ciggiesnbeer

Bannan deserves a lot of praise for today. He worked REALLY hard in attack & defence. twice I saw he tracked all the way back across the entire pitch to cover for the back 4. Well done son.

Kind of amazed how well he played. Probably our second best midfielder behind bannan who was excellent in attack & defence.

Yeah it will. Ireland remains my biggest question mark in midfield, we need creativity but I thought he was poor in the first half, but good in the second. Not sure what to make of him. I suppose thats nothing new though. Westwood surprisingly helped our midfield a lot.

Lamberts tactics did well today. He had us set up to counter MONs fairly predictable wide play. Still a tad concerned how often Sunderland were able to slice through our center midfield though. I think we have to pack it against ManU.

Dont give a damn who he is shagging, he could be doing Bannan over the physio table for all I care. I am curious to hear whether his injury is an "injury" or not though. Hopefully its a minor injury and he will be back soon enough.

Optimism rising. How on earth Lambert is capable of changing tactics so much we go from , short , pass & move to long ball hoof, back to short pass & move in the space of a month is kinda mind boggling. But still we looked great against an admittedly poor Sunderland. After we smash ManU I will feel much better

Easy. Now lets brush aside ManU they are due a whipping from us.

Walk in the park. Much needed win.

Indeed. Its looking pretty grim right now I cant deny it

If he left I honestly wouldnt hold it against him or Lambert. He kept us up for a season I am grateful for that and yet I also think we can trade our way into a very exciting side.

I just took it as "more great signings? we havent made any yet." To which I responded. Lets not get wound up at fellow fans. Time to unite before the game! Plenty of time to get at each other like rats in a bag if we lose

Agreed. It was a poor decision by Lambert and it has been a poor response from Bent. What should of happened is lambert should have taken him to one side and told him, then Bent should have shook his hand and moved on. Instead they both went about it like clowns.

Totally agree with that. Lets hope we are both arguing over whether our win was deserved or not tomorrow rather than whether or not our defeat has doomed us

Fair enough, differences of opinion. I do think Lambert has been getting his tactics wrong in recent league games though. He needs to pull it together tomorrow. If anything we have been going backwards since West Ham.

Dream that he will be red carded after the 10th minute

I like all of his summer signings. Exactly what we need. Good quality and only going to get better. I wish he has squeezed in another couple of midfielders but that will come in January no doubt. The great ones? Vlaar and Benteke I think are undeniably great. Lowtons a close third. But I like them all. No duds so far.

Lambert is right. I look forward to January. He has already indicated he didnt use up all his funds in the summer, I have no doubt he will be given more and he will make some more great signings. 3 current internationals in his first window (4 if you count Holman) is good business, in particular getting a striker who actually has the knack of scoring is a very good signing indeed. Looking forward to tomorrow, should be a cracking game as we line up in a attack minded formation (we have to our DM's are out injured) and bloody go for it. Lets cheer the hell up and start looking forward to the game!

1-3 To the Villa. Walk in the park for the mighty Villa.

Welcome TJ. Chelsea is really the only team left that scared the bejesus out of me. The rest we have a decent shot at beating.

Easy into the semis. Great draw.

Have you seen Big Sam? Work permits take into account the employers it was probably rejected on the grounds of ugly.

I agree with this. I am a Lambert supporter. BUT he is doing a poor job right now. His transfers I am behind and I liked the way he had us playing at the beginning of the season, but he has tinkered too much, we are no longer playing possession football we are a halfway house between a traditional 4-4-2 and the diamond. He needs to pick one (preferably the diamond) and stick with it for a bit. He needs to feel the pressure a bit to get his performances back on track. He would rightfully demand no less from his players. Again I support him and he will come good but he is in a bad patch and I have no problem with some fans giving him a bit of stick.

Some midfielders wouldnt go amiss, and that lads back heel goal was neat.

We will. I am sure of it. Not least because Lambert said he didnt spend all the money Lerner offered him during the summer. We will buy more and it will be midfield I reckon.

eeek. That is worrying. 3-3-4 it is then!