Fan up the ladder

As you say Prozac this kind of strategic thinking isn't necessarily to do with on-field matters but it's the kind of thing we all think about after a poor run of defeats. I think we are losing our identity as a club and our standing in the community. Apart from sending suggestions to the club, of which there has been a lot recently and maybe something good will come of that, what else can we as the fans do? I think the idea of putting up some kind of grand marquee with bar etc on the old lookers site was a great idea as posted on here a short while back. Make it more enjoyable to go to the ground irrespective of whats on the pitch. Not sure if anyone sent this to the club but generally the fans don't seem to have much of a voice at the moment. The idea of a bit of a Jacobs join idea was floated too. What about contacting the club with a view to a fans group at least investigating the feasibility of such a venture, and then if feasible, build and run it?. What is there to lose? I also think it would be good to make the old lookers stand a standing terrace but suspect that's a massive non starter for all sorts of reasons. The other thing brought into question for many recently is loyalty. As well as accepting the glory days are,long gone, we have to be realistic that crowds of 3 to 4,000 is the best we are going to get in the current climate. Some people are still loyal to the club but can't come regularly for various reasons, so reintroducing a membership scheme with perks on discounts etc would give them a sense of loyalty wherever they were in the world, and give fans and board an idea of what sort of overall fan base the club has.

Gavin Browne ‏ @GavinBrowne77 PD says #oafc WILL have a new striker, if not today, then tomorrow Matt Chambers ‏ @Matt_chambers New striker expected to arrive at #oafc before weekend. Likely to be tomorrow. No Furman, Simpson for Saturday. Veteran campaigner or untried youngster from Premier League club? My wild punt is Aaron Wilbraham but who knows?

I like the squad too but apart from a few of the younger players for the reasons outlined in other threads it's likely the squad will be broken up in the close season due to more attractive offers elsewhere. Because of our blatant inconsistency, this season we've just got to live for the moment and enjoy the thrills of coming back at Sheffield United while we can, because it seems there's always a defeat at home to Scunthorpe round the corner. What is encouraging is the continual support for the manager (apart from a minority), the fact that, as things stand, we have built on last season, and that as has seemingly been seen with Parker he won't let the attitudes of individuals affect the team. The other encouraging factor is the slight increase of support following the golden ticket offer, although not amazing, it's something encouraging to build on. But 3 points on Saturday might just creep us a bit further towards that top 6

To comeback to draw there would have been a brilliant result, to win is phenomenal with our depleted squad. 7 points from 3 games, huge credit where its due mr dickov

Thanks very much for the ass kissing complements singe and bristol, it's really good to know that you enjoy it, and will bear it in mind especially when I find myself stumbling through boring 0-0 draws. I'll happily give you a mention and will keep an eye on twitter @mickeyjlo, and if anyone has any mentions before the game or at half-time I'm sure we can squeeze them in. As for Roy, I think we've improved a bit over the last couple of years in terms of it being a partnership, which he's had with Gordon for many years. However, as you'll have probably heard, I do occasionally find myself finishing his...

At the risk of sounding like Alan Partridge (not for the first time), I am Mike Leyland! I'll give you a verbal wave next home game against Scunny if you like? I'm always on here although don't post much, as you'll have seen I've just made my century. I was also preserving a bit of anonimity after starting the Owen Hargreaves thread! I'll take the Kuqi comparison as a complement, thanks. I have a similar tempremant. Not sure what Roy will think about being compared to Smith though!!!

Free agent according to the ever-reliable Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Birchall but he might go back there. Not sure if he's any good. Remember he scored a decent long range goal for T&T to help them get to the World Cup. Got to be worth a look as a short-term option though.

Ah yep, fair enough. I wasn't sure if he'd finished in the states or just away due to their break. Still, celebrities at every turn, glorious sunshine and invites to glamorous parties vs a 3-sided ground, endless rain and an invite to the opening of the latest Cash Converters - I'm sure he can be persuaded!

Rowlands for Col U last night showed the merit of having an experienced head in midfield. There must be a few others out there like him, but Dickov has mentioned the wages factor recently. Maybe the Birchall thing will be reprised given the dire straits Port Vale are in?

You mean a "Wolves playing United at Old Trafford" style approach? The obvious issue with this is that if the side was any more weakened it would mean pitching in the kids, Paul Gerrard and the tea lady! We're down to the bare bones already. I'd be tempted to try Reid though and although the partnership of M'Voto and Tarky are doing well, Diamond's experience may assist in keeping the score down on this occasion.

And so says this survey http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100600/Happiness-survey-Finds-9-10-unhappiest-towns-south.html The only thing being worked on is a quicker way of getting out of the town. All the towns around us have something different to offer. Thought we had turned a corner with the ombc collaboration but both parties need to start pulling their collective murky fingers out.

The ref was woeful irrespective of the penalty decision. How only one of theirs got booked in the game compared to two of ours I'll never know. Simpson must have been fouled about 15 times alone. Kuqi slightly vindicated for his miss as it clipped the post before going wide (couldn't tell that on the night).

When they had the Roger Palmer night a few weeks back, the Junction played a video of Roger's goals, and it was obvious then (especially given that it was straight after the 0-0 with Exeter) what we're missing: Someone to get on the end of loose balls in the box, to anticipate where the ball's going and flick it goalwards. He scored some really simple goals, the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time, but he had the art of picking the pocket of a defence, ghosting into position and getting enough on the ball to guide it home without having to hammer it. I guess a lot of that comes down to agility and speed of thought and our strikeforce is not geared up for that. But someone should be at least trying to get into those types of position. Oh, and Roger was probably on the Jim Beam and JD during the game, let alone the training!

The cat's out of the bag on twitter that he's having the operation today (unless it's yet more subterfuge from the club but somehow doubt it this time!) He'll be a big loss but hopefully his long-term future is at BP and there will be a few end-of-season games for him to come back for.

There a few reasons why this enforced break could work in our favour this time. Hopefully Furman will be back on Saturday (although given how closely guarded injuries are this season you never know how long he could be out for), and everyone said Kuqi needed a "rest" so is it acceptable that he's had a rest when everyone else has too?! Diamond could be back too although I'd stick with Tarky and keep Diamond on the bench. Rueben Reid might be an option for the bench as well. Last season the downturn in form was after the enforced break, this year it's already started so Dickov should be reminding the players they're starting afresh and it's a 20-game season from now on. Any mention of what's already happened this season (Anfield and JPT specifically) should only take place on this forum and nowhere near the club itself. The season 07-08 when we got the most wins out of the record above was the season where we had a very busy March, 8 games, and three home games in a row in which we lost the first and won the next two, and there were some decent away performances that month as well. So maybe a busy March will work in our favour again this time? Plus although Brentford are a bogey team at least we broke the hoo-doo and won there last season! Much tougher this time round I expect. Happy clapping over.

At least other results from the games left on went our way today, with the slight exception of Wycombe creeping up the table.

A small bit of good news for us for Saturday

If we got to Wembley would it still be regarded as a "poxy competition"? Should we just not bother next year, as we're bound to either lose in the first round at home to a League 2 side or get everyone's hopes up again and get kicked in the bollocks at the final hurdle. Let's just do a Man United ala FA Cup 2000 and not even register shall we? We got to the semi final of the cup that we've got the most realistic chance of winning given our position. We're all gutted but what's the harm in trying again next season?

Fantastic positive. Feels like the end of the season now but when you put it that way, there's a long way to go. Need to get out of this slump.

Like last season, at the turn of the year we become totally incapable of putting the ball in the net and it was massively costly tonight. However, there were two penalty decisions that the ref didn't give, one handball and one block on Adeyemi. Not saying we would have actually managed to bag one but I feel a little cheated. Plus Allot should have gone for a second yellow. Cannot fault the effort tonight but as usual the application was lacking.

This is from Wesolowski on Twitter this morning: james wesolowski @wesolowski14 Out on the training pitch 2day. Shoulder feeling good!!!! Sounds promising. I think we need @laticsjesus to produce some divine intervention to keep it "feeling good".

Taylor's actions in mouthing off in the referee's face at Chesterfield was shocking but in my opinion he made up for it on Saturday, especially when he took over the armband. His clearance off the line was the difference between a point and zilch. Re the original post, the JPT will determine our season's direction but being a pragmatist, this season has been a success in terms of cup competitions no matter what happens next Monday. We should not be quick to forget our abysmal cup record in the last few seasons prior to this one. Getting to the "semi final" of the JPT and getting to the third round of the FA Cup (with a glamour tie thrown in) represents real progression. Yes, we've had one or two lucky cup draws but the results away at Scunthorpe and Southend stick out as an example of what we've been able to achieve that we've failed at in the past. We were all moaning about the poor cup form prior to this season. We've ticked that box now and whilst I'd be absolutely devastated if we didn't get to Wembley, it wouldn't bother me if we didn't have a cup run next season and tried to push more for a higher place in the league. Our league campaign has stuttered as a result of the cup runs, and although Dickov (don't we all) wants to win every game, I wouldn't be surprised if it's back to pitching in a few reserves in the early rounds of the cup next season.

John Sheridan made that mistake with Michael Ricketts.

Agreed, Cisak was class. Unlucky to concede 5, especially so with the fifth after what appeared to be an excellent save. That clearance didn't look a problem to start with, but as all over the pitch Cisak was closed down a lot quicker than he was probably expecting.

The bloke next door but one to the bloke that looks like he's having a go at Adeyemi looks seriously pissed off at whatever is being said. Sorry if this has been covered in last 10 pages but what punishment is likely to be dished out to LFC if he's found guilty?