gumboots

I was on the concourse of Munich staion last weekend just after the match and the odd thing was you couldn't tell which team had won. Both sets of supporters seemed equally pleased. On a different topic the French have put amateur refs into their Ligue 1 games this weekend because refs are sick of the abuse they are getting and were going to delay the kick off of all amtches by 15 mins as a protest. http://www.francefootball.fr/#!/news/2011/03/04/194235_les-arbitres-du-national-pour-la-l1.html

Have just glanced through this thread to see what others read and am amazed by the serious nature of much of it. I read constantly but only ever really light thrillers and so on. I think the hangover of reading der Zauberberg in the original German (even down to the gothic text because I couldn't get hold of a standard text) and all those amazingly detailed and depressing 19th century French novels persists after 38 years.

don't do recurring dream but as a child I was convinced the devil lived under my bed and would drag me under if I left a leg trailing as I climbed in so had to jump into bed rather than climb. Even now, after dark I won't sit on the edge of a bed, and I get in, if not with a flying leap any more since age and weight mean I'd probably do some damage to the bed or myself, as quickly as possible making sure I don't leave my leg dangling in mid air for more than a split second. I never fling arms or legs over the edge of the bed in sleep like lots of people do. I'm too scared.

Lorient lost away at Nice and drop to 10th. Crazy that my husband chooses to go and support a team when we're away on holiday and they turn out to be so like Rovers it's unbelievable. An unfashionable team from an industrial type town happy to first stay up and then push as far up the table as possible. They do have an excellent manager in Gourcuff and some good players but lost out a bit this summer when they sold some of their better players to bigger clubs.

to be fair, he did have a lot to pull

He may have been our most prolific striker this season but that's not saying much is it?

The advantage of a loan being he can't play against us so avoiding the situation none of us want of his scoring a cracker against us.

Are West Ham now officially the BIG club they've always thought themselves?

If we had a wide range of other potential goalscoring options available to us then I could understand Allardyce forcing the issue here, but when we have nobody else capable of putting the ball in the net and no option to buy anyone who just might be able to then it does strike me as ridiculous to get rid of the one man we have who can definitely score, given the chances.

Doesn't make the analogy any less relevant. and i wouldn't suggest always playing McCarthy and certainly not at the expense of Dunn playing as he is. But there can surely be more of a place for him while we are paying his wages. Scoring a few goals would do the whole team the world of good. McCarthy scores if you give him chances. Playing different styles sometimes means we are far less predictable and therefore harder to play against. I like winning and am therefore prepared to put up with some dire stuff sometimes, but sometimes I'd like to see something other than the hit and hope football that we often (though not always) get. Yes, the team is more important than an individual, but sometimes you have to let individuals have their day too.

Quite. The players we've got are what the manager has to work with. When I have to put a meal together and can't go to the shops I look in the cupboard etc and decide what I can make with what I've got that will feed us all and be tasty at the same time. I don't insist on making a beef casserole if what I've got is chicken, mushrooms and cream. I think it's the manager's inflexibility that is more annoying than any perceived long ball tactics.

I loved seeing Liverpool lose. They seeem to feel that Europe is a piece of cake and it's nice to see them taken down a peg or two sometimes. Young Jovetic looked a decent striker.

And I wasn't arguing - just pointing out that they all count as chances and are there to be scored or missed. didn't he mean strikers at other clubs?

Yes, it does but he quite clearly sees the midfielders he's got as being capable enough if fit. The fact that we've been around Ewood a bit longer than the manager makes us more sceptical of that. WE know they can't stay fit and even when they do they are scarcely the best of the rest or even the best of the bottom half.

Yes, except they all count just the same and presumably pens are included. You've still got to score them.

So last season, McCarthy and Roberts put away more % wise of the miserably few chances created for them than most others did of the huge numbers created for them by their team?

No, just Irish.

don't think anyone is shocked by the lies. More like fed up that players can't see that we all know they're telling lies and so persist in telling them.

Well Honda workers have just taken a 3% one to keep the plant going and ensure they have a job to go to. Depends if he can find another club to pay him a bigger wage or not. If a 20% cut kept me in work and above what I'd get on benefits, I'd take it, but then I need the job, and could always look for something else whilst working at my reduced salary.

Oh, I agree that in the present position the style has to be secondary to the points tally. I also think you'll find that I have said before i don't really care about style if we win because winning and especially against teams you don't expect to, or in matches where you ae clearly second best, as in the Spurs game, and somehow nick the points, creates its own excitement. However, there are a significant number who have already expressed concerns about style next season and it won't take much to upset them.

Not necessarily a lot but there are plenty on here worried about who he might sign and about the style of football we're seeing at the moment and hoping it won't continue next year. Even some of the fans who are quite supportive of him at the moment have strong reservations about where we'll go long term if we stick with him. I presume they are the people being referred to - those who at the moment have no particular axe to grind but might turn quickly if things don't go well

As someone else pointed out you can't protect the club from his absence if he does something stupid and ends up going back to jail. You can sack him but can't bring in a replacement, except a free agent (and there's usually a reason why they are free agents) till the next transfer window. I know the same applies to players getting injured but that's something all clubs face. They don't all face the problems Barton could bring.

Reports are that he is likely to be sold for 15 million in summer so I doubt we would.

Glad you read it, Eddie. It's the first one she's done that's had that many read it.

My daughter interviewed Graham Poll to get his views on this this morning. He used the word despicable to describe the behaviour of the Chelsea players. Full interview on youtube