shanks59

OK fine, it's all about being able to CHOOSE. You can have Pennant flavour, I'll have Alves flavour

Analogy time: In the future, do we shop at TESCOS again: Pennant (Baines, Taylor, .. ) or at HARRODS: Alves (Richards, Bale, Lahm, ... ) for our long-term signings? Hard Hat On

Trying to be clever. But hey, to be expected

Bale brought up in the English game. English/Welsh who cares? Just watched him score another bumper. 17 and already a regular at club and international level (allbeit at Saints and Wales). A special player in the making? IMHO, Baines isn't anything special

Good points, hope you are right. Hope to see Bale on the Championship in a few minutes.

Very True. He wasn't very positive wrt DIC; claims DIC will finance everything on debt (Stadium to cost £230M-£240M).

Can he possibly avoid sounding bitter? Hopefully he can ...

I would LOVE IT, if our first signing under the new owners, set a precident by GAZUMPING the mancs Hopefully Rafa has discussed young Bale with Toshak and Bellamy

If we could afford it Bale and Micah Richards are English youngsters who are gonna MAKE IT (more than can be said of our kids ). The longer they are left, the more they are gonna cost

I agree getting someone good in may be difficult. We'll have to disagree on Riise's Defensive capabilities. As for Insua, never heard of him until he came. If he is ready (aghh!) and good enough, great

1.Bellamy 2.Alonso 3.Carragher

That was me. Riise has many (mainly offensive) strengths. Defensively he is good in the air, BUT, has some SEVERE weaknesses, he cannot tackle (for a big guy, he rarely wins a 50:50). His Positioning shall we say, is not the best. A decent attacker can often walk past him (e.g. Rommedahl megged him twice today alone , Gala 3rd goal ... ). Whilst I agree he is the best we have, Lucas Neill can do a job there if he comes. Long term, the kid Bale at Southampton may be worth a punt, Bridge at Chelski? or push the boat out for Lahm. Gingers flexibility makes him an indespensible squad member

One or two nice touches. His corners are better than StevieGs Generally his final ball is poor, he drifted, often too deep (god knows why, defensively, he's a good spectator). For me he is too lightweight and lacks the confidence to be a red

FFS EXCELLENT? was your seat a restricted view? Are you taking the mick?

I agree.

Clutching at Straws? Won our pen FFS Cleared off the line should be reworded as MISSED a SITTER ....

Yup (I suppose I deserve this ). When he messes up he does it big (nice clearance off the line)

IMHO, It's time to take the Rose Tinted Sunglasses off, Gonzalez and Pennant in particular are Squad players at best. Left-Back and down BOTH Wings are areas where good players could WALK into the team. Hard Hat On

Played well today, but MAGNIFICENT? Bellamy was my MOTM, but I wouldn't say he was magnificent. It could be argued that Finnan could have prevented Charltons best chances today? Could he and Pennant combine more effectively? Carra and Sami make Finnan look better than he really is

Bellamy best suited Away from home

1.Bellamy 2.Alonso 3.Carra. We Created a Bucketload. Finishing and Ginger's defending, was Awful. Score Flattered Charlton

What odds a cup TREBLE?

PC

If Rafa is gonna let PEPE or Skinny Boy leave (highly doubtful), we should be asking for big money (10M+)/ SWAP/SWAP+Cash

Buffon