Maverick

How does that matter ?

Bring it on !!

I never said not to back our manager, I have done it at times when I thot he was pretty crap. I was just referring to the section that go with results and what the media says/ prints rather than using their brains. So there is no need to get touchy here. Yeah I am glad we are top and I am confident we will win the league.

I fancy them losing to City away and that would mean a 5 point lead for us with 4 games to go. Its hard to see us dropping 5 points and United gaining the maximum after that game. I am just presuming we beat Bolton. P.S - Without Rooney I fancy the title being sealed a week before the final gameweek. Am I sounding 'cocky' ? :D

I hope it does not happen but it maybe interesting to see the reactions (of the same individuals) if we loose another game this season.

Its not exactly a thumb rule that skillful players do not play well against Pool, Is it ? He is a brilliant player and I hope we get him but last night was not a great one for him and Benfica.

Agree with Cole but to say we should give Yuri time as left back is not exactly being smart. We've seen in recent games that he is'nt the most solid defender in our ranks and to be honest he is more of a winger. I'd be gutted to see Ryan go after what he has achieved at Reading and this could send the worst message to our younger players.

No starts in the first half of the season and being benched even in this hot form due to the return of Crouch, yeah thats an ample indication of the confidence Harry has imposed on him. It does'nt take a genius to realize that he is on his way out.

What happened last night was the ideal scenario for us. United crash out of Europe (at home) and Rooney may have aggrevated his injury further. Has god changed his colours ?

Well an identical player is sneijder and boy has he stepped up on the big stage. Sealed the game against us and CSKA so yeah he is the kind of player you want in your side because you know its just that one pass/ set piece that can change the game. I'd definitely look at him replacing Deco/ Ballack in the starting lineup.

Add the celebrations to that as well.

Are you kidding me ? With all the conspiracy theory about Platini you want a french club to win it !! I'd be sore as hell to see them to go on and win it but I am tipping Bayern to knkock them off. As of now I see a Bayern vs Barcelona finals on the card.

Expecting Villa to put up a fight as compared to the game at the Bridge. I'd start with the same team that played against United and I am sure they will getrr the job done.

With amount of on field action and starts he has got this season I dont see him staying for too long.

For starters I dont think Barcelona had anyone to receive the long ball in the absence of Zlatan. Keeping that aside I dont think it takes a genius to understand that Barca were just playing to their strength. Though I agree with you to an extent that we can mix it around with even Drogba in our ranks.

No surprises there - they are Tottenham afterall. Spent ridiculous sum of money on the likes of Roman Pavlyuchenko/ Darren Bent etc just to sell them within a couple of seasons.

We can add Cork to that, every time I have seen him play for Burnley he looks a decent player that is composed on the ball but at the same time can pass it around. He can play some part in our first team albeit in the cup games.

I'd prefer them crashing out tonight. Two defeats in the span of 5 days at OT is good enough to dent their confidence in the absence of Rooney.

Honestly I dont seem him playing any part in that game. There is a lot riding on the game and it is our most realistic chance of silverware so there is no way Carlo will choose him ahead of Deco/ Ballack. He continues to put in consistent performance for the reserves.

Well if you haven't watched him in a game yet, I wonder how you can make such a drastic comment? This is a player that has pulled in 2 MOTM performance in the last 3 games that he hass played and one of them was aganist Arsenal.

News has just come in that Fergie intends to lodge a complaint against Mike Dean for not being his "normal" self.

Its all down to a very thin squad and some of them (Carew/ Heskey) are not too young either. Its a suqad that relies a lot on pace (Ashley/ Agbonlahor) and over a period of 9 months there will be decline in terms of pace and how sharp these players are. It would be a very bad move to part ways with a manager like O'Neill and if Villa ever needs to wish to break into the top four they need to pump some money in to build a squad.

Do you honestly believe Fergie would come out and share the details with the media ahead of such a big game?

The ideal scenario is he is out for atleast 3 weeks and then we'd see the ability of the others in the United Squad. I am pretty sure he is ruled out for the game at the weekend, anything beyond that is a bonus.

Lets hope he is out for a month, that would really increase our chances of winning the league. Bayern were good last night but squandered too many opportunities. They cannot afford to do that at OT because chances will come at a premium and they would have to grab everything. If Robben is fit it should be cracker of a contest.