shurlock

"the noisiest fans in the land" amongst all the other diarrhea. somebody put drury down

Bale freekick 119th min - can still see it.

cheers mate.

Heard the chant for years now -and its vibe makes its one of my fav- but don't know the words. Its the ferry one, the one about it not going very fast but not mattering because it was built to last. Anyone got the full words? cheers.

Its a mixed one - on the one hand, he seems to be the only player in the team who actually makes runs off the ball and will exploit space to receive it - he is also happy to take responsibility when we have possession. these are rare qualities in a team that is pretty static i.e. Hammond and Schneiderlin and generally thinks the ball is a hot potato, something to get rid of asap. On the other, his decision-making of late has been pretty poor - he'll take one touch too many and bunch play up as he goes it alone rather than releasing ohers. He needs to be more clinical which means being less selfish. Saying that, still think he adds more to the team than detracts from it. but he's not the player his first few blinding performances promised he might be...

Where in block 4 are you?

And some morons see no inconsistency in jumping into a verse of knees up mother brown (last time I checked it was SMS not Upton Park deep in c o c kney land) and then having the nerve to berate other for singing the slow-version of oh when the saints, moaning that its a farkin tottenham song. It happens without fail.

Was at Burnley last season when we were 3-0 down in practically the same time - tempted to leave but also wanted to suck it all in - the disgust, the disbelief you name it. Hard to call yourself a football fan if you haven't experienced a good and proper humbling and the realisation you're totally powerless to do anything about it.

Relieved to come away with a point - apart from a bright spell at the start of the second half when Punch screwed a ball across the goal and some pressing at the end which led to the equaliser, we were poor. As if I've said before, stop Lambert winning headers or us picking up the second ball and we run out of ideas. For all the talent in the team, we don't really cohere or look greater than the sum of our parts. We play like England did under McClaren or Sven. Its one reason why we're not very good at chasing games. Our inability to keep possession is also one reason why we struggle away from home. Brighton showed how to play with real width, to get the ball down quickly, take a minimum number of touches and switch play - by contrast, we looked cumbersome and narrow, especially with Lallana upto his old tricks. None of the returnees shone. Semi had a rough night while the Antonio gamble failed. Pards should have changed things earlier. Both Barnard and Papa made a difference when they came on - at least there were players going beyond Lambert. Alot of our weakness flows from the midfield - I would have Gillett a run out over Wotton but he didn't even make the bench. When Wotton was subbed, Punch went to CM - maybe it was desperate measures for desperate times but it wasn't the worst thing in the world. I'll be interested to see what Pards does on monday. Either way, CM was a problem area before Schneiderlin got injured - it'll be a bigger one when he presumably leaves in the summer. Think we should have had a pen at the end - Lambo was too honest and stayed on his feet. Refereeing was fine - the linesman in the far corner was an officious bast*rd but at least he was consistent. The stadium was total ****e - would have been easier to watch a game of lawn bowls on a milk crate at the far end of the field.

Think Papa's still finding his feet - maybe its communication thing or just lack of a decent run in the side but he doesn't seem to play as freely or express himself as much as he could. At times, he's all too happy to pass the ball backwards to the fullback -which is fine in Serie A or B with accomplished players - but with us you know the ball will be hoofed forward and possession will be lost. He should be taking on his man man and trying things but this is only possible with the confidence and understanding that comes from a proper run in the team. Its all been too stop-start. Should we sign him, I'm confident there's alot more to come. I hope we do.

Agree - I seriously hope that AP isn't having any bright ideas about playing Harding at RB and sees it nothing more than an emergency measure. I trust he doesn't. Defensively hes look OK in either position -hence his rating in sunday's MOM poll- but he doesn't look half as confident going forward. Still I do understand the desire to strengthen our fullbacks. They can be the difference between winning and losing stalemates like the Swindon game.

Is he the one who rampaged halfway down our left hand side and skinned James to set up their equaliser earlier this season at SMS?

Come on get over it - the JPT is a joke (even if we did beat some good teams this campaign). League or nothing next season.

had the same idea - beat me to it!

Colchester's run-in. Not easy: A Exeter City H Millwall H Swindon Town A Charlton A Hartlepool H Tranmere A Huddersfield H Leyton Orient On paper, Huddersfield's run-in marginally easier. And of course, the Huddersfield-Colchester game on May 1 is good for us either way. A Wycombe H Oldham A Brentford H Walsall H Millwall A Stockport H Colchester A Exeter City

We win 8 of our 9 games and we'll make the playoffs. That would give us 77 points. Colchester would need to find 14 points from 8 games and Huddersfield 17 points from their 8 to do better (assuming we have the better GD). At 1.75 points a game and 2.125 points a game, that's incredibly difficult - after all, Colchester have only averaged 1.71 points a game over the season and are now in freefall, picking up only 0.5 points a game over their last 6 and Huddersfield have only managed 1.63 points a game. Of course, we haven't shown anything like the form that would allow us to win 8 of 9; but at least its possible, even after taking into account other teams.

Barnet?They lost to Carlisle in the JPY area finals and almost pulled off an almighty comeback - seemed pretty distraught at the time since they made a big deal about the game (if they won) arresting their dip in form which has subsequently worsened and kickstarting the rest of their season.

Leeds will go backwards if they don't make it this season - too many players hanging around who've been assured that this year would be the year. Can imagine a real exodus of players and some painful rebuilding possibly and probably without grayson if they bottle this attempt... They're nothing to fear.

That's a relief to hear. Nothing that won't mend in time.

We were garbage yesterday but they were even worse. After a bright opening few mins, the game soon petered out into a long ball, midfield ruck. Suggests that pitches have little to do with performances -as this rivalled Wycombe, Exeter, Brentford. Still if we didn't take the game by the scruff of the neck, we looked comfortable - Ince probably played into our gameplans as he's talked about neutralising and going more physical against us. Similarly, as this was the 4th game of the season, it wasn't like we had many aces up our sleeves to surprise and unsettle them. And vice-versa. Nobody covered themselves in glory - Morgan was niggly; Lallana was isolated; Punch kept picking the wrong option and then tried to overcompensatr for his mistaes; Barnard and Hammond went AWOL; Harding didn't push on as much as he can do at LB (understandable enough). Yesterday showed how reliant we are on Lallana and Punch and they are naturally hot-and-cold players. The lack of pace in the team is also a worry. But hey, we batter Leeds 1-0 while pinching a 3-0 victory at MK Dons - there isn't much logic to these things. At least it ensures we've still got something to play for next sunday other than the proverbial figleaf of pride. Stadium MK is a horrible place to go and watch football anyway but yesterday realised it offered ****-poor protection against the elements. Finally did anyone see or hear anything about the young kid who got hit by a car crossing the dual carriageway outside the stadium. Heard a swerve and the sound of KP hitting a cricket ball into melon and turned around to see a stalled car and a kid get up, stagger a few yards and collapse into a heap.

Even better had he offered a free ticket to those who did Hartlepool away...

PROPI = Purest Representation of Primate Inbreeding

The Championship combines the best of all worlds - lower league authenticity with high tempo games and big attendances. plus there are more marathon treks up north which intensify the highs and lows of winning and losing.

Though that seems the attitude of those who say we should be walking this league and get their knickers in a twist when we don't routinely spank teams coz of the money we've spent etc. And that's this season. Wonder what it'll be like next season when we've finally enjoyed the cure of all cures, the mythical properties of a full preseason. Next season every game is going to be a necrophile's wetdream, a postmortem into whether we will or won't go up. No doubt the debate is going to be similarly shrill. The idea that people will calmly wait till Xmas before making judgments is a joke. Can't wait...(goggly-eyed, miffed face).