Elliott

I think the point is you can't assume a good record in the Netherlands will definitely mean a good record in England, however you can't write off players because they've only played in the Netherlands either.

Welcome

Best (new) Band: KlaxonsBest Album: Well here's the best of what I've heard:!!! by Myth Takes - Brilliant indietronica album, a massive step up from their previous two which had good moments, but lacked finesse.Blackfield II by Blackfield - light poppy progressive rock, made by the same man who fronts Porcupine Tree and an Israeli singer/songwriter, the two combine to make a smooth heartfelt recording. Great album.You, You're a History in Rust by Do Make Say Think - Possibly DMST's best release yet, they introduce vocals to their instrumental music and it works really well. Great album, albeit one that it took me a while to appreciate.An End Has a Start by Editors - I loved Editors ever since I first saw them live, not knowing who they were beforehand. Can't wait to see them again in Brum in Feb. This album is another great outing, although I think overall their debut is slightly better. This is no massive drop in standard though, great album.All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone by Explosions in the Sky - Explosions in the Sky write amazing music. They had a massive ask, because their previous album is easily one of the best ever written and I find it a shame few have discovered EITS. Their music was featured on a Hatton vs Mayweather preview interestingly though and hopefully they will start to gain the same sort of attention Sigur Rós have because they deserve it. This album almost matched their last album which was a magnificent feat and I love it.Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by Foo Fighters - one of the best albums by Foos to date, some magnificent songs on here, love it.Yours Truly, Angry Mob by Kaiser Chiefs - I had never really considered the Kaisers as anything other than a single making band as I hadn't really given their debut much of a listen, but this album is classic. There isn't a single bad song, fantastic.Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons - supremely fun album with some wacky songs, love itFear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree - Porcupine Tree boosted their position as my favourite band with this album. Different to all the other albums they've released, darker, but fantastic throughout.In Rainbows by Radiohead - Been waiting for a long long time for this, and whilst it doesn't rank with the likes of OK Computer, it's still a very good album and I thought I should include it to make it 10 albums in this list!Out of those I will have to go with... Yours Truly as well. Really tough choice though. I would recommend all of those albums to anyone.Best song: I'm torn by The Angry Mob by Kaiser Chiefs, Let It Die by Foo Fighters and Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree. All brilliant.Best Film: Hot Fuzz

Cool, great to hear it went well!

RIP, thanks for fighting so we can lay claim to some oil.Wasted life.

How emasculating for him

How emasculating

Yeah, bit of a contradiction. Don't really fully agree with the latter statement I made. I disagree about the Beckham thing, I think it was a bad move to write him off completely. He still deserved to be in the squad, just not as a starter. And when I said I'd be happy with one trophy a season, I meant to imply that we still do well in the league every year and win a cup then I'd be happy enough.

I have to ask whether you object to his football experience being from Israel because it's Israel. I'm sorry, but that jumps right out at me.I was certainly far from happy with his appointment, but I don't see any point in getting worked up about it because frankly I can do fuck all about it. We're doing alright so far, no he hasn't changed anything, because that was actually the smartest move any manager could have done. Play the system the players are used to, the players have been successful under, and they will provide wins and performances. If he tried to change everything, purely to stamp his own mark on the team, well that would have been the equivalent of McClaren sacking Beckham from the team. Changes for changes sake. Grant actually made a smart move when he didn't change anything. In January, he has a chance to change things a little bit, and we shall see how that goes, but he can't really make wholesale changes until the summer because the vast majority of players I assume he'll be after will already be playing in the Champions League or have done this season. And I really do think that we will win something this season, a cup of some sort. Grant himself, I don't think he really knows what he's doing, but behind him we have Ten Cate and Clarke and the three of them form a successful group of managers.As long as we are winning at least one trophy each year I'm going to be happy.

Welcome

CechAlvesJTCarvalhoAbidalRonaldoEssienKakaGiggsDrogbaTottiAncelotti

Stop overthinking it!Just enjoy his company, you don't need to do any more than that! Just be yourself.

Well there's no guarantee wisdom in real life will have any correlation with what works on FM, but it's worth a go

Welcome back Cara

We'll pay a hell of a lot of money for Benzema, and by the looks of things, it would be a very sound investment.

Sounds like Joe Cole had a large hand in proceedings, only going off what I've heard though as I didn't see the match.

I doubt Fenerbahce will be that difficult. I'd say that was one of the easier draws, them or Olympiakos. Celtic would be interesting, Roma would be okay, would generally prefer if we avoided Lyon.

It might be a problem at your end. Try changing your "cookie" settings, in firefox it can be found under Tools->Options->Privacy and in IE7 Under Internet Options and probably Privacy in there too. Change them to let more through and see if that makes a difference.

He's 22 and thus far too old to send out on loan without that saying to him "we don't think you're good enough". Alex was an exception because it was only about gaining a work permit for him.

For the sake of playing a different, more inventive system, Mikel, move Essien to defensive midfield.

The point is to be the best AND the quickest.

Actually, I haven't played in a while but what I used to do was just guess, or of course answer properly if I knew the answer, and then submit. Usually got decent scores out of that.

You get the same points for being faster even if you didn't get them all right. Stops people getting away with looking up every answer :unsure:

I always think of Joe Cole when you say playmaker though. I think maybe we should be looking to bring him back to his original position. Could sign another playmaker I too I suppose, to make sure we have two.

Team... Cudicini ©, Belletti, Bridge, Ben Haim, Alex, Mikel, Sidwell, Wright-Phillips, Kalou, Shevchenko, Pizarro?That's probably what I'd play, give some second choices a run out.Edit: totally forgot about Essien! That makes things more difficult.