Stretford Ender

I don't think you can build a team around Pogba; at least Ole can't. But, having said that, the players he's had around him for the past few years haven't been conducive to getting the best out of him. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that he'll be on his way soon. Bringing him back from Juve was a monumental error. The story was that when the move was organized, Raiola told Pogba that he'd be in Manchester for three years and then Spain; and I'm sure that is still the preferred destination. I have a sneaking suspicion that Ole will go if we don't get CL football by finishing top four or winning the EL. Poch is still unemployed and he has a lot of admirers at Old Trafford. Even so, until Woodward is moved out of the DOF position, it won't make a huge difference but at least Poch is used to working for a skinflint. DDG pulled off one spectacular save then was absent at the corner. He doesn't command his area and neither do Maguire or Lindelof. It was a soft goal to concede. LB needs to be addressed too. Williams is a decent prospect but Shaw has never lived up to the hype. Greenwood is special and with Rashford and Martial, makes for a formidable front three. James is limited, Matic is getting on, Mata too and so the bulk of the midfield creative work is down to Fernandes. I still can't believe we paid £80 million for Maguire. Leicester must be laughing their heads off still.

Poor subs and too late, plus a couple of players had an off-night. Ole showing his inexperience again in defending a lead with time running out. I don't think you'll slip up againt norwich but they've got nothing to lose now so you never know. 4th place could be determined at Leicester when we go there but teams are jittery and more so now that the bitters have been reprieved.

Me neither. I said I suspected their appeal would be upheld and there it is. Had an argument with a friend of mine who was all happy that 5th place would see us in the CL. I told him that's nothing to be happy about. Talk about a lack of ambition. City's money was always going to win the day and given UEFA's total lack of credibility and greed, it was near enough a sure thing.

Two more titles and they are back on their perch. Not really a stretch to think that could very well happen. Bruno has saved Ole's bacon for now and Ighalo whose signing was a real head-scratcher. We are still weak defensively. Maguire got the armband but the lack of leadership at the back is evident. I still can't believe we paid all that money for him. Lindelof is a liability, Shaw is all right but prone to lapses in concentration, which leave Wan Bissaka who is a very good defender. Compare them with Liverpool's back four and it's no-contest. Even De Gea, once touted as the best in the game, has put in some awful performances. We are nowhere near being title challengers. Pep may have the stomach for a rebuild at City but if the ban is upheld, what will he do? Chelsea are buying well and will always attract good players no matter who is in charge. Lampard is a gamble for sure but Jody Morris has a good football brain, as evidenced by his time with the youth team.

Building from a position of strength has been the key to success for many a top manager. Keeping things fresh and competitive pays dividends. Longevity has a part to play too but it has a terrible downside as we've seen down the years with teams that have gone down that road.

We're in the same boat as I see it. Will you lot stick with Lampard and us with Solskjaer? We didn't have a transfer ban but our handicap in this regard is Woodward. I think Frank Lampard has done a good job and I think Jody Morris is a good number 2. All things considered, Lampard has done really well and will get better. Not so sure about Ole though. Had Fernandes not signed, we might be looking at 6th or 7th and a change of manager. If he blows top 4, we still might. 2 points in it now and Leicester are slipping up a bit. I think City will win their appeal and be back in the CL next year, but Guardiola will be looking to rebuild. With all these sides in transition, you have to think that the dippers will consolidate their title and probably win another.

Shame we have to play at Wembley at not at a neutral ground where semi-finals should be held. League form won't matter and it should be a decent match.

Of course they will. If we happen to avoid each other and play in the final, they'll be saying "if only Liverpool had done this or that, they'd be playing for the double." Believe me, this is going to run and run.

Best stay away from the gutter press for a while. The grovelling will reach epic proportions. I thought the 80s were bad for Scouse worship but today's variety is off the scale.

Bobby Charlton's last game and a good view of Peter Osgood after he'd scored the winner.

Wonder what they said to each other?

The Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Turks was taking place around the time she was writing, and she may have been influenced by Lord Byron who went to fight for the Greeks and died there in 1824. He and Shelley were great friends.

13 Assassins - the 1963 version, is brilliant. The first in Eiichi Kudo's trilogy 'Samurai Revolution'. The 2010 remake was pretty good but doesn't show the depth of character that the original does. Fans of swordplay should not miss this one. In fact, I'll stick my neck out and say that it ranks just below Seven Samurai as the best ever made.

You, I think, are the only person I've met online who has read The Last Man. When I was a student, my (then) girlfriend lent me her copy. It is a superb work of literature and is indeed prophetic. Whether she actually discovered hitherto unknown sybilline prophecies is open for debate but the story is gripping. I didn't watch the TV adaptation of SS-GB because often they disappoint. The novel was very good though like most of his works. The only TV adaptation of a book I've really enjoyed was Tinker Tailor (and then they swapped locations) and Smiley's People and that reminds me that I should get out my DVDs and watch them again.

You might like Philip K. Dick's book 'The Man in the High Castle' or Ward Moore's 'Bring The Jubilee'. The former was, I believe, the inspiration behind Len Deighton's 'SS-GB.'

He scored this one when he was playing for Fort Lauderdale. Some lamentable defending but it was still some goal.

My relatives lived in a one of the terraces north of the Common just off Stormont Road. Really nice place too and probably worth a fortune today. They moved away when my uncle retired and they moved out to Norfolk of all places.

Not to mention they've postponed the Euros and the Olympics. Two huge international tournaments scrapped yet the PL is such a special case that a restart is imperative. Cobblers. Anyone with an ounce of common knows why this is happening and it isn't because we've missed them. They are so transparent to all but the terminally gullible.

I don't think any of that has entered into the thoughts of the PL who seem to think the league is the be-all and end-all of professional sports.

I'd never have remembered that and back then, I could pretty much tell you who was in the Chelsea side. All right, confession time. I have relatives in Clapham, most of whom were Chelsea fans, and still are. My aunt (mum's sister) married a London lad in the war and they settled in Clapham, though he was originally from Hounslow.

MOTM in the 1968 European Cup final. Broke his leg at Maine Road in the following season and never regained his place and was sold to Luton.

1960s. Not sure who the CFC player is. Alan Harris? August 1971. Best gets sent off at Stamford Bridge for swearing at the ref. Charlie Cooke and Bestie trying a bit of ballet. John Hollins and Denis Law watching on.

I believe Hall sat on the telegram for a few weeks while he concocted a story for the Americans. When he did hand the telegram over, Woodrow Wilson sat on it too before releasing it in the middle of a Congressional debate where it served to "freeze out" the anti-intervention faction. At the time, there was a possibility that America would remain neutral but not much of one as the path to joining the British and the French had already been embarked upon.

We were a bit lucky with the Zimmerman Telegram. The Americans might easily have broken off diplomatic relations with us over that because we were essentially spying on our erstwhile allies. Its publication certainly angered the American public, especially when it was proved to be genuine, but I'm not sure it alone pushed the Americans over the edge. They were well on their way by that time and the main effect was to allow Woodrow Wilson to isolate the anti-interventionist lobby in Congress. I've even heard it said the the Zimmerman Telegram was the opening sentence to the Treaty of Versailles.