Happy Face

Carlton Cole who's 7th placed West Ham's top scorer and joint top assists provider this season?

I'm not saying Ameobi currently deserves to start ahead of Carroll. Just that it's only right that Shearer's gone in and told everyone it's a clean slate, he's ignoring recent (relegation placing) form and giving players a chance to prove themselves all over again based on what they've produced in the past. I was at that Man City reserves game too. I don't think Ameobi was dragged off to preserve his fitness either, he didn't even look up to it at that level.

Shearer spent part of his playing career here with Shola and has watched most of our games this season so he has watched him play and if Shola (or anybody else) can't take another player being picked then tough shit, grow up and accept it. Colo and Guti were both dropped by Shearer and as he said himself they were model pros about it and took it well. How Shola trains is also irrelivent, everyone knows he stars in training and is then a waste of space come match day, so its no use choosing him on training well. What Shearer needed to do and now probably will, (behind closed doors, not to the media) is say Carroll has looked better than you, worked harder when given a chance and deserves a shot, watch what he does and look to match it and show me that you deserve that place back from him. That would be man management as well, firing Shola up instead of continually letting him think his lazy, piss poor performances are good enough by picking him time and again. Also take out his euro goals, i bet he's far from 1 in 3 domestically which is where we need it, we won't be in europe for some time! I had left out his euro goals. In the league he's on 32 from 109 starts. It's closer to one every two starts in Europe where he has 12 from 26. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=22171 The bold bit is a bit harsh given that it's the first time Shearer has even picked him. Even Keegan, who people have already said had no time for Ameobi, played him in his first couple of games back leaving Carroll on the bench, or out of the squad. I'll grant you i'm surprised he's nearly 1 in 3 domestically so fair play to you there, i always knew he'd done well in europe, though i bet his current form isn't 1 in 3! I'll be honest, i used to defend him quite a while after most people had long since been sick of him, but i don't think it is harsh in truth anymore. It isn't just his playing style that makes him seem lazy, he really doesn't give it everything and in another sense he's incredibly lazy, in that he never learns, he doesn't improve his concentration, doesn't learn to use his strength instead of conceding stupid and obvious fouls on defenders and he's clearly never worked sufficiently on striking a ball properly. As for Keegan, he would have been right not to throw Carroll in, that was a way back in his developement, he hadn't shown enough then to warrant going in ahead of Shola, but he has to be picked ahead of him now, anyone can see that. Keegan did use his usual man management skills of coming in talking Shola up, boosting his confidence, gave him a chance, took one look and said, are you kidding me! And tried to sell him as soon as possible! Shearer has a second chance if you like, he picked him, and for that was rewarded with a shocking display, no effort and a goal given away, but Carroll came on and showed everything Shola didn't so Big Al has more than enough justification to drop Shola for Carroll. Totally agree. Carroll's got 3 years on that Macheda kid. He's even got a few months on an old pro like Walcott, so if he's still not ready to make the step up, he never will be.

Shearer spent part of his playing career here with Shola and has watched most of our games this season so he has watched him play and if Shola (or anybody else) can't take another player being picked then tough shit, grow up and accept it. Colo and Guti were both dropped by Shearer and as he said himself they were model pros about it and took it well. How Shola trains is also irrelivent, everyone knows he stars in training and is then a waste of space come match day, so its no use choosing him on training well. What Shearer needed to do and now probably will, (behind closed doors, not to the media) is say Carroll has looked better than you, worked harder when given a chance and deserves a shot, watch what he does and look to match it and show me that you deserve that place back from him. That would be man management as well, firing Shola up instead of continually letting him think his lazy, piss poor performances are good enough by picking him time and again. Also take out his euro goals, i bet he's far from 1 in 3 domestically which is where we need it, we won't be in europe for some time! I had left out his euro goals. In the league he's on 32 from 109 starts. It's closer to one every two starts in Europe where he has 12 from 26. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=22171 The bold bit is a bit harsh given that it's the first time Shearer has even picked him. Even Keegan, who people have already said had no time for Ameobi, played him in his first couple of games back leaving Carroll on the bench, or out of the squad.

I reckon it goes back to the man management Shearer spoke about in his press conference. He hadn't scored in months but was told he'd start because he'd proven he could score. Saying to Ameobi "Without having even watched you play, irrespective of how you've trained for me, I'm going to start a lad who's made 5 appearances before you, because I have that little confidence in your ability despite your vastly greater experience than the kid" isn't what he'd be looking to do imo. With confidence he CAN score.....his record is still a goal every 3 starts...which is about the same as Martins'. Whether Shearer's faith will stretch to next week is another matter.

Obafemi strained his groin on a Friday night?

Nice ava. My favourite Bergmnan

Who started this frigging rumour? It seems to be gathering momentum as perceived wisdom rather than the patent bollocks it clearly is. Sadly with most of the general populous if you say something often enough and they hear it enough it becomes true! Initially he improved on the complete shambles under Hughton (but who wouldn't have) and since then he's been found out as being nowhere near good enough, yet the belief still persists he was doing a good job. Aye. It's bizarre. Before falling ill his run of form was Played 8 Won 0 Scored 6 Conceded 16 Points 3 Allardyce's was Played 8 Won 2 Scored 7 Conceded 9 Points 9

Red Red Wine, (ooooh is that a cock up? potting two reds?) - UB40 Black and Gold - Sam Sparro The maximum break is 140 now.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8...5168997,00.html

Have I stumbled upon the Sex and the City board or summat? http://www.enotalone.com/forum/index.php Right, that's Parky sorted. Now, can we get back to the stuff real men talk about? Who can get a 147 from song titles? I'll start you off.... Little Red Rooster - The Rolling Stones Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones Best of luck Parka.

Who started this frigging rumour? It seems to be gathering momentum as perceived wisdom rather than the patent bollocks it clearly is.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7985975.stm

Poor defending like.

Newcastle last night Tynemouth tonight South Shields tomorrow Killingworth Monday When are you supposed to give the kids their eggs? Friday or Sunday? 'Mummy, I woke today and there was a Lincoln Log in me sock drawer!'. 'That's the story of Jesus'.

....just coming.

Where did Hitler keep his armies? The brunt of his forces were applied to the Eastern front, but throughout different periods of the war, a sizable chunk were used to protect the Atlantic Wall and a handful of divisions were used in Africa, to secure shipping routes.

Not quite, the version I read was... Why did the chicken cross the road? Earlier that morning the farmers daughter had inadvertently left the gate to the yard open as she was preoccupied by her worry over a maths test set for that day. She hadn't studied for the test as she was still deeply distressed over her fathers recent heart attack. This, coupled with the added burden of household chores now delegated to her because her mother was out trying to get the west field prepared for sowing, had made her quite forgetful and distracted of late. Whilst several chickens escaped, only one strayed so far that it actually encountered the road facing the farm. After crossing the road and gorging itself in a soybean crop, the chicken was struck by a furniture removers van as it attempted to make its way home. Several hours later the dead chicken was spotted by a Community Mental Health Worker who was doing his bi-weekly rural clinic run. The chicken, being a bantam caught the eye of the Mental Health worker, who was a keen trout fisherman. "Cool" thought the mental health worker- "those feathers will make for excellent trout flies". He stopped and plucked a handful of the most iridescent blue, green and orange feathers and placed them in an envelope. He rolled himself a cigarette, sat on the trunk of his car and admired the clouds. "God, I love this job", he muttered to no one in particular.

How do you drown a blonde? Hold her head underwater until she can no longer breathe and stops struggling.

Is that one of them factual jokes? Like "your mama's so fat I'm concerned she's likely to develop type 2 diabetes and rhespiritory problems"

Those Croats are proper sexhibitionists like http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...fer-listed.html

But.....but.....My mam says we're good.

Looks like next week is the disaster.

Fuckers. Anyone wants tickets PM me. I might have two spare.