susie b

1st Wiz...how kind of you to remember me!  I''m still about, but work has been crazy since term started and I have been busy writing a certain column whenever I''ve had the odd hour to sit at my computer (Pete here: new article today at Bird''s Eye View).  Add to that the fact that I badly crocked my knee a couple of weeks ago and am still in pain now, and you might be able to see that life in general has been a bit crazy too!  That''s no excuse I know, and I shouldn''t have been so neglectful of you all.  Here''s to me finding some more time in the next week or so to keep in touch with everyone.  Apology accepted? 

Hi Gazza...sorry it''s taken me so long to reply.  Things have been crazy at work lately and it hasn''t helped that I have a crocked knee and am struggling to walk.  As it stands at the moment I shall have to get my lift to drop me off at FCR and then hopefully pick me up after the game as near as poss to the ground.  I think walking anywhere round Riverside is out of the question for now, sadly, unless someone would like to lend me a new kneecap! Anyway, hope you have a good time in Squares and that we see a really good performance (and result?!) afterwards.  Next time, then...once my knee is better, assuming it gets better!

I''m not sure what you mean by ''come on Susie'' etc., creative midfielder.  I wasn''t exactly disagreeing with you or the first poster on here - it was a mistake, and a bad one for us in that it resulted in a goal, as I said.  I was merely trying to suggest that the formation may have contributed to the mistake for the reasons I stated and I was speculating as to whether that mistake cost him his place in the second half.  Please don''t read anything into my post that simply wasn''t there.  I hope you noticed that I didn''t mention Gary Holt at all.  For what it''s worth I think he has gradually upped his performance level over the past few weeks.  Whether that will be good enough ultimately remains to be seen, but he, as with all of them, is still very much in the process of getting used to Prem life which is very different to that in Div. 1, I''m sure you would agree.  Trouble is, we don''t have the luxury of having that time as we need points on the board sooner rather than later.

In a word - crazy!  Enough said!!!

I do like the away kit, but not on the players on the pitch!  We blend in with the grass too much, I think!  The red was good, I agree, but how about reverting to a tartan next time?  I loved that kit!

I can''t help but wonder if Safri was singled out as he was dispossessed just prior to their first goal, but, to be fair to him, there was so little space to manoeuvre just in front of the box, because of the diamond formation, that it was almost like an accident waiting to happen anyway.

Just out of interest, the bookie on SSN on Friday afternoon was showing the odds on the next manager to be sacked.  Megson is current favourite at 8/11, Dowie was about sixth in the list at 25/1 and Worthy was....nowhere to be seen!!!  Discuss!

What are you suggesting K o L?  That you would prefer the club to have endless money and someone with masses of passion for the pound only in charge?  Sorry...no way!  Look at several of our rivals right now.  They are in just this situation and are suffering from such internal strife that they might implode at any moment.  (Let''s hope for our sake that they do!)  Something that sets us apart from plenty of other clubs and makes us the envy of them is the way we are run and the people we are run by.  Delia is the heart and soul of our club and will be, I hope, until her dying day.  She''s one of us first and foremost, therefore I for one shall not be joining any ridiculous campaign that might emerge to try to oust her.  (I''m not suggesting you will be instigating one, by the way...but there might be the odd person out there feeling the same way as you, I suppose!)

I can''t say anymore than you guys have.  If Worthy is true to his words, i.e. that we will learn from the game, then Leon must start and the diamond must be ditched.  It''s as simple as that if we are to progess, I think...but I''m not the manager!!!

Some of the obviously non-regular mums and dads, although thankfully swelling the numbers and the coffers, were a pain in the neck with their moaning and ignorant comments.  Some didn''t even know if there was going to be a replay or not, for example, and when they found out it was settled on the night they were desperate for Rovers to equalise so they could get their money''s worth!!!  Moan over!

I thought he looked decent and certainly committed again for the ten minutes he was on last night.  (Does anyone on here want to read anything into the fact that he has bought a house here rather than just renting or staying at Dunston Hall, or is it just that he perhaps sees it as an investment?  Thoughts please).

I was very surprised at how negative Bristol Rovers were, particularly as they didn''t even really try to go for it after we had scored.  Their 4-5-1 made it tough going to break them down...but that does not mask the fact that we so badly lacked a cutting edge up front.  What bad timing for Leon, and why oh why didn''t we perhaps see Jonson up front for a while?

You are naughty shropshire canary!  Does your wife believe you?  I wouldn''t!!!  In 1993 I had the Wutan Chinese flu (that year''s prevalent strain) and it was truly awful.  I was too ill to make it up the stairs to bed and so slept and spent days on the sofa just drinking water.  I didn''t see my kitchen for three whole days as I didn''t have the strength to get up and walk.  It was a good six weeks before I felt as strong again as I had been before.  If Leon makes the bench this weekend then I promise you that he has not had the flu!  I hope therefore for his sake and ours that he has ''a runny dose and a sore ''ed'', and that''s all!

I can see the pros and cons of having a little old cup run (or two!), but I noted with interest that in a tv interview Worthy referred to the benefit of the extra revenue and the opportunity that might provide him with in the January window.  Let''s hope for a home draw in the next round then and see if we can get an even bigger crowd than last night as I think the ''striker pot'' might be the intended destination of the extra money.

To be honest I didn''t think we really broke sweat last night, but that doesn''t mean I don''t share the concerns expressed.  If only we had an out-and-out striker who could run like the wind, be big, strong and athletic, and have a shot on him like a bullet.  Oh well, can but dream...again!  Agree that the Doc doesn''t look like the answer up front.  I don''t doubt his effort but, for me, he lacks the physique to do the job we need and just isn''t a natural goalscorer.  (Their No.9 Agogo looked pretty decent when given some service, especially considering they never really went for it after going a goal behind).

Spawn, I totally agree with you re: subs.  Last night was an ideal opportunity to give Jonson at least a whole half (contradiction there somewhere?!) to show what he could do and all the poor guy got was a night of running up and down in front of me looking miserable.  Now I could perhaps understand giving Svenny some time up front to see if he has sharpened up a bit, but bringing on Eddy (who we know is in good form) and Bents instead of at least allowing one of those to stay on the bench to give Jonson a go is beyond me...but I''m not the manager!  Just seemed bizarre.

I have had Sunday lunch in Delia''s restaurant three times and can honestly say that all the food I''ve eaten has been really good, and the atmosphere has been spot on too.  Kids'' entertainer for those that need one, newspapers to read, live sport on the big screen, and a ground tour thrown in for good measure - can''t complain at that!  Only problem is that it''s only open on the first Sunday in every month so it gets booked up quickly.  If anyone out there hasn''t tried it it''s worth a go.  (Once I was there most of the players and their families were there too, which was good to see).

And here''s another one for you all to digest.  According to Teletext p.517, that amazing source of information we all rely upon so much, David Healy is being linked with us!  Why do these idiots bother?  Don''t they know that he can be linked all they like but, until January at least, he''s less likely to sign for Norwich than I am to become the first person to play spacetennis?!  (No rude comments, please!)

Just had to share this rumour with you all - from football-rumours.com:  by the end of the week Ipswich will be signing Matty Holland and Adrian Mutu on loan from Charlton and Chelsea respectively!  Now when you''ve stopped rolling around on the floor, mine''s a huge lump of cheese.  (It helps to achieve the fantasy-land effect when I dream, I find!  Now where is Dean Ashton''s phone number?)

Don''t worry, jed exodus, I think there''ll be passion by the bucketload on Saturday as a) we all know how important every minute of every game is and that''s the main way we can help the team, b) we''ve got a growing reputation for noisy support to protect and develop and c) we''ve been starved of football at FCR for three weeks and are simply desperate for some!!!  By the end of next Tuesday we should feel quite full up, I would imagine, but, then again, probably hungry for some more by the next day.  I know I will!

Talk about hungry...the guy must be absolutely starving and therefore raring to give more than his all, if only he gets the chance.  Personally, I think Worthy will give the Doc one or two more starting opportunities up front and, if there''s not much spark of life, I think we might see Leon get his chance soon after.

One thing BFJ does quite often is single out a player to take the blame, if not by name then he says that the individual concerned knows who he is and has been spoken to about it.  In my opinion this is not something for the public domain and it does nothing for the confidence of that individual, let alone the team.  Sure, the pictures tell us who that person is each time but is it then really necessary to just add the comment to the usual list of rambling excuses?

rich, the cheeseboard thread was about almost anything and everything, to do with cheese, and not! It started, I think, with someone asking if anyone had heard the guy in the N & P end who stands up holding a cheeseboard and shouts ''CHEEEESEBOOARRRD'', getting lots of others to join in with him.  It then went on to explore how his cheeseboard was confiscated, then onto people''s favourite cheeses,  dreams inspired by cheese, people''s pets'' favourite cheeses, cheeseboard signs, cheesehead headgear and so on.  All pretty surreal stuff really!  Hope this brief summary gives you a ''flavour'' of the thread!!!

Does the ''popular'' list include all the pre New Pink''Un threads?  If so, surely the old ''cheeseboard'' thread would be top of the pile?  That ran to loads of pages if my memory serves me right!

gazza - disaster...I had forgotten that I''m having my hair cut at lunchtime on Saturday, hence I will be later than usual getting to the ground and therefore unlikely to make it to Squares this time around!  Apologies for the memory lapse.  Will try to make it for the next home game instead if that''s ok.