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goose

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Good grief that was dire. Nothing new was necessarily learnt about individual players but as for Lambert, well he got it frightfully wrong today, from beginning to end. Sunderland is a huge game, we have United, City and Arsenal after that so we could really do with getting one over on O'Neill. Unfortunately teams in ruts invariably improve when they cross paths with us and I expect no different next week. I'll say 1-0 Sunderland, Delph o.g 77, Bent missed penalty 88 and hope for the best.

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Not the first time Mark Clattenburg has ruined a really good game of football and, depending on the nature of the 'inappropriate' language he allegedly used during proceedings, it almost certainly won't be the last.

Also, bog off to any team with aspirations of surpassing us in our current claim to fame (i.e. being incredibly boring). Last place on Match of the Day's running order is the exclusive property of Sunderland and no one else can have it. :blah:

Oh, and I enjoyed Luis Suarez's dive in front of the Everton bench yesterday. Childish and hilarious in equal measure.

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Well, well, well; put that in your pipe and smoke it, Martin. Well done boys, particularly Big Daddy Benteke, the "Vlaark" duo, Bannan (particularly pleasing and surprising to see him play so well), Westwood (infinitely superior to Delph) and the fast, furious, claret and blue blooded Agbonlahor. God knows he needed a good showing and he's had one, two if you include Swindon in midweek.

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A close game of few chances but well done to Villa, I thought Benteke was the best player on the park today. For us, it's another desperate disappointment, despite a few mildly improved performances here and there. Unlike some of the hopeless cases on local radio phone-ins calling for O'Neill to be replaced by Phil Brown (yes, someone actually thinks that would be a good idea) or Paolo Di Canio (no thanks) I’m keeping the faith, but I’m also at a loss to try and explain the current lack of competitive spirit and cutting edge on home turf. After all, this is basically the same group of players who, during the magnificent run that immediately followed Martin’s appointment, would soak up pressure and hit teams on the break with pace and power, scoring superb goals along the way. The additions of Fletcher and Johnson should have improved things still further, only it hasn’t actually happened yet. Please let us come good soon, get the flair players firing and give Conor Wickham and David Meyler a chance. If we can't manage that just yet, then let's at least try and have a couple of shots on target, lads. We can't exactly rely on Demba Ba every week now can we?

Still, at least we always win at Goodison Park, eh? Oh wait…

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I think what I'd like to see in future (though obviously, it could only be done with the aid of video evidence) would be the right for managers to 'challenge' potential game-changing decisions, as seen in tennis. If the player is found to have blatantly dived, give him a straight red card - instant punishment and justice for the team he's cheated. The retrospective ban idea isn't a terrible one, but I suspect certain players would still see diving as a risk worth taking, depending on the importance of future fixtures. I mean, you might think twice about taking a tumble in the box if your next game was a do-or-die affair, but I can't imagine a player hesitating to hit the deck for an advantage in an early-season Manchester derby if the game he'd be suspended for was a cup tie on a wet evening in Colchester.

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^Ed, long time no see - hope you're keeping well, sir! :heythere:

 

This was clearly the toughest group but still expected Man City to be doing better than they have, there just not the same side they were last season.

I beg to differ. They crashed out last year too.

What with our national team being a bit naff these days, the media seem to have taken solace in labelling certain English players as 'the best in the world' as a runner-up prize - hence the elevation of Joe Hart to virtual godlike status this past year. Just count how many times he's been badly at fault on goals conceded (especially in the Champions League) and escaped criticism. Then for extra effect, imagine if De Gea had done it. :wacko:

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Joe Hart is rather inexplicably painted as some kind of 'breath of fresh air' by our po faced press gang. I guess in the post-John Terry era the bar has to be lowered even further for what constitutes a 'character' in the England line-up but if chewing gum, calling a spade a spade and being mega lippy just before a penalty is the extent of it then what a sad bunch we are. I'm sure it was during the Real-City game that some ITV goblin remarked about how it was such a relief that England finally didn't have to worry about having a good keeper because they'll have Hart for the next ten years. I mean, that might turn out to be the case but the idea that its beyond question is frighteningly telling.

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Hart's performances this season have quite often reminded me of John Terry, in the sense that the audacious saves he makes (like all those last-ditch Terry clearances on the goal-line) usually seem to be the product of a dreadful mess he creates around himself. At least he made up for it by shaking the hand of Ibrahimovic after tonight's final whistle. What a man, eh Clive Tyldesley? :pinch:

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