Spurs are backed by that Joe Lewis character of ENIC who's worth 2 billion.

It's beyond any reasoned argument that he was one of the worst performers in the team during that period. The only doubt is as to whether he was THE worst.

Definitely incorrect Colin. He was arguably our weakest link in 2003/4 and 2004/5 but had a much better time of it in 2005/6. Which many have noticed coincided with his contract coming up for renegotiation.

Oh, and if he moves I can only really see Spuds or Newcastle being remotely interested out of the bigger sides. He will find the grass isn't necessarily greener unless he is solely interested in one last big pay day.

What I found more interesting in the article was that he seemingly now views centre half as his best position, which I would entirely agree with. He obviously wants to try and engineer a move away after the World Cup and I'd be fairly happy if we got a big fee for him. However his procastination is throwing our plans into confusion and not giving us much time to find a replacement and it would be slightly irritating for us if he emerged as an outstanding centre half after years of being a poor right back for us!.

Can't condone incidents like that either Smiffy but to be fair I think Savage has worked quite hard to cut that sort of stuff out of his game since. The Gerrard incident doesn't stop him being a great player, nor does the Highbury alter the fact that Savage is great at what he does best - stopping the opposition play.

Personally I was disgusted with Gerrard's actions and it was in some ways a good job it was only a friendly. What does it matter if everyone else is using shady tactics?. All you can do is plough on as best you can within the laws of the game and hope that the officials are good enough to spot any skullduggery. Where is the satisfaction in winning through cheating? There is none. None whatsoever. I'd much rather lose knowing that my team has done their best within the rules and spirit of the game. The game is moving increasingly towards the stage where matches are being decided not by genuine footballing skill and good play but by who can manufacture the cleverest "simulation" allowing their dead ball specialist to whip in a delivery from a dangerous position etc. The recent European Cup Final very nearly being a case in point. If this sort of thing gets much more prevalent there'll be little point in competing or coming out of the dressing room at three o clock in my book.

Very strange incident. Green had already spilled a simple shot which nearly led to a goal. Looking at the replays of the goal it looked more like a case of wounded pride than anything else after he missed the ball. Although the suggestion afterwards is that he aggravated a groin injury. Never mind Owen or Rooney - our most important player imo will be Robinson. Given that the alternatives are Calamity or Scott Carson. Call me a heathen but I don't even know who the latter plays for. :ph34r:

Dickov was supposedly on c13k p.w. . Cheap, but no use whatsoever if he isn't good enough and you get relegated as so nearly happened.

Souness seemed to reach a certain point after which everything he did both here and at Newcastle was a disaster. There's no reason to suggest it would be any different anywhere else but I've no objection whatsoever to him and his rent a mob coaching staff ruining yet another club. Jordan won't stand for any messing though. The only thing that kept Souness at Newcastle so long was the cost of sacking him. I'd lay odds he won't see the New Year in if he starts at Palace.

Funny thing about Cole, when his buddy Yorke was on the pitch he looked lazy and disinterested. When Yorke wasn't I thought Cole always worked his socks off. Comparing goalscoring stats doesn't tell the whole story. Cole could take defenders away with his clever movement/mere presence.

I wouldn't be that surprised if Henry simply fancied leading Arsenal out as the first captain in the new stadium and then moves at the end of the coming season. Even if he does that, he's done the right thing by Arsenal though. The new contract would ensure the Gunners a huge fee if he did move whereas he could simply have negotiated a twelve month extension to his contract. Quite refreshing in this day and age. (Re: the discussion above I agree for once with Eddie I actually think there's far more expectation and pressure on him at Arsenal, he practically has to carry the team, the club, and the expectations of the fans singlehandedly. At Barca he would only be one of several megastar players.)

Listening to Talksport in the car today one of the contributors Gabriel Marcotti has apparently compiled a book about the differences, or similarities, between English and Italian football. That's by the by but he said one of the best people he interviewed for the book was Graham Poll who he said was was extremely honest with his views. Poll's view on the reason why so many decisions seemingly go in favour of the big clubs was: If a referee sees an incident clearly and is certain as to what's happened he'll give the decision accordingly. If he doesn't see it properly or there is an element of doubt in his mind subconsciously the referee thinks "If I get this decision wrong and it affects (say) Brighton's season it's not going to make any headlines outside of the Brighton Argos. If I make a bad decision involving (say) Man Utd the whole Country will be on the case." Hmmm.......... what does everyone think? Part of me says that's a perfectly reasonable explanation. The other part says it's cheating dressed up in a load of flowery language.

Tend to disagree. It's more a case of "We very nearly went down because Dickov was our main striker" Without his goals we would have gone down sure, but with the then blossoming partnership of Cole and Stead or a better player of genuine Premiership quality in his place who's to say we wouldn't have done a whole lot better?. Wasn't it more like seven (including a couple of penalties) in the League anyway? Not a good return from your main striker, nor could he link up with any other strike partner. Never was Premiership class and at 33 seems to be sharply on the decline as well. I'm really really surprised there is reported interest from another Premiership Club. This is a fantastic week for the Club, Dickov and Amoruso off the wage bill in the space of a couple of days. Before that Flitcroft Gresko and (sadly but inevitably) Jansen. I'm tingling with anticipation as to who Sparky might be bringing in the other way.

Have to disagree with that totally, thought Arsenal were by far the better side, even with 10 men until Barca scored. Once they got level, it was always going to be an impossible task for Arsenal and there was only one likely winner after that. Henry was magnificent up front on his own, practically unplayable. Really hope he stays in the Prem. Ronaldhino on the other hand was all full of posey flicks with no real end product. I've only watched barca for a full 90 minutes twice and on both occasions thought Ettoo was their most effective player. I think Arsenal would have won that game comfortably with eleven v eleven. One of those things that Lehmann was technically correctly sent off which more or less guaranteed a Barca win. Although at the time as the ball was breaking to a Barca player for a tap in, I'm sure both sides would have been happier had the goal stood and Lehmann been yellow carded.

All this discussion about Walcott will probably turn out to be completely irrelevant. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even get on the pitch. Sven is far more likely to try Gerrard/Cole in an advanced role if he's struggling. Wenger has been very crafty and played an absolute blinder from the point of view of Arsenal FC. The experience Walcott will get from mixing with the squad will be absolutely invaluable.

I had to laugh at parts of this article in the Daily Mail yesterday by Des Kelly. You do wonder if there is an element of this about it: Watching Sven Goran Eriksson unveil his World Cup squad was a disconcerting affair. It was like watching the office bore mark his last day in the job by leaping onto the photocopier and running off portraits of his bare backside. .......................So could Eriksson explain the extraordinary decision? "No not logically" he replied, wrapping his necktie around his head and pinning a scan of his bare buttocks up on the notice board. "When did you decide to pick him" "Oh er this morning" he added pocketing a desk stapler and sticking another close up shot of his derriere in the internal mail for the attention of the chief executive. "Sometimes it just feels right" he grinned, revealing the wild, hit me with another dry sherry side to his personality only glimpsed previously by Nancy, a gaggle of FA typists and old Swedish weather reporters.

I can only repeat what I said on the Walcott thread, and assume that either a) Sven has lost the plot or Knows what he is doing but is sticking two fingers up at everyone or c) Is a lot more confident than the rest of us that Owen and/or Rooney will be fit

I've no real problem with Walcott's inclusion, he is a total unknown to the opposition and might well be capable of causing an impact coming off the bench. Even people in favour of the selection though have to concede it is an extremely strange scenario. Sven admitted he has never seen Walcott play, only seen him in a couple of training sessions, and didn't even bother going to see him in a reserve game this morning, instead sending Tord Grip. Smacks of Sven's "big club bias" again. You get picked if you play for "the big 4" but not if you play for the likes of Blackburn and Birmingham i.e. Heskey, Jansen. What I am dismayed about is the make up of the squad which is totally unbalanced. Seven defenders NINE midfielders and only four strikers, two of whom may well not be fit, Rodney Trotter, who has nuisance value only, and one of whom has never kicked a ball at the top level! Why on earth do we need nine midfielders? It's difficult to imagine Jenas or Hargreaves bringing anything to the party unless the latter is required as cover at right back. Defoe and Bent should have been automatic selections as well as the 4 strikers actually chosen in view of the injury worries.

We could always plunder "Big Club" for their supporters player of the year - Damien Johnson.

Not the best match ever but a fitting end to a great season. Didn't realise until after the match we had won THIRTEEN out of our nineteen home games. Stupendous effort. And all that after winning about four in the whole of the previous two campaigns. Thank you Mark Hughes and the coaching staff.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if this will destabalise this World Cup bid? I'm not a Sven fan, but I'm almost left feeling sorry for him. His authority has been completely undermined. He's going to be on the touchline with his supposed assistant, the next manager, sat next to him? How does that work? Why should the players take a blind bit of notice of Sven anymore ? What if he and McClaren have a difference of opinion on tactics for a particular match? If we have a great World Cup McClaren will get all the credit. If we bomb without trace, McClaren is damaged goods even before he starts. If it wasn't so serious you'd laugh. I suspect this farcial situation has arisen because the FA never originally thought they'd have to give McClaren the job.

Whe-hey! After a tortuous selection process it became apparent that the FA Chief executive Barwick favoured O"Neill, Dein favoured Scolari, Allardyce apparently interviewed best, so what do we get after interminable interviews carried out with farcial James Bond like secrecy? Rejected out of hand by eventual first choice Scolari and we end up with MCClaren who was the current manager's right hand man anyway! Brilliant, don't know how they do it! Despite his apparent lack of charisma, the hope has to be that without the opportunity to waste money, he can do a good job.

Thank you, thank you - once again I thank you! Must admit, wouldn't have predicted 6th if I'd known Bellamy would miss as many games as he did. With a proper pre season behind him he shouldn't be so injury prone next year. Let's just pray it's for us.