Jim Smith

Once again I cannot see how someone can watch that game and conclude that Holt was excellent and Francis did not have a good game. Francis (perhaps finishing aside) has stood out a mile in all but a couple of our games this season. The only other midfielder that has looked remotely in the same class is Safri on a couple of occasions. As for Holt he only ever seems to play in the second half and it seems to me no coincidence that we as a team do the same as its only once he starts to get a grip in midfield (and start tackling instead of backing off people and running around like a headless chicken) that we start to impose ourselves on teams. If he plays like he does in the second half of games then he perhaps merits his place but his first half performances have been abysmal. Also if one single incident from a game ever summed why some fans have reservations about Holts ability in the prem then its the moment towards the end of the first half when their defence made a mistake leaving Holt, Leon and Hucks 3 on 2 bearing down on goal. With a simple pass available in either direction Holt didn''t have a clue what to do, delayed the pass and then played a shocking ball to Leon which enabled James to save at his feet. Safri would not have made the same mistake!

I''m sorry but I think that Francis was outstanding on saturday again (as he has been in every game where we''ve played 4-4-2) and I don''t understand how anyone can say Holt was better. Holt had a very good second half but was missing completely in the first half and in my opinion its no coincidence that our second half performance improved so dramatically because it was only in the second half that we had a midfield. If he can produce the second half display on a regular basis then Holt merits his place in the team but if he goes missing like in the first half then he is a liability. Personally i thought he was totally at fault for their first goal when having tracked Bents run adn forced him out to the touchline he inexplicably then stepped back from him and stood off him allowing him to slip that pass inside to Cahill. Last season he would have simply muscled the other player off the ball.   I do agree about Hicks on the left. Although defensively it can be exploited it gives us so much more going forward.

Yep we''ll be there and have sold our allocation which i beleive was 2,800 so should be a good atmosphere I believe. After the events of the weekend this game has assumed massive proportions for us so i''d expect a battle although we won''t try and outmuscle you. Defeat would be a real blow though with us still needing a win. Then again we haven''t yet come up against a team playing as ineptly as both Fulham and Bolton did last weekend!

I disagree regarding Safri - i think he looks class and has been very unlucky to get booked in 2 of his 3 games. on saturday his foul was not worthy of a booking and I don''t really think he deserved one at Spurs. I also think Bentley is starting to come good although I agree his shooting needs to improve. In the last couple of games he has got on the ball a lot more and is starting to have a real influence. Just needs to improve his pass selection and use his team mates a bit more!

Ward Helveg,Fleming,Shackell,Drury Jonson,Safri,Francis,Bentley Leon,Jarvis Would like to see Henderson geta  runout as well but think Jonson needs another game under his belt and Bentley needs to get his confidence up and a game against lower league players could be the perfect opportunity for him to play a bit.  

Have posted before but I rather like this one to the tune of "Let it be" Huckerby, Huckerby,Huckerby,Huckerby Scoring goals for City Huckerby, Huckerby  

We already have a song for Huckerby that occasionally gets aired in the pub to the tune of Let it Be.   Words are (fairly obvious really):   Huckerby, Huckerby, Huckerby, Huckerby... Scoring goals for City Huckerby, huckerby.....   repeat  

It really annoys me that the Scots have managed to gain this image when they in my opinion just as bad as us. The problem is that when some scotsman in a kilt gets tanked up, sings and shouts and then vomits on the pavement (which they frequently do) everyone just shrugs their shoulders and says its those loveable rogues the Scots. Witness the Celtic fans when they came down to Carrow Road - if England fans behaved like they did they they would all be batton cherged, rounded up and shipped out of the city. So far as Germany 2006 is concerned however I agree that it could well be a nightmare, mainly because there is such a large Turkish population living there. This is a recipe for disaster because not only are they always keen to have a pop at the English but also it does bring out the worst in the English support. Personally next time I travel to see England play abroad in a major tournament it will be to somewhere like Japan where there was never going to be any trouble. Last time I went was to brussels for Euro 2000 and that was an absolute nightmare.  

The team will be: Green Edworthy, Fleming, Charlton, Drury Mcveigh, Safri, Francis, Bentley Doherty, Huckerby

I think you''ll find that the reason he''s there is because the hall of fame entrants were voted for by the fans and Chase got enough votes to be voted in. Some might find this amazing but in reality there are enough grumpy old blokes in the City Stand/Riverend who will still tell you to this day that he was the best thing ever to happen to the club so I can see how it happened.    

If we went down we would lose Greeno, possibly Drury and after his recent performances Francis. Maybe Helveg as well although he seems a decent type and may stick around. We could still put out the following team which would be plenty good enough: Ward Edworthy,Fleming,Charlton,Brennan Jonson,Safri,Holt,Mcveigh Doherty,Hucks

I have written to the FA to complain basically saying that if D''urso can be suspended for his innocent mistake then surely the same must apply to Graham Poll and also saying how his unbelieveably arrogant explanation does little for the credibility of referees or to dispel the notion that they favout the bigger clubs. Don''t have much hope of them taking notice though. In any case though since when did this "2 stage" foul come in to play. If you look at it it is clearly one incident form start to finish. Hucks runs past Lauren, there is a bit of grappling, he then grabs his shoulder which brings him down. One continuous incident. If his linesman did signal then he should have ignored it because we had a clear advantage and played on. He bottled it and what makes it worse is to see his pompous explanation along with the way he then proceeded to stroll around the pitch laughing and joking with the Arsenal players as if they were his best mates. This is a ref who has got too big for his boots.

I can see both sides of this argument. I agree we can''t cripple the club financially but at the same time I can''t help thinking that we could have scraped together enough cash to have brought in at least one quality striker this summer which would have made a world of difference. We appear to have a budget of about 500K per player which simply isn''t enough at this level. The one thing though that really bugs me this season is this we are planning to go back down and then come back up again attitude. Ok we have to keep half an eye on what happens if we get relegated but for me there have been too many references to it from important people at the club during the close season and you almost wonder if the club really believes we have a chance of staying up. Having seen us play in the first 4 games i really think we do but the one thing lacking is that goalscorer as not only do we need to take our chances but we might also need Docherty to play at the back in some games for his height. As such i am a bit worried that we have not managed to get someone in.

My understanding is that the earlier deadline was for permanent non domestic transfers but that domestic transfers and international loans can be completed up until midnight. Either way 2 hours left - has Worthy got a surprise for us?

He is NOT a target man. if you speak to Charlton fasn they all say he is very quick, is a decent finisher and has ability but that he is quite lightweight and gets knocked off the ball a lot. Would eb a good signing but people should not say things like "he will add height to the team" as that is not the type of player he is!

I think that the Board need to seriously consider whether it is worth taking a "signing of Huckerby" type risk and trying to bring in a player with that little bit of extra quality to play up front with hucks. Svennson tries his heart out but he doesn''t win enough in the air for me and given the way we play we need someone who holds the ball up better. I know that we need to be careful and don''t want to risk the future of the club but if we could find £1.5 or even £2 million from somewhere to bring in a big (ish) name striker that could fulfil the target man role then it could in my opinion make all the difference.

Is it just me then who thought that we were distinctly poor for long periods and that if we play like that against most of the other teasm in the division we will get destroyed? Bentley and Jonson did nothing and it was only when Mcveigh came on that we started to play a bit. Hopefully they will improve as the weeks go by but they will have to. Defensively Flem and Charlton did pretty well but as a pairing they are too small and I was worried every time Palace had a set peice. Svennson was poor and simply showed that we really need to get a quality target man in. We did look dangerous when we went forward but generally I thought we squandered possesion far too easily, didn''t pass very well at all and generally didn''t look any better than last season. Have to say my confidence took a bit of a battering watching that display. Having said that several players underperformed and if Worthy can get them going then we can play a lot better. Not expecting much from the next 3 games though!

What on earth is it about Ian Dowie that leads all these pundits to come out with all these quotes. Ok he seems a decent manager but Palace always had a fairly good side and all he did was get them to perform as they were capable of. How so many people can think that Palace will finish above us despite having strengthened less than us and having finished 15/18 points behind last season is beyond me! We took 2 more points than Palace even during the period after he took over!

Yes have to say I agree regarding the photographers pits. Players running flat out often end up struggling to stop before the stands behind the goal, these pits are much closer to the pitch and a player would have little or no chance of avoiding them is he was running flat out. Its an accident waiting to happen. On the pitch I don''t think the game told us anything we didn''t already know. We are in pretty good shape and Bentley and Helveg look class but we could do with a taller centreback and a target man as the final peices in the jigsaw. Here''s hoping Worthy can work his magic and get the right men in!

Think the more likely team is: Green Helveg,Fleming,Charlton,Drury Jonson,Safri,Francis,Bentley Svensson,Huckerby Although hopefully still may be a striker and centreback to come. Has a nice look about it!

Yes current squad the strongest lineup is: Green Helveg,Charlton,Fleming,Drury Jonson,Safri,Francis,Bentley Huckerby,Svensson Has a nice balanced look about it!

Whats Craig Moore ever done thats so special? He played for Crystal Palace a few years ago and then had a few years playing for Rangers in a league where they are barely tested most weeks as well as playing for one of the lesser international teams. Ok not a bad player no doubt and at 500K maybe worth a shot but with those sort of wages (I think that equates to about 20K doesn''t it?) and with him sodding off to Athens for a month then he''s not really worth it. Oh and I don''t think we''ll be seeing much of Malky at the back next season regardless!

Yes but whilst i would feel much more secure with Malky out there when the ball is in the air I would also feel much less secure when the ball is on the ground. Surely until we get a Cb in that can do both (Primus or a.n.other) then it will have to be a case of picking the defence that suits the opposition in question!

He played on the right wing for Sweden in Euro 2004 didn''t he? Personally think if he signs it will to play right wing rather than as an out and out striker. Could be a good move if the price is right.

I think that it sounds as if we created quite a lot and that it was a decent workout but I am concerned that this close to the season we are still a couple fo players short in my opinion, are lacking a bit of cutting edge and also at the lack of height in the defence. In the last two games the general consensus has been that Charlton and Fleming have played well yet in both games it has still been necessary for Greeno to make "several excellent saves" and we have appeared vulnerable to headers. If 1st and 2nd division teams are able to exploit our lack of height at the back then against prem sides we could be in trouble. Worthy really needs to: 1. Get a couple of extra players in quickly 2. Get Hucks back in the team as soon as he is fit 3. Play a full strength side throughout saturday''s game at high tempo. We need a cohesive performance. On the other hand sounds as if Bentley had his best game for the club yet last night and if we can get things right the prospect of him and Hucks in the same side is exciting!