Dr Gloom

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

You're getting plenty of fibre there, have you been tested for food intolarances? Wheat and lactose allergies can play havoc with your bowels

most important player in the team. shame we don't have him against liverpool as otherwise we'd be taking them on with an almost first choice 11. as it stands, we're missing our two first choice centre halves.

if he keeps putting performances like that in, then you have to say pardew has handled him very well. though that performance, i think, had a lot to do with the move to 433. ben arfa is wasted out wide in a 442 if he's being asked to track back all game. we don't want to overload him with defensive duties. he has to press when we don't have the ball but playing him as one of a front three means he can concentrate on expressing himself, and winning matches.

i loved the way every time ben arfa layed the ball off, he'd sprint forward looking for a return pass, then pick it up and run with it at pace with tight close control - a defender's nightmare. got to say i thought jonas looked very much at home in as one of the three central midfielders. he's got the work ethic to play that position plus his through balls were more dangerous than his crossing from wide areas often is. either way, he's had a class season (despite what CT reckons). it was nice to see him given the skipper's armband after colo went off - he's earned it.

pardew's played a blinder with ben arfa. as frustrating as it's been this season seeing ben arfa in and out and the side, i can't help but think he has got ben arfa determined to prove his worth to the manager and the fans. it must be motivating him to put in shifts like we saw yesterday to cement his place, keeping him hungry. then pardew talks him up in the press and talks of an international call up, of him being our best player after he does do the business. rewarding him for a good performance and incentivising him to put in another shift like that against liverpool. good management.