TrikkiNikki

No quotes from me, I can't afford it either, but I bet he loved scoring against a club that rejected him.

Yahoooo! Come on!

If only they could stop reverting to hoofball! Started well, but, the longer the half went on, longer the ball started going! I know it's only half time, but things are starting to look vaguely familiar. I don't think I can watch yet another major tournament without England being there. Grrrrrrrr!

Excellent! Is that Reuben's goal for this season? Well done.

b. 10/4/87 We lost the day after, going down 3-0 at Pompey. Me, I was probably

True, I suppose the cost of staging the game is not helped the consistently low attendances and having to offer cut-price admission, which even then, doesn't tempt the crowds in.

Hughesy is a bad lad if he decided to play with a niggle - he obviously thought that he could run it off and who's to say it wouldn't have occurred during the game at Tranmere (or in training). It needs sorting and we can't be a one-man team. We might say it's a nothing competition, but, it does represent a relatively easy route to Wembley if you can avoid teams like Leeds and Leicester etc., and the money comes in handy as well, therefore using a strong team is justified, but then again, the lack of stiffs games means we need to use these competitions to give a decent level of match practice to the fringe players. As for injuries, well, the squads big enough to prevent a repeat of last season's nightmare *crosses fingers*.

Positives? I didn't have to get up for work this morning and Danny Whitaker.

Didn't go, but picked Smalley because he kept our unbeaten record (so far). Obviously the rest of the team did their bit - but, only got one vote.

A point is fantastic, especially as Colchester are expected to be up there. A win would have been brilliant, never mind the pressure of keeping the run going, confidence breeds even more confidence. Well done today.

On the outside looking in *no fair*

Loved Scotty, he was a good striker and to me, a great loss from the team. He was the last player to score at Layer Road, so is probably odds on to be the first to score at their new stadium. I think Hughesy will score first 'though.

The club can only do as requested, which is better than the police telling them they can't use the stand for home and away fans at all. This was bound to happen, after all, taunting the opposition is part and parcel of the game. It's not unusual to have a buffer zone between opposing sets of fans, it's just worse because of the already reduced ground capacity. Really, they should have thought about this from the off, or maybe they just expected polite name-calling.

Rugby holds no sway with me, but my father likes rugby (not Oldham) and says football is for wimps! *sigh* I suppose all sports teams suffer in one way or another if they don't have somebody bankrolling them, large followings or are just simply awful at what they do. Thank God for the Latics.

HUGHESY! HUGHESY! And why not? It feels like it could be a key season for him, plenty of goals and probably more than a few bookings!

Knowing our luck, we'll probably end up on Clayton Playing Fields.

Yes to chanting, no to disgraceful booing. Hughesy is the flavour of the week - I've got a feeling (in my water) that he may take the end of season Player of the Year plaudits. I'm sure Chris O'Grady will get his chance to shine, but, it may only come at the expense of Hughes/Davies/Alessandra.

Shame for Thompson, maybe now he wishes that Tranmere had been successful in signing him, as he may struggle to get picked up with his injury record. It's difficult for any player to make an impact under those circumstances (unless you happen to be Lee Hughes ). Hopefully the player Sheridan is chasing is Phillips as he seemed to be what we need - but moving Taylor would probably be a mistake, unless Corney sells him off in a "dummy throwing" incident!

I agree with edhunter, the fringe players are not getting the match practice in, and although the frustration last season of the injury pile-up putting a dent into our season's aspirations was disappointing, we need to start sorting out the proposed friendly matches to get the players up to scratch. And why 4-5-1 for God's sake? I wish Sheridan wouldn't tinker around. Roll on Saturday and let's get the Hughesy piledriver machine into action again!

I'm a tad disappointed that he didn't play Hughes from the kick-off, but, these games are here to try out the other squad members. Nobody seems to take this cup seriously anymore, while a good run would be beneficial, going out is no great loss. Feel sorry for Fleming - how did he do? Bring on Colchester and 3pts (fingers crossed).

Thank you, may try that later. Oh, bugger! 2-0

Not working so far. Still, only 1-0 and hopefully Hughesy can come on to scare the crap out their back line. I live in hope.

Mr Corney spitting out his dummy again? It's not like we are not used to it! I agree with some, that this may be just an excuse for letting a player go, when common sense says we shouldn't. It would be nice if he just said that too good an offer has come in and we are accepting it. No problem, that's the type of club we are and let's get on with it. It will probably be Taylor, I just hope it's not Lee Hughes. And, yes, the crowd last weekend was never going to be a high turn out and in all honesty, I would expect our gates to be lower this season because of the loss of the stand and the relatively high cost of attending when everyone is feeling the pinch of the increased cost of living. We aren't the only club in this league with rubbish attendances and at least we've got the excuse of having our illustrious neighbours to lure away the glory seeking public.