Craig

If Shearer said that he was probably in MOTD mode. Ferdinand had to give up his #9 shirt when Shearer arrived. Shearer worked much better with Duncan Ferguson and Bellamy in my opinion. Shearer would probably prefer Ferdinand because he scored more goals with him, than he did with Ferguson or Bellamy, plus he fucking hated Bellamy, so it's unlikely he'd rate him highly. Agreed... Shearer worked better with no other striker during his time at Newcastle than Ferdinand. The only ones who come close at club level IMO were Sutton and Newell... He obviously still rates his link up with Sheringham for England as his best - shame really as it didn't really work for that long...

I'd tend to agree with that. The Beeb have got an idea that the appeal of Top Gear now extends beyond petrolheads, and want to try the same trick with F1. I see Alonso is issuing a come-and-get-me to Ferrari. How's that going to work out? Kimi and Massa are both under contract for 2009 and even if Massa was pushed out, why would it work any better than Alonso/Hamilton? He's already proved he can't handle an elite team mate given equal status. Alonso acting like the spoiled kid in the sweet shop demanding he gets what he wants? Surely not... tbh I think the Ferrari deal is already done... and I think you're going to be surprised dr ken - I think 'muttley' will stay....

Deserve everything you get tbh. What exactly did you expect btw? Can I just add that I didn't go to the cinema to see this abonomation, thankfully it was only a DVD copy and i hadn't heard anything about the film before I sat down to watch it.... Jesus wept, you need to be on drugs to like that. Have just got hold of Trainspotting on DVD so shall recover myself by watching that for the first time in about 8 years...

Dissent is a yellow card offence. About time more players were booked for it imo. hows saying "whats happening?" dissent? Surely dissent is saying "fuck off ref that was a booking" etc.. You believe that's all he was saying? Anyway, dissent is disagreeing with the decision of the ref. It's fairly obvious he was doing that in an agressive manner. And he'd been at the ref for practically the whole match. And he'd already been booked. You could tell even some of his team mates thought he was being as idiot. Personally I think players screaming at refs every time a decision goes against them is something that blights the modern game. And I realise people get passionate when they play and lose their temper etc. Just like every other walk of life that behaviour has (or at least should have) its consequences. Amen.... I don't disagree that it was a booking going by the letter of the law. We all just know that the letter of the law doesn't get applied 95% of the time and, like the increase in the Middlesborough player's ban following the appeal of his sending off, this will become an isolated incident rather than the norm meaning that incidents such as these as seen as biased against one team rather than the norm.... THAT is where the real problem lies....

Word is that Richard Hammond is going to present F1 when it returns to BBC. Not quite sure how I feel about that.... I love the Top Gear humour and I love the subtle comedy that has always been prevelent within F1 (the Brundle comments for instance) but I'm not quite sure I want to see Top gear humour in F1 coverage.

Meet The Spartans.... Shhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite!

Bit harsh on Cole there like Craig. My own personal opinion - and thought that even back in the day when he did play for us. IMO he was awesome because of the team he was playing in more than the other way around. A good striker with an awesome shot but when you think back, his 'god-like' status lives almost completely off the 93-94 season and could, harshly, be referred to as a bit of a one-season wonder. He was a fantastic talent but, despite the initial horror of where he'd gone, I never doubted Keegan's decision to sell him.

Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups... eh? While he obviously did tell Bennett to 'go forth and multiply' for the first card, it's claimed that for the second he simply said "what was that for?" and his hand gestures suggest that this is the case. More than likely that Bennett had simply heard enough of his voice and simply thought enough was enough. Most people I've spoke to today think he was sent packing for all the niggling throughout the game rather than this particular incident. If that is the case then I think something is wrong. Interesting that Bennett has said nothing at all - do referee reports get published to the web?

Beardsley was more of an all-rounder for me - a forward but never a striker. Cole was great here because of Beardsley and had he not had Pedro laying on balls left right and centre, I doubt he'd ever have reached the greatness he did. Les was the most gifted of all the strikers I've seen. Shearer was a great striker but as you say, we only caught a glimpse of him at his peak - much like Ferdinand. Those two should have been our strike force for a good 3-4 years and I reckon we'd have reaped the benefits.

Must admit, I though Andy Gray's comments at half time were a bit scathing... Something along the lines of "as soon as I saw Bennett was the ref I knew the game would be ruined...." Bennett is well known for being over-officious and some would argue he is biased towards Man Utd. With that in mind it probably wasn't the brightest move of the FA to appoint him the referee for this match. I saw Mascherano being sent off from the challenge that brought about his first booking. The lad was 'wired' for the match in the same way Gazza was for the '91 cup final. IMO the sending off itself was tame and had it been one of our players that had gone for it, I'd have been up in arms because there is far worse gone unpunished before in this season and will do again. It's what he did afterwards that he's going to get a bollocking for and probably not what Mascherano is referring to when he's protesting his innocence.

Yeah it is the principle but it's hardly adhered to. In rugby you approach the referee and he'll abruptly tell you to speak to him through your captain. Ignore him and you're warned, ignore him again and you're off. Same should apply in football.

I've voted 'yes' looking at it objectively. To approach the referee and question his decision is fundamentally wrong IMO unless you are the captain and even then it should be done with respect to the official. That said, I think this incident was tame when compared to those that have gone before (Keane chasing D'Urso around the same pitch comes to mind). He was an idiot for running across the other side of the pitch to remonstrate (however polite it may have been), that should be Gerrard's job but then Bennett didn't even look at him, he just pulled a card out. I think he's in more hot water for what happened after the card was produced than the incident itself though. I did wonder if the FA will commend the Liverpool bench for calming him down and dealing with him on the side of the pitch though? They're very keen to charge clubs with "failing to control their players" when the opposite happens.... Bottom line is we need consistency and what happened on Sunday has served to determine that if we are going to be consistent, then zero-tolerance is how it's going to be. The first incident when a referee allows back chat (and it WILL happen) is going to get hammered.

It's about time the rugby principle in that the only person allowed to talk to approach the referee is the team captain is introduced in football. While I agree that there has been far too much backchat for far too long it's unfortunate that it's this incident as opposed to one where a player really has verbally attacked the referee that was chosen as the example to make.

Criminal that we only got 2 seasons out of him before the money men sold him.... As Shearer says, his best striking partner of all and as KK pointed, undoubtedly the best header of the ball in the country at that time - with Gillespie on one wing and Ginola on the other, Ferdinand couldn't help but score. Will probably get some stick from the pro-Shearer lot for this but IMO Sir Les is the best striker I've ever seen at the club.

Terry is a thug and a bully, one of the worst people to have been given the England captaincy since I've followed football. They had Jeff Winter (another prize cock!) on Talksport this morning and were discussing the players who barrack referees. Winter claims that Terry is worst culprit this season for doing this and that alone should prevent him from getting the captain's armband for England. For once I agree with the Smoggie twat... That said, Steven Gerrard was conspicious by his absence during the whole Mascherano affair on Sunday. Surely as his club captain he should have firstly been the one (not Mascherano) to question anything and secondly, surely he should have been over to make sure his player acted in the right fashion following his red card? Disappeared completely though... hardly the actions of the best leader? No-one sticks out as a definitive captain for England at the moment IMO - maybe that's half the problem! Maybe he had more sense to argue with the referee, seeing as there's supposed to be a clampdown on such behaviour? I agree he should have calmed down Mascherano though. Probably looking out for himself and keeping his nose clean before the England game, the shifty git. Hardly the actions of a leader, I agree. Owen is starting to look like a better captain for us, he was geeing the players up in the huddle on Saturday. But his place in the England team is far from secure. The next best option for England, dare I say it, is Rooney IMO. He's matured a fair bit and he is one of the senior players, and one who will be around for a while. Didn't seem to bother him when he quite clearly told Bennett to 'fuck off' later on in the match but then the inconsistencies are the root of the problem...

Terry is a thug and a bully, one of the worst people to have been given the England captaincy since I've followed football. They had Jeff Winter (another prize cock!) on Talksport this morning and were discussing the players who barrack referees. Winter claims that Terry is worst culprit this season for doing this and that alone should prevent him from getting the captain's armband for England. For once I agree with the Smoggie twat... That said, Steven Gerrard was conspicious by his absence during the whole Mascherano affair on Sunday. Surely as his club captain he should have firstly been the one (not Mascherano) to question anything and secondly, surely he should have been over to make sure his player acted in the right fashion following his red card? Disappeared completely though... hardly the actions of the best leader? No-one sticks out as a definitive captain for England at the moment IMO - maybe that's half the problem!

They're all be ressurected by Sunday! RIP

How did you think it stacked up against the Golden Compass? Haven't seen that. Wor lass asked me to get it off Amazon for her so I thought I might as well watch it too before sending it back. It was just a typical good v evil fairy tale but I thought it was quite well executed. De Niro was good as the cross-dressing pirate captain. It was a kids film, but executed very well I felt. I've just got a bee in my bonnet about Golden Compass I thought Stardust was excellent - kid of film that keep you interested throughout... Golden Compass on the other hand I thought was shite

Hopefully a return of "The Chain" as the signature tune as well....

The Water Horse E.T. meets Free Willy.... fuck me was it predictable!

Get the fuck in!!!!! I pray to god that they bring Martin Brundle but please............no James Allen!!!!!!

Nothing else for it... they're gonna have to re-arrange the wedding... I can't play out without Cath...she is the only one who can control me .... Bollocks.... you're totally uncontrollable

Couple of re-releases in the making with a bit of artistic licence? "No more moaning wife" "I feel fined"

Nothing else for it... they're gonna have to re-arrange the wedding...

I take it from that concise response you might well be one of those in the firing line? Hope not for your sake