Rocheteau

I'm worried about his concussion though Obviously he has a severe case of it if he believes that any positives can be drawn from our performance last night

Investment in the squad is a facile meaningless term which people throw about when things are going wrong and they want a quick fix. Investment is nothing more than a crazy merry go round of a pool of players who might or might not live up to their potential or billing Investment is a crutch thats all, arguments of net spend are constructed as a game of pointless comparison to prove that we are actually better than other teams in theory What we need is stability, development and good management. The squad that humiliated Madrid and United last year is still essentially the same squad that we have now give or take the odd player Unfortunately between Hicks Gillett and Benitez we have none of these

On the other hand it is quite possible that gillett is being genuine and giving backing to his manager at a crucial time, after all, ultimately their goals coincide perhaps for different reasons

In fairness, and not excusing our own ineptness, we played a bunch of championship strugglers who didn't play like a bunch of championship strugglers. I reckon Reading would have given anyone a run for their money last night. Having said that I think they smelt blood

At this point I dont think tactics are as important as getting confidence back. That means focusing on the basics, plenty of training and trying to maintain a settled squad. Yeah, its easy to spout, the hard part is convincing the players but thats Benitez' job. For what its worth I honestly think Yossi is the key. I'm a simple dumb fan and rafa has masterminded a champions league final but his vision movement and invention puts him head and shoulder above the rest of the midfield and playing two defensive midfielders just knarks the s*** out of me

Spurs are almost as unpredictable as we are. This one's completely random. could win lose or draw. I'm banking on the fact that they have Harry as their manager

For the love of godot - we are barely a few days into the january transfer window and we are speculating about something that may or may not come to pass on the back of a couple of media articles. Has the world gone completely mad or is it my sanity that took a beating over the new year festivities I tell you what, lets just wait and see

If Barrett's article is correct and given that Benitez is under so much pressure, why hasn't he walked if the owners are denying him the power he fought so determindly to get when negotiating his contract and why also hasn't the likes of Dalglish taken any stance if it were true, I doubt Dalglish would want to be sullied if the owners were responsible for acting against the interests of the club I have no earthly idea about whats going on at Anfield but it does seem to me that there is an increasing level of hysteria on the forums some of which is being fuelled by these media releases It may all be true of course but at least by the 31st of January we will know one way or another who is bulls***ting us I'm a bit cynical about the article but if we do sell players and not have them replaced I'll willingly hold my hand up otherwise I'll continue to view it as part of an agenda with an unclear purpose

If Benitez sets this one up for a draw I honestly believe we will probably lose. I'd rather see us go for this one, if we can beat Madrid in adversity we can manage Villa. I think its a solid team and O'Neil is a good manager but I still think they are as brittle as us and that should be exploited. Arsenal would have given them a bit to think about, but if we sit back it'll be trouble for us. I hope really hope Rafa has one of his more inspired moments - really he has not alot to lose

No one knows Hicks gameplan other than Hicks, so unless Hicks is the source I'm not going to lose any sleep over this one. I mean does anyone really think that the owners just casually discuss their real intentions openly, particularly if they are as controversial as this latest one is

Its gone to be a struggle for him on the pitch, events seem to be out of his control at the moment, there have been a couple of good points already expressed. I like the point about dispensing with the 2 defensive midfielders. Cant talk about individual players because personalities are not the real issue as form and fitness and squad considerations always come into play. What I would like to see is less involvement in eccentric press conferances and outlandish pledges, less talk about the season starting wherever and the like. it only creates a stick to beat us with. We are in a state and everyone at the club for the good of the club has to realise that they have responsibilities to it and the fans, there are disturbing, if inevitable rumours of cliques and the like, that needs to stop if true. Other than that, as Jamie eloquently put it, cross our fingers and pray for divine intervention. The squad is capable, self belief is the issue

Main problem, confidence is shot, simple solution, refocus on the basics - I am Phil Thompson and I claim my fiver (actually its probably very good advice watching our defending recently)

We have lost our way a bit of late though

I think thats very harsh. Istanbul was not just one match, it was an odyssey. Crap in the league but wonderful in the knockout stages. Benitez is due great credit for that

I think the Shankly comparisons are frankly ridiculous. Two completely different era's and two completely different mind sets For what its worth I dont believe we'd have any shortage in takers for the managers role, Ipersonally believe that Mourinho would probably drag himself over hot coals to get in charge of this club with or without money because he is mental, but there would be others too. whatever happens it should be done at the end of the season and Benitez should be given the respect he deserves, not a desperate boot out of the club whilst its in crisis.

I thought this, but it was around Christmas last year, and do you know what we went on that wonderful unbeaten run knocking goals in right left and centre. And now here we are again. Do I laugh or do I cry. I dont see much to be gained by sacking Benitez at Christmas but he shouldn't be immune from blame

7m was it, He is pretty awesome when we are 3-0 up though

I believe we will improve slowly, some good wins I hope, but some set backs as we are fragile. As it is we've lost too much ground even at this stage and involvement in the Europa league is bound to be a mixed blessing Just as much depends on the continuing form of Villa and Spurs. If Rafa can get his s*** together there is still time but frankly the fact we are now nervous about securing 4th place tells its own story

Actually spot on exactly what i referred to in my post earlier. The number of fans I've met from every club who say similar things is embarrasing, all the important decisions go against them yes one or two may go in their favour but its usually when they are in the lead etc etc and you know, at the end of the day its not really helping the club one bit by maintaining the delusion, loyalty I understand, supporting the manager I also understand, but shifting the blame for whats gone wrong is frankly ludicrous and thats the point of this thread There are alot of factors in play for the state we are in at the moment but the man who bears the responsibility is the Manager who at the moment seems to be acting like a rabbit caught in the headlights

You can only go so far with this excuse, over the season so far I've seen poor decisions go both ways. Its a poor excuse, our results are because our form is so bad and Benitez is struggling to get us out. Really and truthfully everything else is peripheral