goodrobotusses

And just when ES had joined the esteemed list of WUMs I've had on ignore over the years. The CL comment was so good it half made me want to undo it. My reaction was .

Should make that part of 'the project' we sell to players. We can be the world's first hipster football club. "The CL used to be cool but we've moved onto other things now. We're thinking about petitioning for the Fairs Cup to come back. It would be totally retro."

Aye. I'd have agreed last season but not this. This season we're more direct, more reliant on set pieces and our attacking game seems to be either based on giving it to Suarez and expecting him to do something boss, or getting it wide and crossing it (badly) ad nauseum. Then, with 15-20 minutes to go, we throw Carroll on and really start launching it.

In all seriousness, though, Sahin isn't wanted by Mourinho. There's a bargain to be had there for someone in the summer. Any deal for him could be like when Wenger plucked Vieira from AC Milan.

+1 Was banging this drum the other day. Felt proper Champ Man. Him, Jovetic and Munain. Easy, this management lark.

It's amazing to think that Murphy was sold for £3.5m to help facilitate the arrival of Alonso, and in turn some saw Adam as Alonso's heir.

Aye. Souness. Massive success. Evans too.

It would be a good start to trust our 'worldwide scouting expert' to bring some worldwide transfer candidates to the table. We've done PL-proven players, now let's try footballers.

There's a lot to like about Chad: his attitude… Well, his attitude is good. He doesn't hide. But yeah, he's not a player. Completely lacking in brainpower as well as his complete lack of athleticism/agility (as witnessed in his wrecking ball approach to tackling – he's incapable of adjusting his feet on the run). I said throughout much of the season things along the lines of, "Well, he cost £7m and has had some good games – happy having him in the squad." But nah, he's not a player. I said before we signed him that he's no better than Danny Murphy, but that was incorrect: Murphy is better. He does look like he's in a rut where nothing he tries is coming off for him, but in those circumstances you'd think he'd have the wits to just keep it simple. He's a classic example of the British mentality when it comes to midfielders of "you can give it away loads trying, but if you launch the odd 60-yarder you're a good player". He's basically what Gerrard was 10 years ago but without the raw talent or athletic ability. He wouldn't have seemed such a bad signing if we didn't seem insistent on using him in every game. Those games in which he has played well have usually been in a three, meaning he's a player who needs babysitting and we can't afford that. He's destined for midtable PL obscurity and a return MotD highlight reels.

Ha! Midfielders are crap unless they do at least one of the following regularly: Tackle (preferably by going to ground) Pass it long Score Right?

Bloody hell, you're tedious.

Oh no, no, I knew you weren't, but Cattermole gets my hackles up. Yard dog. My reaction to Adam is, well, it's quite fun to call him Chadam, I guess.

I'm more concerned about us dropping out of the top seven than the possibility of Spurs dropping out of the top four.

Neither. One likes to kick the ball really far, the other likes to kick people really far. Call me a fantasist, but I think we can do better. Or, at least I hope we can. (It's one of my great fears that we'll sign Cattermole.)

Think that's because Sunderland fans' idea of a good central midfielder is Lee Cattermole.

Don't like him wide or further forward but can see him growing into a good distributing midfielder who backs up play. He keeps play ticking over nicely, receiving it and moving it on quickly when he plays deeper. His attitude is excellent by all accounts, staying behind in training to practice. He just needs to learn to be less timid on the field (don't think the positions we play him in help in this respect) and needs coaching on defensive positioning. He could go either way, but I'm more positive about his future than Carroll's, Adam's and Downing's.

Aye. Remember him and Marat Izmailov being the next big Russian things. Izmailov's at Sporting Lisbon, to be fair. Sychev flopped at Marseille.

I live with a former OT season ticket holder. Said the only time he ever left early was Aurelio's free-kick. Brilliant.

Has Carroll done any better as a target man, honestly?

That's another six months of post-match interview duty for Mike Phelan right there.

Villa's ineptitude did us in but it was our ineptitude in the Arsenal/Arshavin 4-4 at Anfield that made me angrier than anything. We should have buried them. Agreed. The PL this season is s**** compared to 08-09, or any season from 2004 to 2009. That was when it was the best league in Europe (in terms of having the best overall top-level teams, not necessarily to watch).

Bielsa drills every single movement that his teams make with and without the ball. There will obviously be elements of improvisation from the player on the ball, but the off the ball running is synchronised. They took about 10 games and a lot of poor results to adapt to his methods. They're on a great run now though. Bear in mind just how much Bielsa's hands are tied in terms of recruitment also.

Carroll and Spearing modelling the new home and third kits.

Which makes sense, given how intensive his methods are and the theory that a lot of those sorts of coaches' teams don't maintain their 'peak' for very long. Coaches that work their teams hard and demand high-pressing football (which requires lots of training ground drudgery) seem to find players getting sick of them quite quickly. Think it was Sacchi who theorised as much (someone look it up for me please).