Completely agree. I think Reina is done, might be used as a makeweight to bring in a top-tier striker in the January window.

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Rzzzzz...

It's not performance related, but Jones is a bit to, well, how to put it gently, Australian.

I have heard Reine could definitely be on his way out in January.

The juxtaposition of 'could' and 'definitely' pretty much sums up online transfer rumours. Reina's best days look to be behind him, sadly.

He'd still be a quality keeper on the continent.

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Rzzzzz...

It'll be wherever Rafa Benitez pops up next. There you go: I could get a job on the Daily Mail's sports desk with insight like that.

I see Reina leaving soon, whether it be January or the Summer. However, Jones is only between the posts until more quality can be found. More names will pass through before January is upon us.

Lots of interesting discussions of late on Liverpool and their new manager (and his system). Yesterdays change from a suddenly favored 3-5-2 (from his earlier 4-3-3) to a 4-4-1-1 shows a manager learning.

12 points from 11 games (with 6 of those being City, United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton) is not ideal, but under the pressure and pretense of playing the top half its hard not to find positive change.

Interesting article: http://microlfc.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/being-brendan-is-rodgers-the-right-man-to-take-liverpool-forward/

I have seen Reina actually linked with Arsenal, but I highly doubt they'd sign him.

Well here's our joke rumor of the day from the Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... -City.html

Can Spurs please postpone all of their games until after January? Or at least until Dembele and Assou-ekotto are fit again? I admit to switching off after Arsenal's 2nd, but would hazard a guess that Arsenal exploited Huddlestone's severe lack of pace in midfield and hesitancy of our full backs.

As soon as Adebayor was sent off, that game was cooked. Bad tackle, and not too many arguments with the card, although I thought a yellow would have been more appropriate. Off the top of my head I can think of a couple of dozen worse tackles that didn't get reds, but nevermind; with Huddlestone up against Corzola, Arteta et al I was never confident of getting more than a point.

Alright, Spurs. Back in your box.

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Rzzzzz...

Yeah, man. If they don't buy someone like Moutinho, Tom Ince etc in January they may as well hammer a nail or two in that box, put it next to Liverpool's and we can fight it put for the final UEFA Cup place every year.

Quality effort from the Reds today. Hopefully if we can stay within striking distance then do some Christmas shopping we can put the heat on the top 5-6 teams or at least make their own respective campaigns more difficult.

In rooting for QPR this year I'm learning what it must be like to be a Browns fan.

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You are absolutely entitled to state your opinion whenever you wish, and I am absolutely entitled to point out the stupidity of that opinion with the same frequency.

Iain Dowie and Phil Brown will no doubt be hanging around outside Loftus Road, resumes in hand, awaiting Mr Fernandes' arrival on Monday morning.

Phil Brown > Iain Dowie.

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Rzzzzz...

Hawkspur, I'd like to give a high 5-2 you.

In all honesty, claiming that the red card was why Spurs lost is not a legit excuse, I know I wouldn't admit it if it was Arsenal but still. Spurs had a striker sent off when up 1-0 and after that they played as if they had a defender sent off, hell half the time Spurs looked like they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. It was awesome to see all the Arsenal new boys to score in their first NLD and for Mertesacker to finally get his first Gunners goal. The win was definitely satisfying and hopefully this will result in a massive turnaround.

I'm guessing it's true that Spurs played like they had a defender sent off rather than a striker. If you re-read my post you'll notice that I thought we would lose beforehand based on Huddlestone being too slow to cope with your midfield. The red card certainly didn't help; Lennon was very close to making it 2-0 seconds before Adebayor got himself sent off. My main gripe with the red card is that it was given (legitimately, admittedly) when many other refs (including Howard Webb on most other days) wouldn't have. Although I would have been slightly surprised if we'd held on to win, the red card definitely changed to momentum.

A great result for Arsenal (yuck), but I'm guessing that Spurs won't have been as bad in this 5-2 loss as they were in last year's.

You and I have different opinions on the red card. While I'm sure we'll both agree that it was a bookable challenge, I feel that it warranted a red card. I think the reasoning behind the red card was that Adebayore's challenge was totally reckless and could have severely injured Cazorla. First off he dove in, second was a foot above the ground when he made contact and finally he was never gonna get the ball(if he had touched the ball he would have probably saved himself from a red card and got just a yellow).

I'll chime in... Howard Webb loves to leave an impact on Derby games (or just any massive rivalry). Adebayor deserved yellow. Being reckless is what a yellow card is for. Making contact (or in this case full contact) is what reds are for. Either way. It was close enough either would have been warranted. But with Webb you knew it would be red.

Arsenal looked the better side but still leaky, even with a man up. At 4-1 they let off and gave one up, then if not for Bales selfishness were ready to give up another soon after. That group needs to organize, and I mean from the front back. But its a derby victory and they should just settle for 3 points.

Suarez is the best striker in the EPL... I dare someone to argue who is doing more with less. Simply superb. And liverpool have gone 7 straight undefeated. A nice run for the young team with the new manager (and yes its just Wigan, but it was just Stoke not too long ago)

Poor effort by United, and Chelsea is showing cracks. They not only look mortal but severly flawed, especially defensively.

More to be setttled by Boxing Day. Looking forward to see what groups step forward and which fall back in the next 4 weeks.

And before I forget... suck it Bitters!

I'm just hoping that when Gibbs returns all struggles will cease.



If I didn't know any better I'd say you were saying Liverpool is shit and Suarez is saving their ass every week.



It's kinda obvious United's defensive ineptitude is worse than Arsenal, their offense is what's distracting people from it. As for Chelsea, they've joined Liverpool on the list of teams West Brom have upset at home this season. Nice try by Cech to attempt to save a point at the end though.

Gate, you should start every one of your posts with "if I didnt know better"...

Deliberately avoided this thread for a while, we are not very good

I think it's fixable, but right now we are terrible. While we are missing a few key players it is obvious that we have no depth. Dembele, Kaboul, Benny and Parker are much missed. Huddlestone is poor. Livermore is poor. Sigurdsson and Dempsey have been largely disappointing. Gallas is past it. Walker is good, but is being tested. Adebayor is about to serve a ban before heading of to the freaking African Cup of Nations where he will no doubt get injured.
Carroll and Falque look promising and should be given a chance, but we really need a quality creative mid and another good striker ASAP, otherwise we're gunning for 7th.

Sparky Hughes in talks with the QPR top brass today. Reckon he probably gets the axe.

Who'll they bring in? I know Dowie and Brown are the most common names, but what about some names no-one is thinking about? What about 'Arry? Or Benitez?

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Rzzzzz...

It's gotta be Redknapp, surely. Benitez isn't someone I'd considered.

In my post on Saturday I mentioned Brown and Dowie but that was only because they seem to have been linked with every job going in the last few years. I'd doubt very much they'd get the job.

Phil Brown did wonders with Hull his first season in the PL. I don't rate Dowie.

It would probably be Redknapp because it's the kind of job he loves. Down-and-out club with seemingly no hope but big aspirations. He comes in and puts together a bit of a run, saves them from the drop, then has them farting about mid-table for a while. And if he doesn't manage to keep them up, he can just say he had no chance with the situation he walked into and work on bringing them back up from the Championship. Win-win for all involved, really.

benitez is an intriguing prospect, though. He's made no secret about wanting to come back and manage a PL club again, and this is a decent situation for him. Owners are willing to spend and there'll be no real expectations on his shoulders coming in.

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Rzzzzz...

I want to see Redknapp at Loftus Road.

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You are absolutely entitled to state your opinion whenever you wish, and I am absolutely entitled to point out the stupidity of that opinion with the same frequency.

Was Sparky sacked or not?

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Rzzzzz...

It must be nice working for Abramovich. This is the either the ultimate case of "what have you done for me lately?" or "welcome Senor Guardiola". Interesting managerial times in West London either way.

If Guardiola is the new boss it'll be fascinating to see whether he'll be successful without the Barcelona midfield. The Chelsea equivalent is pretty sharp so I'm guessing he could.

Sounds like Benitez on a 6 month deal until Guardiola. Dos cerveza por favor!

Chelsea board should be ashamed, they've turned that club into a joke. Di Matteo should have been given more time, and if I were benitez, I wouldn't take a 6 month deal, but whatever.

I think Guardiola might get exposed at a team like Chelsea. in the Spanish league, he really had only one other team to worry about, and he had Messi. In England, there are no easy games, and everyone's out to get you. I don't think Pep would have the same success at Chelsea.

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Rzzzzz...

I'm inclined to agree about Guardiola. The way I understand it the Spanish teams are all under instructions to play a similar style to each other with a focus on the Spanish pressing and passing. I wonder if Barcelona would have enjoyed the same success in the Premier League. Playing midfielders in defense doesn't seem like a tactic that would work in England, as Chelsea are finding out with Luiz.

Yeah, pretty much. Not that I mind the Spanish football style, but I don't think it would work in England. Much faster and more physical game. Guardiola would be found out of his depth just like AVB was.

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Rzzzzz...

This is very poor business by Chelsea.... as you have both said the team is not set up for success (at the level they expect) and in reality no manager is going to mask the fortune that saw them take the Champs league last year (or conveesely change the misfortune that saw them drop points recently).

Chelsea are flawed, as are Arsenal, City, Spurs (Liverpool if I dare put them in that group) and they failures this season are about players (Torres and Sturridge are your striking options? Whol are your cms?) Than managers.

Rafa may be tapped up to steady the sinking ship, but major repairs are needed.

Benitez to Chelsea? I feel gross. Either he patches a few holes in the ship and they become title contenders in the league and get blank checks for a few players or the repairs are too many and Roman continues to disgrace plastic FC.

Okay, so Chelsea apparently fired Di Matteo so they could accomplish their objectives. So the FA Cup and Champions League apparently weren't their objectives, they've won 3 EPL titles since Abromovich became owner. So that begs the question, what in God's name is their "objectives" then?!

Not get bounced in the group stages of the UCL.

Well Mark Hughes has joined Di Matteo on the unemployment line and Harry Redknapp looks like the odds on favourite to take the vacancy.

Think we all saw this coming. Arry will do what he always does. Take the job, get the team playing well, plateau out then leave.

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Rzzzzz...

DiMatteo did a great job of turning West Brom around. He laid the foundation in turning us into a perennial Premier League club, and not one that gets relegated every other year. He deserves another shot somewhere else.

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Do you like curry? - Gareth Keenan

Honestly the only surprising thing is that it Di Matteo was fired first. I feel Hughes' time was up a month ago, and it was a fools game to keep him around until now.

Please tell me this is a joke that Stuart Downing is linked with Arsenal.

He's perfect for Arsenal... he doesn't score either

(On a side note, none of these "linked" reports are anything more than bs drummed up by media a.d club officials trying to persuade them to talk about thir team)

A scoreless draw and suddenly people think Arsenal can't score again? Funny how you say that and Arsenal has scored more goals than over half the other teams in the Premier League. I'd rather not even hear links to players that are jokes like Downing.

Just heard the sickening news about West Ham fans mocking the Spurs fans who were stabbed in Rome this past week.

Daily Mail has reached a whole new level of stupidity. They now believe if a player isn't on his team's calender, they will be leaving their club.

COYS

Go eat a penis.

I'll pass, thanks mate!