Busoms

It's all a bit petty, imo, and smacks of virtual back slapping for getting one over the corporate types, instead of really looking into ways we can move forward. Purslow didn't have to come and talk to the fans, but he did, and he's ended up embarrassed for being too honest. Do SOS have any plans for life after the Americans, or is it just living in hope that some honest billionaire type will save us? MUST seem to be at least looking at raising funds to put an offer on the table, which, lets face it, is all that's going to get them out.

Some game that. Jeff Winter was staggeringly bad that night if I remember rightly.

It's fair to say that the treatment of Keane - subbing him off at silly pre determined times every match regardless of performance and being used to make a point to the owners because we didn't get Barry - did affect his confidence and lead to some inconsistant form in front of goal. Although, even when he did score he was dropped to the bench for the next game. He certainly wouldn't be the first player under Benitez to miss plenty of open goals, but then certain players are considered above the same criteria set for others as long as they complete a marathon every game aren't they? His fee was irrelevant and mirrored the market at the time for a player of his experience and record in our league. It was a Benitez mistake whichever way you spin it, though that hasn't stopped Keane taking the flak.

Feeling quite nervous about this. If we win we could potentially be only 5 points behind Arsenal going into the game against them the following Wednesday. A win there and 3rd is up for grabs. I'd like to see Masch and Aqualini carry on in midfield and Riera and Maxi out wide but I'm sure we'll see Kuyt and Lucas instead.

I used to enjoy the Derby when there was still an element of good banter about it all, but I can't be arsed with it now and just look at Everton with indifference. I just want the result.

I like Purslow, even if he's not the Socialist pin up boy some supporters desperately crave. They don't speak for me or a good number of Reds who can make up their own mind on who is, and is not, right to run the club. He's there to do a job, let him get on with it and be judged on the outcome, not personal prejudice. It's also laughable to suggest that SOS should be vetting any potential investors/owners given their lack of genuine knowledge about running football clubs in this finance obsessed era. It seems to me like they still have a corner shop mentality in a supermarket age and are determined to see us fall further behind until the perfect owner with a bottomless pit of free money and the best interests of the club and fans at heart suddenly appears over the horizon. This whole affair would be made a lot simpler if one of the vermin sold out to the other and we had one focus and less scope for all this political bitch fighting.

Keane is a good player and was a good signing at the time. He played a key role in our good start to the season but was a victim of the internal politics going on at the time. The treatment of him was a disgrace really and Rafa showed his real spolit, vindictive side. It's one thing dropping him for poor form but you don't publically humiliate a player like that, especially at our club. The spotlight took its toll in the end and he had to go. And naturally because the manager had failed to get the best out of him, his staunchest supporters instantly jump to discredit the player. We're seeing it now with Babel and there's been a few others.

Good bit of business. He's talented, cheap and experienced and will allow us to nurture the likes of Ngog and LDV without freezing them out completely.

So basically we're a spent force and should just accept our fall into long term mediocrity with the likes of Huddersfield Town, despite us still being a huge, globally supported club, having a team packed full of top class players and a supposed tactical genius for a manager at the helm on upwards of 5 million a year, who has had going on 6 seasons in the job to stamp his mark on the club. If you're talking about instant success then maybe, but after so long in the job you should at least be seeing real direction and a consistant pattern of play, yet we look as disjointed as when he first took over. The reality is Benitez has spent whatever he's had poorly and we're now paying the price, it's that simple. His methods breed a revolving door policy of average players who can no longer adapt to his fitness obsessed tinkering and we end up in constant transition. And that would be the same scenario with an open cheque book. His big chance was last season. We had a good start and luck was on our side but he couldn't help but interfere and blew it. The last thing we should have done after that was give him a new long term deal but there's a distinct lack of leadership at the top and they're scared of him and the relationship he has with an element of the support who see him as an ally in their battles with the owners, and he's plays them off each other. The mancs are in even bigger financial disaray than us and have barely spent any real money in recent times, yet do they feel sorry for themselves? Against Arsenal their line up consisted of Fletcher, Park, a clearly finished Scholes, a much maligned Nani, Raphael, Brown and Evans and they ripped Arsenal apart playing a brand of football light years away from anything Rafa could inspire. In fact, we finished 2 points behind them in his second season and the talk was we had the better squad and were going to overtake them as Chelsea's rival for the title. They kicked on and we regressed badly despite spending more money in the same period.

Torres has realised his goalscoring potential here, and his record in such a short space of time is phenominal, but Rooney is by far the superior all round player and now looks to be adding regular goals to his game. He's different class. You've got to hand it to Ferguson, he knows how to nurture mercurial talents. Benitez, however, would have restricted his natural game, shattered his confidence and probably sold him on by now.

It's pointless trying to reason with Aussies over Kewell, he's like their Princess Di. Typical of him and his managment to be passing the buck until the bitter end though, despite the fact that he was back and forth to his own specialists on numerous occasions. In fact he spent a good few months in oz with his supposed superior doctor and all we heard was how his injury woes were finally behind him, then he breaks down again. Uk specialists are among the best in the world, as seen with many player rehabilitations from injuries a lot worse than anything kewell ever experienced, but unfortunately they can't locate a missing spine.