dorgie

He is obviously a good manager, because to do what he did at Porto proved that. However, much of his success in the Premiership is down to the fact that he can load his bench with players worth 10m, 20m or 30m and as soon as his original tactics backfire [ which has been often enough ], he can bring these world class players on which immediately changes things and results in them winning games late on. Another effect of this must als be that it has a huge effect on the morale of the Sunderlands, Birminghams, Portsmouths etc when they are holding on for a draw or a 1 goal lead and see 2 or 3 players of that calibre coming off the bench. I know it's a mute point, but I seriously doubt if they would win as many games in the Premiership if teams were limited to 1 sub like in the old days. When they come up against the higher quality sides in the CL, this doesn't seem to work as well.

I think it'll be Morientes & Fowler. May be better to leave Crouch for the last 20 minutes if we need to change things and start getting the ball forward in a more 'direct' fashion.

So, so sad to hear that. RIP Always a legend in the Football World Gary.....thoughts are with you.

Didi Hamann

1. Kewell 2. Agger 3. Finnan

I was 100% sure that when I read this thread title that Doug Ellis must have died......I was all ready to add my RIP. Not sure if I'm disappointed or relieved now

Nice one Wayne.....now go put it all on Crouch as first goalscorer tomorrow

Can we order signed advance copies from Elisha ?

You'll do well to find anybody who has European programmes from the Dalglish era

Exactly. This is an area where Gray makes a t*** of himself week in, week out. He is so inconsistent when it comes to commenting on hand ball decisions. FFS, Geremi came out and blocked it like a rugby player would, yet he says it was ball to hand

Christ, how many times did he say "I have to say" tonight ? He gets more and more ridiculous each passing week and is really annoying now.

Tuesday is the 21st.

To be expected at Pompey given the number of Newcastle players they sign.

We've got games on the Sunday 19th & Saturday 25th (lunchtime). Thus it can't be Monday 20th and I'd be amazed if we agreed to Thursday 23rd. Wednesday 22nd would suit us best as far as rest is concerned, but I bet the Chavs will get that one.

Very good.

I think Riise is playing very well at LB this season. To be fair, the best full backs in the world get caught out of position. Often, it is impossible for a full back to see what is happening with the other 3, because if the ball is on his side of the pitch, then he won't see what is happening behind him and he'll have a split second to decide whether to push up [ and hope & pray the other 3 are also ], or to drop and follow the ball/attacker.

I'm not sure, but if he were hit with a suspension, would it be the Carling Cup final that he'd miss ? If so, then this only re-inforces my thinking that he's only doing this to look like a saintly little player that he ain't. Especially with him being captain in a final, he'd be gutted. But as I said, they will be afraid to ban him, as usual with the Mancs.

Sounds to me like the c**t is just trying to earn some Brownie points in advance of his hearing this week. "Oh I'm really really sorry, should never have done that at O.T., and look how I've repented since in what i said after Saturday's game". It'll probably work too, with those gormless geeks in the F.A.

1. Hamann 2. Sissoko 3. Carragher

I'm overcome with greed and I now want so much see Paul Jewell parading the Carling Cup around Cardiff next week.

'It's a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn't it? Mmmmm. Marvellous.'

You better be prepared for some more jealousy then Gary.

"Alex Ferguson ! Bobby Charlton ! Malcolm Glazer ! Carlos Quiroz ! Gordon McQueen ! Eamonn Holmes ! Gary Neville - can you hear me, Gary Neville ! Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of a beating!"

Did they have to come back as players ? Like Souness left, but came back as manager.

And as the Manc game gets closer, the same paper today runs a good news story for the Mancs about RVN wanting to stay with them.