Dr Gloom

this is the sort of game we ought to be winning

aye a few of them did that - barton, krul and colo too. you could see all the players and staff buzzing after the final whistle. all of them hugging and applauding the away supprt. speaking of which, the atmosphere from our end was quality. i enjoyed the "are you sunderland in disguise?", "can we play you ever week?" chants plus tiote already seems to have his own little ditty to the tune of "music man"

any good pics from the match?

Thing I like about him is he isn't stubborn. He learns from his mistakes and isn't afraid to change things if it isn't working

Ashley deserves little credit for unearthing hughton- to him he was the cheap option. But sometimes you stumble upon a manager that doesn't come with a big reputation or personality and isn't fancied to do a great job yet turns out to be a gem. Ashley may have accidentally stumbled across the right fit for us.

Absolutely! Comes from watching a team that play as a team and all work their socks off. You can excuse the odd bad result when you see the players working their socks off every week. It's been a long time since had a team that work for each other like this lot. Well done hughton!

Just back from the match. Fully deserved win. Defence looks the most solid it has in years and tiote is really living up to the hype. He was mopping up everwhere. Nice ball retention all round - only went long when we needed to and yet again played with a spirit not seen since the days of sir bobby. Even when they came at us second half we didn't sit back and still attacked when we could. Nice touch to see all the players and the manager applaud the away support and for a few players chuck their shirts to the crowd. These results don't come around too often. Happy days!

thats about right. Who cares about Everton ? Nolan is a good captain. He lacks the athleticism to be a box to box man, but in front of goal he is really a very good finisher. the lack of athleticism was a problem when he played alongside smith in midfield or off the front man. it looks like having tiote next to him has given him a new lease of life. he's always been a good finisher

the depth up front is very limited and one dimensional. we don't really have the kind of player with pace that can play on the defender's shoulder. i would be looking to move on lovenkrands, xisco, and best. midfield's looking well stocked but a lot of those are young and unproven - like vuckic and lua lau - or older and a bit shit - like smith. for me, it's the defence that's the strongest it's been in a while. still need a decent right back mind, or for simpson to step up a bit.

shit week at work. could murder a bifta tonight but not worth the aggro.

christian bassedas! i should have put him in the worst 23 ahead of barnes.

i'm in a corporate box for this one so will have endless free champagne and food to drown the sorrows if they hammer us again

redknapp seems to get loads of stick on here. because he turned us down maybe? i don't find him that annoying. he's refreshingly honest if you ask me; in the way he talks to the press i mean, not his wheeling and dealing. and i agree with shackbleep - he's done a great job at spurs. and if the fa are going to stick to their word and appoint an englishman next time around, he should probably be the next england maager

buying him back would be a bad move, no doubt. the new dressing room spirit has thrived on a lack of egos. i'd still rather a player of his ability as a sub ahead of ranger or lovenkrands though. not that he'd come back to warm our bench anyway. if we consolidate our position, in the prmiership it's going to become an issue again. big players often come with big egos and bad attitudes. it will be hard to maintain the team spirit while improving the quality of the team. can't think of too many clubs that have done it on a shoe string. moyes' everton teams are assembled relatively cheaply and he usually gets them playing for each other. is that picking up the right kind of players or is it down to the manager?

a mate of mine is a big west ham fan. he reckons they're dead certs to go down. gutless performances,crowd on their back, no fighting spirit if they go a goal down. sounds a bit like us in our relegation season. could be doomed

Martins was typical toon. Some talent there but frustrating as fuck. I'd take him over lovenkrands, ranger or shola

i'll hold me hands up. i thought his legs had gone to do it at the top level. tbf, he's been a passenger a lot the last couple of seasons, but he always has the habit of popping up with a goal. fair play to him though, the last couple of games alongside tiote in midfield, he's been different class. and he's obvioulsy a good influence in the changing room too.

i enjoyed the social netowrk too 8/10

hey, i do more than moan. i offer sage advice too.

i was trying to be nice. go stew in your nicotine withdrawal for all i care. Even when you try to be nice you have this condescending stain smeered all over your personality, and clearly you didn't read what I put. I really am goin up the fuckin wall now sad.gif I gotta get thru this I gotta get thru this.. well i'm sorry if that's the case. i don't mean to be but then talking on the internet isn't really the same as talking face to face is it? all i was trying to say is stick with it. the first week is the most difficukt but once it's out of your system it's more about having the willpower to resist when your friends are all sparking up than that feeling of your skin crawling because you're champing for a tab so much.

Fucking hell. Who could forget Colin Veitch's debut two centuries ago?

that's a class shot. looks like he's executing the karate kid crane kick

i was trying to be nice. go stew in your nicotine withdrawal for all i care.