OTF

Current Puma one is actually good to wear and play in.

If he doesn't get replaced it's a stupid decision IMO. As limited as Routledge is he still had a role to play, and offered something different.

Looks better with a shaved head than a wig, stupid nonce. Wages would be well above what we'd be willing to pay in a position/area where we're already relatively strong.

Rabit, if you don't take him up on his offer of a drink on Saturday then you're the 'keyboard warrior'. Stevie plainly isn't, if you took a moment to think about it you'd know that but as it is you're more interested in trying to make a name for yourself when you're only here because you've tried the same shit elsewhere and noone gave a damn.

I wonder what sort of wages Pienaar will be wanting on his new contract? Thus far Everton have agreed to offers from both Chelsea and Tottenham believed to be approx 2-3 million. Tottenham and Chelsea of course can offer Champions League football, which is something that we can't, but surely he'd spend more time on the pitch with us than he would with either of the London sides. The price seems a snip, though wage would be a concern. Certainly we should be in a position to offer more than Everton have, though at 28 years of age signing one of Ashley's lengthy contract would be out of the question. Am I kidding myself? Whilst he's a good player he's no World beater being a bit lightweight and lacking in terms of end product.

I'm more worried about which shirt Carroll will be wearing on Saturday tbh. I reckon there's a fair chance he won't be playing at all, but no chance that he'll be playing for them.

It's a crazy tight table. Every win or loss can make a big difference. Don't care where Sunderland are on the table as long as we're safe. A few more wins under the belt quickly and I'll stop worrying about the wheels falling off. I don't think it's at all likely, but you just never know. The best thing is I'm enjoying watching us play and go into every match thinking that we could get a win. That definitely wasn't the case in 2008/09 where we were diabolically bad to watch. With 16 games left we need only 5 more goals to equal our total from that entire season.

We need to play our own game against Spurs if we want something from the game. The way we played against them at their place was pathetic. It was a Stoke/Hull'esque tactic of trying to spoil their game instead of trying to play ours. Having Andy Carroll back will be very important against their defense who aren't that good and don't get much help from their attack minded midfield.

He's English and his stats speak for themselves. His true worth might be inflated a bit but certainly not to the extent you're making out. He's also at the peak age for a striker (27 in a few weeks). Owen was 26 going on 27 when he signed for us.

18m is a crazy figure for him in my opinion. The fact that Villa are offering it tells you how much shite they reckon they're in at the minute. Sunderland should definitely cash in, has been poor of late and doesn't go together with Gyan well at all. Gyan doesn't seem to be very good either, like a shittier version of Obafemi Martins in that physically he should be very good but has attitude problems and looks much much older than he supposedly is.

Sounds like Pardew has come to realise how Ashley plans to operate in the transfer market. CT, don't know why you bother posting your 'opinion' as we all know it will change in a very short period of time, based on a win, a loss, or a statement or action taken by the club.

Couldn't even crack it for a bench spot in the Birmingham derby now that Bentley has arrived. Wonder whether that's a sign that he'll go, or if they've shifted him out of sight out of mind till the end of January hoping that he signs a new deal with them. Interestingly Villa are now supposedly interested.

He only played 11 games for us in his first premier league and started banging them away straight away in the Championship - like the Hat trick at Ipswich. I was including his 21 games for Bolton in that season as well. Funny how quickly he found his scoring boots in the Championship. Thankfully hasn't taken them off since getting back in the Premier League.

This thread started in a valley and has gone downhill from there.

Is that Ronaldinho far right? 'Power' Ranger.

Yeh it's a great celebration - a proper piss take and sometimes that's applicable - like when scoring past the mackems or putting the third past West Ham before half time, Anyway 10 goals from Nolan is exceptional - we've been crying out for a goal scoring midfielder for years but I'm not sure he fits that category due to the manner in which he gets his goals - cheeky. Hilarious at Wigan when we started chanting 'Lets all do the Nolan' 5000 toon fans doing the Funky chicken! I hope they did that today! It's crazy how far he's come along as a goal scorer for us in recent times. When we bought him from Bolton he was a spent force, well off his game. I've served up my fair share of criticism in his direction, but I'll stand up and say that I've largely been wrong. Doesn't do a lot of running, isn't a great passer of the ball nor a good tackler, but he's a good leader and has a great effect on others. Plus he has a canny knack for scoring for us, and does the little things that make a difference, like upsetting opposing goal keeper during free-kicks and corners, and generally getting into the head of the opposition. Hard to fathom that he didn't score a single goal in the 32 games in the year that we bought him.

Smith did have a good start to last season. So he should only pay back 7/8ths of what he's been paid.

Gosling should also figure into things. On the strength of his 10 minutes against Sunderland he didn't look much, but it would be ridiculous to judge him on that. Was good to get him on the pitch for us, so next game he plays won't be his debut.

Guthrie for sure. He's been poor in a few games for us this season, and seems to have been frazzled off the field by something according to our resident peeping pud, but he was quite good yesterday and is a good passer of the ball (compared to Smith he's Xabi Alonso). Is sometimes ffound wanting too much time on the ball which can cost us on fast breaks, but generally he values possession much more than Smith. Smith's not even a better tackler, they both tackle like forwards, the only thing that Smith offers is that he must annoy the fuck out of opposition players nattering on always and being excessively physical.

I don't mind Krul or Harper but neither of them really stand out as being better than the other. Krul has made some bad mistakes, and seemingly continues to chance it/miss-kick it badly with his clearances. Harper isn't good at holding onto shots, and pushing them into dangerous positions. Krul too has shaky hands at times. Fraser Forster could be the anwser otherwise I'm not too bothered either way with Krul or Harper - whoever communicates best with our defense - something that's hard to tell when watching.

It's rare that a goal celebration is so so bad that's it's good. The look on his face during his celebrations is priceless, and he can always fall back on the origins as a decent excuse. Must be infuriating to watch for our opposition.

How does Bent score so many? At one stage from one of our corners or free-kicks he had the ball in a dangerous position with PLENTY of space to work with and only Enrique between him and Harper. Enrique didn't even have to do anything special or move particularly quick to dispossess him.. was like taking candy from a baby. Looks to me like him and Gyan together doesn't work.

Has become a lot better at not just bombing towards the box when we have the ball (Nolan). Coloccini had a fantastic game, seems to be extremely confident at the moment, would have been great if his early snap shot hadn't been cleared off the line. Positionally did very well, and seems to have a good relationship with Williamson as a central defender as well as a very handy one with Enrique. His biggest problem IMO is against someone quick with skills on the ball, he doesn't have the quickest feet but is normally able to make up for it with good positioning. Enrique looked good pushing up on a couple of occasions but needs to be aware of short passes that he can make before darting into space. A few times he beat a couple of players but eventually lost out when two or three of them closed in from the front. A short pass to Barton or Nolan inside and he could use his speed to get back in space. Fluffed his lines also when he could have cut it across to an unmarked best in the box also, after Enrique made a great run and Jonas played him a very good ball. Noticed a few people saying Jonas had a bad game, on the contrary I think he had a good game. Earned a fair share of fouls and always troubled them on the dribble, his passing and crossing was also better than usual.

I too would like to know what song he was planning on getting played. Maybe the jokes on us though and there was no song, cause he knew they'd never win?