Dr Gloom

i used to live in sheffield. it's a cool town, the people there are sound - and football mad - and i really feel for the wednesday fans. i'm sure our crowds would sink well below 30k too if we'd suffered the 10 years of crap they've had to put up with. they're a big club no doubt. i think it's a shame that the likes of wednesday, sheffield utd, leeds and nottingham forest all struggling in the lower leagues while stoke, hull and wigan are all in the premiership. i'd class the first bunch as sleeping giants for sure and would much rather visit any of those towns on a premiership away day than the second lot.

loan players can also be called back to their clubs. i personally would like to see us sign a few players on permanent deals before the window suts.

sums up how i feel. we're pretty well placed to mount a promotion challenge as things stand but a lot can still change between now and when the transfer window shuts. nightmare scenario come sep 1st is ashley still in charge, half our first team squad sold and no decent replacements brought in.

shola and carrol will both do a job in the championship. but they don't look a front two that will work well together. we need to sign at least one other striker i reckon. preferably someone with experience and a bit of pace. a pool of shola, carrol, smith, ranger and one other is probably enough. the thing that troubles me is that we're bound to ship out the likes of collicini, enrique and jonas. and quite possibly taylor and geremi too. if those players all leave and are not replaced with players that can perform at this level then we will be in trouble.

taylor going will be a shocker for the club. sol would be a good replacement for collicini though. sign him up

all of the midfielders on show yesterday showed they can do a job at this level. i wouldn't get carried away though thinking we're going to walk the league going on yesterday's performance. there's still time for ashley to sell a few more players, we don't know what kind of replacements we'll get - if any- and the squad is still looking thin in terms of numbers.

the atmosphere came across on the telly like it was the best we've had in a long while. lots more singing and noise throughout than we've seen for a while. i wonder if that's because the players put on a good show after fuck knows how long or because all the moaners who have posioned the atmopshere since the ground was extended to 52k have all fucked off. 36k has always been about our hardcore support in terms of numbers. losing the 13k or 14k johnny come latelys will probably mean the atmosphere around the ground is better this season despite the empty seats

36k crowd. decent turnout all things considered

wtf is the dj playing at half time? that soulful sax isn't exactly going to get the crowd going is it?

looks a decent crowd. i'd guestimate around 36-38k

shola did his best to miss like. we've dominated to be fair but final balls have mostly been crap. how bad have barton's corners been? shola/carrol is not a viable front two either. we need some movement up top. carrol actually looks quite canny to me. enrique and jonas linking up quite well. i think this team can do alright in this division if we don't lose too many more players and the takeover goes through.

the wee man

jesus would be weeping indeed

if we were assembling a squad for the championship, i'd say it was a good move. as it stands, players are going but none are coming, nor is a manager and the end of the transfer window is looming.

he was different class like. shame he never did it for england....or us. he was like a beached whale by the time he rocked up at sjp

Fabulous player though. hansen/lawro was probably the best centre back pairing i've seen in the top flight of english football

Dominant is perhaps the wrong word - they were certainly the most attractive/flare-ful of the Liverpool teams of the 70s/80s but I'd say the previous team of about 84 were more dominant in being more "professional" - ie win at all cost cunts. that team of the late 80s were so good to watch though. pedro, digger barnes, rush/aldridge, houghton et al different class lol at defensive tactics before the back pass rule came in

the liverpool side of the 70s and 80s should top the list. although that everton side of the mid 80s was class. southall, radcliffe, bracewell, reid, sheedy, stevens, steven and take your pick from sharpe, gray and lineker up top.

yeah. lita and nugent would be decent additions. i think we really need a young whippersnapper with pace to burn and an old wiley pro to play alongside him. shearer could probably still do a job in the championship if he had a pacey kid alongside him to do all his running. he'd be like sherringham the year pompey went up

another who can do a job at this level but can we afford the wages and his attitude? it'll only be a matter of time before he either kicks off with another team mate, spits at a fan, assualts a ref etc

one thing is for sure. shola/carrol is not a viable combination up front, even at this level

one up from jfk i suppose

i think saturday showed it's absolutely vital we get in a couple of strikers, takeover or no takeover. but who could we attract at a reasonable price that could do a job at championship level? i have no idea.

like a lot of our players, i think he has found his level. duff looked good too but can we keep hold of either of them on premiership wages?

Any guesses what the starting lineup will be tomorrow? shola and carrol up front?