Guz

How on earth can fans (en mass) influence the direction of the club outside of the area where they pay money to be heard?

Maybe. But almost 4 years on and we still do not have a single wide player, be it full back or midfielder, whom we can consistently trust, depend upon and expect to bring a lot to the team like we can with the likes of Carra or Agger in defence or Torres upfront ; for example. That's worrying and very disappointing.

It's all PR. G+H fed us brilliantly when they came to the club but 12 months on it has been s***. I think the support for DIC is partly emotional based on the PR they've fed us but also by the hope that they can't be any worse than the cowboys we have in charge now.

I don't understand where this rumour of a protest came from? There was a lot of talk, at least online, about the march before the Porto game and that gathered a lot of momentum along with the "As always we are focussing on supporting our manager" banner. But from what I could see or hear there was no such organised protest being talked about anywhere but the newspapers?

Everton have been flying for a very long time now and we've been s*** on/off probably since the Reading game yet we're still only 2 points behind with a game in hand (yes yes I know there's no guarantee we'll win that etc etc). Even if they do carry on their form it's unlikely we won't improve ours and that'll help us clinch 4th spot.

I'm not worried about 4th just yet to be honest. If we're chasing 4th in about a month's time then maybe but at the moment I've got just about enough faith in the side to see us into 4th and maybe close the gap on the leaders at the end of the season to about 7 or 8.

What are the players going to do? They're contracted to the football club, they're not going to start speaking out radically against their employers. Or are you talking about starting to win games again?? Thinking about it that'd probably make more sense....

Agree partly but this was supposed to be Rafa's season where he had all the players he wanted and bought/sold, players bedded in, 2 players for each position etc. We were doing OK (nothing more, nothing less imo) uptil 6-8 weeks ago, maybe less. But for the last few weeks and couple of months the whole situation is being bogged down by speculation in the press about the owners and the manager. It DOES have an impact and an influence. You only have to look at the manc's form when ferguson announced his retirement to see the possible problems it can cause. We're in a total mess at the moment though - on and off the pitch - and I can't wait till some positive signs come through. One of them has to give way soon. Either G+H draw a line under everything and DIC disappear/take over the club or Rafa is backed/sacked. We cannot go on for so long with both the performances and powers that be at the club being in such a tangle.

The home form baffles me. Under Rafa it's generally been very very good but this season it's just s****.

And the prospect of a 3rd change of ownership in 10 years is fine and dandy as long as we have a shiny stadium to show for it? I don't know what to think really. DIC just look like the lesser of two evils as G+H look more and more incompetent and incapable of running the football club, long term. Whether they decide to try and ride this out or sell up to DIC the whole situation has been sickening, shameful and humiliating.

Makes you wonder what, if anything, Rafa knew when he came out with the interview the other day in the echo about wanting to stay at the club for ages. It was odd given that the rumours on the sunday prior to this were about Rafa knowing he was a 'dead man walking' etc. not really to do with Rafa quitting Liverpool. Just a week later Hicks uses Rafa's apparent desire to leave the club as areason to admitting to sounding out a new manager 3 months ago. Wonder if Rafa knew of Klinsmann and put out his defence/party line first to push all the pressure (in terms of this political wrangle) on the owners.

Nobody is making Rafa out to be blameless. FFS ever since we lost to Reading there has been non stop discussion and debate about the merits of almost everyone in our squad and the manager, there's been pages and pages of analysis of every game and every decision the manager has made. There's a lot of people who disagree with his decisions and even some who have lost faith in his ability to take us forward. Fair enough. But as this whole political battle and PR disaster becomes more and more clear, the only one that goes up in my estimation and continues to get my support is the manager.

Lawton has it spot on I think. Especially the nauseating way the statement today by Hicks sounds so self-congratulatory. I felt the same after his interview a while back in an American rag or magazine where he basically laughed the whole thing off as one big joke. I've always been keen to adopt a 'wait and see' approach with the new owners but as this season progresses my faith and support for the manager strengthens while my belief in Moore's decision to sell to G+H steadily weakens.

IF you wanted to make a stand, a mass protest like before the Porto game, or lots and lots of banners in the ground would get a message over better.

Eidur Gudjhonsen is the player I'd like us to sign.

And the chances of them being at the club are slim to none. If Carra was good on the ball he'd be almost the perfect defender. People have to get realistic, he's not gonna change now after he's reached his peak. What he brings to the back four is dogged defending, leadership, good heading ability and an unteachable skill of being in the right place at the right time. I'll say it again, his plus points are absolutely excellent, even if he's having a poor season. The same can't be said for anyone else in the back four to the extent of Carra (though I think Agger is ace and can get better too). No team is gonna have 11 total footballers but you need balance and everyone to fit together well - thats why Agger and Carra work so well. Carra isn't the problem in the side, we need more like him who are excellent at a few things rather than a jack of all trades.

I do not get this one bit. The board of directors consists of (according to .tv) F.L. Gillett T.O. Hicks Jnr D.R. Moores R.N. Parry BSc FCA Who exactly is there tensions between? What practical role or influence does David Moores have?

When people talked about Ged's youth policy it generally meant Le Tallec and Pongolle. Plus maybe Baros. Not flooding the youth system and reserves with young talent from around the country and Europe which is what we're doing and trying to follow Arsenal's path. The youth team and especially the reserves are totally different to what they were 3 years ago. Correct me if i'm wrong on that.

It's not just the backline and their ability on the ball. I think we've been looking for too much from some of the players we've bought. We don't need total footballers in all 11 positions but we need players who have set defined roles in the team. We don't have enough of that. Thats why the midfield in 05/06 worked so damn well. Momo made up for Xabi's lack of box-box mobility, Xabi and Gerrard made up for Momo's lack of ability on the ball. Gerrard on the right made up for Kewell's pace and movement on the left, likewise Kewell brough shape and good posession to the team. Lots of variation, lots of balance.

But why is it that Benitez is unable to galvanise us to looking like a team that plays with passion, without fear and with enthusiasm? The most depressing thing isn't that we keep dropping points but we look absolutely dog s****. There's no spark about us whatsoever and hasn't been for a consistent period, in the league, for a long time. Too long. Arsenal were inconsistent in the league for the last two seasons but they looked like a team and a squad that was being shaped into something competent. When we won the treble under Ged and the season after - there was a spark in the team. We sometimes set our stall out to blatantly counter attack teams but I thought our style of football was unfairly criticised (as it was in 05-06 under Rafa). We had a young squad who looked like they enjoyed playing with eachother and enjoyed playing for the club. I don't see that with this squad at the moment. Our football is lifeless and we look like someone with piles trying to push out the biggest turd of his life.

In a strange way, the more and more Torres, Mascherano and Babel play well and Kuyt, Crouch, Riise etc. play s*** the more it may convince the owners to give Rafa even more money in the summer. Maybe.

I think he's done ok in the transfer market. I agree with whoever said we are paying for not kicking on from the 82point season and wasting money on Bellamy, Kuyt and Gonzalez.

Carra is the worst passer in the side probably. But there's always room for someone like him because the good stuff he does is usually EXCELLENT. The same can't be said for some of the others like Riise. The difference between his performances and say Kuyt or Riise is that their good stuff varies between good and average. Rarely are they ever great. Too many middle of the road footballers in our squad who are ok at a lot of things rather than brilliant at a few. We need more like Carra.

What the f*** is a "Rafa supporter"??? Shouldnt that be everyone? I'm sure there are plenty of people who have lost faith in his ability to deliver the league title but I'd expect everyone to be supporting everyone at the club. Another lifeless performance and another s*** result. It's getting tiresome now. We haven't had a consistent threat in the league for longer than a couple of weeks for over a year now. We'll still get 4th, I've no doubt about that but It's f***ing depressing that there are no mark clubs breathing down our necks.

It'll get better but at the moment it's very hit and miss. Some shows are great. Digger's interviews are class and sometimes the "60 minutes with.." is excellent too. Loved listening to Roy Evans. The cup final programs are decent but they spend about 20 minutes talking and then just show the replay of the final. I don't know how much archived footage they have but it's not great at the moment. More fans, more players, more old footage would be brilliant. "Get outta here Robbie la..."