Craig

Not Mendieta.... he won the CL for fuck's sake..... meanwhile.......... Everton??

How many of you gave Wigan or Reading a prayer when they came up? Yet both had brilliant debut seasons. Rather than a club with the infrastructure and financial clout, i'm more looking for the dogged determination of a team of players who get together and fight for results - that's the romance of the game which over the years has been sadly lost in favour of all the technical shite. (before anyone says anything, i know it had to happen...)

Precisely... despite all the press carry on, I doubt anyone will be approaching him this summer when they can get him on a pre-contract for nowt in January... We need to get our fingers out though - if he goes, then we're not showing the ambition the club keeps saying it has...

Yep - got to up the steaks somehow...

Daft shite.... Although I can imagine it's fun after a few beers.

Brave bloke stood next to it... Dairy slap it?

Is she really? I like her even less now. I don't know if she is... I'm merely trying to find reason as to why he's the one player we should not sell. That, without doubt is Michael Owen IMO - proved his doubters totally wrong and given a new lease of life alongside the captaincy...

Has Louise Taylor written this shit? Her being related to that buffoon who wears our no.27 is the only reason I can think of for the comment made about him...

Everton?

Can just imagine SMO trying to sneak a cab to Falaraki once his lass has fallen asleep tbh

Does Derby's amount include the £20m parachute payment? And anyway.. who's to say it's .com that have it wrong and not the SL?

You're kidding me aren't you? Some simple kid goes through life being ridiculed by everyone around him - the only people who don't seem to be his mother (naturally), his best mate in the forces who gets the fuck blown out of him and dies, his lieutenant rather begrudgingly after saving his life and the girl he spends his whole life chasing only for her not to have the slighest bit of interest in him right up to the point where she's found out she's dying and she needs someone to look after her son who she had with him years earlier only for her to never tell him. It's gotta be one of the most depressing films ever..... but you just can't help watching it, can you?

That's hardly a glowing reference tbh

I don't think it was him in goal for City yesterday. Was unaware of that but you're right - Isaksson played instead.

Against Croatia? We were losing 2-0 and got it back to 2-2. Then they scored the winner.

They can't win tbh. When it comes round to the competitive games, people complain that it's generally the same XI played every time. Now they've got the opportunity to try out some new blood and it's considered a waste of time. Hope Joe Hart gets a chance between the sticks. Might have taken a hammering yesterday but he shows a load of promise.

I clicked it ... if it's that bad the content filter won't let me see it anyway Must be bad then

Is the one in the middle the one who scored against us?

But liverpool were closer to Arsenal than Everton were to them. And in turn, Everton were further from Liverpool than Villa were from them. I think that confirms it to be a top 4. Followed by two distinct groups... Everton, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Man City. West Ham, Spurs, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Sunderland, Bolton, Fulham, Reading, Birmingham. It'll not be too difficult to jump from the last group into the middle, but near impossible for any team of either group to make it into the top. True.... I'd still stick the top 3 out on their own though - they were the only 3 who could realistically win the league. Liverpool are in a bit of a limbo state IMO. Not quite at the top but far enough away from the chasing pack. Unless Arsenal spend they are not getting back to where they were 5 years ago. Not necessarily. What if Man Utd are beset by injury problems? What if Chelsea sell players and don't replace them well? What if Wenger unearths more youthful talent for pittance? Historically they've not spent massive amounts and the only really successful expensive aquisition I can think of was Henry. I wouldn't under-estimate them at any cost. Off the top of my head Wiltord ? £12m ? Eduardo £8m ? Franny Jeffers £10m ? Lauren 7.2m Wiltord 13m edu 6m Bronkhorst 8.5 Reyes 12.5m Richard Wright 6m Helb 10m Walcott 9.2m Sagna 7.5m De Silva 8.5m Not as many bargains as people imagine. You're destroying your own argument here. You claimed that unless Arsenal spent money they won't get back to where they were 5 years ago. To back it up, you're demonstrating that when Wenger HAS spent money, by and large those signings have been unsuccessful. So by definition you're declaring that the success he's had at Arsenal has been from the players that have either come through the youth system or have been bought on a shoe-string. In that scenario, you can't discount that he could achieve it again.

But liverpool were closer to Arsenal than Everton were to them. And in turn, Everton were further from Liverpool than Villa were from them. I think that confirms it to be a top 4. Followed by two distinct groups... Everton, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Man City. West Ham, Spurs, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Sunderland, Bolton, Fulham, Reading, Birmingham. It'll not be too difficult to jump from the last group into the middle, but near impossible for any team of either group to make it into the top. True.... I'd still stick the top 3 out on their own though - they were the only 3 who could realistically win the league. Liverpool are in a bit of a limbo state IMO. Not quite at the top but far enough away from the chasing pack. Unless Arsenal spend they are not getting back to where they were 5 years ago. Not necessarily. What if Man Utd are beset by injury problems? What if Chelsea sell players and don't replace them well? What if Wenger unearths more youthful talent for pittance? Historically they've not spent massive amounts and the only really successful expensive aquisition I can think of was Henry. I wouldn't under-estimate them at any cost. Off the top of my head Wiltord ? £12m ? Eduardo £8m ? Franny Jeffers £10m ? And which one of them was a success? I didn't make it clear but I was aligning their spends to their success at that time. None of these contributed to the success they had. I agree he has splashed the cash in the past but Henry aside, none of it resulted in the results on the pitch.

Reyes was the example I was thinking of - I'd forgotten about Wiltord.

Which is what Liverpool did against Forest one year IIRC. (or was it draw at home and lose away?) Can't remember, how old do you think I am? Younger than you appear....

Which is what Liverpool did against Forest one year IIRC. (or was it draw at home and lose away?)

But liverpool were closer to Arsenal than Everton were to them. And in turn, Everton were further from Liverpool than Villa were from them. I think that confirms it to be a top 4. Followed by two distinct groups... Everton, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Man City. West Ham, Spurs, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Sunderland, Bolton, Fulham, Reading, Birmingham. It'll not be too difficult to jump from the last group into the middle, but near impossible for any team of either group to make it into the top. True.... I'd still stick the top 3 out on their own though - they were the only 3 who could realistically win the league. Liverpool are in a bit of a limbo state IMO. Not quite at the top but far enough away from the chasing pack. Unless Arsenal spend they are not getting back to where they were 5 years ago. Not necessarily. What if Man Utd are beset by injury problems? What if Chelsea sell players and don't replace them well? What if Wenger unearths more youthful talent for pittance? Historically they've not spent massive amounts and the only really successful expensive aquisition I can think of was Henry. I wouldn't under-estimate them at any cost.

Was it not? Easier to win once you were in it but it was much harder to get into it, obviously. It was better back then too imo. That's the crux of it... These days with the seedings, there's a much more even spread of talented sides within the tournament. In short, you have to beat the best, to be the best... Back then, the difficulty of the ride to the final couldn't be determined. You could have the Champions of Spain in Round 1, Italy in Round 2, etc.. or as previously alluded, it could be Luxembourg, Poland, Denmark, etc... Look at the FA Cup this season for instance - Cardiff have got to the final, not by beating the best teams around but by avoiding them by and large. Agree with the sentiment that it's a better way to run too although it won't make as much money in that format so it'll never go back.