Howaythelads

This is my worry when I've mentioned the possibility of relegation. We'll probably look neat and tidy, and pretty solid and all that, but there aren't enough goals in the team. We'll draw too many matches with a team like the one Souness put out today. A draw was all he hoped for today, that was obvious because he could have easily gone 4-4-2 with Dyer up front offering a threat behind their defence.

Parker was outstanding and i hope Souness has learned what i've always said, you don't need the likes of Butt and Faye to compete in midfield. What you need is footballers first and foremost but with them working hard and tackling, not two players who can't control or pass a football and who actual do less defensively than the players did today! When he played Butt and Faye we have no ball retention at all as they are clueless so the opposition dominates and Faye concedes numerous stupid freekicks with daft tackles. Whereas Parker, Emre and the rest together were tracking back but could control and pass the ball releaving the pressure on us that we normally have from giving the ball away. 12039[/snapback] Shame we've got no quality strikers though, isn't it? 12043[/snapback] Its a massive shame! Its why many of us have said don't get rid of Bellamy and Kluivert, and others have said don't get rid until you have replaced them. It would appear that with say 2-3 signings we have a good first team, certainly better than i thought on the basis of that game. What we currently don't have though is enough goals in the team and a squad to cope with injuries, suspensions and loss of form. But i will say after watching that i am happier than i was, which couldn't have been hard! 12047[/snapback] I think the team played well today, but only with a mind of trying to get a 0-0. I'm not really happy with that, although as Souness has left us with no strikers there was no real alternative. Play to your strengths and all that stuff. Our strength is now not attacking the opposition, it is to try to contain and grab a lucky goal somehow. With 11 on the pitch I couldn't see us getting a goal, and that's not just because we were playing Arsenal. There are very few goals in that team the way it was set out today and that's because we've lost our most influential attacking players without replacing them.

Jenas is an utter turd. Where he should be palmed off on is anywhere BUT where he WANTS to go. Greedy overpaid underperforming bag of shit as he is. Souness reckons that other players in the England camp were telling him how much they were making. As if he isnt on enough - this is the same arsehole who was throwing scrunched up £20 notes at barstaff and shouting out "Double your wages" remember, while playing like a Hartlerpool reject. Certain posters on here seemed to think this was just a bit of boyish behaviour, I saw it differently, as a more serious long term problem unless he got his act together, which he most certainly has NOT. So - guess whos being proved right on Mr Jenas ? But while I'd laugh my socks off if he ended up in the Teeside Wastelands, the thought of that twat Viduka coming here fills me with horror. His wanting Viduka is the main reason I am against Souness continuing as manager. 11954[/snapback] I thought that was Dyer ? Whoever it was, they are both twats though. Agree with everything you say about the signal such things send out. Bigger problem is the fact that Jeeenarse might also be annoyed his little mate is now on 80k a week....how many others at the club feel this way, and how many players we try to buy might want parity too. 11958[/snapback] Didn't Dyer scrunch up £50's? Maybe Jenas was feeling a bit shot of cash when he did it, so it actaully was him scrunching up £20's?

Parker was outstanding and i hope Souness has learned what i've always said, you don't need the likes of Butt and Faye to compete in midfield. What you need is footballers first and foremost but with them working hard and tackling, not two players who can't control or pass a football and who actual do less defensively than the players did today! When he played Butt and Faye we have no ball retention at all as they are clueless so the opposition dominates and Faye concedes numerous stupid freekicks with daft tackles. Whereas Parker, Emre and the rest together were tracking back but could control and pass the ball releaving the pressure on us that we normally have from giving the ball away. 12039[/snapback] Shame we've got no quality strikers though, isn't it?

People like Souness have plenty of money and should take the fine to properly call the ref for the cheat he is and highlight what goes on in terms of refs being up the arse of certain teams. The more people do it the more others will jump on the band wagon and soon refs might actually have to stop cheating and do their fucking job properly. 12037[/snapback] Nobody should be surprised by anything Bennett does. He's not the worst though, and that's a shocking thought.

Dont agree........infact thats rubbish. So you think Sourness replaced Robert and Bellamy before letting them both go? That's interesting. Who are these replacements?

I can't believe people get paid for writing such obvious stuff. Here's the incorrect bit as well : FS is to blame only by the fact he appointed a shite manager. The reason other clubs know we are desperate for players lies solely with the decisions of Souness to boot out players before bringing in replacements.

The best time to sack him would have been before last Janaury, not the summer. 11714[/snapback] not saying they'll be here by then but would you still be pissed off if owen and boa morte joined before the deadline ? 11856[/snapback] People were saying 5 weeks ago that there was still 5 weeks to the deadline, let's see who he brings in, etc. The season starts today, points are up for grabs and I doubt we're going to grab very many with this fool in charge. It is already too late even if he brings in a couple of strikers, there is little doubt in my mind we will be playing catch up by the time these players arrive. If they arrive at all. The other thing is that bringing in these players might only offer a temporary fix, as it is only a matter of time before Souness decides to bully somebody else and boots an influential player out of the club to satisfy his huge ego. I say "might" in the last paragraph because there are no guarantees. I'm not in the slightest impressed with his signings to date. Owen is a top player for sure, but Boa Morte is average at best and is certainly no better than Robert so there is nothing at all to gain by that deal.

I'd rather see Clark in the team than Jenas. Heard a Pompey fan on Talksport say yesterday that with a decent centre forward to get on the end of the "at least a dozen brilliant crosses" from Robert, they'd have scored a few.

Odds reducing just means some mugs are putting their cash on it. I doubt it'll happen. As an ex Liverpool player he's bound to have heard more than a few whispers about the type of manager Souness is, that's almost certain to scare him off. Especially as he's a little bloke.

Nothing to do with 'fatty'. It was the decision of the manager that certain players be allowed to leave without replacement, putting the club in what is now a desperate position when it comes to bringing in replacements. It is this position that is causing clubs to overprice their players. FS can and will make fair offers for players Souness wants, but I don't believe for a second he should allow the club to be held to ransom, paying stupid fees for players worse than the ones Souness was unable to manage and booted out.

The best time to sack him would have been before last Janaury, not the summer.

I'm not pleased, nor am I trying to sound pleased. I'm also not the only one who has been saying it, there have been plenty. I'm very pissed off.

Seems like people are waking up at last. Most of what I've read here was mentioned before the end of last season. The writing was on the wall for what would happen. "Just give him time", was the cry. "There are still weeks to go before the close of the transfer window, let's see who he brings in", was another common one. "I'll judge him when he's brought in his own players", was yet another one. It was obvious before last Christmas, by Souness's treatment of Bellamy and Robert, that he was going to take the club to the brink of extinction, and he will imo. If we are relegated and don't bounce straight back in one season, I believe the club will go to the wall. Unfortunately, by allowing him to get rid of our best striker, in addition to our most creative player, I think Souness has already been allowed to do too much damage. He has to go, but without any strikers of PL quality I'm not sure what another manager can do with the mess this idiot will leave behind. He should have been sacked last Christmas.

But he needs time.....

That's quite a range. 9002[/snapback] Can you narrow it down a bit? 9184[/snapback] I did. 17th to 20th.

This was all a bit predictable though, it's what happens when your ego forces players out before bringing in replacements. Perhaps Moore will play up front.

pretty good was Tommy Doc, called it the way he saw it. Hope he's right, shame there's no chance of Fat Fred taking his advice, doing it now, and giving someone new a few weeks to make a good buy of a proper quality footballer to play up front. There's never a bad time to bring in the right manager. I hope that Shepherd is looking around now for his replacement and learned from his blinkered errors of the past. 9230[/snapback] I couldn't agree more. People seem to have forgotton that FS brought in Robson a few weeks into a new season and it worked. That's because Robson was the right man, he was a good manager. Bringing in Souness after a few weeks hasn't worked because Souness is a shite manager. Simple as that. Sacking him at any time is fine as long as the right man takes over.

Dyer will make a difference, as he did in the away match with Sporting....we collapsed when he went off because the threat of pace was gone and they pushed up and congested the midfield. We then couldn't pass the ball anymore. The problem is how many games will Dyer play, and in the absence of any other forward player who has pace and movement.......? Where will the goals come from? I don't see us as being totally outplayed all the time like some really shite teams will be. But if we can't score goals we will draw too many matches. That's how I see it. Signing a couple of quality strikers will make a huge difference, but we haven't done that, it's a major problem. I know it's an old chestnut, but Souness has alienated and booted out Bellamy and Robert, our two most creative players and he's done it without replacing them. That's what I'm worried about. A manager has a right to pick his own players, so boot them out by all means, but do it after replacing them properly otherwise it's not for the benefit of the team.

I hope you're right. Those who think this talk is over the top though always add the caveat of IF we sign this, that and the other. We haven't made those signings, we don't have any decent strikers right now. The way I see it is that we'll struggle to score goals. That means too many draws, leaving us in the dogfight from the start. I'm sorry if some think that is OTT, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think if I believe we don't have the strikers to score goals. Are you saying we do have these strikers?

That's quite a range. 17th to 20th, I reckon.

I agree that if he was one of the top 10 midfielders in the country he'd be worth more than £6m. He isn't one of those midfielders though, nor is he potentially one of them. I agree with you that he's under bad management now. He hasn't always been though. Anyway, it's obvious that some think Jenas is good, some think he's potentially good and others think he's hopeless. For myself, I haven't seen any potential in him at all. He's too lightweight, he can't pass forward, he is weak in the tackle, hence he dives in studs up, and he's knocked off the ball far too easily. This is something I notice more on European nights because I generally get tickets in a different seat nearer the pitch. He's just not good enough at this level and I doubt he'll get many games ahead of Bowyer, Faye, Parker, Emre and Dyer.

I'm not a business man, I doubt I could do as good a job as FS. I reckon I could do a better job than Souness, though. So could you. So could one of my dog, the thickest one. Seriously, Jenas is definitely not worth £6m. If a club offered that much it really is worth taking unless FS knows of another club that is seriously interested. Jenas is out of his depth at this level, a fee like this is a dream.

11th is way over optimistic in my view. I can see us on the fringes of relegation for the whole season. It's going to be close.

Wouldn't mind seeing us struggle like that.