Bromage

Keane Kuyt Mascherano

I think we have a habit of trying to lay on chances for strikers who can't score or are on hat-tricks; exmaple today with Robbie, earlier in the season with Stevie's 100th and in the past with Crouch, remember the penalty? Personally I would prefer the person in the best position to score rather than trying to set someone up who really may not have the best chance. Maybe Rafa agrees because for most of the 2nd half that seemed to me to be what was happening.....

You see I stll haven't got beyond the sheer joy of seeing us on top of the league again, so I'm not really concerned yet about where we stand just yet. One point I would make is that I would be concerned that Rafa saw their first goal and continued to go for the win; maybe in these new circumstances it may have been better to shore up the defence and settle for the point, maintaining the top position. Not what we would like to see but sometimes maybe on some occasions, it's for the best?

Here are the games through until the end of the year; PL 08 Nov West Brom H 15 Nov Bolton Wanderers A 22 Nov Fulham H 01 Dec West Ham United H 06 Dec Blackburn Rovers A 13 Dec Hull City H 21 Dec Arsenal A 26 Dec Bolton Wanderers H 28 Dec Newcastle United A CL 04 Nov Atletico Madrid H 26 Nov Olympique Marseille H 09 Dec PSV Eindhoven A CC 12 Nov Tottenham Hotspur A I would suggest that with the exception of the Arsenal game, that's a relatively straight forward run of games in which we should expect to gain close to maximum points. Spurs was always going to be difficult game, in view of the circumstances but with Torres back and Keane with a little more confidence, there's a lot to fel positive about. With the exception of last week I still don't feel we are playing at our best. Yet ironically yesterday we showed some fantastic form at times.

I think people are just frustrated when they can see how good he can be and yet in many cases he fails. Having said that he needs all the encouragement he can get as I remember how shocked & upset he looked once last season when the crowd were on his back. He doesn't need that!

I don't know what the FSA implications are in this but if they were a company then they would normally prepare accounts after a year's trading. With public companies they have to prepare quarterly statements but as I said, I'm not sure whether the FSA would change any of this but perhaps someone could clarify this?

Plenty of opportunity for everyone that can, to go along to the SOS meeting today and voice their opinions.

I think it starts at £15m and increases from there. He is certainly very highly regarded and performed extremely well against us but I would have to agree; it's a lot to pay for someone with limited experience. What did Arsenal pay for Fabregas?

Exactly, Mike. It's not about spending big money on big names. It's about the fact that the club is now in the hands of a pair of jokers who don't appreciate the need to support the manager in bringing it players of the appropriate quality; the one time they did, he brought in Torres. I've never regarded Rafa as a manager who wants to buy the big names, as he proved at Valencia, but given the backing he can build a quality team to compete on a lower budget.

Whatever the story behind these rich Arabs at Eastlands, how does it make you feel when other clubs are battling for the best players and we're not? Is it a lack of ambition or funds?

Firstly, a huge number of our fans no longer live in the city but still travel to games. Secondly I buy most of my tickets the same way as the locals do; either via the PTS or from mates on here. Lastly I have to ask whether the club, like any other in the Premiership, would still be as successful without support from a broader base of fans. It sounds like your criticism is of the club and its's sponsors for not looking after fans in general but dealing with this should still be the job of the official supporters club and if they aren't doing their job then they should be brought to task, rather than taken over by the SOS without a clear mandate. SOS has a clear goal which no other group has promoted, other than Rogan Taylor's intiative, so let them get on with it.

Didn't you see today as a potential "banana skin" with all the negative PR, no SG, losing Torres plus a team seemingly lacking confidence? We won't win every game but maybe a point today was better than some might have expected.

Hey, I'm not defending the action, I'm just trying to explain what I think is the reason for his omission today!

It is easy to be cynical but also to be blindly optomistic. I want to see what happens tomorrow with regard to players leaving before I would make a judgement of Rafa's trading success in this window. Clearly he's been hampered by lack of funds again and too much interference but f we take a look at who's gone compared with who's come in, I am hopeful that this will show a positive contribution. Regarding the comments of Hoddle today regarding SG's role, it showed me just how little he really understands about the game today. Keane is here because he's a class PREMIERSHIP player and a match winner. We can't continue to rely on Gerrard & Torres to score all our goals, as today proves, so bringing Keane in provides more strength but it'll take time to introduce him to the system which worked last year as it means that SG's role changes. His injury will possibly help this or not but only time will tell. I do subscribe to the view that although it hasn't been pretty, 7 points out of 9 and through to the CL groups is not a bad outcome and as we saw last season, it can only get better!

I just wanted to pick up on the Babel question; on Wednesday when he came on, Rafa spent ages shouting at him to stay wide left but he kept moving inside. Given the criticism from around me in the Kop about lack of width, it seems that Rafa wanted Babel to provide this but Babel had other ideas. So maybe today he was benched and Ngog brought on as a lesson; whether this was the time to do this is an arguable point but then if he is about to face strong competition from Riera then maybe he should be doing more of what he's been asked to do?

My last couple of posts seem to be trivialising and that is far from my intention. What I want to appreciate is the focus of attention from the "activists" within SOS and yet I'm still not entirely clear. Certainly there appears to be ongoing action in line with the groups original objectives and aparently more in the pipeline; can we as fans understand what those plans are or do we have to pay £10 membership to find out? Regarding other plans and objectives, isn't this what the official supporters club should be doing and if not then they bloody well should be! Isn't it reasonable to ask why SOS has decided to move into other areas whilst the original objectives have yet to be achieved. I, as many others I'm sure, would be prepared to do whatever it takes to support SOS in achieving its initial goal but much seems to have happened to possibly cloud the issue and maybe people are nervous about just what they are supporting now. I won't post any more on this thread as I'm sure others have something to say and will be far more informed than me. All I would say is that I know of nobody who wants H&G to stay as owners and any distraction which keeps us (yes it is us), from advancing their removal is to the overall detriment of the club and the fans. So the SOS has a clear responsibility to carry out its pledge without delay and with our full backing.

So where does S.O.S. come in then?

Union? Why call it a union when it's essentially a single objective action group?

Someone who can cross with their left foot maybe?

Then surely the answer is to stop "trying to achieve other objectives, coach travel, improving ticketing etc." and focus exclusively on the primary objective. Aren't there other group who are (or should be) focussing on these other objectives and if they aren't then they need to be brought to task? For a group with one stated aim, isn't the way forward to achieve the objective (by whatever lawful means) as determined by the majority and once this is done, then perhaps consider what can follow?

Bank agreements generally include for exactly that provision, under the pretext of securing their shareholders' interests.

How can there be a "massively broad church" in a group focussed on one single objective?

A bank can call in a loan any time it likes, providing it believes there is some risk of it not being repaid.

Radical thinking, I know but how about right-footed Babbel on the right?

1. Both Parry & Moores hold the critical casting vote against the americans, as long as they remain at odds with each other. If fans openly protest against Moores, isn't he likely to just resign and immediately pass control totally to the Yanks? Whatever people feel about them, perhaps it's better to keep them onside whilst it suits. 2. For a protest to have maximum impact, it's has to happen before, DURING & after a game. Haven't many examples of "successful" industrial action proved this historically? I understand how peple feel about not supporting the team during a game but let's not forget, these owners are still here!! It's perfectly possible to show support for them at the start of the game and leave them in no doubt as to the intentions.