DuncanRG

He's too good for League 2 but nowhere near Premier League level. Would do well to move to a bottom-half Championship team at this stage of his career and I imagine he will go there or L1 if Bradford don't go up.

Nothing is inherently racist about wanting to limit immigration - a lot is racist about a significant number of UKIP members and supporters and their leadership has only done so much to seperate them from the party. The same applies to sexism and homophobia. Nobody, as far as I'm aware, actually supports an open door policy. It's a strawman, not something that actually happens in Britain. Call it lenient, a soft touch or what have you but it's not an 'open door'.

We'll see what happens in 2015. Divergence from the centre is almost synonymous with economic difficulty and particularly austerity - people turn to extremes when times are tough and the centrist main parties let them down. This UKIP vote is significant but it's about as mid-term as it gets - a real victory would be making an impact on a general election. It would be wrong to dismiss them all as racists but there is something very 'I'm not racist, but' about UKIP. The in/out referendum is a Tory manifesto pledge.

Okay, my mistake! I'm not stupid enough to think they were a 'mid-table club' or anywhere near our level over history but thought their situation at that time might not have been as far away from ours as you'd first assume. But it probably was.

And he was probably man of the match at St Marys!

1990-91: 6th 1989-90: 13th 1988-89: 11th Probably a blip from 88-90 but that is when Giggs came through. Either way, they weren't the all-dominant powerhouse they are now and they might well have sold some of those academy players in today's climate.

That's no reason to embrace a dangerous alternative I agree on the first point but if there's one thing they didn't do, it was appeal to the left. Where have you got that from?

I'm not old enough to remember the position/financial clout of Man Utd at the time but they were a midtable team when that generation came through. Perhaps not a world away from us, who knows?

Indeed. A centre half has to put a lot of legwork in when a full-back's not got back and that doesn't play to Hooiveld's strengths at all. I suspect the reason he's been in under MP is because the opposition players don't have much time to play the ball through midfield - we've certainly been dealing with a lot more aerial balls and that's what Hooiveld can deal with better than Fonte. I think everyone (including the manager) agrees that Hooiveld needs replacing for next season but he really hasn't been that bad

Good to hear.

How dare they!

...

Hope and pray Dembele is out, their most important player after Bale. Brilliant business to sell Modric and get him in.

Presumably the club will have decided that we wouldn't sell enough outside of the city/region yet to make it worth doing deals with retailers, giving them a cut etc.

Arsenal have struggled against the top teams in all areas this season, but I remember Cazorla was one of the best players on the pitch when they drew with City away. That was early in the season, when everyone thought they'd keep 38 clean sheets and challenge for the title

Agreed

He runs games but he's not quite the Mata or Bale type who can take over whenever they feel like it. I think with more quality movement in front of him at Arsenal we'd see the very best of him - when Walcott played down the middle they linked up really well.

Have foolishly double-booked myself for the 12th. Appreciate it's not sold out yet so I can let it go for £25 if you want to save yourself a couple of quid! Message me or reply here EDIT: Gone

Carroll is the right man to call up now. Lambert was a month or two ago, but that's the way it goes.

These things happen with young players - they improve. If we're here this time next season and he's performed at the same level with no signs of improvement then we might want to think about moving him on.

In which case we could buy an entire XI, no? Everybody understands how to improve a team through signings but I'm not sure why you'd look at that area first. You don't want to break up a good partnership, and if we're going to kick on and become a top half team I think defensive midfield will be the one area where we'll look no different. Though if we're after Wanyama... Personally I'd be happy with a refreshed squad and more strength in depth (a few ins and outs) with the first XI left intact besides centre half. I wouldn't say no to another attacking midfielder/winger with a bit more goalscoring prowess since otherwise we might be relying on Ramirez to improve.

There's absolutely no question for me - Mata in the cup. He was everywhere all game, and only improved as time went on while some of his teammates relaxed. In the league I'd like to nominate Huddlestone - always an underrated player but his impact on that game was enormous.

I'm not particularly bothered either way, but I've certainly learnt to love this season's kit and wouldn't mind something similar next season. The only thing I don't like is black shorts - I know it's tradition but I never have.

He's had a relatively poor season but it's madness to write him off. Young players from other countries do struggle to settle in sometimes - players like Coutinho are the exception rather than the rule. It's no coincidence that a player coming from Italy plays best in the games where he's given space to run into, eg Arsenal or Villa at home. He's struggled to deal with how quickly defenders are on him in the Premier League but I think he'll get there. Besides, it's not like we're insisting on starting him anymore - he's been on the bench more often than not in the last few months.

Strange one. Can't say I know much about his Reading performances but Liverpool clearly see something. I've been more impressed with Sean Morrison in Reading's defence, I think he'll be a decent player.