The Mail Bag

Everything hurts

Comments (47)

I'm still calculating how we didn't win and it's making my head hurt.

My heart hurts from investing everything but my body on the pitch.

I'm losing faith when it seems half the fans on here give up before the final whistle... and that hurts.

And my hand hurts from when I slammed it on the sofa expecting a cushion and getting my phone.

We outplayed them... and they pulled an Everton and got a draw... it doesn't make us relegation fodder... it makes them lucky. A disallowed goal... and a missed hand ball in the box... to name a few.
Joey Brown, Los Angeles, CA, USA     Posted 20/12/2009 at 14:00:44

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Mike Oates
1   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:03:37

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We are were deserve to be. We are not just strong enough in any of the 3 departments. We are liable to concede, we haven’t got the confidence to play fast and decisive football and other than Saha we havent got anyone else firing upfront.

If you look over the last few years Cahill, Fellaini, Arteta have all contributed 5-10 goals but this year its lacking and it still even after today doesn’t look like its just going to turn round.

I’m afraid its a bottom 6 fight this season and we have got to get use to this.

European qualification if at all is via the FA Cup only!!
Alex Garnett
2   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:01:52

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Truely shocking! Cahill was awful again, we played well with out him against Chelsea and he offered nothing today. I thought Fellaini played very well again today, bar tracking back for their goal!!

We were clueless in front of goal, without Saha's goals we would be bottom. We need a striker in January, but how can we get good pedigree if we have no money and fighting relegation?

I am a moyes supporter but he and his backroom team are responsible for picking the team and geeing up the players and it obviously isn't working. Worrying times are afoot...

Geoff Edwards
3   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:03:23

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I don’t see why we can’t beat Sunderland home and possibly away. We can beat Burnley at home. The home games against Utd and Chelsea will be very tough but we could pull off a win against one of them. West Ham are 1 up against Chelsea at the moment. Liverpool couldn’t beat us at Anfield in 2 attempts last season and they are shit this season.

But then maybe I’m just a blind optimist!
Ian McPherson
4   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:09:35

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Our team sheet or the table does not lie. Not good enough, average players being carried far too long. Even escaping relegation this year we need a major squad overhaul.
Michael Upton
5   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:07:01

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Well said Geoff, how can it be Moyes’s fault that we had 20 attempts (according to BBC) and converted just one? That is all about form, confidence and a lot of players just coming back from injury.

Eventually a bit of luck or a worldie will win us another match and we’ll have to build on that.

What I can blame Moyes for is the fact that even when fit he doesn’t seem to know his best team and that neither Fellaini or Cahill ever seem to be in their best postion (think Stevie Me/Lampard for England).

Either way, it’s certainly looking like a bleak winter. One point off the drop zone is not a false position. Kunal Desai, you need to stop thinking about the position of Villa and Spurs and concentrate on Hull and West Ham (currently winning) instead.

We’ve always been shit over Christmas, too, so I can’t see things picking up any time soon.
Ste Boyle
6   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:08:20

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I'm sure the Newcastle fans last season said the same "we’ll never go down". Realism came and gave them a big bite in the arse. If you dont win your home games you’ll go down, end of. We can sit here and talk about the amount of chances and bad decisions, injuries etc. IT DOESNT MATTER.

We haven't won at home since September, we don't look like winning a game, if it doesn't change then we’re fucked. We lose the next two (which we probably will) then you can't have an argument...

Ed Bottomley
7   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:20:58

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Ste — one huge fault line runs through what you wrote. You said, "we dont look like winning a game" — that’s untrue. We didn’t look lke winning today?? Really?? We didn’t look like winning against Liverpool?? I think we did.
Ian McPherson
8   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:22:43

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WTF has look like winning got to do with it? We look like going down that’s the only thing we look like doing.
Ste Boyle
9   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:22:36

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Ed, could of, might have, etc etc....... We didn't win those games. I do agree that at times our luck in front of goal is shocking (Chelsea game exception) but the bottom line is we are where we are. Birmingham, Stoke, Wolves at home are all bankers and we haven't beaten any of them.

I can't see us winning at Sunderland, the Burnley game is the proverbial 6-pointer...

Colin Ryan
10   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:25:26

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We need about 20 points to survive and we surely can get 7 wins out the following home games. Burnley, Sunderland, Hull, Bolton, West Ham, Fulham and Portsmouth and pick up the odd point on the road! Not good enough but I think we’d all accept safety now if offered it!!
John Dybvad
11   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:41:51

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There was some encouragement to be taken from that game. We passed the ball around quite nicely and Baines was excellent. We just didn’t get any luck whatsoever. The disallowed goal and obvious penalty were just two aspects of the game that went against us.

Admittedly, this is a crap season, and we’’ll do well to finish in the top half. But it’s not (yet) as bad as is being painted by some people. If we continue to play like we have over the past couple of weeks, we’ll see some improvement in the results and in our league standing.

Still, like I said, it’s a shite season!
Alan Clarke
12   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:52:43

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You can’t blame being unlucky after half a season. Moyes is 8th in the spending league, this is his team and his squad. I just can’t understand why people aren’t wiling to hold Moyes accountable for our position? Was he not the one getting all the pariase when we were higher up? The buck stops with the manager and far too many times now, we’ve underperformed.
John Dybvad
13   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:56:38

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At least there has been an improvement, which is something to grasp at, Alan. If we were playing without spine or that commitment, I would be really worried.

But you’re right, the buck does stop with Moyes. But I’m gonna wait before I get on his back. He’s had a bad start and the signs are that he’s looking for ways to turn it around.
Colin Ryan
14   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:58:08

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And yet, as shite as we’ve been, if we can somehow beat Sunderland and a few results go our way, we could be 10th on Boxing Day. Very strange league this season...

Moyes has to be accountable to a certain degree but I don't see what more he could have done today. Coleman starting for Hibbert perhaps... but, other than that, he fielded his strongest team.

If Saha’s goal hadn't have been wrongly disallowed, we would have won comfortably today and we’d be looking forward to getting 7 points out of 9 over Xmas. Keep the faith, lads.
John Dybvad
15   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:11:23

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Good post, Colin. We outclassed Birmingham, and they will be really grateful that they got away with the point.

But we do need to start getting 3 points now and again just to avoid being dragged into something that we’re too good for.
Joseph Walsh
16   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:09:40

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I'm afraid Kenwright or Moyes may take us down this season... Kenwright for not investing (Sell-to-Buy policy) and Moyes's problem with playing players out of position to achive a result.

We can't keep getting away with it, lads... I hope I'm wrong, we seem to struggle to score goals this season. Everyone is hopeing our injured playes will come back but it will take them 6 to 7 games to get back to fitness. COYB

Harvey Miller
17   Posted 20/12/2009 at 17:02:16

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When the game started, I thought we had a strong team at last, even if I would have swapped Osman for Baxter and Hibbo for Coleman.

Anyway, we played great football for about 20 minutes, scored a great goal and Saha was wrongly judged offside when he scored. After that it was always going to end up 1-1 (or even worse) but they were so poor they could not even get a shot against Howard.

The reason: Brum started to press us more and we could not find a way to cope. It is so easy when you have players like Hibbo, if you press him, he will hoof it. That was the key to the evening’s result: Brum were playing against a better team but they adjusted; Moyes did not. In a way he should be pleased because Brum are playing now like we used to do, carving out results with a poor but resolute team. It was so frustrating to watch us try long balls against a tall defence who were organized enough to deal with them.

It will be long and hard winter: every team will know that we will fall apart if they just press us tuff enuff.

The Team today?

  • Heitinga and Neill were good. Hibbo is a great tackler but that will be enough. Coleman could bring more threat to the attack.
  • Pienaar was good for most of the match but he tries too hard.
  • Billy is not ready yet, sometimes the pace of the game is too much but his goal was great.
  • Fellaini played well, I think his natural for the defensive mid. He was the culprit for the goal, though.
  • Osman, where do I start? Well, he seems to have learned how to fall because nowadays he is winning freekicks for us. Some good moves today also but not enough and not WHEN IT COUNTS.
  • Cahill my hero is not doing it now. Timing has gone.
  • Saha is a world class striker. I wonder if we can keep him.
Tough times ahead... And yes, greetings to Tony Marsh. I pretty much share you opinions even if they sometimes are a aggressive. Everton has done pretty well under David Moyes but why he won’t ever reflect and make a substitution before the visitor has already scored or changed the game.

Also his transfer policy is unbelievable: I know we don’t have money but surely: there must be players out there for loan, but that should have been done in the summer.

Andy Crooks
18   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:43:35

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Throughout this season, the apparently winnable games have passed as defeats and draws.
Chris Halliday
19   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:41:39

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I haven’t enjoyed watching the Blues all season and nothing different today. Even had we sneaked a late winner, still boring to watch and no wonder there were so many empty seats — it is shite.

I'm fed up with this shite.
Rob Murphy
20   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:42:04

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We’ve gotta keep the faith. Once we get a few of the crocked lads back we’ll be ok. We’ve punched above our weight for the last few years while teams like City, Spurs, Villa ploughed money into their squads and yet they still had their struggles. This year those teams have got their acts together while we’ve struggled with injuries and a loss of confidence and form right across our back 4.

I’m confident we’ll turn it around, it wasn’t pretty but we dominated a team that had won 5 on the bounce before today. If we had scored a second, i’m certain we’d have scored a hat full today. Sunderland had better watch out, I predict another seven goal mauling next weekend!!

Andy Crooks
21   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:45:37

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Sorry, to continue, who would have predicted, even after a typical Everton summer, that we would be in this position now. I believe that injuries have, in fact benefited David Moyes. Without them, he’d have no excuse and his tactical limitations would have been properly analysed. He has assembled a squad that falls well short.
Anthony Millington
22   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:53:00

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We’re in big trouble now, some really tough games coming up in January and especially February; Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea and Tottenham. Moyes needs to get his act together quickly or get rid I’m afraid.

Look at the facts, we’ve dropped too many points against medicore teams; Fulham, Burnley, Stoke, Wolves, Bolton, Hull Birmingham. How can we not beat a single one of them? How has Moyes got a job after that record?
Phil Rodgers
23   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:57:17

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The simple fact is Moyes is incapable of picking a team that will win matches at the moment and, even with injuries, it's unacceptable. We are similar to Liverpool in the fact that both managers cannot be sacked because of the financial implications. Moyes has done an excellent job. But if we get relegated then that's all he will ever be remembered for.
Mike Thompson
24   Posted 20/12/2009 at 19:15:59

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I was at the game today and the first 20 minutes we passed the ball about and looked pretty good. To be honest we should have been clear by then.

They then go up the pitch and score... after that, we were poor. No movement and no ideas. It was like watching two different Everton teams. Mad stuff.

Des Farren
25   Posted 20/12/2009 at 18:51:59

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A few points-no particular order:

We are no longer a team, each performance confirms this. A stunning lack of organisation in all departments. Anything we get derives from individual flair.

Lack of confidence, obvious to everyone — players unable to carry out basics and consequent collective lack of effort.

Awful body language of D Moyes — head down, eyes averted, bad humour — not an inspirational leader.

Where to now? Our returning players Jags/Arteta will not be able to recover the mess we are in — look at how slowly the Yak is recovering. A couple of decent loans in Jan could help; they won’t have issues.

Finally, is there anything we as supporters can contribute? I suggest we stop bitching about players, ie Hibbert/Osman (does anyone believe this helps?) and support the team in whatever way we can, believing things can still be turned around.
Anthony Millington
26   Posted 20/12/2009 at 19:18:25

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Mike, you say no movement and I agree. Is it just me or was Pienaar the only player on our team who ran around to give options to the man in possession?

In the second half we only attacked down one side because Billy just stands still and then we resorted to hoofball, because no-one else was moving to make space. And why bring Vaughan on for 2 minutes?

Mike Thompson
27   Posted 20/12/2009 at 19:24:50

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Absolutely, Pienaar was moving around and looking for space. The problem was then when he had it no one moved for him!
Colin Malone
28   Posted 20/12/2009 at 19:38:57

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No plan B. Their center backs won every ball that come their way, what did we do? Yes, we continued to knock high balls into to box.

We need height up front for a plan B. Stead of Ipswich? We need pace, full stop????

Kevin Sparke
29   Posted 20/12/2009 at 20:26:30

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Plus points:

Played some good football, plenty of possession, dominated the midfield for long periods of the game; lots of neat football and I counted a 9:1 ratio of goal attempts... we should have had a pen and if Saha’s goal was offside my arse is the Taj Mahal Tandori.

Minus points:

Woeful final ball into the box, ’don’t panic, don’t panic’ approach play, general lack of ideas going forward in the second half...

I enjoyed the game though... at least we’re playing football again. If they keep playing it like today and find the killer insinct in and around the box, we’ll finish well out of the relegation zone.

Someone mentioned Newcastle Utd being too good to go down — no, they wern’t... they were absolute shite — we’re not... not by a long chalk.
James Stewart
30   Posted 20/12/2009 at 21:49:45

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I don’t share the above view on Pienaar; I thought he was amongst our most wasteful players in and around the box. He did play well, don’t get me wrong, but his final pass let him down. And why does he not shoot!? Twice we dithered, passed in good shooting positions.

I agree with Kevin, though, the comparison to Newcastle is way off. They were terrible and we are not at their standard. We will not go down. Silly talk. What is worrying though is that when we do stay up it will most likely be spun as a success by the club's PR muppets.
Nick Armitage
31   Posted 20/12/2009 at 21:58:37

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FFS.

We have just battered THE form team in the Premiership for 90 minutes.

They had two chances and scored with one. OK this was conceded from poor defending, however this is not relegation form. Their two centre halves both had blinders.

We are not playing badly; we snotted the shite, gave Chelsea a good run and murdered Birmingham — we are just not getting the rub of the green right now but this will change.

GET A FUCKING GRIP.
Brian Waring
32   Posted 20/12/2009 at 22:20:18

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Nick, last time I looked, we were 2 pts above a relegation place. If Bolton win tomorrow, we will be 1pt above, that is relegation form.

The 3 games you mention, we only got 2 pts from a possible 9, that is relegation form.

Also "We are just not getting the rub of the green right now" — Did you see the Chelsea game?

Anthony Millington
33   Posted 20/12/2009 at 22:24:52

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Nick, we haven’t won at home in 9 games and have only won 4 out of 17 games in the league this season. What planet are you on to say that is not relegation form? It’s aright for everyone to say we played well and were unlucky, but it’s been the same story over and over again, we need to win against teams like Birmingham and Wolves and Stoke at home.
Brian Waring
34   Posted 20/12/2009 at 22:40:45

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Anthony, I think Nick thinks that the season only started when we played the shite.
Ste Traverse
35   Posted 20/12/2009 at 23:51:48

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Going the match is becoming a chore rather than something I look forward to thesedays.

Today we were excellent for 20 minutes but fell asleep and let them back in it.

Every cross we put in was won by their centre-halfs and our shots, particularly in the second half ended up miles over or miles wide. The effort and commitment was there but our final ball wasn’t.

And Mr Kenwright seems to have done the usual disappearing act when the going gets tough.
James Stewart
36   Posted 21/12/2009 at 01:18:32

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The shooting, if you can call it that, was woeful today.

All this talk of relegation is silly though — does anyone seriously think we will go down!? C’mon...
Peter Bradshaw
37   Posted 21/12/2009 at 01:17:23

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Comment of the week from Nick there: "We snotted the shyte". Mmmm... memory served we lost....again.

We are in relegation shit at the moment, this transfer window is very important; Moyes has started well with Donovan for three months, this lad a pretty fast and can play both wings, so we can replace Bily who to me is... watching the world pass him by at the moment.

A centre back, £2.5 million is quoted for Senderos from the Arse, he is better than what we have at the moment. This guy Gago seems to be a good move but with Moyes's record in the transfer market he will go to Sunderland etc.

Someone mentioned Stead at Ipswich... I've watched him a few times in a piss poor team, he looks good and has a bit of skill to go with his speed, better than Vaughan, Victor, Jo and the young lad, and at the moment I am better than The Yak.

We need something quick otherwise we will suffer as Newcastle did, we are not too good to go down, we are shyte at the moment, but Moyes can do something about it.
COYB

Geoff Edwards
38   Posted 21/12/2009 at 01:27:23

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Alan Clarke, shit as we’ve ever been are we? Shitter than winter 2005? Shitter than 2003-04? Shitter than the entire Walter Smith reign? Shitter than Kendall Mk 3? I could go on.

Ridiculous statement. Get a grip of yourself.
Art Jones
39   Posted 21/12/2009 at 04:40:45

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I’m astonised that so many think we will be relegated!!! I knew there were lots of ’drama queens’ who post on here but come on... We are far more likely to finish in the top 6 than get relegated... and before anyone brings up the Newcastle comparison, the team I’ve watched recently is a million times better than that rabble who were demoted last season.

Does anyone honestly think that any team we will face from now to the end of season will view us as an easy mark? We’re in this position because of our early season form... we’ve turned the corner now and are playing well with MORE than half the season to go... I’m not in the least worried, our best is yet to come!!!

Dermot Ryan
40   Posted 21/12/2009 at 07:44:04

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Wow. Amazed by some comments on here. Totally proud to support Everton today. Thought we played great football and thought a number of plays were brilliant. We were robbed.
Anthony Millington
41   Posted 21/12/2009 at 09:53:11

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I don’t think people are saying we will go down, but we could be dragged right into it over the next couple of months. Take a look at the fixture list, in January and February we play the "big 3", Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham. This is exactly the reason why we needed to win games like Birmingham, Wolves, and Stoke at home and to get beat by Burnley and Hull as well is unforgiveable.
Chris Perry
42   Posted 21/12/2009 at 13:16:07

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We are quite simply crap, from the minute we got battered by Arsenal on the opening day, people have been making excuses, saying when we get our injured stars back etc etc. Why dont you wake up and smell the coffee, you read on here we are better than Birmingham, Wolves etc, well the table does not lie and we are not better.

The piss poor pathetically assembled squad put together by Depressed Dave and his backstreet boys is diabolical and probaby ranks up there with the worst of the worst. No money to spend, why is that? Because we waste it on never-has-beens and never-will-bes.

Unless Moyes goes before the next season starts, we will go into free fall like Notts Forest, Sheff Wed etc.

Sean McCarthy
43   Posted 21/12/2009 at 13:25:14

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"We are far more likely to finish in the top 6 than get relegated..."

What planet are you living on??? We are 2 points above the relegation zone and a million miles from the top 6. Get your head out the sand or your arse and look what's happening.

We are clueless and keep holding on for the return of our ’best’ players. Well I'll be surprised if we see much of Jags or Arteta this season so they won't be of much help (not their fault). Yak is clearly struggling for fitness let alone match fitness.

Donovan won't have played for 6 weeks and so will presumably need time to sharpen his fitness levels and adjust to the EPL then will go home in March. (I dont see the point of him coming myself.)

Added to all this are some mediocre players and yes, my friend, we're in deep shit. If you don't think so just ask any Leeds or Newcastle fan how a team ’too good to go down’ gets relegated.

Stewart Littler
44   Posted 21/12/2009 at 13:19:44

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I think that it is entirely reasonable to be worried about relegation. At the end of the day, the league table shows that and we have now played almost half the season.

However, things also need to be taken into context. Our last 3 games have seen us draw all 3, and the opposition all came from the top 7 of the league. The performances have been better, and the first 20-25 mins of yesterday’s game was described by MotD2 as ’one touch passing’, and even the most pissed off Blue should be able to appreciate that there was only one team playing ’hoofball’ in the game. On the last 3 games, we are a million miles away from relegation, but the need for wins grows ever greater.

On a side note, the decision of offside for Saha’s goal was, quite simply, incompetent. From my seat (lower Gwladys), there was no way to tell, but the replays show that Saha is a YARD onside, and I cannot comprehend how that official is earning a living doing what he does and making mistakes like that.

Andy Fletcher
45   Posted 21/12/2009 at 13:58:52

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Really disappointed with Sunday, I sat freezing in my Main Stand seat and was impressed with our first 15 minutes, we looked OK.

There's a few things frustrating me though.

Cahill: His moaning is getting on my nerves now, everyone has worked out that he throws himself about trying to get free kicks but refs have wisened up now, he would be better off developing another area of his game and re-inventing himself; either that or he needs a few weeks out.

Hibbert: Yesterday he was slow to deliver throw-ins, less than 50% of his passing, including throw-ins didn't find their intended targets, half the time he just looked like he didn't know where to throw it, not good enough for a professional.
Art Jones
46   Posted 21/12/2009 at 13:45:09

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Sean... How kind of you to reply to my post. So in return I’ll take my head out of my arse and offer a response.

On the form we’ve shown over our last four league games, we are far from being ’relegation fodder’ and are in fact playing some very good attacking football. We were by far the superior team yesterday as we were against Liverpool, and against Spurs and Chelsea... where maybe we were lucky but we punished Chelsea’s weakness to set pieces and scored two very good goals against Spurs. So maybe we earned our luck?

Nobody can disagree that we are playing far better now than we were at the start of the season and I am confident we will regain our winning ways quite soon... Sunderland in fact... and once we win a few we’ll hit a run of good form as confidence will return, with or without Arteta, Jags and Donovan.

I know it’s speculation, none of us know how the season will progress... but then I’m an optimist, and football, as they say, is a "funny old game". But I repeat, top 6 is where I visualise us finishing. If you or anyone else disagree then that’s your option.

Personally I prefer my train of thought. If I’m horribly wrong then it's me who’ll be disappointed but I’ll still be sitting in my same seat next season.

Tom Bowers
47   Posted 27/12/2009 at 01:49:41

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We have some reason to look on the second half of the season with some optimism. Sure it’s been an abyssmal first half of the season and for a lot of reasons. We have, however, hung in there as I had hoped and stated in a comment some time ago. We are getting some good draws still with a weakened side, especially against Chelsea and although, points-wise, we are still not where we would comfortably like to be, it could have been a lot worse.

Neville is back again and Donovan is a better prospect than Osman. Vaughan could finally make his impact and hopfully Jags and Mikel may not be too far away. All these factors may now work in our favour to climb the table. If not, then we face a hairy battle in the relegation area to maintain out status in the Prem.

Moyes has a real battle to turn this season around and another defensive signing next week is an absolute must.

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