alias75

basically said in 10 days time G+H won't be able to remove anyone from the board because RBS definitely won't refinance or allow them any more time to pay penalty fees etc.. also said you have to be careful about everything that's being said at the moment as there are so many different vested interests involved.

Maybe im being over optimistic but maybe the argument is over who the club is sold to? G+H want the deal thats best for them and to hell with the club while the other 3 want the deal thats the best for the club which probably isn't the best one for G+H's wallet? If they were able to refinance then surely it woudn't have come to this...

So are G+H done?? is this latest move simply an attempt to accept the offer that suits them the best rather than what's best for the club or do they still think they can refinance and hold on?? I just don't see how they can remain our owners given the official statement.

If it was as simple as G+H sacking board members and replacing them with their own people why haven't they done this before?

Theres clearly a cancer here thats spreading to all aspects of the club, it shouldn't have an impact on the team but it clearly is. Yes the team we picked tonight should be capable of winning, but the ownership issue has meant we've had to settle for a manager thats out of his depth and for the past few seasons we've hardly spent anything extra on the team and we've lost first team players that we haven't replaced.

thought the team was alright more than capable of winning BUT the failure to make any subs in 90min in a game thats clearly not going to plan is really worrying.

feel sorry for the kids, but didn't deserve anything from that game based on the 90min. Interesting that Shelvey made a difference when he came on in ET shame RH didn't trust him sooner. Whenever ive watched him hes always struck me as the type of midfielder that always wants the ball and can control a game something we badly needed tonight!

almost 2-3

2-2 yipee

its refreshing how our manager gets defended to the hilt after a poor performance (cos hes English) apparently this is all Rafa's fault!!

strangely enough he might be the right man to get rid of the owners which is the fundamental problem. I think its only with bad results like we're having that the more casual fan will look at the ownership issue and lack of spending.

Shelvey on for Babel...

1-2

given they way they've played can they do any worse? someone like Shelvey for example strikes me as the type of player that would try and grab hold of things in midfield, and Amoo at least has the pace to worry them.. if he can't trust them don't put them on the bench.

Incredible that hes not made ANY subs in 90min in a game thats clearly not going to plan! if he doesn't trust the kids enough to stick them on don't put them on the bench! surely they can't do much worse...

hes been awesome!!!!

no subs? i guess things are going so well why change things!

More disappointed Shelvey isn't starting, this would be the ideal game to stick him in there with Lucas. Someone like Suso has plenty of time, even in the reserve games even though hes shown so much maturity in his play he has faded out of games, i don't think hes ready to start this type of game, but hopefully was see a 25mi cameo from him. The problem with modern football is teams have almost 2 teams of top quality players so even though you want to give youngsters games you also have half a dozen or more senior players that need the match fitness.

really good 2nd half, really like the look of Meireles worked really hard for the whole game even when we were cruising and hardly ever gave it away. Cole was good too although i think he'll be used out wide on the weekend.

You only have to look at the lineup to see theres a lack of any sort of creativity or players that can produce something. Unless Gerrard or Torres produce something we're not going to create anything, and because their our most forward thinking players they need someone to give them the ball or they don't stand a chance. I guess looking on the bright side we have Joe Cole to come back in and Meireles will get forward more than Lucas or Poulson gonna be interesting to see what team RH picks for the next game, the way Gerrards played for England in central midfield id be tempted to go with Gerrard and Meireles in the middle with Cole behind Torres, in theory that should give us much more creativity and players prepared to get in the box from midfield which Lucas and Poulson aren't going to do.

sweet strike with his left foot, can't remember Masch doing that

Great goal by Meireles - Portugal 2-2

Obviously not a lot of excitement over this signing but i think he'll do alright for us. I guess it depends what you want from your fullbacks if you want someone thats gonna bomb forward and create plenty hes probably not going to do that but we have Johnson down the right that can provide that. First and foremost we need someone thats a solid defender and doesnt get caught out too often i think he'll be that type of player for us. I haven't watched him too closely before but did pay close attention when Fulham played Man Utd a few weeks ago. Thought he did pretty well in that game, Valencia was kept quiet and he did get forward more than i expected for a full back playing Man Utd. At the very least he gives the team balance and we dont have to play a CB out of position anymore.

The bottom line is we have a net spend of zero or we maybe even made money for a team that finished 7th last season and we're supposed to improve? I guess the only hope is we manage to keep Torres and Gerrard fit for most of the season. Management really needs to be called out on this though, we are being asset stripped from the bottom and the owners and guys like Purslow need to know we know this. Personally im glad we didn't get Cole i don't see any difference in relying on Carlton Cole for goals if Torres is injured and relying on Kuyt or Jovanovic or N'Gog.

I don't see how relying on Carlton Cole if Torres gets injured is any better than relying on Kuyt or Jovanovic or even N'Gog. The truth is if Torres gets a bad injury we're stuffed and thats true whether we'd signed an average English forward or not. Hopefully the manager gets to see that money in January and someone better is available.