Andrew Spanton

[quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="ricardo"]Time to walk away and look for someone else.Its a bit like when PBoro wanted too much for CMS. In the end he never got a move to the PL and now looks like he never will.Hooper isn''t worth £8 million now and won''t be at the end of the season either. [/quote]No? He scored 19 in 35 in his last season in the Championship, he''s scored 71 in 116 games for Celtic, including 4 in 9 in the Champions League and away at places like Spartak Moscow and Udinese. And you don''t think he''s worth the same price as Jordan Rhodes?Amazing. I''m starting to think half you lot won''t deserved him if he goes to Norwich. The one-eyed view of ''not done it in England'' - even though he''s scored goals in the Championship - really holds some of your clubs back. There are some cracking players out there: we bought Wanyama for £900k for example, Hooper for over £2m, Beram Kayal for £1m, etc. No wonder you''re being asked for huge money, English clubs set themselves up for this.[/quote] Some fair enough points there IrishCelt67 and I agree that there is value to be found in other leagues. But as your example of Jordan Rhodes illustrates there are also vastly inflated prices. Perhaps a better comparison for Hooper is Benteke to Villa for £7m. In my view that would make Hooper worth all of £2m! There is no doubt that we should walk away from Hooper and look elsewhere - it is never a good idea to get involved in a Dutch auction. We can always go back in the Summer and get him for less than £5m.

I''m more with Aggy on this one, I can''t see how anyone could be awarded with any more than a 5 and only Holt, Snodgrass and Turner could arguably merit that. All others I would give a 4 with the exception of E Bennett, Howson, R Bennett and possibly Martin who all had a very bad game. Liverpool were good, yes, but any team would have looked good against us yesterday. We looked as if we didn''t believe that we deserved to be on the same pitch as them. As for Hughton, I do not agree with the ''Hughton Out'' comments seen elsewhere on here but there is no doubt he also got it wrong yesterday. I believe that he will put it right again but I was disappointed to see yet another inept performance, of which there has been far too many this season. It was Fulham all over again and we need an Arsenal-like performance out of nowhere to get back on track. I hope that it comes against Spurs because the pressure is surely rising and would not bode well for the QPR away game that many are thinking may be the end of our bad run. This result looks bad, and it is, but it has been coming on the back of some very ordinary performances. West Ham was terrible apart from the last 5 minutes and Newcastle was very poor against a team that were there for the taking (as evidenced by Reading yesterday). I hope that this is finally the wake-up call that was needed a few weeks ago.

I went to the game tonight (no, I''m not mad enough to travel that far - I live in Nantwich where the game was played). The Murphy brothers were indeed impressive, Josh especially so in the first half and Jacob as well in the second. However they were playing against a very poor side. There were also very good performances from other players such as Michael Clunan, Olu Durojaiye, Jamar Loza, Cameron King and Harry Toffolo. It''s the first time I''ve seen the under 21s and nothing can be concluded from one match but the Murphys would be worth a try at the next level up. Maybe a league two club on loan next season would be the way to go. I noticed that they worked very well together and actively looked to switch play to each other. It would be interesting to see how they get on when split up on loan. Anyway, great to see a convincing 5-0 win away from home!

Clattenburg was to blame for his poor decisions which invariably went against us, but it''s part of the game and there is no point feeling sorry for yourself. I look forward to Stoke conceding at least 5 penalties in their next game! Much more importantly to me, Clattenburg was not to blame for the below par performance in the first half, at the end of which we could easily have been 5-1 down. We need to rediscover our defensive organisation and competitiveness for the Newcastle game (forget the Peterboro side show).

Ruddy 8 - kept the scoreline from being embarrassing 2nd half Garrido 4 - was so impressed earlier this season but second very poor game. Could not get close to Mata. Martin 6 - Did OK defensively and showed willing to get forward Barnett 6 - too clumsy but good nod back for Holt''s goal Bassong 6 - slightly off the pace Hoolahan 6 - Some good moments and our main source of possession but was too ineffective. Howson 6- Looks distinctly uncomfortable in the disciplined, defensive role allocated to him. Bennett 4 - I like Benno but didn''t offer enough today to keep his place ahead of Snodgrass. Johnson 7 - Solid game in an unfamiliar position. We missed his competitiveness in the middle. Tettey 5 - Had his moments but overall I am not convinced that he will add much quality or steel to our play. Holt 9 - On a par with the best of his performances last season. Great to see him back on form - we desperately need him at his best. Subs - no effect on the game which was over before they came on. More important than individual scores is the performance as a team, for which I would give a below-par 5. Belief is sorely lacking. For all the skill of Mata, Hazard and Oscar, it was Lampard and Mikel that ran the show today. They had so much time and space they must have thought it was a training match. There was no pressing the ball high up the pitch.

-------------------------Ruddy---------------------------- Naughton-----Ayala------Whitbread-----Garido E Bennett-----Johnson----Howson-----Surman --------------------Morison-----Vaughan------------ Some wishful thinking there perhaps! Whilst the team must defend as a unit there is no doubt that the back four was shockingly amateurish yesterday and deserves to be dropped. Realistically I would go for a back four of R Martin - Ward - R Bennett - Garido. There were a lot of truly awful performances yesterday with Johnson the only one to emerge with his reputation in tact. Turner was off the pace and had no understanding with R Bennett. Snodgrass was out of his depth on that showing. I''m looking forward to a more positive approach to the QPR game!

This is great news for us.Cardiff are preparing their excuses for failure already. Preston will look at this and think ''they''re there for the taking''. Come on Preston!

I know it''s a cliche but the only game that really matters at the moment is Derby on Monday. As far that game is concerned we should benefit from having had 4 days rest and Derby only two. I''m going for a comfortable win. The last game of the season is always totally unpredictable so I''m just hoping that by continuing to heap pressure on Cardiff they will crack. It''s only a matter of time before they do.