gojo_ed

I'm in full support of Carlo, but sometimes his selections are baffling. I mean what are we learning from the first XI today? Our players are tired, out of form and looks like they don't give a toss. What's the harm in playing Josh, Bertrand, or even playing a different formation?

Listening to the Blackpool game, but heard Beckford just ran 90 yards...Jesus Christ, what is going on?

Hope things work out ok, this site is all the poorer for your absence. Take care

It will be a tough game...the last time we beat them was under Avram (correct me if I'm wrong?). I'd like to see similar line-ups to those above, is Bertrand fit? If he is then he should be given a go, Ashley has had a huge number of games considering his ankle trouble.

A shame..Josh aside we don't seem to have any trust at all in our young players

I see your point, correct he must've been doing something right for us, though I think our squad was far stronger in 2008 even moreso than last season. To be fair he did sign Brana and after his season with us I wasn't that sure of his managerial talent. But I think in light of the past 2 seasons he's been shown to be fairly limited. True with Portsmouth he had the points deducted, but with West Ham the fact that Parker is supposedly the one giving all the motivational talks, combined with the number of leads they've let go suggests he's not up to it. And yeah West Ham aren't exactly brilliant, but their squad has arguably as much if not more talent in it then Blackpool/Wolves/Blackburn et al. Anyway that's besides the point I agree with others who say it'd be a backward step.

Dear God not Avram...OK he got us to Moscow, but finishing 20th two seasons in a row suggests it was the players and probably Clarke who were instrumental. What would his purpose as DoF be anyway!?

Cheerio spammers! Was hoping for a draw though, send them down and put Wigan in trouble. Can't stand Wigan, pointless club who do nothing except bend over for Man Utd every season.

I'd love him to stay, can't see it happening though.

No doubt there'll be a fluorescent edge to the away kit somewhere

Most urgently need some width and pace. Anelka should never play right "wing" again. Can you he or Kalou tormenting any left back the way Valencia did to Cole last week?

Hey look on the bright side, unless City win both their games and we lose to Everton as well as making up a 15 goal defecit, we don't have to go in the CL play-offs I do hope we finish above Arsenal, they'll have celebrations not seen since their last momentous Emirates Cup victory.

He had the freedom of the six yard box...well we didn't deserve to win that in any case.

The number of fouls we're giving away on the edge of the area is ridiculous

Fantastic news. Hopefully he can repeat his Carling Cup performance against the Geordies from September.

Ah fair enough, had an exam today so not been up to date with team news :unsure:

I don't know which side I feel we should put out...On the one hand it would be nice to finish above Arsenal, but then again what prize do you get for finish 2nd? Both 2nd and 3rd are automatic Champions League qualification so essentially it's pride, which is all well and good but 2nd is nowhere... It would be nice to see some fringe players (i.e. Yossi, Bertrand) given a go though I'm not holding my breath. I feel picking the same old we may win, but what would be the point, we'd learn absolutely nothing new.

Not much chance of Clarke coming back, he's apparently close to a long-term contract with the bin-dippers.

Yeah I do definitely agree with you here, sometimes his substitutions and selections do leave a lot to be desired. But then again, who is the perfect manager? Hopefully Carlo will be given the chance to learn from his mistakes, but I'm not holding my breath.

What would getting rid of Carlo actually achieve? No coach in Europe worth his salt will consider managing us- it's pretty much saying one bad season and you're out. Ridiculous, and is 2nd such a bad season? You can't win the league every year, and to be honest 2nd would be pretty good considering where we were in January. Ancelotti is a classy manager, he's won trophies for us already, and he's won the Champions League before. As I said, apart from José, who else can match this?

Of the squad today... Cech-Definite, probably player of the year. Cole-Yes, but needs competition. Not the player he was last year. Ivanovic-Yes Terry-Yes Luiz-Yes, needs to work on cutting out errors though Mikel-Yes. Thought he was subbed a little harshly, was better than Essien and Lamps. Essien-Yes..but if Milan come in with a substantial bid I wouldn't be upset to see him go. Good player but lacking in creativity and seems to have lost a yard of pace. Lampard- Yes, as a squad player. Can't really justify himself as being "untouchable". Kalou-Decent squad player, could be so good yet frustrates the hell out of everyone. 50/50 Malouda-Tricky one. Top scorer in the league, yet has gone missing for a lot of the season. Drogba- Great player for us. For me though we need to move on. His good form is becoming ever more sporadic and we need to change our system if we are ever going to develop. Ramires-100% yes Alex-ditto Turnbull- really Chelsea class..? Ferreira-reliable squad player, nothing more. Torres- needs a team built around him whether we like it or not. Yossi-Shown glimpses, not enough games to judge. Should play the last 2 matches. Anelka- Definitely should go. Sturridge offers more threat, is younger and fills the criteria for being home grown. Who we want to buy in the summer I don't have a clue. God knows really, depends who is our manager. IMO Carlo would be unfortunate to be sacked, losing Ray undermined him severely and despite this has still finished above that team of bottlers from Trashburton Grove.

Alex was a beast. Cech kept it respectable in the first half too, toss up between those two.

Ouch... Granted Utd the first 25-30 minutes were excellent, but come on our players looked asleep. Park was brilliant, such an underrated player for me. Cech kept us in it, Essien and Lampard should be ashamed of their 1st half performances. What summed it up for me is when we had a corner, we took it short, and it took two f**king Man Utd touches on the ball for it to be turned into a United corner. Utterly pathetic. 2nd half we were in it, as would be expected with Utd sitting back. Rooney, the c**t, tried to con Webb into sending Ivanovic off thank god he didn't. Ramires made a difference, Alex was immense. Wasn't to be though. Oh well..if we're being honest, if we'd won the title it would have been a steal. Let's hope we use the last 2 games to give Josh/Nando et al a go. Drogba and Essien should go tbh, getting rid of Carlo would be pointless. Didn't stay for the end but I can only imagine the massive powerw**k that Sky Sports had over Pope Giggsy I and Lord Ferguson.

No Evra apparently...

Weirdly not too nervous...could only have dreamt we'd be in such a position a few months ago, Utd have it all to lose. Having said that I'm sure come 4pm I'll be feeling differently! An early goal and I reckon we'll be in with a great chance