kyle04

Vinnie Jones and Gazza spring to mind, a little one sided though....

I did feel sorry for Long, he dosen't get many great chances for all the effort he puts in week in week out, and you could see the frustration and anger after his tame effort straight at the keeper. He was trying to do the right thing, a side foot to the corner but didn't catch it right and it looked a horrible miss. Balance that with the great header v Wolves, and the deft finish v Hudds (albeit disallowed for a marginal offside) and I wouldn't say he can't finish. Redmond got his wonder goal, he's been threatening that for a while (similar effort v Wolves hit the bar), want to see more of that from him. He has the skill to create the yard of space needed to get shots away. Great reaction from the team, even after a setback they have the belief and confidence to bounce back now.

Anything that comes welded in a hard plastic packaging, requiring you to turn to a power tool just to get the bloody thing out. Any company with the word "solutions" in its name. Anyone you know who, because they love dogs, think its acceptable to let theirs slobber all over you. Anyone who thought Baldrick was the funniest character in Blackadder. Anyone who describes themselves as a "musician", but quite clearly is just a layabout who can't be arsed to get a proper job.

er... David Armstrong and Nick Holmes

My dad used to mention Ron a lot (before my time), said he would out-jump the keeper even ? As for MLT, much would depend on his attitude regarding modern training/diet etc, who knows how good he would be now, a slightly more languid Messi maybe ? I was lucky enough to be an ST holder when he was playing, and aside from the obvious goal scoring genius, I must be wrong here but I don't ever recall him mis-placing a pass or being caught in possession. Often he was like the bigger boy in the playground who was miles better than everyone else...

Fair enough, like everyone needed reminding though. Villa fightback on btw 1-6...

0-5 City, will our record be broken...?

Even Lineker had a final dig at the end of MOTD yesterday, it would be sweet if our win contributed to them finishing outside the top 4. To replay the 9 goals at the ground before yesterdays game was ungracious and spiteful (like Vardy when he goads the opposition fans every time he scores). RH was class after the game yesterday by comparison ...

Their injuries have hit them hard. We've been fortunate in that respect, if we had half a dozen of the current 1st team out we would struggle if the Huddersfield game was anything to go by. But one shot on target all game at home does not bode well for them, and a resurgent Watford would not be the opposition you'd chose at the moment if I were them. Still they're only 3 points away from "safety" so not down yet.

At the moment he dosen't quite look up to it, but the last 2 months have taught us that patience sometimes pays off. RH should continue to give him chances, unfortunately for him Long is playing very well at the moment and deserves to start games. To loan him out would be a mistake and would benefit no-one. If he gets a few 20 minute cameos and the odd start he may do well. He has one of the best strikers in the country at the moment to learn from as well, and whilst he won't be as mobile as Ings, he's a big powerful lad and could give defenders different problems. A few good touches and an assist yesterday will give him encouragement. I think rather than writing him off, most fans are dying to see him succeed.

I think the Arsenal and Villa games were the catalyst for the recent revival`, the confidence the team has is not something we've seem since the Koeman days. We've deserved every point we've won, the team are working exceptionally hard and playing good football in possesion. Ralphs tactics have improved, and we look like scoring a few goals in every game recently.. We will suffer defeats , but the team now knows they have the tools to bounce back. My only concern is Ings, should he get injured we are sorely lacking an alternative up front. Long works his socks off but lacks the finishing ability, Obi seems to be a better finisher but lacks the work rate of Ings or Long. The jury is still out on Adams. Still, while Ings is fit we will continue to pick up points.

20th Norwich - adrift and looking out of their depth 19th Bournemouth - in freefall and injury crisis 18th any one from 6, probably Villa

I think JRM is right, GS has tended to give the younger lads a go, which is refreshing, so can't see Ings getting a call up despite his form this season. I think he would be more effective than Abraham however, who is an exciting young talent but still a little raw. Kane and Rashford pick themselves IMO if fit, and we wait to see in Ings lasts the season without injury anyway. If he did get crocked in a pre-tournament friendly nobody connected with SFC will be happy that's for sure. Personally I think he deserves it and it's worth the risk. As for Vardy, it just shows how football has changed when players can tell the England manager they don't want to represent their country any more when they're nowhere near retirement from the sport, and it reflects badly on GS to "leave the door open". We have plenty of talented players so my attitude would be f*** him then.

Garth Crooks is a professional moron, always has been....

Our best performance of the season I'd say, great game to watch, chances either end 2nd half. Difficult to pick a MOM but Long was immense today as was Ings. Do those two ever stop running, tremendous fitness and commitment, We need fear no-one at the moment playing like this (except Liverpool maybe). RH deserves great credit for our rise from the 0-9 nadir to this. We outplayed Leicester for most of the game, not many teams will go to the King Power and dominate them as we did today. Well done lads !

PEN !!

Excellent half, we look well up for this, making a top 4 team look average again. More please lads !

come on JWP....

Looks about right given the heavy work load on the lads recently. A risk of the Wolves League Cup 2017 disaster (my sons first proper game at SMS, cheers for that), but we should have enough to beat a poor Hudds side. Ings definitely should be locked in his bedroom until the Leicester game, away from kitchen tables and any garden machinery.

I used to like Mourinho, but it seems football has eaten away at his soul over the years. Being new to his current job I suppose he isn't going to slag off his players in public (yet), but he comes across as a world weary, defensive and petulant. Compare with the likes of a Hodgson or Dyche who it seems to me always give honest appraisals of a game, regardless of the result, and will never achieve what Jose has in football history. It's not our concern but what was once an entertaining character in football is rapidly losing all credibility with every passing week. He's taken the wrong job IMO, Spurs have had their high point under Poch and are now in decline. We, on the other hand, after 3 years of what can be politely described as mediocrity, seem on the up....

Scrappy niggly game, particularly 2nd half, lots of errors from both teams, a certain pen not given by VAR, we would have lost this a few weeks ago. Expected more from Spurs but we harried them all game and they looked very average. Good performance from Hoj and the CB's again did well, Beds had Kane in his pocket for most of the match. Ali is a niggly dishonest little s*d and should have been carded on a number of occasions. Danny boy again the difference between one point and 3. We will play better than this and lose but who cares, a massive win, at home and a clean sheet. Happy new year Jose, welcome to SMS!

Interesting graphic. So the issue then is when the ball is struck by the attacker. If this can't be ascertained exactly as in paragraph 2 the benefit should go to the attacking team which would be more in the spirit of the rule and the game itself ?

The DRS system has been a huge benefit in cricket, and was often cited when calls to introduce VAR were being made. The cricket laws are easier to implement however (did the ball hit the bat, lbw has 4 criteria easy to gauge with the system etc), and cricket is a stop-start game so the time taken to review isn't really an issue. Also each team has only 2 appeals per innings and thats it. Despite the offside rule being clear, some of the reviewed decisions lately still seem a little subjective and not in the spirit of the game. The "clear and obvious error" criteria is subjective when goals are being disallowed by such small infringements. This season managers aren't complaining if a VAR decision goes against their team, the decisions have been technically correct and the "big club" bias has been neutralized . The delay to the game is a two way street, your heart sinks when the opposition "scores", but wait, VAR may save us...... Yessss ! Limiting the time taken to make a decision seems attractive but is wrong IMO, I'd rather the correct call was made than a rushed error. So the game is fairer with VAR but is more sterile, thats the price to pay and I can't see any way to alter it unless general rule changes were made, which won't happen. It's still new but fans will soon get used to it.

On the face of it another frustrating home performance really, we never looked like scoring until Djanepo came on. Palace got what they came for and made it difficult for us. Hoping for more from Boufal, who was poor today. JWP had another good game and is looking more like a midfield dynamo with every game lately. Cedric OK but his crossing was poor when in good positions. CB's looked solid throughout, good partnership building there. All in all an excellent points haul from the 3 games, with teams around us floundering (Villa, Bmouth, Norwich) its been a good period for us. Tough games to come but expect us to get points in 2 or 3 of them.

Wolves 0-0 count ?