Laivasse

Another great attack from a Cuellar surge, wtf

Bright start, more attacking and energetic than they are. Found some good positions already.

Eck, what are you doing to our younger generation...! Get the Fonz studying Heskey, why don't you.

When we had 30pts at this stage last season, Houllier was forced to admit to the press that we were in a relegation battle, as we were. Therefore using the comparison to last season to hint towards our relegation prospects, whether this season or next, is very valid. (BTW don't ever change that Asa avatar )

Becoming our essential bit of bite in midfield. He's looking a better prospect than I thought he would be, but I still think he needs to be calmed down a little and discouraged from forcing the play when he's in possession.

It's not bollocks. They'd probably have to win about 20 League Cups to offset the financial hit they took from dropping down. All silverware is not equal and I'd take premiership survival over the CC every time. Actually I'd consider the Euro Cup more boastworthy than the League Cup yet nobody seems to value that competition any more. SHA could well vanish without trace considering all the administrative bullshit they're in and one league cup win would be slim comfort for them then. They also had a monumentally easy run-in in that cup, which McLeish can't take credit for unless he's got freemason/illuminati/reptile monarchy connections.

I agree with everything you said except this last part. I think a bit of digging could easily turn up a club or two on the continent willing to pay him slightly over the odds, especially if he's being signed on a free. Good CBs don't grow on trees after all. In order to keep him I think he'd need a deal at least equal to his current one.

He'll probably end up hiding barricaded in the dressing room, while tweeting from inside that his style is based on that of dutch MMA fighter Bas Rutten.

Arsenal haven't threatened since the RVP miss, think it shattered them. Losing Ox-Chamb and Walcott hasn't helped.

*double post

He is useful for the occasional match winning cross and can sometimes beat his man if played on the right against a sluggish FB. Any team that's been aware of him has neutralised him. I think he can improve that part of his game if he works on it. Played on the left, most of what movement he has goes out the window. His growing uselessness then affects his confidence and his crossing. Now that I come to think of it, some elements of his game remind me of early Milner - a right-sided winger who is busy but not too pacy. Has Albrighton ever been played centrally, say in the reserves? If he bulked up a little, improved his tackling, got grittier and grew some confidence could he ever be a box-to-box type?

He took over West Ham in my FM2010 and stormed out of every single one of his press conferences. GET HIM IN, we need a manager with spirit like that! I don't think we'll see the back of Eck unless we're relegated and even then I'd say the chance of sacking is only like 60%. Randy's in unfamiliar waters.

IMO player ego management is just as much a part of the job as getting the team sheet and tactics right, but AVB wasn't able to do it. 'Long term rebuild' seems to have become synonymous with 'short-term pissing off a load of players you still depend on' in many people's minds, so managers who do that garner sympathy for their 'vision', but I think that's all a big crock. You work with what you have, until you have more - it should be that simple. It's all very well talking about **** off all the old egos, but Lampard's their highest scorer this season, Drogba's contributed more goals in prem or CL than than Fezzy 'the Spanish Heskey' Torres, and Terry, much as I despise him, is still probably less of a defensive catastrophe than Luiz. No doubt Abramovich is the biggest culprit here over a longer scale of time, but missing that CL money next season would have mostly AVB's doing if he'd have been kept on. They should be competing round about Tottenham's level rather than trailing out of sight. I would love to see Terry get the job, just to witness the ensuing train wreck. Never going to happen though, surely not even Roman is that reckless.

Thought his thread deserved a bump for the excellent mazey run which created the goal yesterday. I didn't understand what I was watching. He seemed to have screwed it up at the end by blasting the pass into Zog's feet, but Zog was either lucky or skilful enough to turn it into a great first touch and set up. Cuellar was also solid at the back with some timely interventions. News of a one or two year contract extension would be one of the few silver linings to this manure pile of a season.

I thought he had an average game yesterday. He was part of one good attacking move in the second half, but 2 or 3 in the first half broke down around him. Defensively he was neither especially good nor especially bad... they did equalise through a move he might have been able to do something about. However despite strongly criticising him since he's arrived, I sympathise with him somewhat because it's obviously our passive tactics which are causing the problem. The defence is not well-drilled or talented enough to withstand the sustained pressure that McLeish seems to want them to. TBF you'd have to have top quality all across the back four to soak up all the punishment McLeish's tactics invite, and we don't.

'Convenient truth'? The players all created those chances and practically none were scuffed or badly taken. Then in the second half the players stopped attacking. Three attacks amounted to three near goals, while Blackburn had 66% possession. What changed? Or is that question not important to you? What's this 'convenient truth' again?

Ireland MotM. Bossed the game during the time we were playing properly. I'm too demoralised to analyse much so I'll just sum up each half with one word. First Half: 'unfettered' Second Half: 'McLeish'

Says it all that the commentators think we'll be happy to play for the draw, after that first half.

Only McLeish could turn our best 45 minutes of football this season into an irrelevance.

We attack once and we end up an electron's width from scoring, great cross from Warnock and good calm play from Ireland. Gabby maybe should have done better but it was a good save and the cross was pretty swift.

Our goalscorer off, the guy whose partnership with Ireland characterised the first half. Well done Eck, you just put a plaster on a sprain.

Blackburn are playing better to be fair, but it's ridiculous to have such a turnaround of our own first half performance. Ireland is now part of a defensive midfield trio. Cuellar just saved our bacon with an excellent interception. I'm convinced that would have been 1-1.

We were on the ropes and dribbling there. Whole teams looks to be playing about 30 yards deeper.

Kean gets a lot of shit, but would McLeish have made any subs or put this much fight back into us if we were 0-1 down at HT? Not sure what our tactics have been in this half apart from 'give them a chance'.

Distracted by the thought of Venky's special recipe.