Aggy

Thought you were referring to the friendlies'' squad rather than the actual squad. In terms of the actual Euro championship squad, that''s not quite what he said. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12016/7700762/Pearce-Players-need-to-know Pearce actually suggests the new man will be in place by 10 May, or that the deadline to announce the squad may be pushed back 10 days to incorporate the end of the season. He hasn''t said that he will definitely be making the selection himself.

Who else''s mandate would it be? If the friendlies are being used as warm ups for the Euros, then ideally the manager who is going to be managing the side at the Euros would be picking the squad. If you''ve not got the manager who will be managing the side at the Euros, then it doesn''t really make any difference who picks the squad. You can have the FA big whigs picking it, or you can have the man who is going to be in charge for the 90 minutes that the friendlies will be played over. Seems more sensible for it to be Pearce than anyone else whilst we haven''t got a permanent manager.

At the time, probably not. Even now, hmm, not too fussed. He''s taken 12 points from a possible 21 in the league - 1.7 points a game. Had they been going at that rate all season, they would have 1 point less than they do now, and still be in 6th place. Form not that great for Chelsea. What he has done is get the players more united, but again, I think quite a lot of managers could have done that after Vilas Boas. He''s come in after a manager who was allegedly unpopular with the players, re-united the squad, and been fairly lucky in some big games. League form average (for a club like Chelsea), cup/European form good with a bit of luck. Not a terrible manager, but turn it round - had Lambert been given the Chelsea managers job, I''m sure he would have done an equally good job in the time period, if not better.

Not sure about raving about their performance, as you say gingerpele, it was just a "defensive masterclass" which wouldn''t have been all that much of a masterclass had Barcelona brought their shooting boots with them. People want to see the English teams doing well, not because of how many English players there are in the side, but because they play in the Prem. With La Liga starting to take over really, it''s always nice to see the Prem get one over it. However, I''ll be supporting Bayern tonight, and again in the final. Got some good German friends from Munich who are Bayern fans, I have seen Bayern play at the Allianz Arena, and I''m not a great fan of Chelsea at the best of times. Nice to see an English team get to the final - and if it''s against Madrid I''ll be ''supporting'' Chelsea, but I''d prefer Bayern to win it from now. Strange to think though that a fortnight ago everyone pretty much assumed it was going to be a Barca-Real final, now looks like it could well be a Chelsea-Bayern one. It''s a funny old game!

Willmeister, have you read any Robert Harris novels?Imperium and Lustrum (and an as of yet unpublished third which continues to be delayed) focuses on the life of Cicero but deals with a lot of the politics around Julius Caesar''s rise and fall. His other stuff Pompeii and Fatherland (the best of the bunch in my opinion) are also pretty good, and the likes of Enigma and Ghost are worth a read if you''re into that sort of genre. All go down the thriller route (Fatherland being an alternative fiction in which the Nazis won the war, but it is still cleverly and historically researched to make an interesting and informative plot). Down similar histo-thriller routes, Kate Mosse''s ''Labyrinth'' is superb and set in the beautiful Carcassonne, both in modern times and the Cathar-dominated twelfth century citadel. Sepulchre and Winter Ghosts are not as good, but again decent if you enjoy that sort of thing. I''ve currently just finished Agent Zigzag, very good true-story read about a double agent in WW2, and now starting le Carre''s newest novel, Our Kind of Traitor.

I don''t buy into this difficult run of matches theory. Every match is difficult in the prem. We were picking up points in the first half of the season that we haven''t been doing recently. 10 games isn''t a "difficult spell". It''s over quarter of the season! Now I''m not panicking too much. I am sure Lambert will bring in a few new players and we will refind some motivation for the start of next season. However, the recent run of form has been terrible. No point trying to argue otherwise in my opinion. If we can say how brilliant we usually were for the first 25 games or so, I think it''s only fair to say how poor we''ve usually been in the last 10 games or so. If we do carry this form on into next season, we will definitely be struggling. But I don''t think we will.

Competition like Drury and Tierney you mean? If we can''t get someone significantly better than either of those two, what''s the point in spending money on someone when to replace a player who has shown this season they are capable of doing a job? We''ve got competition. We''d be releasing one player only to spend money on someone else to bring in the same competition we''ve already got. Either buy someone better than both Tierney and Drury, or keep them both.

Blackburn still in the relegation zone according to skysports live centre. Equal on points with QPR but goal difference is miles behind.

I think you''re being a bit unfair. You''ve got to compare where they are now to where NCFC were when they signed/left. From your list, most of the players are playing at a similar level to where we were when we bought them. Ashton went onto better things than Norwich could offer at the time. As did Earnie, Etuhu, and Gilks as we slid down the leagues. Clingan and Marshall, and even Crofts, left to join sides higher than we were at the time. So, ok, we''ve had a revolution under Lambert, but it''s not really fair to say they''ve not gone on to have success when they''re playing at a higher level than they would have been with Norwich at that time. I actually think that those 3 (Clingan, Marshall and Crofts) would have been pretty decent players in a Lambert side. Had we not got hold of Lambert and were still rotting in League 1, or struggling at the foot of the championship, then those 3 players'' moves would all seem justified really, and we certainly wouldn''t be saying they''ve gone on to have no success compared to us. You''ve got to remember that Lambert has completely regalvanised us since being here. I think Doherty is a bit harsh - he was getting on a bit, and was unlikely to have had much success after us at his age. But yes, even he can fall into part of the reason why we were down there in the first place. Chris Martin seems to be described as "alright" by some Palace fans, and very good by others. He''s playing in that attacking midfield role. Again, let''s not forget that he really only came to prominence in a League One side. It''s not really that much of a surprise that he''s playing decent football in a mid-table championship side is it? If we had signed a load of premiership quality players, then we wouldn''t have been relegated to League 1 in the first place.

Yes but people don''t influence society unless they have exposure. Anything can influence society if it becomes well known enough. But how many people would have read this poem if it hadn''t been splattered across the news? A lot of the younger generation had never even heard of Kony before a couple of months ago, and I dare say that most people didn''t know the ins and outs of it (nor do they necessarily after the facebook and twitter campaigns that went on). But the point surely is that poetry as a medium to reach people nowadays is outdated. It may reach one or two people, but until it has got the media or social media sites and the like behind it, people aren''t going to notice. Yes, one or two might, but society as a whole isn''t going to. In saying that, anything, poetry included, can influence society if it is given such a medium. A message has to be spread, and whereas poetry and literature in itself was the main way of spreading that message until relatively recently, now it is waning. Grass'' poem is getting coverage because it was picked up by the media. Had he started a group on facebook with the poem attached as a document or a link perhaps, I dare say millions more people would have been exposed to this in a far shorter time, and its impact upon society would have been far more extensive than it currently is.

I''m not sure when the cut off line is, in terms of being 23. Pilkington turns 24 before the start of the olympics, so might rule him out. You''d have thought that certainly Ryan Bennett would be in with a chance, given he''s played for the U21s before.

Leaving aside my opinions on the historical discussions going on above (of which I may join in later, as I certainly have a few things to add), to closely answer whether poetry can change society, surely the bottom line has got to be how widespread the reading of poetry is nowadays. With the internet and television, not many people - certainly of my generation still in university - read poetry. Modern poetry even less so; most study of poems is of romantic or World War I poetry in schools. I wouldn''t have heard of this Grass poem unless posted on here, I''m sure most people who haven''t looked at this thread wouldn''t have done either. Poetry is not a media form that is, in itself, going to make much difference to anything anymore. As said above, put it to music, or make a short film, or make your own website about it (think the Kony campaign that exploded a couple of months ago) and yes, possibly it has some potential. Otherwise, poetry in itself is always going to be confined to the discussions of a very few, as on here, and have no impact on wider society anymore.

I didn''t realise you were so young, thought from your posts you were a bit older than that. But yeah in that case then exercise and food just get on the bandwagon as much as possible really. When you start at the gym ask them to give you some help with a personal routine and that usually helps motivate people - if you''re just going with your own routine often people think they can miss days or move days around etc. and end up not bothering. Whereas if you''ve got something done by professional trainers, it can be a bit more motivation to actually stick to it, as they know what they''re talking about! Good luck anyway!

Crazy form. At the beginning of December, after 20 games, they were in 11th with 27 points. Just got promoted with 88 points from 44. So that means they''ve taken 61 points from the last 24 games. That''s over 2 and a half points a game! Not bad at all.

And a loanee would be ''establishing us a regular in the Premier League''? Personally, if we can''t buy anyone better than Tierney, or we choose to spend our money on other positions in the next transfer window, then I can''t see the point of letting Drury go and bringing someone else in either on loan or as a backup. What''s the point? Drury has shown he can do a job as a back up, so why bring someone in unless they are going to be better than our first choice? The right back position, a loanee wouldn''t be a bad thing, as we have only got Martin who can play there. So if we loan someone to save a hefty transfer fee, that''s fair enough. But what''s the point when we''ve got a first team left back who has shown he''s more than good enough for a mid table prem side, with a back up who has shown he is more than capable of filling in when required? Until we can afford to bring in someone with real quality permanently, it seems silly to let Drury go and replace with a loanee.

It depends on how you''re looking at it. Carroll has been in an absolutely dire spell all season, but he does appear to have some talent (or at least did whilst at Newcastle). He''s still only 23. Do you take him and give him some tournament experience over someone who is in better form but, at 31, is only going to play in one tournament? Holt, I fear, won''t be picked for other reasons, such as those mentioned above; not playing for a top side or being part of the old boys'' brigade. But the only real argument, in my opinion, for not taking him, would be if you were going to take a young side. For whatever other negatives you throw out at Holt, you''ve just got to show his goalscoring record this season and ask to see an Englishman doing it better. Every player has negatives, Holt has utilised his strong points better than anyone other than Rooney this season.

Yes you''re probably right Crabby, it may have been over done slightly. I do still think he could have got back, I do still think that even once he''s only jogged back to get inside the box, as Tevez goes around Ruddy there is ample opportunity for him to get over and at least put some pressure on Tevez/try and block the shot, and I''m still slightly disappointed that he didn''t bother doing those things. The original post wasn''t, as far as I understood it, and certainly my posts in this thread, have not been trying to attach blame on Bennett for the result. They were stating that Bennett''s reaction to making the mistake was not a good one. However good Tevez is, from that far out, and with the left back coming over and the keeper still to get past, for me, a centre half should be at least trying to get back and cover. I''m not sure a mountain has been made to be honest. From my point of view I''ve maintained throughout that I was viewing the incident in isolation, I wasn''t calling for Bennett''s head. The usual abusive posts towards others have come and gone again, as per usual, but I think generally the thread has just been a discussion of whether we were happy with Bennett''s reaction or not. As we''ve all said, as has Lambert, he will learn from it. As most of us have said, and again Lambert points out today, he carried on afterwards and has been very good for us in the other games he has played. His attitude for that one goal I was unhappy with, but it''s now Monday and I''ve had my little moan about that. I said on the day in other threads that people are obviously going to be unhappy on the day of a 6-1 drubbing. Two or three days later I still stick by what I said in this thread, but I never was angry enough about it to let it drag on too much. Hopefully now he''ll bounce back and get back to the level he has been before Man City.

We never will keep many clean sheets because of the way we play. A lot of the time it hasn''t been due to the ability of our defenders as much as it has been them just simply being outnumbered/out of position due to our more attacking and pressing style. Swansea don''t play as direct, they keep players behind the ball to pass to, they keep a lot of possession, but they don''t score too many. If they took a few more attacking risks, they would let in more. Having said that, there have been times when we could have defended better as individuals or as a unit and it wasn''t just to do with our attacking play. Certainly by continuing to work on the defence in training and bringing in better players when we can afford them, you''d hope that eventually we can start to have a few more clean sheets, even if they never become a regular feature.

How''s this going for you ginge? I''m not sure if I''ve missed something with the middle of this thread, or what, but sticking to the health side of things, I''d be interested to hear what you''ve been doing/if it''s had much affect. Out of interest, are you trying to lose a bit of weight, or just get fit? Very different approaches needed depending on which it is (and again if you''re thinking both). If you''re just trying to shed a bit of weight, food intake is the most important thing to watch. If you''re not morbidly obese, then unless you can run and run for ages and ages, exercise isn''t going to greatly impact on much. A half hour run at a decent pace might only shed 300ish calories, which isn''t a great deal in the grand scheme of things. Around 3500 calories need to be lost to lose a pound of body fat, so if you still sat on your backside and just ate 500 calories less than you needed a day then you''d be losing a pound a week, although 500 calories is quite a lot to shed off, especially if you''re used to eating over the guideline amounts anyway (ie; which is why you''ve got the extra weight to shift in the first place!) Also very important is to figure out how many calories you actually need a day - look online and there are tools to help you work it out, based on things like your height, build, age, activity levels etc - then whack a bit off that a day to start losing weight. If you''re in decent shape though and just looking to get fit, cardio work is your best bet. Weights will help you "tone up" but in terms of the "being able to run for longer" fitness, it''s all about cardio. Doesn''t have to be just long runs (bore me stupid), but I tend to do things like shuttle drills and sprint-stop runs or circuits. These are also more useful for me, as I play quite a few sports where you don''t need to be running continuously for ages, but instead you''re stop start, sprinting then maybe stoppage in play etc. Sorry for the long post, it''s something I have gotten quite into recently - and again, let me know how you''re getting on, I''m always interested to hear what methods people are using and how effective they are!

*that was they didn''t come into football league games until 76, not rugby games.

Seems to have worked alright in rugby Slim. Just reading up on when the sin bin system was introduced into rugby - 99/2000 for those of you interested - and the piece I was reading said that yellow and red cards didn''t come into league games until 76 and were removed between 81 and 87. I thought they were around a lot longer than that - seems strange to me, being born in the 90s, that a good sized proportion of posters on here can probably remember a time when yellow and red cards weren''t regularly used at games! Role Model - agreed.

Sorry - meant to say as well that although you would still see wrong decisions where a player was unfairly being sin binned, it would only be for 10 minutes rather than a whole game. Yet hopefully there would be less wrong decisions, because the players would see the risk that their diving holds, stop doing it, and the refs would begin to be less sceptical.

Chicken - in fairness to Tevez, Bennett put his foot on top of Tevez''s. It''s hard to continue running when someone has essentially pinned your foot to the ground from above. If it had been a slight brush then I''d agree, but in that instance, it was a penalty in my opinion. There isn''t much you can do to be honest. I''m hesitant about red cards for diving, as then if it turns out it wasn''t actually a dive, the team is not only being denied an actual penalty, but also playing with one less man. Think about if Tevez had been sent off rather than booked at the weekend - it would have been extremely harsh given that it should have been a penalty! As for freekicks instead of penalties, how is it going to work? What if a player is clean through and gets hacked down by a defender at the last minute? Is that a penalty? If so, what happens if it transpires he dived then as well? And even if you''re awarding a freekick, surely it''s rewarding a dive? Whilst it would be rewarding simulation with a lesser award than a penalty, it is also rewarding a genuine foul with less than the striker deserves. For me, there''s little you can do. This won''t happen, but I feel it would be interesting, is if a dive resulted in a 5 or 10 minute sin bin. Did the yellow card affect Tevez''s performance? Not really. So had he genuinely have dived (I don''t think he did, but if he had have done), he would have got away with it essentially scot free. The risk of getting an almost meaningless yellow card compared with the chances of winning a penalty makes it worth the risk. The risk of getting a 10 minute sin bin compared with winning a penalty is nowhere near the risk, as the team is going to struggle greatly. Of course that will never happen, firstly because it''s too far estranged from the way the game is currently played, and secondly because detractors of the plan would say it would lead to boring football - 10 men would park the bus until the extra man came back on.

I''d take Fox over Adeyemi and Korey Smith every day of the week. Surely those two - Adeyemi especially - are going to be loaned out next season, or moved on? I seriously don''t think they''ll be in the 25 man squad just yet. But I agree with the rest smooth.

Well, fair enough CJF. Personally, I didn''t think a post essentially saying that ''making at the very least a token effort to get back and atone for your mistake is what we are about here at NCFC'' was too far off the mark. I would still suggest that criticism about one or two points of a player''s game is not the same as having a whinge for the sake of it. The same goes for any defender really Nutty - the best ones you often won''t notice too much, because they do their job quietly, make interceptions, are in the right position and so on, but as soon as they make one mistake, it costs you. Whereas attacking players can make mistakes all afternoon, but tap in a winner in the last minute and all is forgotten. And certainly discussion is why I bother posting on here - I can think my own thoughts all day long, but it''s nice to hear the opinions of others as well. It''s just a shame more people don''t try to have a discussion and instead resort to the "anyone who disagrees with me must be a f*ing sc*mmer" lines. But still, each to their own!