Leo No.8

Mr Tyler - I salute you!

Robbie's never been any great worker, but the way I look at it, at least he's got the talent to be a bit lazy and pull it off. Cisse on the other hand, should be in the Olympics, not on a football pitch...

I think its actually even more frustrating that we look such a good side, but we haven't got a decent bloody striker, than if we were all-out crap!

Absolutely - the Ryman League won't know what's hit it...

His passes do have a bumpiness to them even on a flat pitch don't they...

I really don't care how much of a 'bad boy' he is, Anelka would be better even after the amputation of his right leg in than his eventual replacement Diouf, or Cisse. He was absolutely tremendous to watch - his display against Newcastle at home in our 3-0 win was as good an individual performance as I've seen in many a year. He didn't even score either I don't think. I was gutted when we didn't sign him - and so was he. I really don't give a monkey's about his bad attitude, he was a proper footballer, unlike the stream of inadequate strikers we've signed for huge fees in recent years.

On the sidelines for a month with a twisted handbag strap I've heard...

This lad has only just turned 21. If he matures as a footballer, then he could in a few years time be a player genuinely mentioned in the same breath as Viera...

You are Martin Jol and I claim my £5...

There's more chance of Michael Barrymore stringing a coherent sentence together than Rafa selling Riise, and thats not very likely at all. He's just given him a new contract, and I get the impression that like me, Rafa thinks Riise is and will continue to be a very reliable, effective and committed footballer for this club.

Cisse, Morientes and Traore in my opinion are probably most likely to go. Mellor and Whitbread I can see heading for the exit door of the less well-known players.

At first, like many I wasn't sure on Crouch. But as others have said on this thread, it really surprises me to see people questioning him at the moment. Despite the fact that he hasn't been scoring, he has caused opposition defences more problems than everyone else who's played up there with him put together. Sometimes its havoc in the penalty area when Crouch is about - Dirk Kuyt would score about 50 a season playing with the big fella, he's a ginger Van Nistelrooy reincarnated, and even uglier God love him...

Didn't sound as vociferous as usual. Far be it from me to criticise any of our lads who travel far and wide to support us, they are absolutely phenomenal most of the time, heroes. Just sounded a bit quieter than you'd expect yesterday, from what you can tell on the TV of course. Don't know if anyone who went could correct me, or would agree. They'd know better than me as I'm in my armchair mostly for the away stuff...

Well in speedy - at least one red had a good day anyway...

My thoughts exactly. Was amazed to see Warnock's name in the starting eleven yesterday...

sIgN BlinKING aNYonE!

Cherno Samba...

Or perhaps Greer? She'd be stronger on the ball than Morientes and more intelligent than Cisse...

I think its the one area Rafa hasn't addressed properly since taking over from Gerard. I agree Viking that Gonzalez will help us there - he's lightning quick, but it'd be a lot of pressure on him in his first season in England to expect all that much. Thing is, players with this kind of ability guaranteed cost a lot of money. Simple as that.

Not you teasing again - come on spill the beans...

...Apart from Gerrard, we so desperately lack players who can run with the ball at the opposition. Kewell has been starting to look like the player he once was, but it's too early in his comeback to look to rely on him again yet. So still, as it has for years now, it comes down to Gerrard to run at defences; Birmingham in midweek it was him as ever, and even yesterday when he wasn't at the top of his form he was still the only player to actually run at the Chelsea defence and cut the ball back across goal. Practically every time we score in open play its down to him in some way or another. That little c*** Robben looked frightening when he got on the ball yesterday; when we played Chelsea at home Drogba ran at us and wreaked havoc. Every time we play Arsenal Thierry Henry gets at us, Rooney caused the panic which eventually led to their goal by running at us again and again at Old Trafford; we desperately need a striker who can beat players, as well as an attacking midfielder with pace to do the same. Our woeful attempts to bring in a right winger and missing out on Owen are going to prove the difference between pushing Chelsea and finishing a distant third. In the chess games of Europe, it doesn't affect us, but at home it is our biggest problem. If we want to challenge next season, this must be addressed properly with a big wad of cash.

You look at strikers around the Premier League, and our forward line. Who is the more effective, Jason Roberts or Morientes? Is Cisse really any better than someone like Robert Earnshaw? Look around the top teams in Europe and in our league and you'll see players like Henry, Rooney, Crespo, Shevchenko, Adriano, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic... We need a striker who can run at players, score goals and take some pressure off Gerrard to create problems for the opposition. People have been criticising Gerrard for his performance yesterday which amazes me - he's the only player in the side who consistently looks like getting in behind the opposing defence. Kewell has been showing flashes lately, but our lack of players who can run with the ball positively will continue to hold us back from being in amongst that top echelon of teams. We need another wide player with pace and skill, and a striker with the same, both straight for the first team. Its going to cost us £20-30m but it'd be money well spent; we don't need any more squad players, the squad as a whole is strong enough now.

Stop him Kev or you'll be run over by a bus, or even something worse may happen like you'll develop a first touch like his current namesake...

Change your forum name; perhaps not being named after quite possibly the worst £14m footballer in the history of the game would cheer you up a little...

Same here...