Elliott

If we got every game on TV, we'd have fewer people going to the games. That'd be really bad, better that it is the way it is. Well that was an exhilarating win. We battered them but a combination of Sorensen and poor finishing almost scuppered us. When Belletti scored all I could do was breathe a sigh of relief but when Lampard scored the winner I went fucking mental. We shouldn't be having monumentous wins against Stoke, we should be having comfortable wins, but nevermind, its three points and we can take great heart from that performance. And Di Santo and Stoch must have earned places in the game against Ipswich.

I'd rather he just went now. Drogba COULD still offer us so much, but he just isn't doing so and we're better off having players that want to play.

On the matchday programme squad lists for the Stoke game, there is a player numbered 46 called Jeffery Van Homoet. Who is he? I can only think he is Jeffrey Bruma, having a name change perhaps because of a parental divorce or something, but can anyone shed any light on this?

Well I think Stoch and Di Santo helped change the game. Stoch looked capable of putting in a decent cross, even if he does look like a dwarf, and Di Santo set up Belletti for the equaliser. I really hope both start against Ipswich. It'd be a great opportunity for Di Santo to grab a deserved goal and for Stoch to show the first team what he can do, especially now we've only got two wingers to choose from anyway. We should also think about bringing back Sinclair (should never have loaned him out in the first place).

Well we have Belletti as back-up and Mancienne and Hutchinson to come through. So I wouldn't be opposed to it.

We'll have to, as Joe Cole is injured. Sounds to me as if Scolari wants to play Malouda and Kalou, and bring on Kakuta or Stoch for Malouda when he runs out of gas.

I think I would, if I was already earning what he's earning at Milan. When you get to footballers wages, the wages are astronomical and to me that extra money would mean nothing on top of what I was already earning. It's money for money's sake, and if there's some other factor, like not wanting to uproot your family or feeling such a strong link for your current club that you aspire to captain them, then I think they are more important. But then I'm not Kaká. Maybe he's a greedy bastard.

I thought our corners against Southend were mostly good, but then I'm comparing them to the usual of hitting the first man.

I don't think sacking Scolari is the right move, I never said that. Scolari has to turn it around. And maybe he will do after watching it tonight, he managed to get them motivated anyway.

I'm agreeing with Esk here. It's getting rather clear now that our first team needs a good shaking, so lets give our youngins a go, so we can develop them instead of having to buy 10 new players instead.

Who the hell made the original of that. What is it, gay cartoon porn?

Grant did the best job he could have done considering he was seriously lacking in real football management skills by keeping the spirit that Jose had installed in the team and not changing anything. All he did was pick the players, the players knew what they had to do.

Why didn't Scolari notice the cracks before we fell through them?

I suppose you could say he is far too happy with his lot to try harder, but to be honest I can't criticise him for that. Being happy with your lot is exactly the best place to be.

Hahahha

Luke, Scolari isn't looking any better than Grant at the moment. The thing is with the team at the moment, they never look convincing. When we do win games, its been somewhat fortunate in most cases, and that result on Sunday was no surprise as a result. Yes, we could still win three competitions. But the way we're playing, it's simply not going to happen. I don't think sacking Scolari is the answer as it will only make things worse, we can only hope that he learns from Sunday and fast.

Great, another valued member lost.

Because with Robinho would have come a squad balance, more goals and some sort of creativity which we are completely lacking, and with all that, some confidence and perhaps some desire.

Lets take one game at a time and win at Southend.

Hahah. Andres Iniesta, world record, spending money... No.

Our squad is unbalanced because we need another winger. If we want to be cheap we could recall Scott Sinclair and actually use him as a first team winger. Or we can go sign a quality winger. But we need another winger either way.

I wasnt at all surprised by this result. We aren't good enough to win the title. You get laughed at for being negative because of our good position in the channel, but that's just luck really. We clearly aren't going to win it now. Manchester United will start an enormous run of form from this result, how could they not? Today we got completely outclassed, not only a lesson in skill and a lesson in tactics, but a lesson in heart and effort. It could have been 6-0, and nobody could have said that was harsh if it happened. It was a terrible performance, but it was coming. It's no different a performance from any other game we've played in the last two months, its just that since Roma we haven't played a good team. Scolari not putting men on posts is amateurish, constantly playing Deco out of position to play him is infuriating. Our defence just can't cut it in the air any more, Drogba has been sussed, Anelka can't do it against the big teams, and the whole squad is lacking in confidence. Crunch game now on Wednesday at Roots Hall. Lose that and we lose all hope of a trophy.

Happy birthday yougs!

Probably many questions answered in the main thread for the match here!

It's already a nightmare getting out the ground, having more people WOULD be asking for trouble.