mikejh45

I don't go along with this idea that Beckham isn't good enough for England, if Capello thinks he can do a job then that's good enough for me and nobody can knock Capello's record thus far. Granted Beckham won't be more than a squad player now as Walcott seems to hold that right wing spot at the moment but other rivals such as Lennon and Bentley have fallen by the wayside.

Jim from St. Albans R.C. school in the 1970's.

Evil bastard he was.

Unable to make Stockport on Friday.

Having not seen Byrne play yet, what is the considered opinion of those who have watched both Byrne against Stockport and Stam against Huddersfield as to who should have the starting spot against Hereford (assuming Stam is fit)?

Seeing as both Huddersfield and Stockport (from what I've read and heard) packed their midfield and Sheriden appearing to be unable/incapable/unwilling to make changes. What would you do during the game? Because the status quo left us outnumbered and overrun and is something we will see more of as the season develops.

Scholes quoted in "4-4-2" magazine last year that he'd heard the story about finishing his career at Latics but doesn't know where it originated from.

Talk to Mike Ashley!!!

I'm certain he took on Newcastle United as well as a few gallons of Newky Browns.

Looking at his svelte figure, it's not difficult to see which one he got a decent return on.

Stam, Hazell and Kelvin were like rabbits trapped in headlights. Taylor by a mile, he even made several 'crunchers' in winning the ball back given he was constantly compensating for our midfields reluctance to cross the halfway line.

I think you can add Eardley to the defensive chaos. I would put Stam and Hazell above Eardley and Lomax, at least they occasionally got the better of Dickenson. Lomax's non-performance makes Taylor's efforts all the more impressive and Eardley gave no assistance to Liddell.

First opportunity to comment on Saturday's game, so apologies if my points have already been covered.

Generally, a poor performance all round apart from Taylor.

A lot of people have singled Stam out as the scapegoat in defence when, I think, they were all equally culpable. We didn't pass the ball well enough from defence and in a lot of instances by-passed the midfield because they were being closed down too quickly. Someone said earlier that Stam hasn't played much in the last 18 months but wasn't he near the top in terms of appearances last season? Also, I think Dickenson deserves some credit for making all of our defence look uncomfortable, irrespective of whether we thought of him as a "cheat"

I thought Smalley gave us a glimmer of hope with his runs but to no avail.

And just to give a smile to the Liddell supporters, I said to my daughter that he should have been substituted about a minute before he scored that excellent goal. However, apart from that he did have a poor game which is not surprising when you consider he never really had any time and space all game because Huddersfield did a good marking job on him.

Question time - did Ternent win the tactical battle over Sheriden?

Allott was the standout player for me.

But who voted for Maher as MOM and why?

To be fair to Mike I noticed a post of his recently where he accepted Lidds has proved him wrong.

 

Hopefully for everyones sake he can keep it up and it wont be me and his other supporters eating humble pie in a few months time!

Listen, I've just got back from 10 day's holiday and the humble pie is still giving me bad guts and the trots.

I think Gregan is more a Bentley Arnage - big, and powerful,has a presence and gets through whereas Stam is more of a Porsche 911 great fun, a bit posey and subject to oil leaks, dodgy electrics and if its a C2 will cause you an issue on most journeys(handling dodgier than Jon Keeley)

I'm sticking with an ageing transit van. Battered, starting to creak, still a good runner!!!

This could start a whole new thread.

Brian Kilcline - a Luton removal van!!!

A Rolls Royce is different to a Citroen

A better analogy would be a Transit van for Gregan (big, dependable plodder) and anything from the TVR range for Stam (looks the part and can do the business when not broken down).

This really is a pointless argument!!!

They are DIFFERENT!!! They might both be centre-halves but they are different. Gregan has his faults and so has Stam. It's like trying to compare Jack Charlton with Bobby Moore - same position but different players.

The blame should not lie at Stam's feet for the Burnley performance but at Shez. A bit of forward planning regarding team selection may have resulted in Stam having a runout against Cheltenham when the game was sewn up at 4-0 and getting up to speed for first team duties.

As a past 'detractor' of young Liddell and one who is ready to pounce, I freely and grudgingly admit he is worthy of his place in this confident team and is doing well keeping Smalley out. In the 2 home matches I've seen this season, he has pleasingly raised his game by, as BB80, playing forward and doing his tackling stint.

I don't agree with the idea of moving him into the middle as that would upset the Allott/Whittaker and Hughes/Alessandra partnerships which are both looking good. If we are to have Liddell in the team, then wide right it is.

Pass the Rennies!!!

You couldnt do anything for 105 minutes at a cost of £27 quid these days Ken bates isnt at fault for that!

I mentioned the above to an old friend this morning. He said you can get about 2 hrs for that sort of money in a certain establishment on Retiro St. if you go at about 4 in the morning and happen to be not particularly choosy about the age of the lady.

ANDY GORAM!!!

Left as a good goalkeeper with the potential to be great.

Came back as a Sumo wrestler.

Useless he is!!!

Should've saved all 3 penalties.

WELL DONE, BOYS.

Using the argument of dropping Crossley on this post, should we also consider dropping Gregan, Hazell, Eardley, Maher, Davies and O'Grady who also had a less than impressive performance?

Last season, many of us sang Crossley's praises for his performances in the second half of the campaign. I'm just amazed how quickly some people can change after one game

SMALL amount of humble pie to be eaten here.

Liddell was one of our better, starting 11 players on Saturday. Looked fitter and hungrier and actually tackled a bit. Not brilliant or superb IMO though, but deserves his spot in the next starting line-up (not something I would have said a week ago). Crossing in the first half wasn't good enough, but an equal amount of blame must lie with our forwards who didn't do enough to get away from their defenders and the referee who let their defenders get away with a string of muggings.

Right humble pie consumed, pass the Rennies.

Not being a Liddell fan (no surprise to some of the members on here), I can see him as a useful squad member only. However, a number of comments on here would have him sitting in that "hole" behind the strikers, that means we could only play 1 out of Allott, Maher, Whittaker or Stephens to try and dominate centre midfield. A tough job methinks.

In my opinion, Liddell should be, at best, on the bench.

See what happens when you are rushing around and not reading points of view properly.

A classic case of me putting both size 9 in one's gob and squeezing the last surviving braincell.

At this moment in time (before shez brings anyone else in)

 

Crossley

 

Eardley -- Gregan -- Hazell -- Lomax

 

Lee -- Allott -- Whitaker --Taylor

 

Hughes -- Davies

I think Crossley will start the season as number one, and we will see Fleming more towards the mid/end of the season (although he does look quite good from the vid on LW) shez says he wants a left sided player to balance the team, I think this will be a left back because, although we have lomax and black, ones right footed, and the other has no experience at all. Where as in the left midfield position we have taylor who's played there for a few years, whitaker and lee who could do a job, and even o'grady and davies if needed! The good thing is, theres so much depth already this year, theres so many different formations we could use and switch to if the games arne't going our way.

 

so if we do bring in a new left back (and CM if kalala goes) we'd have to pick 5/7 subs from:

 

fleming

bell

lomax

black

stam

thompson

kalala/and or new CM

o'grady

liddle

stephens

smalley

allesandra

williams(if fit and ready)

(any i'v missed out?)

edit - wolfended

 

Good Times!

Have I missed a signing here?

Lomax in the starting line-up and some other Lomax as a potential benchwarmer!!!

Nooooooo!!!! Must not be allowed!!!

50 caps for Joe Cole!!!

Scandalous state of affairs!!!

Doncaster are not bigger than us; they are an historically smaller club from a similar-size town who are simply lucky enough to have an owner prepared to spend heavily. As I've said before, it won't be long before regulars on here will be 'patiently explaining why we can't compete with 'big clubs with massive fanbases' like Peterborough and MK Dons. As long as we continue to regard these clubs with awe the less likely it is that we will progress.

I don't think we are in awe of these clubs (and these clubs include Doncaster), more a feeling of jealousy because we are unfortunate to be within 15 miles of 3 Premiership clubs (effectively 2) and 3 league clubs who impinge on our catchment area. What we have to do is be judicious in our financial dealings to compensate.

KEEP THE FAITH

 

OK, I will be honest, I perhaps over egg my pudding a little when it comes to being critical of Taylor, but I think it is a natural reaction after reading all the stuff typed about him on here.

 

(An admittance that your criticism is not wholly based on Taylor's performances but on fans having a differing opinion to your own).

 

OK, he is playing out of position, but the same rules apply I would think. What works on the right, will work on the left do we not all think? Why not try it then Chris?

 

(Absolute garbage, very few players are equally comfortable on either foot).

Why sit twenty yards further back on the left than you would on the right? Why let all your defenders (fan type) reel off untruths about teams doubling up on you when the truth is in fact, that if you moved just ten or fifteen yards further forward as play developed, the second man (that being the oppo right midfielder) would be left trailing in your wake leaving you one on one with the full back.

 

(The same argument will still apply because that right sided midfield will still move across and play deeper on Taylor because the opposition manager will have instructed them pre-kick off).

I'm not sorry about venting my spleen continually about him, but it sickens me to see all the defending of his very ordinariness (at very best) just because he is an Oldham fan - so very many of you think he is some sort of ginger demi god.

 

 

 

 

Derek - if you feel the need to vent your spleen about a good player (note GOOD, not VERY GOOD, not BRILLIANT), I dread to think about your reactions to players at Oldham who week in/week out offer nothing.

 

KEEP THE FAITH