épieur

I suspect he might be a double agent, but if so, he is a poor one. A smart man would draw the mediocrity out over a longer period of time to ensure the rot would set in properly. Then again, he's a poor manager, so he might just be a poor double agent too and aiming to rack up as many laughs as possible for our rivals as quickly as possible, jackass style.

you what? It was dreadful.

yep. He's not been putting in 'win games by myself' performances, but he looks like what he is - a genuine class player being stifled by the dross around him.

Of course they don't. They already said they won't be revealing how much they intend to spend, which is itself prudent (see birmingham). There is no reason for us to be so aggressive in our questioning of them just yet.. They haven't had time to do anything so far. Give them time to act, judge them on their actions and then we can start talking about 'challenging them' on issues.

Someone finally announced the elephant in the room. Good to know that they not only see this, but mock the very idea of it. I like this guy so far. Everything he has said so far has been eminently sensible. Well, except for the part where he suggested Hodgson would still be backed.

Skretl has been the better of our cbs this season. Actually, he looks to be improving of late, which I'm pretty sure he is the only player in the squad that can be said of this season. Of the ones who have been playing anyway. Our best centreback has been warming the bench.

he needs more time to finish the do his job properly, apparently.

I like him, I think he looks promising. Even fulfilling his promise, he is the kind of player whom we would have been looking at as a squad player two years ago though. Now we're begging for him to take his place as first choice midfield.

at least Insua could play. And was a youngster with room for improvement defensively. First fecking season he was genuinely relied on last year, was always going to be difficult. And he counted as homegrown, no? Konchesky is English though.

I was just thinking tonight how last season was actually more stressful and upsetting. Because I'd expect us to win games we'd end up drawing or losing. This season, I expect us to get points based on how we play, meaning I expect us to lose. It does mean I am not quite as worked up about results these days, but there is a dark cloud of depression about our performance that hasn't been there before. I can't even bring myself to think 'come on, do f*cking better' because I genuinely don't expect us to.

I actually thought of voting no due to the 'immediate effect' wording. I was thinking, lets at least wait until we get in a replacement. Then I thought twice and concluded no, he needs to be sacked immediately. Hi and G&H going all in one week would be fecking tremendous, losing to Everton notwithstanding.

Drogba has developed a lot the past two years. He's a creative player now, capable of setting up teammates with great passing, has a very composed head for passing and finishing, in addition to being a deadly finisher and battering ram par excellence. He simply does everything these days. Best striker in the world for me. Even if Heskey had dropped all those mental blockades and actually managed to build on his treble season form, I don't see him ever becoming the kind of player drogba is today. He could have equalled the Drogba of 3-4 years ago though.

Lucas hardly ever comes up short in the high pressure games. He's held his own against Manchester, Inter, Real, Barca and yes, Everton,without looking out of place. He mostly tends to frustrate in his lack of initiative and drive against far lesser teams he should be dominating. Besides, we don't pressurise opponents under Hodgson. The absence of it is so distinct I am convinced it is under instruction by now.

Would Mill even be approved by the premiership if they managed to pull it off?

I won't say I hate him, but I am astonished at how quickly I've turned. I believe in giving managers time and thought he would at least be decent. I even thought/think he was a decent fella. He needs to go before January.

To be honest I don't really understand the vitriol directed at these concerning this saga. Moores' great sin was ignorance. Parry's was incompetence. Both pale in comparison to the calculated neglect and self-interest that G&H laid on the club. If nothing else, Parry and Moores can reliably say that they acted in good faith, genuinely wished the best for the club and tried to uphold what LFC stood for while in charge. G&H simply did not care. Selling to G&H was highly regrettable and a major mistake any way you look at it, but I don't think they deserve to be looked upon with the kind of scorn dedicated to them these days.

I want to like Poulsen, but to be honest he is all too emblematic of Hodgson's style and performance so far. Static, well below par and should never have been signed in the first place. The fact that Hodgson persists with him, like he persists with his generally hopeless tactics, in spite of the evidence of him worse than Lucas that is clear to everyone else, only confirms the weird synchronicities between Poulsen and Hodgson - Poulsen sadly exemplifies how Hodgson wants us to play. And I can't help but think that fact that he hasn't benched him is indicative of the fact that he's not going to make any significant changes or imrpovements to how we've been playing so far. He is like the perfect player symbol of Hodgson's reign.

Signed for them two years ago, didn't he?

He was a very good player two years ago. Think his body has simply given up on him though. He looks dreadfully out of shape.

Part of me absolutely hates the thought of losing the game. Nothing winds me up more than losing to that shower. Another part of me hopes for it, because I genuinely believe we will have more points in the league at the end of the season if we lose and Hodgson is sacked now, than if he were to win and receive an extended stay of execution. And I absolutely dread the thought of him being here in January and given funds by the new owners. I'd take a loss to Everton in exchange for that. The former part loathes the latter part for thinking like this. And when we do lose to Everton, I'll probably regret ever having thought so cynically. Still, it will console me the day after that it probably will work out for the best in the end like this.

So Broughton/Purslow effectively signed him on a contract that made Hodgson a stopgap solution until new owners could be found. Well done, actually. Hope the owners take full advantage of this.

no sarcasm. Out of curiosity, Rafa's away record has never been that impressive. How does his league record look after five years in the prem?

I don't have the numbers, but I do believe Arsenal has made a greater profit on transfers than we have, even after Purslow put the leash on our kitty.

He consistently operates with a profit in the transfer market. It's remarkable for any premiership club to do that for almost ten years, let alone a top 4 team. They do have a large wage bill but I think that is simply an unavoidable consequence of them consistently being close to the top of the premiership for so long.

Are people here actually rating rafa higher than Wenger? I'd swap our CL trophy and FA Cup for the league titles and doubles he has won any day of the week.