Robert N. LiM

"I''m told". Time to up the dose, I think.

I went to those Spurs and Southampton games. We were absolutely superb at White Hart Lane, played them off the park. Remember getting off the Club Cabbage coach at the Dell to be told by a local policeman - enjoy the game: you probably will. And indeed we did. Sutton scored the winner at the Dell with a thunderbolt of a shot - don''t think I''ve ever seen the ball struck better live. But the most memorable moment of the afternoon was seeing Le Tiss in the warm up doing his own crossbar challenge. I should think he hit it 8 times out of ten. This thread is a good riposte to whether the current side is our best ever. It''s not. Walker and Stringer''s sides were their clear superior (and that''s no disrespect to the current squad, who are clearly our best team since those days).

Obviously the stats of who did most running don''t mean everything, but nor do they mean nothing, and they should at least give pause to those who think Surman is lazy.

After the WBA home game, it looked like being a long hard season. After the WBA away game, well, I''m going to say it. We''re safe, aren''t we? 11 points clear of the bottom three. Seven wins already (same as the whole season last time we were here). Third away win (three more than last time). Fantastic stuff. Great times to be a City fan.

[deep breath] I agree with City 1st. Great post. [/deep breath]

Poor expression on my part: should just have said ''drawn into the dogfight''. Terminally dim of me.

Bob Franklin/Lord Snooty wrote: "I shall be the first to praise Lambert if we win promotion" I would be delighted to stand corrected, but I think we''re still waiting for that praise, aren''t we? Two promotions later.

Malky''s all right in the Championship, but he''d never cut it in the Prem. We all know that.

My line all season is that staying up will be a fine achievement, probably superior to the two promotions. I think that in this league it''s easy to have a run of defeats, and keeping in mind the fact that staying up is a fine achievement is a good way to keep things in perspective if we do lose two or three on the trot. Personally I think that''s the opposite of defeatist - realising what we''re up against and being proud of our achievements. Certainly I don''t think there''s anyone on this board who thinks we shouldn''t aim higher. And I have been a bit surprised at the lack of quality in the Prem. I think there''s truth in some posters'' views that the gap has moved up, so it''s now between the top six and the rest, rather than being between the established Prem clubs and the rest as it used to be, and between the Prem and the Champs as it was before that. I therefore am pretty confident that we will avoid the drop in some comfort. But I''m also steeling myself for being drawn back into the dogfight, since it only takes a few injuries or a run of bad refereeing luck for that to happen. If it does, fans need to stick together, remember how far we''ve come and keep being positive. And finally, the fact that everyone at the club is focused on staying up, despite the fact that we''re in the top half is, in my view, precisely the thing that will prevent us having a Blackpool-style collapse. We know each game and each point is crucial, and week by week we are getting closer to that 40--point mark, which may be a simplistic target in the labyrinthine mind of City 1st, but is still one worth aiming for. And if we get there by February, then, who knows, maybe we could try to get even more points.

Great to see us taking the cup seriously. PL sending a message that we''re not remotely concerned about relegation? Good times.

Great post. Not sure I agree with it, but that''s not the point. Merry Christmas Shack, and to City fans everywhere.

I don''t think we''re safe either. But what we have achieved in the first half of the season is quite superb, and deserves to be celebrated over Christmas without worrying about 2012. The thing that does it for me is that we have only lost six games, four of them to Man U, Man C, Arsenal and Chelsea. That more than anything says that we are at home in this league.

Nice simile, Chops. You should have read the Orange Book. But you were far from the only one. The editor of the Guardian, for instance.

And, Yankee, because a number of people who voted LibDem thought they were voting for a left of centre party. God knows why they thought this, given that Clegg has always been an obvious right-wing liberal, but they did. So it is slightly more accurate to say that LibDem votes + Labour votes = anti-Tory votes than it is to say that Tory votes + LibDem votes = anti-Labour votes.

Apparently 3-1-4-2 is the way to go. Everyone from Barca to Rwanda doing it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/dec/13/the-question-3-1-4-2-formation-rise So: R Martin Whitbread Tierney Fox Bennet Crofts Wes Pilkington Holt Morison

Good to see that David Fox has joined the ranks of the terminally dim this week.

Didn''t see the game, but certainly had that feeling when I saw the score. Most importantly, the players must surely now feel they belong. I don''t think we''re the new Blackpool, but I do think our second half of the season is more difficult than the first. I''m sure we''ll have some patches where we slip down the table, and people will need to keep their heads then. But I now expect us to stay up, rather than hope. There, I said it.

Great result and a great report for those of us who couldn''t be there. Well done the boys and thanks Ricardo for another great report.

I thought reserve games used to be free. Bloody McNally.

Apart from the fact that quite a lot of City fans then started booing one of our best ever players.

Top post. Come on you Yellows indeed.

Loving the optimism but not entirely sure I share it. Might be a day for "we''re gonna score one more than you". I''m going for 3-2. Not sure to whom. Heart says City, head says Toon. As for formation I''d toss a coin between 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 Usual back four and then either Hoolahan Fox Crofts Pilkington Holt Morison or Fox Crofts Bennet Hoolahan Pilkington Morison Given Newcastle''s injury problems I''d marginally favour the 4-4-2, I think. Not normally one for the two-up-front mantra, but today might be the day. Come on you yellows

Spot on, GJP. Lim''s Second Law in evidence again. If Lansbury and Pacheco were as good as some posters say, they would have been in our team last season. They weren''t. I think Pacheco could become a Premier League player, but to say he''s Wes''s superior right here, right now is way over the top.

Mr Chops wrote: Actually, it was the heart attack. But thanks for letting me know. Everyone had their own reaction to Gunny''s reappointment. Mine was chronic nausea which was only relieved by copious vomiting after the Colchester game. I believe McNally had very similar symptoms.

Lim''s Second Law: Players not in the team suddenly become much better players.