Archangel

So to turn the arguement on its head, as Mr Parry now appears to be lumped with sole responsiblity for our transfer policy and what players are coming in, when we win the title this season, am I going to have to thank him for it? I mean, noooooooo way am I a fan of that bloke, out of his depth he is, but it seems to me that Mr Benitez is rapidly becoming Mr Teflon in some respects As it stood I thought Rafa's principle gripe was not that Parry is getting the prioirities wrong more that he allegdly has trouble in concluding the deals, yet to be fair to Parry, that in itself cant be easy when you have to get the agreement of owners who cant stand the sight of each other

I think it has more to do with Benitez's style of control and attention to detail. I dont think individuality goes down well with him - its just a thing you have to accept

This is going to get bloody. Both camps are lying through their back teeth. After its done and dusted I dont want to see any of the current crop of senior execs of this club involved with it anymore in any capacity

I'm with Usher on this one, players are alot more mercenary than seems to be suggested. The bit about maureen is a valid point. Players who already want away may use his departure as an excuse and the question is would we want to keep them anyway, but the departure of our key players must be off the mark. Benitez is obviously very active in pushing his own agenda and I see his hand behind the piece by Ballague, what he really is after I really dont know, perhaps its another outburst of popular support. Something is going on but I'd rather he keep it in house and with the owners

Heskey please

Unless its judged to be incitment to commit public disorder of course As for the chants and songs, whats the f***ing point! once they were witty nowadays its done just to wind up a bunch of pricks and brings us down to their level. Personally i'd rather be stuck in a lift with a bunch of jehovahs than scream hate filled at a bunch of guys I dont know dont care about and probably will never see again

Its a derby, form, footballing brains and talent go straight out the window, cant predict the result but I can predict some kind of nauseous comment by Ferguson before the game takes place. Apparently some think he's some kind of genius at mind games

Just to pick up on some counter points though, it was a dissappointing result for such an important game, but pace in itself is not always the answer and you answered your own point when you mentioned the Newcastle match. Pace was always going to unsettle the Geordies because their back four are extremely limited and at home you know Newcastle are going to push forward at every opportunity. The Stoke game was always going to be a different type of match and on this particular point I dont think injecting pace alone was going to make much of a difference. To be fair to the Manager we needed some big performances and they didnt come through. Its right to point out that we've dropped points in some key matches but looking around this season it has been more difficult for all the top four as the rest of the league are downscaling their own ambitions and are more prepared to sit back and make things difficult. This becomes clearer if you look at Arsenal's position who are the one team in the big four to suffer most from teams who close the spaces down, saturday the only just edged past Bolton This probably means, or at least means to me, that the key games this season will be those between the big four (plus Villa) and perhaps we shouldn't despair too much when we drop points against teams we automatically see as home bankers All that said Saturdays result shows how much we need game thinkers like Alonso

For my part i think what the manager said had to be said, for the main part its true but other clubs including our own also seek to get an edge albeit to a much lesser extent and this lessens Rafa's position if he seeks to press it further Its now in print and on record and Benitez should leave it at that and now solely concentrate on the team and getting the performances right after the Stoke match that must be the priority If this marks the start of a campaign between him and Ferguson it'l take the shine of any progress we make this season which has been significant and marks well for the future Benitez has made his point, a bit ham fistedly perhaps but he has been clever because as much as some seek to portray it as a rant Ferguson will find it that bit harder to bitch about referees now its been so publicly discussed

What position does Cheryl Cole play then?

Factually incorrect.....err I think Ramos doesnt rate him. From what i've read the Madrid link was not of his instigation surprise surprise and Ramos is part of the reason why the interest in Pennant cooled of late (by about 100 degrees c) , Benitez has significantly underused the player when there have been plenty of opportunities to have used him so he cant be anything other than underwhelmed by the player's star qualities and Ancelotti, as we all know, is completely So there we have it, arguement holed beneath the waterline unless of course you were just being ironic Personally I'd say that he and Wigan are a match made in heaven

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Robbie Keane is the kind of player I really admire, its been a tough start for him and his form has been really dissappointing but I believe he-s worth persevering with. I thought it was a clever buy by Benitez at the time I still hope that it proves to be

I think you are reading too much into it all Football is pantomime to the media I happen to enjoy it, the whole crazy shebang. I think Redcafe referred to it as the boom and bust cycle - although admittedly it was referring to the behaviour patterns of Liverpool fans but it could just as easily apply to England - funniest thing I've seen in years..... those mancs and their chirpy sense of humour tsk

but Wenger will turn that around, Arsenal will be the team to beat soon enough, its not insight or guesswork, its pretty obvious for anyone to see. On song now they can be frightening, what they will be capable of in due course is even more of a concern

a good win for England, some bright positive play and some good committed performances particularly from SWP Pleased for them. Despite the usual misguided anti english prejudice from some on here, good to see the national side play well from a footballing perspective

and its good for business

This is all utterly bizarre and twisted

7.5m...... maybe we need a director of football perhaps

Its one of those issues that no-one has real ownership over, therefore there has always been a tendancy for interest groups to imbue it with a message that is sympathetic to their own cause. The original interpretation of the role of rememberance sunday was to remember the personal sacrifice of those who fell in the great world wars but those in military service and some politicians extend it to all our war dead. You can see the possible potential difficulties that then arise from wars which have not necessarily been fought to defend our interests in the traditional sense and why some communities who have obviously suffered from british military aggression in the past seize on it as they have here. Sadly each side then views the others actions with equal moral indignation and the central reason is lost in the fog of mutual prejudice - much as happens with religion. and so it goes on I happen to honour rememberance sunday as i think it highly important to remember but round our way the event is hijacked by some distinctly unsavoury sabre rattlers who seem to believe that it gives them the high ground to expect that everyone should think and behave with unquestionning loyalty to authority

Yup, but that could have been more to do with discouraging the Madrid board from chasing after Benitez

Good, a ''sensation'' eh! ''wonderkid'' is soooo 2007

This was a day when Benitez got his tactics spectacularly right. going one nil up early on helped and it would have been interesting to see how the same game plan would have coped if we'd have gone behind, but credit where credit is due he is the man. Some very very shrewd changes with Gerrard. When it comes together there's no one better.

Accepted that there is an element to that but how much rope are you prepared to give. He's not a novice, he's played for his country and he cost an arm and a leg.