Leppardized2001

Went for Moyes as well. Taking Everton to 5th with the injuries they've had over the season, and playing without a recognised striker in some games, is a remarkable achievement. Add in reaching the FA Cup final and his eye for spotting a good deal in the transfer market and he wins my vote.

I think the thing with Mendes is ,given his track record in the Premiership, we were expecting a lot more from him. I for one was expecting him to dominate midfields up here and become our midfield orchestrator or playmaker, something he hasn't really done and certainly not on a consistent basis. A lot of this maybe due to Walters tactics, maybe due to the 'Barry Factor', or perhaps just due to the fact that the guy is not as good as we thought he was. I'd love to be proved wrong, but the fact is that he came up here for �£3.5 million, a fortune for us these days when every penny is a prisoner, and needs to start showing his worth on the park week in and week out. Personally I think Davis has outshone him whenever he has played centrally and if it wasn't for the odd spectacular goal would we really miss Pedro??

Gotta be said, 32 goals in La Liga is some going although it seems to have been a wash with goals this season. Bet you Sir Alex is wishing he'd kept him now.

Looking at our current squad, and starting from the back, these are the players i'd be willing to part with. Starting with the goalkeepers i'd be looking to keep Neil Alexander. Has never let us down when called in and seems to be coming into his own as our number 1 choice. This however would mean I'd be looking to offload Allan McGregor. Off the field issues seem to follow this guy around and perhaps it's time he moved on from the Glasgow 'fishbowl'. Was one of our most saleable assets at the end of last season. Now??? Onto the defenders and i'd be looking for Kirk Broadfoot, Christian Dailly ( already freed? ),Webster and perhaps Steven Smith to go. I'd probably persisit with Smith till the January transfer window in the hope that a good pre season would set up him for a good run of games. If no improvement by January i'd look to get rid of him then. Dailly was a stop gap signing who shouldn't have been offered an extra season and Broadfoot is just not good enough. Whittaker should be our first choice RB with Lowing pushing him for a place next season, Boogie and Papac could make a cultured back 2 and i'd be looking to bring in a new left back ( have heard Michael Balls name mentioned with us ). Onto the engine room of the team, the midfield. Would be looking for Hemdani, Ferguson, Adam, Gow, McCulloch, Mendes and Beasley to go. A serious cull is required of our midfield as I believe it is not operating as it should. That would leave us with Thomson, Davis, Edu. Therefore i'd be looking to bring in 2 GENUINE wingers for both sides, instead of Walters tactic of utilising strikers/midfielders in these positions. An attacking midfielder would be a bonus, one who can make that defence splitting pass. Was hoping Mendes would be that player, but he has failed to impress me...or impress himself on SPL midfields. Upfront i'd be happy to see Velicka, Lafferty and Novo go, and look to keep Miller and Boyd. Don't see where the �£3.5 million on Lafferty went, is a complete waste of money in my eyes. Will probably get shot down for wanting to get rid of Novo but apart from a lot of heart and energy what else has he got in his locker?? Probably got the worst first touch in Scottish football. Wouldn't get rid of Boyd...where else could we get a 30 goal a season striker with the money we have??? Would be looking to develop Fleck up front, possibly as a 2nd striker, and would be also looking to bring in a target man in the Cousin mould. Some of the above may seem harsh, excessive even, and I doubt very much as if Walter will want to make that many changes in the summer. Is just the changes i'd like to see.

Gone for Beasley myself....we need someone with pace who can have a go at getting past full backs.

Co-commentator sounds like Derek Johnstone....probably just getting mega squeaky bum time

Arsenal pumped twice in less than a week, conceding 8 goals to Man Utd and Chelsea. Yet Theo Walcott probably should have had about 6 goals himself in the Chelsea game, number of chances he passed up. On the relegation issue, whoever wins the game Monday night will stay up. The losers are doomed. If it's a draw I can see them both going down. Would LOVE to see Newcastle go down. They'd be another Leeds Utd and would have to have a sell off of most of their first time. Wishful thinking would be Middlesborough, Newcastle and Hull to go down, West Brom escaping the drop.

I'm not going to be to harsh on the guy on the basis of 5 appearances in god knows how many years. We all remember the young LB he was before his injury nightmares, and who's to say he can't get back to that player following a good pre season? At the moment he's been brought into do a job by Walter, and i'd call his performaces so far steady. I think Walter realises himself he's not ready to be LB at the moment, and hence playing him in left midfield so has the 'security' of a man behind him while he gets back upto speed. To be brought into the 1st team at the business end of the season after the length of time he's been out and expect top notch performances out of him is a BIG ask. My wish is that the lad has a good pre-season and can stay clear of injuries. Is needing Walter to show confidence in him, which will hopefully build up Stevens own confidence and we'll perhaps end up with an international class Scot at left back, something we all thought he'd be by now.

Hmmmm come up here on loan and hardly play ala Aaron....or stay at Man Utd, probably best team in the world and learn from better players and from a manager not afraid to give youth its chance. Boy, thats a toughie.

Lee McCulloch...what was the point of his sigining...apart from it seems Walters determination to try and play him in EVERY position in the team. Hell I wouldn't be surprised to see him in goal next season lol

Well considering Barry got supposedly homesick in Blackburn, he'll have homefever over in St Petersberg. And don't expect Fernando to be keeping him company, i'm sure he's fallen out big time with Advocaat and been banished to Zenits reserve squad. Personally think story is a load of cock and bull. Will be Birmingham getting linked with him next, former managers and all that. Can't see him getting linked to PSG mind lol

Scary thing is, how bad must every other Scottish right back feel when they hear Burley fretting about not having Kirk Broadfoot available. I love Broadfoots attitude, but a right back and an international class footballer he is not. But under Vogts and now Burley it looks like even some of us could get called up.

Loved Ferguson as a player during the Advocaat era, and occassionally he still shows glimpses of that player, those surging runs into the box and a willingness to get forward and support the striker(s). Unfortunately he doesn't do it enough these days, and with age and fitness against him I doubt we'll see it again. As it is I think he slows the game down to much for us now, takes the tempo out our play and would be happy to see him depart. However I don't think it will be to Zenit, especially if Blackburn made him homesick lol.

Definitely Smith for this bear. Was an open secret for months the PLG was coming to Rangers, so in that time frame you would have thought Le Guen would have done his homework on Scottish football, identified issues with the team, scouted players he thought were suitable to fill those positions and gone for them. Someone mentioned about not identifying our defensive problems at the time, but 2 of his signings were Karl Svensson and Sasa Papac, 2 centre halfs, so he had obviously spotted the problem, just signed the wrong players to rectify it. To me it appears he signed the right players positional wise, just the wrong ones for our league. I have no doubt that Karl Svensson, Lionel Leitizi, Libor Sionko, Filip Sebo, Sasa Papac and Jeremy Clement are good players, but apart from Papac and Clement they seemed ill suited for the Scottish game. Smith came in, made some astute signings based on his better knowledge of the Scottish/British game and 'steadied' the ship as it were. In his 1st full season back he almost led us to a quadruple, finishing up with the 2 domestic cup competitions. If you look at Le Guen at PSG, when he took over they were 17th in Ligue 1 and he got them upto 15th by end of season. The following season they finished 16th, sitting in the relegation zone for most of the season. This season they've been hovering round 2nd and 3rd in the league, but I feel this is mainly due to PSG's summer signing strategy of signing older established French internationals such as Claude Makelele and Ludovic Giuly to complement the younger players they have. To say that he has been a success back in France would be pushing things a bit far when you look at his record since his return.

For �£3.75million we could buy a good couple of players to strengthen our team in positions where was actually need them. Not be like last summer and spend it on Velicka and Edu, 2 players we didn't need and who have made little impression in time they have been here.

From Blackburns 4-0 drubbing by Arsenal on Saturday. Is this possibly the most blatant dive ever??? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO2vjxw1IEY]YouTube - Morten Gamst Pedersen the worst dive ever VS Arsenal 2009[/ame]

Totally understand mate, stories like this always leak round about this time in an old firm week...especially a cup final one. Have tried phoning my mate see what the latest is but phone was off so have sent a text, hopefully find out whats going on.

Well I work beside his best mate...and he was under the impression from Boydy that it was a major bust up and that he definitely wouldn't be playing on Sunday.

Boyd DID walk out off training yesterday after bust up with Walter Smith, have it on very good authority. Am trying to find out now what the latest situation is.

Reckon that 33-1 bet Willy Hills has on all the English teams winning is the pick of the bunch Jon. Got my tenner on it. Can't see Man Utd not winning at home, and reckon Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea can all sit on their leads and pick off the opposition on the break.

10 Mar 2009 - English European Enhanced Accumulator - Enhanced Odds Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd & Arsenal @ 33/1 Stake : �£10.00 Estimated Returns : �£340

Just seen Willy Hill are offering 33-1 on all the English teams winning in the Champions League this week!!! Gotta be worth a tenner as all the ties are still in the balance.

Never placed 4:40 Cheltenham 21 ran - Unsettled Position Card No. Name SP 1 8 Quevega (F) 2/1 2 6 United (2F) 10/3 3 10 Aura About You 28/1 4 Over Sixty 25/1

Aye...is on Sky 432

Well best of luck Gazza! Drinks on me if it comes up a winner