The striker situation is been addressed superbly by Hughes, I'm sure he has surpassed even the highest of expactations once Bellamy left. However, bringing in Ooijer instead of a central midfielder will turn out to be a mistake, I'm sure of that. I never feel we look comfortable with a Reid/Savage combination and it can only be a matter of time before the pace of the Premiership becomes too much for Tugay. A deep-lying creative midfielder must be the main priority in January. It's a shame we didn't compete for Pedro Mendes last season.

I was meant to put in brackets about Ooijer's performance but it slipped my mind. Had Todd played well in the first two games then you would have some sympathy, but it's not the first time he's spat the dummy and it won't be the last.

His violent attacks in the past have all been cowardly. i.e. Kicking someone in the face whilst they lay on the floor, amongst others.

It's amazing how people can constantly defend this cowardly human being. He's a spineless person and an average player, we don't need him at this club. He played his part in the farcical Pompey defeat, did his best to gift Everton a victory by hauling Johnson to the ground and then was dropped for an established international...then has the cheek to moan. The sooner he goes and passes the armband on to Nelsen, the better.

Interesting. Very interesting. As you seemingly devote a lot of your posts to berating todays 'educated' youth (albeit as a generalisation rather than to the individual), I find it quite ironic that your choice in music is that of the typical modern student. Both bands are devoid of originality and painfully bland by the way (although that's typical of the genre), I wouldn't have thought they'd satisfy your craving for intellectual stimulation. However, that's that irrelevant to point I wish intending to make. Anyway, back to what I came to post; is anyone going to Leeds/Reading festival this year? I'd originally planned not to on account of the terrible initial line-up, but the revised ones made me change my mind...although The Shins pulling out recently annoyed me greatly as they were the main reason I decided to go. There is a worrying amount of 'emo' music booked for this year, but at least it has been sectioned the main-stage, which is, on the whole, atrocious. Only Pearl Jam really excite me out of the main-stagers but they unfortunately clash with 2 Many DJs/Radio Soulwax night, which will have my undivided attention. My main highlights will probably be Broken Social Scene, The Fall, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Eagles of Death Metal and possibly the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There are a few that I'm hoping will surpass my expactations though, such as the Dresden Dolls. Hope anyone going has a great time...but please, for the love of God, avoid Fall Out Boy at all costs. Ignore this and don't expect any sympathy, I have warned you.

Playground arguing skills...how so very apt.

Last week I was charged £19 for paying a credit card payment a few days too late...I see some people have said that a simple phone call to the bank (HSBC if it makes any difference) can result in claiming this back. Could someone please fill me in on how I'd do this...more specifcally, what I would say?

Fantastic decison to play Gerrard on the right, I posted a topic on this last season about it being the answer to all our midfield problems...finally we have a balanced midfield with quality in every position; Gerrard is a terrific wide-right player. His crossing is brilliant, he can beat people, he can cut inside and support the front players...he can do everything from there, basically. Lampard is currently ranked as the second best player in the world and fully deserves to be starting. With Hargreaves alongside him, the shackles will be off and we shall hopefully see the Lampard that plays for Chelsea week in, week out. Everything McClaren has done so far has filled me with nothing but optimism; the appointment of Venables, the removal of Beckham and Walcott, Gerrard playing on the right, Hargreaves keeping his central midfield place, a 4-4-2 formation... Of course, time will tell whether all this will actually lead to success on the pitch, but so far he is doing everything 100% correct.

Ward retired in 2005 I believe.

Flopsy meant that McCarthy would be useless if he became homesick, therefore Mokoena is being given a contract extension to help him settle in. He did not say McCarthy is useless now.

McCarthy signed a four-year deal, didn't he? Mokoena has twelve months to run on his, suddenly he's offered a new three-year contract. Seems entirely plausible that McCarthy's arrival has signalled a new deal for The Axe, he's certainly shown precious little on the pitch to justify such an offer.

The closing part of that song would be a fantastic entrance for the team.

I've often wondered this myself. In fairness to O'Neill, I believe he also has a League Cup victory and a UEFA Cup final appearance to his name. Having said that, so does McClaren, and people don't seem overly happy with his appointment as England manager.

Quite bad at Euro 2004? Wasn't he our top scorer in the tournament with 3 goals in 4 games? I'd argue strongly that he was our second best player after Rooney. Lampard was also the top scorer through the World Cup qualifiying campaign. Still...don't let stats get in the way of your pointless rants.

What on Earth does that mean...? You seem to offer a two line opinion on every topic at the moment Eddie, yet you seem to offer no insight at all. It's getting very annoying. Edit: For what it's worth, I'll offer my M use (hasn't that filter gone past it's comedy sell-by-date now?) vs. Oasis opinion. Oasis are very good at what they do...they make catchy pop-rock tunes that you can hum along to in the car or ###### at the pub with your mates. Musically, however, they are niether inventive or gifted. I'm not a huge M use fan but they're undoubtedly the better musicians of the two. I just wish they'd change the formula, it's getting a bit tiresome now.

Chelsea played a 4-4-2 diamond formation in the latter part of last season, this is also the formation that Mourinho used succesfully at Porto. It's been widely speculated in the media that he will continue with that formation next season, the signings he has made only add fuel to that fire as well. Their strongest eleven will most probably be: --------------Cech--------------- Ferreria--Gallas--Terry---Bridge (or another signing) ------------Makelele------------ ------Essien------Lampard----- -------------Ballack-------------- ------Shevchenko--Drogba-----

I think some people are being very harsh on our away kits...granted we've had some uninspiring ones, but on the whole I've liked them. In fact...I think it's only recently that they've gone poor, the HSA sponsored ones were especially dull. This one is my particular favourite from the past(best picture I could find): I was also a fan of this...although not the other yellow one, which I won't offend younger viewers with by posting.

Which part? List of countries by population Australia top AFC rankings Unless I'm missing the point you are trying to make, which seems highly likely at the moment...

No, it wouldn't. It would be like putting the FA Cup holders into the preliminary (qualifiying) rounds involving the none-league clubs. The group "qualifiers" are called "qualifying" groups for a reason...they're how you qualify for the World Cup tournament. By your theory the World Cup would be held approximately every two years, with each one lasting that amount of time. Estimated population of Australia: 20,155,000 (sandwiched between Sri Lank and Mozambique). I can't understand why FIFA would want to disgruntle billions of European fans in the hope of attracting a relatively small market. Incidently, aren't Australia joining the Asian football federation? I can't see FIFA wanting to hold two out of three World Cups in AFC member countries. The whole story sounds like a fabrication to me.

What complete nonsense. It doesn't even come close to racism. It's pathetic whining like that which has blurred the meaning of 'racism', no wonder so many people are screaming it at inappropiate times. I really can't be bothered going into it completely (I'm sure one of the anti-PC brigade would be more than happy if needs be), but it completely undermines the true severity of racism when you compare peoples' views on the actions of a national football to (for example) the apartheid era in South Africa during the late 1900s. That was racism. Saying the Portuguese team are divers is not and never will be. Edit: Urgh, sorry...I quoted this before going on to the next page, I hadn't expected so many people to pick up on it. I wasn't just joining in, honest.

Well...if they had been in Serie B this season, I believe the only way to avoid relegation with a minus 30 start would be to get promoted.

I can only assume you've never actually played a game of football. I'm as cynical as anyone about divers, but there is no way that Malouda could stay on his feet, it was physically impossible. He was bringing his right leg forward but Materazzi knocked it on to his left, if you've ever tried running when that happens you'll know it's impossible not to fall over.

Exactly, when you see the angle from behind both players, it's as clearer a penalty as you're likely to see. Materazzi tried to avoid making contact but he did kick Malouda's right leg, which sent it on to his left. There's absolutely no way he could avoid going down.

A strike rate of 7 in 11 games? Horrific indeed...

Doh, sorry. :ph34r: