kick it off

Birchfest is right, just cuz one provider goes down - it may mean a few less streams but it certainly won''t be close to Wiz''s apocalyptic predictions (Wiz''s hyperbole and reality not correlating? Who''dve thought it?! ;0) )

PS. we also desperately need a new kicker. Gano is awful. Worst in the league atm with something like 70% made - many of the ones he misses come in tight games where we lose by 3 points or less and he has missed 2 in OT this season. Its not all his fault, he doesnt get much protection and we''ve had a few blocked, but his inconsitency keeps costing us.

Hi Smooth, Congrats on the NFC West title! Niners have been superb this season and well deserve their glory, I''ll be fully on the 49er bandwagon for the post-season and hoping you can clinch a SB victory! I''m certainly eating humble pie after thinking we actually had a shot this season at making the playoffs, but it was apparent pretty soon after our loss to Dallas (first one - two in a year, OUCH!) that we weren''t going to achieve, however I don''t think many of us thought it would be quite this bad!! I never usually want to see the Skins lose but for the past 3 or 4 games I have been hoping we will. Never actively supporting the opposition, I could never do that but I haven''t been bothered when we lose. Our season was over weeks ago, and for me I would rather lose out the season and get a higher draft spot to get ourselves a franchise QB. This was helped by the league suspending Fred Davis and Trent Williams for the rest of the season for positive drugs test. Helu was an incredible find although Shanny does seem to have a knack of getting late round RBs and making them into decent players. Our season has been ups and downs - mainly injuries. Every decent player we have has been injured this year apart from Kerrigan and Orakpo. Our D is actually pretty good, and next year I think we will be very strong on D - especially against the pass with both Kerrigan and Orakpo being good in this area, and we have a few decent players emerging from last years draft like Perry Riley and Maurice Hurt who both look capable. Cofield was a great FA signing and slotted in well to the 3-4. We also have Jarvis Jenkins our second round DE who lit it up in pre-season but then got a ACL injury to return for next year. Our Defense will be top 5 in the league next year in my opinion, Shanny did a great job rebuilding it last year and now only has a few pieces left to really make it an elite Defence. The cost of a really good D (which when injuries return it will be) was pretty much our entire draft spent on that side of the ball, hence the shoddy offense this year. Hankerson was looking every bit the future #1 WR until he got injured, just after his first 100yd+ game. Moss is Moss, you gotta love the guy, but I think he will move into the slot sooner rather than later. All Redskins have accepted we are going QB with our #1 pick, and it looks like we''ll be picking top 5, maybe even top 3 if results keep going our way which means we take Luck (not gonna happen, Colts will never pass on him) so we''re left with Barkley out of USC, Robert Griffin the third from Baylor, or Landry Jones from Oklahoma. I want RG3, desperately. The guy is electric, like Cam Newton but with better accuracy and a sensational throw on the run and deep ball and the intangibles to match....he has some issues with mechanics but he is my top QB in the draft, I''d take him over Luck personally. For me Shanahan probably has another 2 seasons regardless of the results. This draft is all about upgrading the offense with QB being the obvious priority. the following draft is to plug the holes left, but I think we will have a winning year next season and then we could be real contenders the following one. The rebuilding job Shanny was left with should not be underestimated, he was left with one of the weakest rosters in terms of talent in the NFL, the Defense is awesome - the stats don''t quite show how good they are, because they tend to be on the field alot more than other Ds as Grossman is illiterate when it comes to making a read and keeps throwing INTs (26 consecutive games we''ve turned it over, longest streak in the NFL!!) and this draft is really going to improve the Offense. Beck will be gone by next season and Rex will either accept being a back up or we''ll cut him. Whatever happens, we will have a new #1 QB next year.Having a high pick this year is incredibly fortunate too as the draft is so loaded with top-end talent, especially at QB. Overall, I hope we can keep playing well, and keep seeing the bright spots like Helu and some of the other younger guys continuing to shine, but ultimately lose out the season. Rebuilding this squad was always a long term project and Shanny still has the backing of the Skins nation. He will be judged in 2 years for my money, can''t see him being gone before that even if we lose alot next season with the new rookie QB. Once injuries have resolved themselves we have a bright future imo, as long as we get our guys in the draft and I trust our front office to make the right picks, they did a great job last year!

I had Canaries player since it came out pretty much - I live nearly 200 miles from Norwich and for years it was the only way to keep up to date... Any other season, I would say yeah, well worth the money. This season EVERY SINGLE GAME is available to watch, for free, over the internet. It''s really easy to do, and I can even do it on my phone (I have an Android smartphone) unless I''m somewhere with appalling signal. I never managed to get Canaries player to work on my phone, but I can watch games live on there - bit weird. The highlights are good when they do extended highlights but most normal highlights are available from a site if you were to google footytube - all Prem ones are anyway. If you want, send me an email at Tomblazak@hotmail.co.uk and I will explain step by step how to watch games online for free.

i have to agree with OP to be honest. I''m normally pretty harsh on refs but I thought Clattenburg had a decent game today. I agree with the others he was over-fussy at points and a lot of them went QPRs way but nothing seriously contentious and nothing major. The Great Drinkell, I respect your opinion as you are far more qualified to judge than I, but imo the Johnson tackle was a free kick. I watched the game on stream and when he gave it initially I was fuming but watching it on replay I have to concede Johnson went flying in, from behind/the side - yeah he got the ball but he did really lunge in, I dont know if you were at the game or watching on t''internet but I think if you have another look on replay you will probably give Clattenburg the benefit of the doubt - one of the sad casualties of modern football where meaty challenges aren''t allowed... 20 years ago it isn''t a free kick, in 2011 it was.

GP: If that''s how it is perceived then I obviously haven''t made my opinions very clear. I thought we were ok, wasn''t a great performance by any means, but we got the result and reading some of the earlier posts, you''d think we''d lost 5-0

Agree Pilks was ineffective today, thought Tierney was run ragged too. Overall though I think people are being pretty harsh, I certainly didn''t think we were as bad as this thread would have you believe. At the end of the day - it was a crap game with neither team playing particularly great football, but we won against a QPR side who have been in form as of late (albeit minus Barton), one of the teams that are likely to be there and abouts on the relegation battle come the end of the season in my book. I thought Surman actually played ok today, he came into it as the game went on and got the assist for the first goal from a decent corner delivery. If anyone has actually watched us recently, they''ll know that when Fox isn''t on the pitch, our set pieces are normally absolutely crap. Defence were pretty poor across the board, except Martin who had a decent enough game. Mid were pretty ineffective. Up front Moro was good, Jackson was pretty anonymous. Subs were inspired. Holt and Hooly changed the game. Well done Lambo.

X factor is the scourge of the music industry, but very occassionally - you get gems like this bloke - he won 2010 Australian Xfactor... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heudy6yTMkE

Broadstairs - I hate Wolves. It was playing for Wolves Muscat snapped Bellamy''s leg and any hope we had of going up that year, and didn''t even get a free kick given against him for it. I got coined at Wolves when I was about 7 too. Fans are a bunch of thick no-marks who like nothing better than a fight. I truly hate them.

Ginerpele, your guess that Spain had 13 shots total is way out. They had 21 shots to Englands grand total of 3. England aren''t my nation, and I can''t argue with the result, fantastic achievement, but the performance was typical of England at the moment, dull and totally lifeless and uninspiring. I accept that playing Spain means that you have to play on the counter, but I thought England were lucky to get the win - Fabregas missed a sitter and Villa''s volley off the inside of the post etc. I''ll be intrigued to see if they can really put together a decent performance and result vs Sweden as in my opinion, England have played dull football for the past few years, but always ground out the results - I don''t really care if they win, but it would be nice to see them play with the style that the calibre of players they have should be able to produce.

Lucien - GingerPele is right, you did buy your way to the title last season like Man City are doing this year. What''s it like in your imaginary world where they didnt? The dislike of your club comes from the fact you have a tinpot ground that you haven''t been able to fill for years (although no doubt you''re reaching the dizzy heights of 19k now you''re in the prem... and you bought your way to success. Same way no one likes Wigan, tinpot ground, barely any fans, bankrolled by a multi-millionaire. In addition to that, I don''t even think you''re very good and if you hadn''t had Taraabt then you wouldn''t have even made playoffs last season. Then you go and sign c***s like Barton. He can be as good as you like on the pitch, he is still a disgrace of human being and I wouldn''t want him at my club, he''s scum. Basically, what I''m trying to say is: Why should we like QPR and want you to do well? There''s nothing endearing about your club, you are just the latest billionaires toy and I look forward to the bubble popping in a few years and watching you do a Portsmouth when your sugar daddy pulls the plug...

I noticed this but I''ll tell you what, it didn''t half get the atmosphere going. I was on the fence about getting rid of pre-game music at CR as I thought it might be a bit quiet... but after actually experiencing what it is like without being pumped JLS or some such at full blast, I''m all for abolishing it.

Thanks wings, Sorry Canarino! I havent checked Redzone out yet - I just watch the streams of the games online atm. The thing with our sacks is most were recorded before injuries started to really bite so although our stats might look good, they''re distorted. To be honest, a large part of me just wants Shanny to tank the season now. We''re not going to make playoffs or win anything and it''s better to be awful than mediocre in the NFL (even more importantly this year given our draft needs). If by some miracle the Dolphins can win a few more we might even have a shot in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, but we have so many holes we cant afford to trade any picks to take him, and we have got no value veteran players to offer either - meaning we''d have to REALLY tank it and rely on a few others picking up a couple more wins. It''s abundantly clear though that we NEED a franchise QB, no more tading for veterans like Mcnabb, we need to be picking up a player for the next 10 years.

I thought Smith looked OK tonight to be honest, although we got more sacks than we normally do this year. I like Beck, I really feel for the guy because he is finally THE man, but he has nobody to throw to and nobody to protect him as half the team is injured!! I Actually think he''s doing a half decent job but our lack of depth is the real problem and is distorting Beck''s figures negatively. Your defence was good tonight - I havent seen much of the 9ers but I was quite impressed with what I saw tonight, can see why you have such a good record so far. Watching the Packers Chargers game atm, Aaron Rodgers is just incredible and Chargers are half decent - great game. Grossman is enigmatic as ever, brilliant 15% of the time, shocking 85% of the time. Was really pleased with our TD drive tonight though, we finally looked competent and dangerous with Beck under centre, albeit for only the last 5 minutes when the game was already gone.

Just wondering what your thoughts on tonight''s game are? I''m expecting your 49ers to destroy my ''Skins if I''m being honest. We''re injury hit and woeful and didn''t get a single point on the board last week whilst you''re on a fine run.

Actually GJP I''ve not been waiting to have a pop at Wes at all, I used to think he was a luxury we could ill afford but since Lambo came in he has become a far more complete player, and completely changed my mind on him since the beginning of League 1. I''ll happily praise him when he does well as Wes on form is a great sight to see; but realistically he was awful yesterday and many of Villa''s attacks came from him losing the ball as he was determined to dribble until he lost it rather than keep possession which is something we do well under Lambo. I retracted the call to drop him but I think Sir Paul needs to have a word after yesterday as I thought the only player that had a worse game was Bennett. I agree Fox''s set pieces were woeful yesterday but I thought he ran the game for the period he was on and we looked a lot more composed with him pinging the balls about than with Hooly running down blind alleys til he got tackled. Yes Villa countered after a poor Fox delivery but they countered about 10 times after Wes ran into tackles or just wasn''t aware that he had a man coming in and let himself get tackled. In fairness to Wes - Lambert should have subbed him at half time as he was clearly flogging a dead horse and it wasn''t going to be his day but I was disappointed Wes didn''t seem to have his usual energy defensively and didn''t seem interested in playing the team game yesterday... That chance he had to put either striker clean through one on one when we were attacking in a 3 on 1 situation when he elected to just try and dribble in circles until not only had Villa got players back to cover but he also got tackled was suicidal attacking and imo had he played either one in we may well have a point to show for our efforts yday... I''m not sure if they showed it on MOTD but those in the ground should know the one i mean.

Don''t insult Anthony by comparing him to that over-rated tosser!! Pilks has pace and a lot more to his general game than one dimensional Beckham who can only cross and hit 40yard passes, he struggles with short passing, is slow as anything and could only get on the scoresheet from set-pieces.

CityLegends - I have no problem with a player having an off day - but everytime Holt got tackled and lost the ball vs WBA he chased it and looked annoyed he''d lost it, Wes didn''t yesterday and he normally does, he was woeful yesterday but instead of fighting like the rest of the team, he looked like he''d accepted our fate - take your fanboy glasses off and look at it objectively... Holt was dropped after WBA so I don''t see your argument there anyway btw...

** severE.

** correctly read lol. I''m not saying Hoolahan doesn''t give a s**t about NCFC - just that he refused to show he was committed yesterday by not tracking back, and playing the team game and retaining possession when we needed to.

Ummm Cantiaci - I said yesterday he didn''t look interested, if you were there you would have seen the exact same thing. I haven''t questioned his loyalty, or ability merely said that yesterday he looked like he couldn''t be bothered. The inability to correctly word simply worded posts betrays sever ignorance on your part...

I do agree with Smooth on the the basis of performances yesterday - Crofts deserves a place in the team as does Fox. Could Crofts fill the Wes role? Who knows but he was decent there last year when playing as the attacking mid, might be worth giving him a shot.

I agree that it''s the defence really costing us at the moment, that was the problem with Wes giving it away yesterday - I don''t usually care if he gives it away but yesterday he did it in bloody stupid situations that let Villa break at us with pace time and again... You''re right I guess, maybe he was carrying a knock or similar which made him appear disinterested with not tracking back etc but it didnt seem to affect him too much when he kept trying to skin the Villa team!! I seem to have been outvoted on consensus of dropping him though, so Il retract it, but Lambo does need to give him a rocket if he wasn''t carrying a knock.

LOL - Unfairly picking on Wes? Yeah right. Everybody else tried yesterday, he didnt - that makes him fair game in my book - he is not immune to criticism just because he CAN BE our best player.

Yeah maybe you''re right GRD - but he was not only ineffective yesterday, he was actually detrimental to the team! He lost it countless times and made a decent pass twice in the game by my estimation! And Nutty, if you have been watching him recently, should he lose the ball he always tries to win it back, and often he tracks back - thats what Lambo has added to his game, and why he fits in the team - yesterday he did nothing, except run into tackles, there was one on halfway line where he got tackled, Villa had basically a 4 vs 4 situation and Hooly literally just jogged after the tackler, making no attempt to catch up etc. It is no coincidence that when Hooly went off for Fox we immediately became a far better team and played the best football we had all game. Fox was superb yesterday btw. Maybe GRD is right and dropping him is too severe but Lambert needs to give him a rocket in that case cuz he was the worst player on the park imo yesterday (even Naughton who got run ragged was actually trying!)