Ray

andyc24_uk Was on the bench fro the first cup game against Fulham, trouble is unless there is an injury defenders tend not o be brought on, but agree if safe giving him 30 minutes or so would be a good test of the young man. He started two of the pre-season games in the states, interstingly at RB but plays very solidly at CB for the U21''s. Have seen him play alongside Bennett, Turner, Ayala and Bassong and looked every part their equal with the exception they looked nore confident, but then they woud wouldn''t they, insomuch they were playeing for the U21''s and have Prem experinece. Very mature for his age, calm and collected on the ball, can ping a pass and very focussed on success.

Update, To reach 40 points we, and the teams level with us and below us, need to average the following points per game; 1.0625 – NCFC, Hull & Stoke 1.1177 – WBA 1.1875 - Swansea 1.25 – Palace 1.3125 – Fulham 1.375 – West Ham, Cardiff & Sunderland. Now let’s convert this to percentages, in other words how much better the teams around and below us need to perform over and above our level of performance to reach 40 points 0.00% - NCFC, Hull & Stoke 5.2% - WBA 11,77 - Swansea 17.64% - Palace 23.53% Fulham 29.41% - West Ham, Cardiff & Sundeland Can’t see seven teams outperforming us to the required level to send us down, so stats say we are already safe? Lies, damn lies and stats, eh! Just throwing it out their boys and girls. Nailed on safety now then??

Posted elsewhere but a thought! SKY TV back too, so surely it is obviousl, we get the goal music and SKY back and we win, poor performances must have all been down to McNally! I wonder what brought about the change of mind??

a1canary, We have Adel Gafaiti, as yet untried in the Prem and young at ony 19, but a very promising youngster, so we may go through to then end of the season and bring him in next year. Much cheaper than splashing out 6 mill or more. Plus cheaper on wages, initially anyway.

Surfbird, I wondered if anyone would read the post in enough detail to spot the deliberate (yeah right) error. Of course they may have done but said nothing.

Morty, Dropping RvW may not be the answer but selecting Bechio could be, especially if we continue to play the style of football we do. Not saying RvW won''t come good but we don''t have the luxury of allowing another half a season to find his feet. My boyhood team was Chelsea, having been born there before anyone says anything, so I still follow their fortunes and go and see the odd game (will I get banned from this board now?) and Drogba in his first season was awful and look how he tunred out, but Chelsea had time on their hands, we perhaps don''t.

To reach 40 points we, and the teams level with us and below us, need to average the following points per game; 1.0625 – NCFC, Hull & Stoke 1.1177 – Swansea & WBA 1.25 – Palace 1.3125 – Fulham 1.375 – West Ham, Cardiff & Sunderland. Now let’s convert this to percentages, in other words how much better the teams around and below us need to perform over and above our level of performance to reach 40 points 0.00% - NCFC, Hull & Stoke 5.2% - Swansea & WBA 17.64% - Palace 23.53% Fulham 29.41% - West Ham, Cardiff & Swansea Can’t see seven teams outperforming us to the required level to send us down, so stats say we are already safe? Lies, damn lies and stats, eh! Just throwing it out their boys and girls.

SKY TV back too, so surely it is obviousl, we get the goal music back and SKY back and we win, poor pefromances, must all have been McNally''s fault! I wponder what brought about the change of mind?

May have just answered my own uestion, have remembered Ewan McNeil, the U21 RB is out injured for 8-10 weeks with a groin problem, so is it to cover for emergencies? Would be a bit OTT!

Given the performance Russ Martin put in, in his last two appearances at RB, yesterday and Man Utd, why would we ned another RB, unless it is as cover for RM and Whitts is off. I can''t see the point of having three RB''s

GJP, Scandalous, not to start Becchio, so say I and many other posters. Football = a game of differing opinions, don''t you just love it? Whoever starts, let''s hope we are on an winning and improving run in to the end of the season and our last four opponents will view their fixtures against us with trepidation.

Nor did Olsson, is he off too? In fact CH had called him over and by the look on his face he realised he was missing out. It was a pre-planned event to ensure they re-focused as a team. Great to see proactivie leadership and team spirit on the field.

GJP, I suspect Becchio won''t start but if CH was me he would start. Yes I think Snoddy was busy but still feel he could deliver more end product given the amount of the ball he sees. Hull didn''t get men behind the ball for the first 10 minutes or so but had to as we took control and attacked them down the flanks. And in an attempt to give my opinion some gravitas the team I predicted in the Team for Saturday thread was;. Ruddy Martin Bassong Bennett Olsson Snodgrass Johnson Fer Gutierrez Hooper RvW Does this mean I am CH???

Having read most of the posts on here tonight, I thought I would raise a couple of points, which don’t seem to have had much airtime. IMO Hull didn’t get much of a look in because we didn’t allow it. The last time we played this well was against Man Utd and there was one common denominator, Russ Martin at RB and being allowed to, or choosing to, get forward. I didn’t count but I think he made more crosses from the byline than our winger (Snoddy) and very rarely wasted a ball. Would have been my MOTM alongside Bennett, if Ryan Bennett hadn’t popped up with the winner. I thought Seb Bassong played with more passion today and did some very good things but also made one or two unforced errors. Snoddy, better but left Martin exposed a couple of times when he shouldn’t have done, very pleased to see less of the whinging and moaning. Becchio coming on made a difference, put much more pressure on their CB’s and won balls in the air. I would start with him and Hooper next game and let’s see what develops. Jonas, considering he’s only been here for a couple of day looked like he could be what we need to add some muscle. However my overriding feeling was we played with more passion, determination and team spirit, epitomised by the team huddle after the goal, which I am reliably informed was instigated by Russ Martin, who in my opinion should be our captain, but that’s another thread.

Ruddy Martin Bassong Bennett Olsson Snodgrass Johnson Fer Gutierrez Hooper RvW Bench: Bunn Whittaker Garrido Pilkingtom Redmond Tettey Elmander

Robert, I''m not calling for his head now, what I am calling for is for something to change (for the better). I wonder how much help he is being given by his employers, under normal circumstances an under performing employee, one who was chosen specifically for the job, is given support to help him/her overcome the issue that is holding them back. I''m not saying he hasn''t been given this support but I see no evidence of it. In our case it could be providing him with better tools to do the job, I don''t specifically mean players, I mean perhaps an attacking coach, or maybe some psychological help, someone who could help provide him with a more positive mindset. As in any profession, to sack someone without first exploring why things are going wrong and what can be done to overcome the issue(s) is always a more expensive option. Looking to help is typically cheaper and often leads to a more succesful, committed and loyal employee. If this has been done then.....!! If it hasn''t then I think it is encumbent on the board to at least explore the possibilities.

viad666, I agree totally they do have a moral obligation and they probably feel they are fulfilling that obligation, but their emotions pay little heed to how much they earn or iundeed, who is paying it. Many people have moral obligations to others, husbands to wives, wives to husbands, both to children, etc, etc. but that doesn''t stop them making decisions which go against that moral obligation, no matter how much they earn and who pays them and who does what for who. It could also be argued that we (the fans) pay the wages of Hughton. McNally, et al, so they all have a moral obligation to us, not just the players. Bottom line, I agree, but what the individual players, managers, coaches, board members see as meeting their moral obligation may be completely different to what we think it is. The logical stance is that the thing to do is still perform at 100%, no matter what the formation and tactics are, to fulfill our moral obligations, however as human beings our lives are run by our emotions not logics, we dont have logics we have emotions.

RuelFox, I tend to agree with you, insomuch, I think he appointed well when it came to Lambert, but is he the only one who could have done that, no! Other than Lambert''s appoinment, what else has he doen other than cut costs and put up prices, we don''t even have SKY at the club anymore, because he refuses to pay the increased fee, which may have been quite a bit but isn''t that a bit like biting the hand that feeds you? Some will say he actually completely messed up when it came to Lambert''s departure. He also appears to be quite good at negotiating transfer fees, so on what I have seen, he''s quite good (and even that could be debated) at dealing with the money side of issues and had one positive and one negative on the Lambert front and that is before we start looking at how we judge his performance on dealing with the CH situation. I think many supporters overrate his ability when it comes to making successful strategic decisions. That''s not to say he isn''t a good man to have around the place when it comes to the financial side of running the club.

viad666, Whilst not for one moment excusing players, I am going to attempt to look deeper. Obviously I don''t know your personal situation, but you have probably at some stage been in a situation when you were performing some form of work for someone, now were there days/weeks/months/years when your opinion of the guy/gal you worked for was, shall we say, of a low order and in your opinion they kept asking you to perform your job in a manner/style which you were convinced would not provide the best outcome? For a while you did your best, you peformed your job as requested, but then you started to notice that a vast majority of your customers were complaining about the service you were providing, you know this is because they too agree with you, that the style of the man at the top is not to their liking. Then they start to shoot the messenger, you. You become the point of focus for their resentment of paying good money for a poor service. Now, if you ever found yourself working in an environment such as this, did you eventually lose heart and go through the motions, no longer going the extra mile, giving 100%? I suspect so, I certainly have. It would be all too easy to say, yeah but these guys get x thousand pounds per week, yeah they do, but it doesn''t matter how much money you get paid, your emotions and feelings, which drive your behaviour, pay no regard, they still kick in no matter what''s in your bank account. So, how do we get back to 100% committment, do we change the manager, or we do we take a more radical and cheaper approach and give him the assistance he needs to put it right. Do we employ an attacking coach to work with him, or give him coaching on how to change his thinking to be more positive, knowing that more comes to those who think they deserve it than those who don''t or both? I know what I would do, but will the Board?

Bigfeller, Well done, I thoroughly enjoyed this, very well written Sir, almost brought a tear to my eye. I hadn''t seen the Villa Cup defeat as the start of the negativity, or more to the point hadn''t really given it too much thought, so thank you. Whether I agree or not, and I think I still want to think about it, this was one of the most enjoyable and interesting posts I''ve ever read, and I better add "in my opinion" just to avaoid being challenged on my statement.

City1st Thanks. Does this mean we can a player who was eligible but was not in the match day squad, I assume so?

Splutcho, Possibly being pedantic, but this isn''t a two legged affair, it is a replay, although same restrictions may apply, do you know if this is the case?

Javier, I know it is exactly what he says to the players, if not even more negative. Trust me on this.

Skippdogg, Agree, cos would be bl**dy upsetting for blue noses, I personally wouldn''t be upset, quite the opposite in fact - over the fri**ing moon!

Jim, What impression do these words leave in the minds of the players, exactly as you have said, we are minnows compared to the big fish like Everton, we are most unlikely to get a result here unless soemthing extraordinary happens. I know sometimes reverse psychology can work but you really have to know what you are doing to risk it and I would suggest that our management team don''t. They are not alone, there are very few, in any walk of life, who truly undertsand the power of words, both positively and negatively.