rogerbarton

"Like a ginger Paul Scholes. Except he can tackle"

There's no way he's worth £18m or good enough for a PL title challenger. That said, as others have mentioned, he's been a really good influence since Rafa came in. I'd be pretty concerned if we let a leader like him leave, especially given he seems to 'get' what playing for us is about.

Another consummately professional performance. You can only beat whatever shite you're up against, so I'm not in the slightest bit worried if we don't win in style. The games are going to start coming thick and fast now, and 7 of the next 8 league games are against teams in the bottom half (6 are against teams in bottom 7). Could we break the Keegan record winning streak?

Think it's going to be a tricky one in the vain of Preston and Bristol City away. Would take a point tbh, but love to see us stick it to them. Genuinely amazed by the levels of bile Fish received on that site.

Credit where it's due, he puts the research in.

Hit the nail on the head, Gloom. It's almost like they've made such a mess of the last 4 appointments that they've given up.

Uh ohhhhh... only Rotherham are beating them.

Do you mean to say we're the most successful team in the country right now? Feels good.

He took over with them in the relegation mix just two years ago as well. He's a great manager.

Leon Best wasn't bad mind but...

God almighty. John Carver's 13 points from 20 games is something else. That would've equated to 25 points over a full season.

I'll admit, they've got him dead on with a couple of their quotes though. "He just looks like steam train with failed brakes" "Sissoko looks like a rugby player giving it a go. I panicked and thought there must be a YT reel bigging him up somewhere but worryingly he looks just as terrible in them." Those rare occasions he looks good: "When he gets a bit of space to get up to speed and runs through players, the ball bouncing about off his shins and insteps, getting the breaks of deflections, he's a glorious sight of mentalness."

Jesus Christ, reading that thread has given me a chuckle. The venom of Spurs fans. "E's a filfy Woolwich fan but I'll give 'im a charnce" Sit near a Spurs fan at work, whose first words today were "can you please take Sissoko back?"

We're not far off at this stage, even despite the terrible opening two games. Reading got 2.3 points per game in their 106 pt season, we're currently on 2.26 points per game. They lost 2 and drew 13 that season, we've lost 3 and drawn just once so far (about a third of the way through).

Cardiff lost last time out at home to Wigan. That followed a bit of a revival since Warnock took over. They're not a good side, and I think we might knock four or five past them. Gone for 3-0 though.

Sometimes easy to forget he's still only 22 too. That's a great article, he's a hero.

Darlow made another few good saves today btw. We've won every single match since he came in and conceded 2 goals in his last 5 games. Think it's worth mentioning, as the defence has looked a lot more assured since he replaced Sels.

Same thing is happening to the mackems as Hull when they stayed up instead of us. How things come full circle

Looking at their recent results, this is probably one of the toughest matches we'll have all season. Got to be happy with 6 ahead of 3rd (practically 7 with our goal difference). Long may it continue. Cardiff next, who lost at home to Wigan today. Ends a few good results for them.

Possibly holding midfielder? We've been playing without one in a lot of games like. But without Hayden (and Tiote if he leaves) we're a bit light in the middle.

I might be biased cos they beat us, but is Zenga unlucky to go? I saw them lose to Norwich and they were pretty unlucky there too. Have they spent an inordinate amount of money?

It really was a genuine demolition like. Attack v defence for 90 minutes. Should have been 10, could have been more.

Yeah, I think Ashley now accepts just about every decision he's made at the club has been terrible. He found himself with Rafa through sheer luck - it was Benitez's advisers who contacted Charnley - and was happy to hand over total control to someone with actual acumen. He's been trying to hand off for years now, but he's just picked the wrong people every time (Wise, Kinnear, Llambias, Charnley, the list goes on...). Where I might be concerned is, like aimaad says, when we're back in the PL and Benitez wants budget to push on, while Ashley sees us as a comfortable midtable team already. Would Ashley keep stumping up the cash?

My God, that blurb reads like a really ham-fisted attempt at satire...

Brilliant stuff. As Happy Face alludes to, we are now ahead of our cumulative points total in 2009/10. 28 points from 13 vs. 27 points from 13. Our form after the rocky start in all competitions is 11 wins from 13. I'd still look on those Hughton stats as very impressive though. Let's take a look at his CV since Ashley sacked him off. Gets Birmingham to the play-offs despite financial crisis and having their assets frozen. Takes them on an FA Cup run (5th round) and Europa League campaign (group stages). Takes over at Norwich, who he keeps in the Premier League, guiding them to 11th in first season. Is sacked in April the next season with the club 17th and five points above the relegation zone. They are later relegated. Takes charge at Brighton mid-season (December 2014), who he rescues from the threat of relegation. They finish 20th. Next season guides them to 3rd - as we know they missed out on winning the league, never mind automatic promotion, by a hair's breadth. Again this season they're keeping pace with ourselves and Norwich despite much lower budget.