Mikey

No, we'd still be slating him for signing so many forwards that just aren't good enough, leaving us just the one who is. He's spent around £20M on Crouch and Kuyt, you can't tell me there weren't better options available at the time for the same money. He signed everyone infront of the back 4 today, end of story for me.

You're so full of s**** I'd bet your eyes are brown. If you can't see whoes to blame for it then I'm even more embarassed for you, k****ead.

Rafa should be on the phone to Hicks right now thanking him for keeping him in his job, without the 'Americans' to blame where would he be exactly????? We've just been knocked out of the FA Cup by Barnsley at home!! And I've got to go downstairs into my pub and face about 50 shouting, cheering "Barnsley fans for the day"!!!!!

You do? I don't.

You know I don't really know what to say about this drivel, b******s to the two local lads who grew up at the club, playing for and suporting it as they went(yes I know about Carra). They can f*** off if they want to win the league because you support Rafa who has been here 4 years in total, supported Madrid man and boy, and came to us to further his career in a foreign country where the pay was higher! Benitez embodies everything you think the club should be????? He understands its history and is comitted to restoring it to its core values???? Did you have a tear in your eye writing this pile of s****. What does Carra embody for you? A local lad(I'm an OOT'r by the way), playing above his ability, giving every ounce of effort and drop of sweat for the club and supporters he loves - this not sophisticated enough for you? If Rafa doesn't get what he wants this Summer he will be off and what are you going to do then? Judge him at the end of the season you say, as 4th is the best we can get are you saying thats fine for you as "You believe in Rafa"? What are these core values you appreciate so much that Rafa appreciates more than Stevie and Carra? A pile of cr@p.

I said he WAS behind Lauren, who is now old and can't get a game at Portsmouth, and said that Eboue and Sagna AS PLAYERS are outstanding fullbacks, who cares if Eboue is liked or not as a person?? FWIW I think he's a cheating, diving, crying t*** but he's still miles better than anyone we have at RB. I never said that Flamini was better than Alonso, I said I doubt Alonso would get past either him or Fabregas for Arsenal, and i still do. Arsenal play a game based on quick, short passing with lots of Movement, not exactly Xabi's strong point. SUTTY: Less of the personal abuse please

Because he's young, big, strong and fast as anything; he's very good going forward and has played well for the England U 21's. At Arsenal he's been behind Lauren, Eboue and now Sagna; Eboue and Sagna - as players - are both outstanding modern fullbacks, and either one of them would walk into our first team tomorrow. Finnan is 31?, getting injured often and not playing too well; the odds on him lasting too much longer can't be great, leaving Arbeloa as our only RB unless we move Carra out there which would be a large mistake. Clichy was 2nd choice behind Cole at Arsenal and look at him.

Not the right thread but what about Hoyte from Arsenal for RB?? He must be delighted at being 3rd choice now.

I love how you apparently know he does Why after 4 years in charge, buying and selling players do we still have the slowest back 4 collectively in the entire Premier League?? I think by nature he's a cautious manager, he likes his defenders and defensive midfielders playing deep. My opinion is all.

And finally we have a winner!!!!!!!!! Push our defence up 15/20 yards by injecting some pace into it, Masch/Lucas playing on or near the halfway line, Stevie, Yossi, Babel nearer Torres/Crouch and their box. Rocket science it ain't!

So, who do we spend the money on then????? With Gerrard, Masch, Lucas and Guthrie do we need another CM??

How much has letting in soft goals contributed??

Not saying he didn't mate, but I really doubt if Ferguson ever mentioned how desparate he was to sign him or called an unsigned potential transfer target "the finest young defensive midfielder in Europe". Its just more "He's F****** brilliant and everyone in Europe wanted him because he plays for us, and everyone else is F****** sh 1t because they play for them" b******s in my opinion. Alonso can't be a good player with some limitations, no he's got to be the best passer in the World, the heartbeat of our team, the one who sets our tempo, everyone else in Europe would pay £25M for him etc, etc, etc. I've got a feeling we'll see just who rates him and how highly this Summer.

And when did he tell you he was desparate to sign him exactly??? And I'd love to see the quotes as well.

The Muppet actually said that Carrick was faster and more mobile than Alonso, which he is, who was the better player never entered into it until Knee-jerk, g******* w*****s tried to jump onto something that doesn't exist - try reading the thread Kermit! I will say that I wouldn't be so sure about Ferguson signing Alonso after he was burned so spectacularly by Veron, who was also slow and lacked mobility while still being a very good player.

Not at all, I felt that at the end of November with the way we were struggling we were out of the title race. And I was right wasn't I?

What if we don't?????

Did you miss both AC & Inter in the post??

'PL' is a quicker way of typing Premier League is what it F****** is. I've taken an average of the months that we've been out of the title race by - usually September/October - and then added a bit more on to make it slightly more respectable. The point that we may have still mathmatically been in the title race this year until the middle of December, after playing our 3 allegedly main rivals at home and taking 2 points out of 9 against them and still having to play them all away with our remarkably poor record in these fixtures under Rafa, obviously deserves a mention.

Now you're just being an a*** aren't you. "Some of our so-called fans" - "spat out with the contempt I would expect" Grow up and stick to facts. Would United, Arsenal and Chelsea be happy if they won the CL but never challenged for the title for so long?? Would Real and Barca, AC, Inter & Juventus, Bayern Munich??? Some of our "So-called fans" make me want to puke to be honest, it's OK to be 20 points behind the leaders the first game in February because we're great in the cups - show me a good loser and I'll show you a F****** loser.

Yes he did pick the team that beat Sunderland 3-0 at home, no he never checked with me first. He also picked the side that lost 1-0 at West Ham the game before, is that not all that matters as well??? Istanbul was a great night, not a once in a lifetime night because I remember all our 'European cup' wins, but it was a truly remarkable way to win the biggest cup trophy in the world. We are still out of the PL race by November every year, does Istanbul make that any better for you???

Dunno why I'm bothering to be honest, you can always make excuses for people if you want to - you can always find someone else to blame. Without any of the trouble we've had would Rafa have changed the team less? Would he have played Kuyt and Voronin less and Crouch more? Would he have tried Babel up front? Would he have not put all his defensive eggs into Heinze's basket, failed to have a back up plan when surprise surprise United refused to sell him to us, and then Agger broke his foot in September??? And yeah, I think Sami has been better than Carra as well. Who played Lucas LM against Sunderland when Babel and Yossi were fully fitRafa or Hicks????? FFS, yes we won in Istanbul but are you happy that we're now just a cup team?

Is that really true????? Seems like a pile of crap to me honestly, "Stevie, Carra et al can all F*** off because Rafa won in Istanbul". Its been said on here and I think it's true that if there wasn't the trouble with the owners, a lot of supporters would be wanting Rafa to explain why we are no better off in the league after 4 years of his leadership, how the squad that he was so happy with in August(that he's mainly bought) is no longer good enough in November, why he seems to sign players unsuited to the PL and then try to make them play differently/out of position, and why he persists with swaping half the team every f***ing game when it blatantly isn't working.

Never said he could mate, and thats an arguement for another time, the post I replied to said that Carrick was as slow as Xabi and he isn't. I am starting to get on the old 'PACE' side of things, I see our side of mainly pedestrian players being outworked, outran, and outmanouvered by teams of inferior quality far too often these days. We as a squad are far too slow, our defence is too slow and therefore plays too deep, they are also crap on the ball which doesn't help things. Our strikers apart from Torres are too slow, pose little threat from deep where they all seem to spend too much time playing; again the fact that Kuyt and Voronin can't trap a wet bag of cement doesn't help. Midfield we have Masch and Gerrard with pace, Babel has it in spadeloads but it seems he's down only as a sub this season.