lawrie

The Press Conference on its own can be put doing to Rafa just being a bit random, it is something he does sometimes after all. Coupled with that statement on the offal though has got me more than a tad worried.

Its hard to argue against his record at the beginning, but I'm sorry to say for some reason I never warmed to him and probably wanted him gone earlier than most

I think Insua looks the best prospect out of those that played tonight but I'm afraid Leto is starting to annoy me a little.

1. Gerrard 2. Yossi 3. Hyypia

plus the £8M or so for Momo

Apparently Torres' record is quite poor

Kuyt if he's on the pitch, if not I'd go with Gerrard, he's really improved at them lately. I reckon Babel could be good in the future but wouldn't trust him just yet.

Leaving the theory aside for a second, lets try the novel idea of basing an opinion on the evidence of our very own eyes. Mine tells me Torres and Crouch is not our best partnership.

Thought Guthrie played well for Bolton this afternoon. Nothing spectacular but made himself available for the pass and probably used the ball better than any of his team mates. Unlucky not to equalise when he hit the post.

There's no denying Kuyt isnt a loan striker and was pretty woeful yesterday until we switched to a 4 4 2. As an aside Crouch is pretty woeful as a loan striker too. With Torres out I'd play Crouch/Kuyt or Crouch/Voronin for the majority of our games.

too cautious

I beg to differ, Crouch is getting some kind of cult status simply because he isnt playing enough for people to remember just how poor he can sometimes be.

We only have one striker capable of playing up front on his own and unfortunately he's injured. Rafa could have gone 4 4 2 and in hindsight perhaps should have, but to call Kuyt a donkey for being played out of position is just wrong.

Carra is the worst offender for giving away possession at the moment (Momo was OK today) so it could be argued he's the last person who should be having a go at Masch for letting rip when there wasnt much else on.

Rafa has tried to turn around our away form which has consistently been poor under his leadership. Whether we like the way he does it or not, thus far 4 wins and 2 draws proves its being effective. I fully expect our home form to improve considerably soon, especially when we get our more technical players back (and it's pretty unlikely we'll adopt a 4 3 3 or 4 5 1 at home on a regular basis) I'd say stick with it for now although I agree today's tactics in particular was incredibly frustrating

1. Masch 2. Gerrard 3. Momo Welcome back Harry

yep, spot on

On that slip theres a £65 deduction for meals and a £36 deduction for tickets (were cat A tickets £36 in 2006 i thought they went up to that this season?)

Kuyt is easily our best option to play alongside Torres Edit. Having not seen Babel there yet

Babel's young and eager to make a name for himself and therefore often chooses the wrong option. You can bet your life he would have gone forward gung ho, leaving us open defensively. You know Rafa is cautious and so wasnt prepared to take the risk

A central defender come left back, another pacy striker (Babel?) and a left winger.

Sorry but in my opinion it was obvious the wheels were coming off way before that final season.

Masch was immense. I can see Rafa using 4 3 3 more often in the immediate future (well I could until Alonso did his toe again) Maybe its a good way of easing Lucas into the first team more regularly?

That Mail piece says much of what I have been trying to say but much more eloquently

disagree completely.