being posted about Mandela. I bet half of you haven't even heard his 'I have a dream' speech.

Although he did try to sign him at West Ham but the board wouldn't sanction the transfer fee.

I think it's about time we acknowledged these most majestic of all God's creatures. I know Spudders is a particular fan and I hereby nominate him as president for life of our new found society. Altogether now... Kumbaya mallard Kumbaya

95 all out. Discus

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.