Dr Gloom

thanks mate

i'm excited about the rest of the season now too. we're pretty much nailed on to finish at least 6th. and we've got nothing to lose because no one really expects us to finish any higher. if the confidence continues to build and we go on another run, who knows how high we could finish? definitely the right time of the season to be finding form again.

Correct, and when you have 360 degree vision at the match you could really see it many, many times when we were on the attack. We were rigid and disciplined. How people can question Pardew's tactical awareness beggars belief. We were saying yesterday, he's been good literally everywhere he's been apart from 4 shit months at West Ham, he really set the foundations at Reading for them to become a decent Premiership club in later years. i can't believe he hasn't won everyone over now - even those norweigen knob jockeys must recognise the job he's done. look at the league position and some of the victories - beating man u, liverpool, hammering the unwashed etc. i'll hold me hands up. i was gutted when hughton was sacked and fuming when pardew was appointed. but you have to give him massive credit for what he's done this season. defensively, we're as solid as i can remember us being. the positional awareness of players i'd previously written off has improved massively - that is down to coaching. and you can't dispute his man management - he's handled ben arfa perfectly and has kept the team spirit going in the camp. i thought that would go after hughton was sacked and when the senior pros were flogged in the sumemr but if anything it's improved. plus he seems to handle the media perfectly; he's got a bit of confidence - even arrogance - about him, which i like and he talks honestly and tells it how he sees it, instead of talking in cliches. plus he's done it all on a small budget by premiership standards. manager of the year tbh

if we're playing a midfield three, the strongest on current form is arguably tiote-guthrie-jonas even perch is in the running to be a regular starter. never thought that'd be the case, particularly not at the expense of an italian international left back.

i find beating liverpool more satasfying than beating the mackems. mainly because most of my mates down south are liverpool fans, despite having never been to the city let alone seen a game at anfield. they're basically the man u of our generation when it comes to plastic fans.

Jonas excelled in cm in the previous game against WBA. He'll start ahead of Guthrie when everyone's fit.

Ben arfa finally looks the player we can build our side around. Agree that pardew has played the man management of a potentially difficult player to deal with perfectly - a combination of public criticisms and compliments has resulted in a hungry player that has played his way into the side instead of sulking. The front three now is the most exciting we've had in a while. All have pace, good movement off the ball, can create for each other and finish. Exciting times.

Perch has stepped up to the plate. Fair play to him. Won me over like. Motm today alongside cisse

Interesting comments, cheers fish.

I interviewed him after the emergency budget, just after the Tories got into power while the labour leadership race was kicking off. In an age where politicians are expected to have a personality my first impression was please don't appoint this guy. The Tories must be laughing their tits off - they're one of the most unpopular governments ever and the leader of the opposition is a nerd with a silly voice. But then, John major won an election so you never know.

Been a member of this site for a while but not posted yet, I just couldn't help getting involved in this one. Part of the reason we are in so much trouble now is our move from a manufacturing and industry based economy into a service based economy back in the 80s. If you look at the countries that have coped best with the financial crisis such as Germany it is because they have such a well developed manufacturing industry (two thirds of German workers have jobs in the steel industry). Thatcher could have modernised our manufacturing and industry sectors instead of destroying them along with thousands of lives. good first post

yup. biggest game of the season in terms of where we finish. win it and 6th is ours. lose it and the run in looks a lot trickier.

11 per cent is a nice body fat to be at. not easy to maintain at all, cardio or no cardio. i'm not strict enough to get down to ten per cent for more than a month or two in a year. really not sure about the chest pain and wheezing. i'd consult your gp.

Hmmm, that's some real good logic you have there. Another set of fans that hate Liverpool? i'm shocked Don't tell me, you also hate Suarez as well? i don't hate liverpool the club, but i do find their supporter's highly irritating, some of the players are loathsome and the less said about the manager the better.

i'm only offering advice because i've been there. for years i lost weight but still couldn't lose the love handles. then i did some research realised my approach - my obession with weight loss rather than fat loss was where i was going wrong. you don't need to do the research because it's been offered on a plate on this thread. seriously, do yourself a favour and get your BF measured.

i would love it - love it - if we beat them

Get your body fat measured. I bet it's still around 25-30 per cent. Sure, you'll lose weight on your yo yo crash diets. But once you're down to the hallowed 11 or 12 stone mark and you still have moobs and love handles, you'll soon return to a steady diet of lager and pies. Until the next January rolls around when the cycle starts all over again, ignoring the advice of the people that can help you change yourself for the better and in the long term along the way. Honestly, the best you can hope for going on what you've posted here is to be in what I class as skinny fat. You'll lose weight but your body composition will remain dreadful. If you're happy with that then fair enough.

I wouldn't expect you too. I just found it surprising. This is a voter group I expected Osborne to do more for, given they can swing an election

I did indeed. And as was pointed out earlier in the thread (by Fish I think) it's only a stone's throw from Liverpool Street and the City which is a completely different place altogether. I don't know what it is about Whitechapel but there is a sense of intimidation that you don't have only a few streets away. Dave I don't doubt that those signs are at other stations. I've just not been to them I guess. ah, sorry. misread that. thought you were talking about london in general. my previous response comes from having that same conversation with old mates every time i'm up for christmas. it's annoying when someone assumes your entire life must reflect what they see on their biannual crawl around the bars of leicester square and covent garden.

i thought his character on fresh meat was funny, though disturbingly he could actually be playing himself

it's funny how many say that, and yet many parts of london are no different to many suburbs in other towns. where i live in east dulwich is not unlike living in jesmond or equivilent villagey middle class areas in Manchester/Sheffield/Leeds/Brum/Bristol etc etc. most of my mates from back home are all like " eeeeh man, I divvent knah how ya can live doon there like" but then their impression of london is mainly based on the grotty touristy areas they visit when down to see the match. a short hop out of zone one and the picture is very different. there are loads of nice places to live down here. who goes into zone one when not working anyway? my first few years of living in london aside, i could count the number of times i go into the west end in a year on one hand.

he's certainly getting that off the terraces. we know a flair player when we see one. even when he was playign crap and getting subbed he was still getting his name chanted. he'll be a legend at this club if he wants to be

I'm in a great mood, connected mainly to all th spring sunshine we've been enjoying

Williamson, by far

I did kettle bell circuits today. My hip flexor's ruined