Dr Gloom

ok, a squad of 30, but i count at least 13 with little to no experience (in bold below). injuries to say 3 or 4 key players will leave us looking stretched. promotion is no certainty, despite the good start. yesterday's performance was evidence that we won't walk the division as some are predicting. a valuable win, yes. but apart from the first 20 minutes, we never controlled the game 1 Flag of England GK Steve Harper 2 Flag of Argentina DF Fabricio Coloccini 3 Flag of Spain DF José Enrique 4 Flag of England MF Kevin Nolan 7 Flag of England MF Joey Barton 8 Flag of England MF Danny Guthrie 11 Flag of Denmark FW Peter Løvenkrands 12 Flag of England DF Danny Simpson (on loan from Manchester United) 16 Flag of England MF Ryan Taylor 17 Flag of England MF Alan Smith (vice-captain) 18 Flag of Argentina MF Jonás Gutiérrez 20 Flag of Cameroon MF Geremi 22 Flag of England MF Nicky Butt (captain) 23 Flag of England FW Shola Ameobi 24 Flag of England FW Andy Carroll 25 Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo MF Kazenga LuaLua 26 Flag of the Netherlands GK Tim Krul 27 Flag of England DF Steven Taylor 28 Flag of Hungary DF Tamás Kádár 30 Flag of England FW Nile Ranger 31 Flag of the Netherlands FW Frank Wiafe Danquah 32 Flag of France MF Wesley Ngo Baheng 33 Flag of Sweden GK Ole Söderberg 35 Flag of England DF Ben Tozer 37 Flag of Ireland DF Callum Morris 42 Flag of England FW Ryan Donaldson 43 Flag of England MF Jonny Godsmark 45 Flag of England DF Darren Lough 46 Flag of Slovenia MF Haris Vučkić 47 Flag of Scotland MF Bradden Inman

Come on Alex , You can do better than this. are you saying smith wasn't total garbage for us in the premier league? i'm struggling to think of one decent game smith had for us before we were relegated. he was a liability for us in the top flight, especially when played in midfield. good to see he's found his level mind.

long way to go. looking good for now. long hard slog of a season mind - a few emergency loans still needed.

exactly. he's a liability in the top flight. bizarre also that he has become a championship version of makelele minus the goals Makele barely scored any. exactly

exactly. he's a liability in the top flight. bizarre also that he has become a championship version of makelele minus the goals

agree with that. ranger put in a good shift but looked out of his depth playing up front on his own with little support from midfield. i'd drop barton next game or move him inside. he offered nothing on the flank. great result though

i cringe when i hear our lot sing that one. up there with "shit ground, shit fans"

we'll miss him today tbh

everything's ine. no worries. we'll hammer cardiff on sunday

i will be optimistic about everything until we lose

can't imagine many things worse than a caravan holiday.

it's a fair point. our first eleven is probably one of the best in the league. the worry is our complete lack od depth. but we'd all still be more comfortable if we'd signed one or two more players - even a few loan signings. defence and up front is the big worry. if taylor, enrique and shola say were all out injured at the same time, we wouldn't be looking too clever all of a sudden.

no surprise that barton wants hughton to stay. he won' be around for long if shearer is eventually given the job

up there with marcelino, boumsong and luque

cue the manager of the month curse

was always more a fan of the corner, although the gallowgate end is where i used to watch us as a boy. these days it's usually leazes level 7

how many times has that been said though?

absolutely vital that he stays if you ask me. his lack of end product is annoying sure, but he's still streets ahead of most of the rest of our squad in terms of natural ability and definitely more than good enough at this level. he reminds me of laurent robert (minus the goals)

looks like 85-90 should be enough to secure a top 2 finish

Would you also rather have Nolan play up front too? I wouldn't say that scoring goals is going to be a problem this season, We have enough quality in midfield to cover that, In my opinion we should make sure we have enough cover at the back to keep goals out. to be fair, we're thin on the ground everywhere. we've lost over 10 first team players and bought in lovenkrands and simpson. we need defenders, midfielders and strikers. a championship season is a long hard slog We are stocked well in midfield. And alot of them are attacking players thats my point i wouldn't say we're stocked well. the more players we can get the better if you ask me

Would you also rather have Nolan play up front too? I wouldn't say that scoring goals is going to be a problem this season, We have enough quality in midfield to cover that, In my opinion we should make sure we have enough cover at the back to keep goals out. to be fair, we're thin on the ground everywhere. we've lost over 10 first team players and bought in lovenkrands and simpson. we need defenders, midfielders and strikers. a championship season is a long hard slog

i think it's safe to say that if we do sign marlon he would be first choice alongside shola in a 4-4-2. shola/harewood would be as good a front two as any in the championship kind of player you'd want rid of though if we do go up

big bad marlon will do a job at this level. pace and power up front not to be sniffed at

Big attitude problems though iirc. he'd slot in well then