ethicalstrategy

Assuming you mean the Norwich match then I'm not sure I understand your point. Tickets for this match were ?25 for adults and ?12.50 for kids or seniors in the West lower. Availability was pretty good too I think. I accept that full price Premier League tickets and CL tickets are pretty pricey, but the cup matches seem reasonable and there have been quite a few of them this season.

In my experience there are lots of groups of "young blokes" at the ground for all the matches.

when benitez was asked about bellamy hitting riise with a 5 iron, he replied: "it was just a small club"

No need - the Snow Patrol remark was enough of an insult. Thanks for clearing that up. Is there a smilie for something going straight over my head?

Lol, I did say they do have A talent! The problem is that it's no good being a talented guitarist if you aren't going to use that talent to create something worthwhile!! The lyrics may be funny - it's hard to tell when you are asleep. Perhaps talentless and miserable was a bit harsh - let's go with dreary. Anyway, I fully expected abuse and accept it in the spirit it was intended.

Enough with the Smiths pleeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz. The most miserable, depressing, talentless bunch of wotsits ever to blot the musical (in it's loosest possible sense) landscape. Although to be fair, being that far up your own arse is a talent!

Personally, I am hoping Liverpool's home form continues for at least a couple of matches! At least untill they have beaten Utd. I think they will finish third ahead of Arsenal. Unless Phil Dowd is refereeing all of the Arsenal games between now and the end of the season!

Unfortunately, I think it simply means that there aren't two seats together in the area you want. It's stupid, because there will undoubtedly be some single seats in close proximity. I hope you get what you want somewhere in the ground. You might want to try ringing up the box office. In my experience they are quite helpful.

Difficult call for me. If Essien was out injured for 2 months we would miss him, but could cope. If Drogba was out then we would be well an truly f**ked. I might have to come down on Drogba's side in the end but it would be close.

That's fair enough, but I would say that he could have scored a couple of times if players had passed to him instead of taking it on themselves. Best example was in the second half when Xavier made a mess of a clearance and it fell to Drogba. He shot and the keeper made a good save, but Sheva had taken up a great position and all Didier needed to do was roll it to him and he would have scored. You could see the frustration on his face when the pass didn't come. For me, he makes good runs and gets in to good positions, but more often than not the ball isn't played to him.

Overall a solid performance. We look a lot more settled than we did in the run up to the Liverpool defeat - more like our usual selves. Things should get better with the return of Carvalho too. My ratings, based on watching live and then seeing the football first highlights. Cech: 7 Really had nothing much to do. Boro had two good chances which he would have not been able to do anything about. Did exceptionally well to get a fingertip to the mis hit cross in the second half and tip it against the bar. Ferriera: 5 The right hand side was still our weak link. He looks like a player without any confidence and his positional play is very suspect. Taylor's cross for Viduka's glaring miss came from him being caught tucked way to far inside. Did makea couple of positive runs in the second half and Downing couldn't out run him. I would like to see diarra back in that position when Essien comes back to midfield. Essien: 8 Seems to be settling in to this centre back role but still looks like he wants to get back to midfield. Some of his defending was a little bit "last ditch" but overall he was great. JT: 7 Looked a little rusty early on. Lost Viduka on a cross and was slow coming out to play Yakubu offside, both of which could have proved costly. Looked better as the game went on but I would suggest that he is still not quite 100% Bridge: 7.5 Whatever his merits against Ashley, i think he is most suited to playing in this formation for us. He defended well and got forward effectively. On a personal note I am really pleased for him. He has shown a lot of determination to get back from such a dreadful injury. Makalele: 7 Did what Maka does and did it well. Diarra: 7 Did what Maka does and did it almost as well. Lampard: 8 Had a good game. I hate to say it but he looked happier without Ballack. Played some good balls, particularly the ball that put Drogba through early in the first half, worked hard and made things tick. Kalou: 7 Looked lively and gave Boro problems down their right. Still lacks composure when shooting but overall quite promising. Sheva: 7.5 Worked hard and showed some great touches. Didn't really have much in the way of scoring opportunities but always looked lively. Dropped back to the tip of the diamond when Robben first came on. Drogba: 7.5 I know he scored twice, but I didn't actually think it was his best game for us. He worked hard as usual but looked a bit frustrated by a couple of early misses. Might have played Sheva in a couple of times but chose to shoot instead. Subs: Robben: 7.5 Came on and affected the game immediately. If only he can avoid injury between now and the end of the season he will be critical to our chances in all the competitions. Wright Phillips: N/A But did have a very good little run and shot which Schwarzer did well to stop. Geremi: N/A Also had a good run and shot. We have some very winnable matches coming up against Pompey, Sheffield Utd and Watford. Hopefully Fulham, Liverpool and Bolton can take some points off Utd.

can someone tell him he's had his pint nicked?

link doesn't work for me. try this! Mirror Apologises Funny how the apology carefully repeats all of the false allegations before accepting that they were not true and apologising!

Revised line up allowing for injuries: -----------------------Cech --------Boula------Carvalho-------JT ----------------------Maka ------------Essien-------------Frank Diarra------------------------------------Kalou --------------Sheva --------------------------Drogba

might be, but Bridge wasn't withdrawn. He was training with England when the injury occured so he was sent back to Chelsea. Anyway, he will miss this saturday's match and probably the FA cup tie the following saturday.

I am surprised that Woodgate is getting a caning. I thought he looked very accomplished both defensively and on the ball. Bad as Engalnd were, Spain were really no better. Iniesta scored a great goal but that was about the sum of it for them.

I like Giles Smith's assessment Quoted from his Times article this morning: "In this area, Mark Lawrenson, co-commentating for the BBC, repeated the line about how Wright-Phillips?s problems are down to lack of confidence. But if only it was just confidence that he lacked. Unfortunately, other people?s lists of things that the Chelsea winger seems to be without have been known to include ball control ? particularly in the matter of a first touch ? concentration and also tactical awareness. Ah, well. Maybe those things will come ? and with them, confidence." Which comes first? the chicken or the egg? I would maintain that the reason he hasn't got enough playing time at Chelsea is that he hasn't been good enough. He needs to impress Jose in training and then deliver when he does get a chance - something he hasn't been able to do. Last night he started well for 5 mins and then just disappeared.

So the team: -------------------Cech Diarra-----Riccy--------JT-------Ferriera -----------------Maka -------Essien--------------Frank ---------------Ballack ----------Sheva--------Drogs The main problem here being that Paulo will not give us the attacking width that Bridgy does. That's quite a problem in that formation.

comment from scouse twat on Talksport yesterday: "it's not the money that matters, it's whose in charge of it and how wisely he spends it. Money on it's own won't guarantee success" Nice compliment to Jose there I think

Hmm. looking at her I had the same problem

Nice one! Sweep comes over as a nice guy. Rio comes over as a moron

It was a blatent dive. no blame on the ref - he really wouldn't have been able to see. But the media should be laying in to him big time for CHEATING. Instead, Garth Crooks has him in his team of the week, Sky claim it was "inconclusive" and generally the whole thing has been glossed over. They are all a bunch of hypocrytical f**king w**kers. It makes me sick. and I wouldn't let him anywhere near player of the season however good he is. and Nibs, no different to what Frank does?.....bollocks! (but I have seen Drogba and Robben do it! )

just gotta keep asking! if united can win every match between now and the end of the season then good luck to them, they will deserve it. what we have to do is make them win every game. we have to hold our nerve and keep chipping away. we must not make it easy for them by making any stupid mistakes ourselves - starting with middlesborough. we can do it - I believe!!!

looks like being another big 7 days!! or weeks maybe!

away to liverpool? maybe. other possible draws include Fulham away Portsmouth away Everton away Man City away it doesn't take much to drop 3 or 4 points - (see our draws to Reading & Fulham at home) and then the match at the bridge becomes pivotal. We don't necessarily need to go unblemished to the end of the season, but we can't afford more than a couple of draws or one loss. and we must beat utd at home. Come on lets see some confidence!! ::TrOphy::