OTF

Can you bring your manager on to take penalties?

He'll watch that match from the stands, no doubt. They're not stupid enough to stick him out there for his first match against Chelsea (are they?).

Taylor struggles to mark, so has been doing alright at right back. He's good at blocking shots and committing himself, but when it comes time to do some marking off the ball he's all arms pointing and gesturing left right and centre.

Of all the places in the world where he could have set up shop, I'd say it speaks a fair but of where his heart is that he chose to do so in Newcastle. At any length this is a canny way to drum up business.

Taylor's blocks have been great. In particular the second one. Shows just how dangerous Arsenal can be that we've had all the possession in their half, yet they have still managed to have 3 gilt-edged chances. Great instinctive save from Harper. Duff has played pretty well IMO. Shame that he's up against Sagna who has him covered for pace, but even still he's doing better than I had expected. Nicky Butt is completely anonymous out there. Even the commentators gave him a blast saying that he looked tired. The fact that he can look tired without having appeared to do anything much is worrying. If we make any tactical changes I would replace Butt with Owen and have Owen sit in behind the pace of Martins and Lovenkrands.

Really? You'd never have thought it if you had read any of my posts.

Owen is safe on the ball and rarely turns over possession, particularly when he gets it with Newcastle players in front of him (ie. not as the last man). He doesn't take many chances with the ball - eg. instead of trying to beat his man he'll take the safer option and will dribble away from him and look for a safe passing option. In comparison: - Martins would try to beat his man and will lose the ball a fair bit - Ameobi would rise above his defender to head the ball on, despite being the last man - Xisco would caress the ball lovingly then lick it and take a snap - Smith would slide tackle their centre back, even though they don't have the ball - Notice Viduka is not in the list. Owen in midfield would not be a bad option. With Nolan back we'll be playing Nolan and Butt. Even though they're vastly different I'd put Owen in over Butt.

I really like Jose. Will be the best left back we've had in our premiership years.

If they start playing long balls up to Martins I'll be so pissed off. If they're playing Jonas and Lovenkrands as wingers then it could well work out ok.

Butt is right in what he says, that we have at times thought we were too good to work hard. Butt though is well off the pace himself, so him working hard usually just means that his tackles are a little harder. When the game is run with any sort of pace he can't keep up with it - I think regardless of effort.

In two weeks time it's incredibly likely that we'll be in the bottom 3. Portsmouth a point ahead with a game in hand. Our next match will be away against Stoke. Stoke's home record is miles better than ours, having won 7 drawn 4 and lost only 3 for 25 points (we've won 4 drawn 6 and lost 4 - 18 points). It's likely then to conclude that we'll lose that match and be firmly in the drop zone, as low as 19th if Middlesbrough can defeat Hull at the Riverside (which is a decent chance). We'll have lost three games on the trot and confidence will be at an all time low. From there it's an extremely tough ask with our playing roster and our piss-poor management team.

a good point, well made giver awar man it's the middle of the night awar there! btw, we are fucked. ahah yeah. That was supposed to say Hull were the better team in the first half. Almost 5AM here.

Hull were much better in the second half. We were better for most of the second, but have nothing to show for it. Hull had the better chances in the second half.

Don't really see any point playing him as a winger. He's good at beating his man and is usually good at maintaining possession. If he gets behind his man we need to have strikers attacking the front post. Then they'll be in with a chance of being on the end of his weak crosses. He's better in open field, but when you have Nicky Butt, Geremi and Alan Smith is your midfield there's no such thing as an fast break/counter. Had a shit game, but I still have him in my side.

Jonas was shite tonight alright. Communication problems, and an inability to cross shown again. No composure at all when shooting, no wonder he can't friggin' score. Effort was still there though. Better used when Enrique overlaps to put a ball in, seeing as Enrique can actually hit a cross with some power and movement.

Other results working in our favour thankfully. OTHER GAMES ARMY! OTHER GAMES ARMY!

Really missed the chance to put some insulation between us and the Championship. We know that we'll likely need as much of it as possible with our next two matches. Arsenal dying to get into the top four and Chelsea's title hunt rejuvenated by Liverpool.

Taylor's finish was Shearer like. Let the ball do the work. Don't want to look at the replay too many times though - probably came off a shin or something like that. Was gutted when they scored (was a decent cross and a top quality header), and was further depressed by the state of our play (and our midfield selection). When the game slowed later in the half Butt in particular was playing better. It was his searching ball into the box that Taylor got on the end of (after some actual football was played in the lead up work moving the ball around). Colo has looked shakier than Michael J Fox (sorry) at the back, hope he can regain his composure in the second half. Should not have gone to ground like he did even though he did plainly cop an elbow on the chin. Cousin IMO should be picked up by Bassong as he is the more physical of their two forwards. 1-1 is a very good half time result for us given the way the game was played. Now is our chance to take advantage of it.

Vidic with a Bramble moment Composed finish from Torres, though Van der Sar got a mitt to it. 3 goals, all from mistakes/bad decisions in defense. Manchester United / Liverpool or West Brom / Newcastle? PS - The passing, teamwork, movement, pace and skill are all far above anything we're capable of at the moment.

It's on the telly over here LIVE @ 1.55AM on Sunday Morning. Will watch the Manchester United vs Liverpool match beforehand. Hopefully it won't be like watching a different sport. It will be a bloody nervous watch, that's for sure.

I think that the player of the season could very well be decided between now and the end of the season.

I think we can do this. They're going to throw everything at us early on in terms of physicality. If we can ride through that we should have the ref on our side. Then our supposedly superior players should be able to do enough to get us a goal (though many of the last goals that we have scored have come as the result of errors from our opposition). We need Alan Smith and Nicky Butt (assuming they play) to avoid the ridiculous tackles particularly in dangerous positions where we've shown we're very likely to concede from set pieces. I just hope they play with a positive outlook and play smart posession football moving the ball around, rather than sending long balls up field. If we start doing that the best we can hope for is a draw IMO.

Tried to be as realistic as possible given our current predicament. Shit, but I'd be happy with that.

Could clearly see on the replay that Taylor didn't touch Ronaldo's face, which is what the diving bitch was clutching as he writhed around on the ground in fake agony in an attempt to get Taylor sent off. By my account Ronaldo's play acting is much worse than Taylor's foul. Does sound like Ronaldo had a fair point though, if what he said in the tunnel is to be believed.