Nibs

Although listening to just The Smiths when stuck on a dersert island is probably not a great move - enough to make anyone want to tie some rope around their neck and find the nearest (and tallest) palm tree!!! 70's for me (although that would probably be late 76 onwards). You can loose all that glam / glitter crap and just go with The Jam, The Clash, Stranglers, Buzzcocks, Pistols, Elvis Costello + all the two tone stuff....................

Wake up mate. Malouda was f**king useless. END OF.

Yep. Credit to our boys both on and off the pitch. Job Done

Maybe showing his inexperience. Maybe just very honest and truthful. What he says is spot on. We want to win every game and every compettition we go into. But this trophy is well down the list and always has been. Can't see the problem personally. My only problem is the team not being pumped up enough for it. But it is only natural that Everton are going to have more hunger for this than we are - when was the last time they won anything?

I understand that's exactly the amount that would currently be needed for Sam Dalla Bonna.

Gem we went trough this the other day. You admitted it was your heart ruling your head. Are you now sufferening from Alzheimer's at such an early age?!!!!!

Just hope our boys come out flying as well because Everton certainly will. A lot could depend on Anelka. Are we 100% sure he is not cup tied? Bolton played Fulham and won and then lost to Man City. Surely if he took part in either of those games, he cannot play for us? Hope it's as good a game as the first leg and another 2-1 to us would suit me fine.

Yeah. If we had a good squad to select from I would be pretty confident, but with all those missing, including SWP - our saviour from the first leg, I have my worries. Everton will be totally up for it and it could just be the side that want's it more, gets to Wembley.

2-0 up now and with home advantage. If they choke now that will be the biggest choke, since..........i dunno when. (was gonna do the Linda Lovelace line but that was just too '70's!)

Good Old Loz. The voice of reason (well on this occassion anyway!!)

What are you talking about. He does!!! You might of not actually have seen him do it but just check out his stats..............

Nice come back, Nibs. I see why Joe has been playing better than Kalou. It's crystal clear now. How many miles did the player run during the game? How many tackles did they make? What is their pass completion ratio? What is their goal assist rate? How many goals have they scored? Well gee...slap my buttocks and call me Nancy, but I'm guessing those stats and many more like them, are derived by the performance of the player DURING THE GAME... Yeah yeah............ And stats will no doubt tell you that Carlton Palmer was a more effective player than Platini. And Robbie Savage will offer a team more than Zola. Stats can be great. But you can also get them to tell you whatever you want if you try hard enough.

Some people really do love their stats don't they. Hey, why even bother watching a game of football at all? Just check out the STATS

Sorry ES, not quite with you. Do you mean choose to sell, buy or play in the side? If you mean who would I pick to play, then you know the answer - it's Joe every time - other than if you were looking to play a striker then obviously one would plump for Kalou. As to why? IMO Joe is a much, much better all round player. He doesn't have Kalou's pace but then Pace is of little use if it's not used well (see Grokjaer!!). Even without pace, Joe can go past defenders no problem and he is also a better passer and a better tackler. I'm hoping Kalou will come good and one day be a great player for us, but right now he is no more than a useful squad player and as Loz has rightly pointed out, seems a lot more useful when coming off the bench. I've posted elsewhere that Joe has not been great this season and I'd have liked to have seen more from him, bearing in mind he is now getting selected just about every game. That said, he still creates a lot more than most and along with SWP, they are the two players we currently have who can consistently go past defenders and make things happen. Unfortunately for them, it is this very fact that means they tend to get selected to play out wide, whereas I feel both look better players when playing more centrally and running at and committing defenders there. Put it this way, right now I would willingly swap Kalou with many players if given the chance as there are a lot of players who could offer us what Kalou currently does. There are not that many however that have Joe's ability to use skill to beat a defender. Sure he doesn't do it as often as I'd like but the fact is that he has it in him and that's why we need him or players like him.

I actually think Kalou would get more interest to be honest. He is younger and has arguably more potential than Joey. My 10 year old son is younger still and arguably has loads of potential too. Don't mean a great deal though!!

I still get the emails from Timeonline on this each week and I keep having a look at my lowly league position. Coombsie ain't complaining 'cos he's top - although he has no idea how. Thinks it's a case of if you were lucky enough to get a decent starting squad - you'll be okay. Shame the scoring system and everything else is just way too complicated as this could have been good. In hindsight, I guess we should have just had a league of about 10 as then we would have had a much bigger pool of players to change things later. As it is the pool of players if full of a load of useless f**kers who cannot even get into the Derby starting 11!!!!!

I think you may be on your own with that conclusive opinion or at least in a very small minority!!! Not my opinion. Fact. Kalou has scored 5 goals and made 8 assists. Joe has 3 goals and 1 assist in a comparable number of games. Step overs and beating the same player three times don't count! Seriously though, if you can't see that kalou has been more effective than Joe then you really aren't being objective. And having said all that, I've noticed that Kalou does not even merit a place on the bench of your best Chelsea team!!!!!

As I've already pointed out - when Kalou has scored, more often than not he has been playing as a striker not a winger. And the old "assists" arguement - please!!! As I've said before, a player can go on a run like Joe for example often does - maybe even SWP. Beat 2 or 3 players knocks a great ball into the box. Kalou perhaps gets a flick on maybe he tris to shoot himself and just mis-hits it - ball lands at Pizarro's feet and Pizarro scores. Result? One assist for Kalou. Who played the greater part in setting the goal up.............................? Look, I'm not saying Kalou is crap and Joe is the best player in the world. All I am saying is that there are plenty on here who will give Joe stick and slag him off when it's in no way warranted. For some to say on Saturday that Joe was shocking - it's laughable. Even the most blind amongst us have to admit that he is one of the few players we have that can actually tale players on and commit defenders. Put Joe and Kalou up for sale tomorrow and see who we get more enquiries on and who other coaches think is a more useful / effective player.

Yeah, when he's been playing as a striker in the absence of all our other strikers.

Totally agree with that. Which makes it pretty bizarre that 3 people have given him MOTM Could they have seen any of the game? Having watched the extended highlights again I really don't know how we kept a clean sheet. The defence was all over the place at times, Cech, Ashley, Alex and Carvo all made at least one bad mistake each. Not surpised Malouda has failed to get any votes though.

I think you may be on your own with that conclusive opinion or at least in a very small minority!!!

Well put Just but you might as well give up mate. Some folk have formed their view of Joe and it won't matter what he does, for them he will always be a show-boater and little else.

Nowhere near as shocking as that statement.

I want us to play great football, but at the moment, with the players we have available - the terrible injuries + four key players at the ANC, you have to be happy with any away win. Brum stretched us at times today and we could have easily lost, so I'm well happy with a 1-0 under the current circumstances. Once again, Man Utd rely on Rooney & Ronaldo. If those two were to miss a run of games, lets just see how effective Utd are?

I went for Belletti again. Maka did well as did Pizza, Joey and Anelka.