the mighty wednesday

Agree with everything you say except for the thread title If we had been as quick to shoot as Derby we'd have had 3 or 4 today. Even in the box our automatic action is to look for a pass rather than to shoot. Trying to play in tight areas got us into trouble a few times today and on Monday. We usually put 2 or 3 quick passes together and then try the extra one even when there is a clear outball to set play up. Aarons seems the biggest culprit but Bannan also does more than his fair share. Their goal I felt was a bit fortunate in that it flicked off a head from the corner straight across the box straight onto Johnson's head. He did not even have to jump. It was particularly galling as it came shortly after Reach lacked the composure to set Boyd up with a tap in. Definitely feels like a loss.

Yes that remark stood out for me too. It is in sharp contrast to CC who wouldn't accept blame for anything.

I really thought at the time that the corner flag kick was totally outrageous. It could have gone into the crowd and injured someone yet not even a word was said to him. FF is being victimised for a reputation which he definitely doesn't deserve. I can't remember seeing him make a blatant dive or react any worse than the majority of players would if they are fouled throughout a game.

I know we were relegated but got promoted and won the league cup the following year in 91. I was just joking that my memory was really bad and I was totally deluded thinking we'd won the first division and fa cup double in 90.and of course you are right that Dalian was indeed Big Ron's offspring.

Did you remember it or did you have to look it up for the exact numbers? I don't know where I got the original idea from. It may just have been that Hirsty took ages to get off the mark and I've concocted the rest. The important thing however is to remember that we won the League and Cup double that season in spite of our strikers not gelling all that well!!!

Souness went straight through him about 1 second after kick off in an international. He was carried off but we had only just signed him so it wasn't career threatening. he went to Arsenal for about 600k I think and then had to "retire" with a back problem. I saw him on Sky playing centre back for Dundee Utd (I think it was Dundee Utd anyway) a few years later. He was a frustrating player as he hardly ever got in front of the ball. Similar to Ray Wilkins whenever he did go forward he caused a lot of problems. Should have been capable of so much more.

Unless I'm remembering it wrong at one stage that season Atkinson had about 14 goals to Hirst's 2 or 3. They both finished the season on about 16 goals. I met Hirsty once and asked him about Dalian Atkinson. I told him he was the only player I'd seen that made Hirsty look slow. He said yes he was very fast but for himself. They should have been unstoppable together but maybe what Hirsty said and the scoring turnaround in the second half of the season meant they would never really gel together so it was probably for the best he went to Real Sociedad although we didn't think so at the time.Hirsty also said that Paul Williams was his favourite strike partner as he was totally unselfish.

RIP Danny The first game I went to was in 67 and I started to go regularly in 69 so my formative years were spent watching his team. I'm sure the torment I suffered at that time equipped me to deal with or enjoy everything that has happened since. He may not have been our most successful manager but he would have been committed to the job and tried his best. You don't get jobs managing professional football teams at any level unless you have some outstanding qualities no matter what we say about Jos, Carlos or Alan Irvine.

Both Palmer and Fox have improved over the last 6 or 7 games. Fox has had to endure unfair criticism in the form of booing. Much of the written criticism has been fair but they both deserve credit for upping their game. On current form they are both capable of being back up at Championship level but it is no insult to them to say we need better first choices to have the best chance of promotion. However, if they can both keep improving, and it has to be said that good coaching and playing in a settled side can facilitate this, they both have a chance of cementing their first team places in the short term at least.

Instead of wading in with stuff like the Man Utd comment and talking over Alex Scott when she said "I'm thinking of the year he's had off the field" he could have asked what she knew that he didn't about the situation. Unfortunately he didn't which made him look even more arrogant than just not knowing. Alex Scott's comment should have alerted them all to there being a deeper issue which they had not been aware of.

The presenter (was it Gabby Logan as others have said?) also said the cricket was on "his bucket list" which caused some mirth from Danny Murphy so it is pretty obvious none of them have any idea about the situation as I thought it was on his father in law's bucket list and he promised he would take him to a Test. The main presenters are supposed to quell anything which may be disrespectful or contentious but in this instance this comment only encouraged Murphy and Gullitt. Very shoddy, disrespectful and unprofessional.from all concerned apart from Alex Scott. The additional Man Utd comment from Gullitt is totally out of order under the circumstances and Murphy saying the fans don't want it and the club are wrong to approve it is plain wrong. If I were those two I would be totally embarrassed by my ignorance but I suppose the match fee will make them feel it was worth it.

And broke it piling all his baggage on it too

You may well be right there but the fact that Fletcher wasn't always doing the same thing makes it harder for defenders to know what to do. Having said this it was the speed of those 2 or 3 passes which found Fletcher in all that space. On another day we could have passed it to him more sedately giving the defender time to close him down. Some forwards would have been almost following the defender about trying to "win their duel " instead of finding space.

Long ball to me is hoofing it straight down the middle to a big forward hoping he'll win it when he's surrounded by 2 or 3 defenders. I didn't notice us doing that yesterday. A lot of the passes to Fletcher were to him dropping a bit deeper and we always had someone in his vicinity. The goal came from 2 or 3 very quick passes which left Fletcher with 20 yards of space to run into and when he shot he could just as easily have put Boyd in with a shooting chance. We always had someone to pass to and we passed much more quickly and pressed higher for most of the second half.

Fortunately Matias' taste in fluorescent accessories is limited to the whitest of whites He's been pretty decent this season to be fair and his defensive work rate has been vital at times.