Atticus Finch

I don't think it is any coincidence that our best performances this season have been when we have had a midfield 4 of Kewell, Alonso, Sissoko and Gerrard. It has an excellent balance to it and whilst Gerrard will excel in whatever position you play him (including full back!) if he starts wide he seems to play with more freedom than when he is going through the middle - and his goals total is a testament to that. I think we still need a right midfielder capable of starting and doing well, as Momo's absence is showing up the paucity of options when Gerrard moves inside. Edited to include A world class what?!

I've been thinking this ever since he got injured. We are not the same team without him. You look at us in the last three weeks and we seem like we are lacking energy and drive - Momo was providing that to the team, and his presence allowed Alonso and Gerrard to play better and concentrate on their biggest strengths (passing and getting forward respectively). With Momo out Alonso is having to do more work harrying the opponents and isn't looking as composed when he is in possession, meanwhile Gerrard is having to do more defensive work and so hasn't got forward so much. Massive compliment to a 21yr old that he is missed so much - I think his value to the team is being shown during his absence. Get well soon lad.

A very brave woman. My thoughts go out to Gary and especially their two young sons. RIP. YNWA.

But it is perfect for their BiG nAmE players

2 points - first Henry (not just tonight but for a few weeks) seems to have the on-pitch attitude Owen did in his final season with us and we all know how that ended. Second arsenal's experienced players are around the periphery of the team - keeper, up front, wings. They seriously lack experience where it counts - in the middle of defence and middle of midfield and that is what is costing them.

By the letter of the law it was a foul and therefore a penalty - there was no attempt to play the ball, the defender varied his angle of run away from the ball and into Morientes and also used his arm to lever him out of the way. HOWEVER it is also the type of penalty that rarely gets awarded - you see worse at corners which never gets picked up - which is why anyone would be annoyed if it went against you. And to return to the original point I too thought Poll had a good game, but then again I don't really remember a bad challenge, the players were not arguing with him (except FL who got booked for it), and there were not many difficult calls to make. From that point of view it was an easy game to ref and he did what any decent ref should do. The fact that he finally did what he was supposed to do is more a damning indictment on his usual standards rather than him being spectacularly good in this game.

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The other cost issue with staying is that all of the stands will need to be replaced/renovated at some stage - not just the ones you could look at it terms of increasing capacity. By building a new stadium you re-set that rebuild/renovation clock to 0.

But we've already played more games this season than Spurs will have by the end of the season. I think it is a factor. The early start to the season meant an earlier start to training and therefore less rest from the season before (which was elongated by Istanbul anyway). We have also had extra games in Japan (plus the travelling) and against CSKA. After Japan we also also had to contend with the most crammed in Xmas fixture list yet - which is aimed at finishing the season earlier for WC preparation. Finally Rafa has rotated far less than he did last season, which means certain key players are playing 95% of the matches. All this has meant most of our first choice players have been playing every three/four days for months and that is bound to catch up with us eventually.

Depends on what is left on his contract and how much he forces the issue. I would say Bolton would want 6-8m for him and you can imagine Fat Sam being a c*** about it too. Very good player who would be excellent for us, I just think the price makes it unrealistic for the next 18 months or so given what else we need to do with the squad.

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I've never taken to him as a person, but I have to admit that his columns are a must-read. I love the hypocrisy he exposes within the game - Lowe's poaching of other youth players is a prime example.

I thought exactly the same thing yesterday. I hadn't noticed it being that bad before (not that I pay much attention to their games) and wondered if they had sabotaged it

Dudek, Traore, Warnock, possibly Garcia (although he is definitely a Rafa favourite), Cisses, Morientes and due to their contract situations more than anything else Fowler and Hamann. You can also throw in most of the older reserve players - Whitbread, O'Donnell, Mellor, Potter, Raven etc My view is we need a starting left back, a starting right midfielder and probably two strikers.

I'm definitely in the Riise is the best bet, but none of them are good enough camp. Couple of points re Traore:- 1. The reason he is better at recovery tackles etc is because he makes more mistakes and gets caught out of position more and therefore is forced into desperate last ditch tackling. 2. To say he is better in the air is laughable. He is as vulnerable as Seaman was to a ball floating over his head - how many times have you seen completely miss the ball when he is trying to head it clear at the back post. He also cannot jump in that situation, which is why SWP (and others) have outjumped him. 3. His passing is woeful, as is that turn inside he does every single time he attacks - how many times have attacks either broken down completely or lost their momentum once the ball gets to him. Our offside trap has been excellent this year and has contributed a lot to our defensive success. The only one of the 3 left backs who can be relied upon to hold the line is Riise. I think the fact that Rafa has barely picked him this season, despite his definite improvement last season, is a damning indictment of Champions League winner Djimi Traore.

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f*** this, I'm off to buy a house

I prefer it this way without a doubt. I think they are doing a good job with them - although it won't be for a couple of years or so until we see the benefits

Not for the first time either - for several years they have sacked managers in September - after the transfer window closes! No decent manager who hopes to get the england job will want to commit themselves to newcastle until SGE's successor is named. Wouldn't surprise me to see them go after SGE, but as it was righly pointed out earlier in the thread, their caretaker's don't have the qualifications that will allow them to be in charge until the end of the season when sven would be available. Nice one Freddie

I like the bit where he says you can tell how happy he is by the look on his face, when he is looking particularly deadpan at the time. Smile a bit lad!

Nail on head

We'll just have to agree to disagree, safe in the knowledge that Rafa doesn't fancy either of them as a striker

I accept the point, but Baros had games against GAK in the CL qualifying last year and he didn't score against that mighty team

Quick point about the finishing - how many goals did he score after Xmas last year? In the whole of last season he scored 13, Cisse already has 11. In their careers Baros has scored 47 in 187 in club games - a 1 in 4 record. Cisse has 91 in 202 - nearly 1 in 2. Obviously a matter of opinions but I remember Baros being as poor if not worse than Cisse is playing. IMO Cisse's good points and good play get overlooked because of his suspect workrate and attitude (both of which are improving). Baros bad points got overlooked because he ran a lot. Bottom line is I don't think Rafa fancies either as a player and I'm not sure I'd argue with him on that to be honest.

Or of tapping up a player under contract...