Dr Gloom

spoken by someone who clearly doesn't live in london

he's not a bad reserve striker but he's been consistently poor for us in midfield and shouldn't play there again unless the squad is stretched. i'm more than a little concerend that sam seems to think he's a right winger. He shouldnt be played in the midfield, he should be played up front or on the bench. agree with that like. but it seems he's our vice captain now. i was scratching my head a bit last night when sam took off geremi instead of smith and then gave smith the armband...!

not exactly a game changing super sub was he? apart from martins, how bench last night was shockingly bad. pattison ffs?

he's not a bad reserve striker but he's been consistently poor for us in midfield and shouldn't play there again unless the squad is stretched. i'm more than a little concerend that sam seems to think he's a right winger.

i know he had little time to impress but i thought his first performance for us was reminiscent of his namesake amady. slow clumsy and a shocking first touch. does anyone know if he's been signed primarily as a defender or a midfielder?

aye. hee looked slow and clumsy last night. but that said, so did geremi, faye and smith.

dyer was never as shite as smith was on the right wing last night. smith's was one of the worst performances i've seen in a long time. just what did he contribute other than two late sliding tackles?

anyone concerned by our lack of a right winger? our only genuine right winger (milner), lacks pace and is 1st choice on the left under big sam. smith is NOT a right winger in a million years; geremi was but is also probably too slow to play there now. i think sam's biggest mistake was to sell both dyer and solano. our options wide right now are loomking pretty gash.

alan smith was the woprst player on the pitch. fuck knows why he wasn't taken off or why he was given the armband. surely martins has got to offer more of a threat down the right?

i'd drop him after last night's performance tbh. i know big sam likes a strapping six footer but he's blatantly not a right back.

....ps. how many long balls? pathetic

disgraceful performance. i had a feeling we might lose this but i didn't think it would be that embarrasing. no semblance of a performance whatsoever taylor is not a full back. we've got a new specialist right back on the bench in beye so why not play him? smith is not a midfielder, let alone a right winger and was absolutely awful again. geremi, butt and milner are all good players but that midfield 4 was one of the most workman-like and least creative i've seen us put out in years. two holdng midfielders and no pace on either of the flanks made for a total lack of attacking threat. owen and shola both toiled and both looked poor at times but they were feeding off scraps all night. i can't understand why given isn't starting either. early days i know but on first impressions, feye looked a bit of a donkey. he was slow, imobile and contributed little goingg forward. another signing i can't really udnerstand.

there's been enough of them to think our interest in him must be genuine. whether he would fancy it (even on a massive wedge) is another thing. It'll be his only chance I'd imagine to give it a fair crack of the whip in the Premiership. you think? if he was available i'm pretty sure one of the premiership's "big 4" would be in for him.

there's been enough of them to think our interest in him must be genuine. whether he would fancy it (even on a massive wedge) is another thing.

if my auntie had bollocks she'd be my uncle

i can see us losing this one. it would typical.

What if he doesn't want to be here? huh? You said Given should start every game when fit because he's a better 'keeper, but what if he doesn't want to be here? Would you still pick him? yes. because he's our best keeper. even if he fancied a move (which i doubt after all the years he's been at the club), he'd have to be a bit of twat not to give 100 per cent if selected. what makes you think he doesn't want to be here?

What if he doesn't want to be here? huh?

given is the better keeper. he should always start if he's 100 per cent

no surprises there

no milner?

i'd pick exactly the same side as david kelly with perhaps the exception of beye coming in for taylor. smith should be dropped. owen and viduka to start up front and n'zogbia given the chance to start further forward on the left flank with enrique given a go behind him. it is derby ffs - how much time does the lad need to adapt to the english game?

absolutely. mclaren really ought to stick with this winning team but i suspect he'll draft in the 'star' players for the final games despite them unbalancing the side. on paper, lampard is better than barry and rooney is better than heskey but as a unit, owen plays better alongside heskey and gerrard plays better alongside barry. it would be nice to see mclaren stand up to his star players. a bench including rooney, beckham and lampard would also be pretty tasty.

It does look like he's going, although not until the Jan window, obviously. Probably no bad thing (assuming we can get a decent amount back for him) as it doesn't look like Allardyce either especially rates him or thinks he'll fit in with how he wants us to play. who could replace him tho...if were gonna get rid of him witch obvious that we will, we need a top class creative midfielder to come and and replace him but then who would you drop in midfield We wouldn't exactly need a top class creative midfielder to replace him, as he's not that himself. However, even if he stays, we're seriously lacking a creative player in there. he's still probably the most creative central midfielder on our books. i'm not saying there aren't better players out there but we'd be foolish to sell him and allow smith to replace him. geremi, barton, smith and butt are a decent selection of central midfielders to call on but none of them are what you would consider flair players. only barton from those four gives you much in terms creativity but even then he's more of a box to box grafter than a 'door opener'. if we do let emre go, we need to replace him with someone that can run at defenders, pick a pass and maybe chip in with the odd set piece too. For a creative player he doesn't create very much though does he? You describe the attributes his replacement would need yet Emre can't run at defenders (with much success), pass a ball or take set pieces very well. We're best rid of him, get Barton to play that position until we can sign a top-class attacking midfielder. he does all those things far more than any of our other centre midfielders! he's shown signs of quality since he's been with us. i think he's suffered from playing in shite teams under shite managers and alongside players. i'd like to see if big sam can get more out of him. i remember him being quality player for turkey in the world cup a few years back and him putting in some good stints with inter too.