MikeO

There's endless clichés on here 250...I'm assuming you're talking cliques....:sleeping_02: .

Johnson played, Cahill's injured. Shit happens in the FA Cup. Pissed off but I can see where Louis is coming from, if we make the Carling Cup final I'll care about today not at all.

With our first XI out I'd not be at all worried....having said that with our first XI out we wouldn't be losing . Gotta win it, can't be doing with a replay....sounds dire, pull your finger out lads!

Don't encourage him Lee .

Kick-off delayed by thirty mins due to a fire at a chip shop . Anyone know which one, could seriously damage my Goodison experience .

33 Wessels 02 Hibbert 15 Stubbs 16 Jagielka 03 Baines 20 Pienaar 10 Gravesen 26 Carsley 11 McFadden 08 Johnson 14 Vaughan Substitutes 30 Ruddy, 05 Lescott, 22 Yakubu, 25 Anderson, 28 Anichebe Bloody hell Davey, I've got Lescott and Howard in my fantasy team (andTC ) and you drop them for Stubbsy and James Blunt! If it costs me the £50,000 I'll send you the bill .

Occurred to me that the ban could be a blessing. We beat Boro without him, if we get past Oldham today then get a result at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (which is likely to be more about graft and keeping it tight than flair), then he's had a nice rest that he'd never have got because he'll always get picked if available. And then hopefully like Steve says he's refreshed and back on fire.

You've just gotta trust the man. Think anyone who questions his thinking needs to pop into a time machine and nip back 5/6 years for a reality check.

Training with Arsenal to keep in shape during the MLS break, d'ya reckon he'll get 100 caps? Think he should? Personally never had much time for the man until he carried England through that Greece game, not just scoring the goal but one of the best examples of a captain leading from the front that I've seen, went up hugely in my estimation that day. For that reason I hope he makes it.

Studied this (many years ago). The Basque region takes in seven provinces, four in Spain and three in France....has one of the most difficult languages to learn in the World (there's some myth, can't remember the details, about the Devil trying to learn it). ETA...like Jamie said although they're on a cease fire at the mo I believe. One of the problems Howard Kendall had when he went to Athletic Bilbao is that they only signed (still do as far as I know) Basque born players. Edit, if anyone's interested.. What do you call a club that has never signed a player from outside its own local region? Not Arsenal, that’s for sure. But in the wake of EPL calls for all teams to include a specific number of local players, scrutiny of the Spanish La Liga team Athletic Bilbao has grown. Because Athletic’s entire identity revolves around the fact that it is made up completely of local players. And by “completely” I mean: Completely. They have never had a non-Basque player. Athletic are the most exclusive club in world football and proud of it. If you’re not Basque, you can’t join. Their favourite saying is: Con cantera y aficion, no hace falta importacion. It translates as: With home-grown talent and local support, you don’t need foreigners. If your geography is a little fuzzy, the Basque region is the area that spans the France-Spain border. The population is just over 3 million people. There is a strong ethnic identity, and a segment of the population would like to form their own nation. Barring that, they have the soccer team. Former French international Bixente Lizarazu was the first non-Spanish player ever to play for the club, back in 1995-6, and he got in only because he was still Basque, if French. Even so, he didn’t play much for the team and left for Bayern Munich after one season. The club has never been relegated, playing in the Primera División since its inception in 1928. It’s getting harder and harder to keep that up, though. Last year they just barely avoided relegation. This season they’re doing a little better, currently sitting in 14th* place, but they’re still just a couple of points out of the drop zone. This doesn’t seem to bother the team’s followers, though. The majority seem to prefer the thought of relegation to giving up their identity. From the article’s comment section: People who are not part of this team or at least don’t support it, cannot understand why it’s more important for us to maintain our policy rather than winning titles. Of course we’d like to play Champions League every year, but not in any price. I mean, we are the 9th richest team in Spain, so the best player are not available for us. Moreover, why to sign a normal foreigner when you have young local players willing to succeed with their team? This team is more than just a couple of colours. It represents almost a country (Basque Country), and when things are not going very well, local players’ implication is much bigger than any other’s. That’s why we believe in this policy, and support it. * article published last Feb

...in that they are both professional footballers....yes. However.. ... (<<<<that's me speechless).

According to the TimesOnline... Chelsea and Everton received a boost yesterday when John Obi Mikel, Joseph Yobo and Yakubu Ayegbebi were given permission to postpone reporting for African Cup of Nations duty until after Tuesday’s Carling Cup semi-final. The Nigeria squad is due to meet for a training camp in Málaga on Sunday, but all three players have been given special dispensation by the Nigerian FA to delay their flights until Wednesday to allow them to play in the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Everton are waiting to hear when Steven Pienaar, the midfield player, is required to report for duty with South Africa. Both clubs stand to benefit from the diplomatic skills of Avram Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, who has been working behind the scenes in an attempt to limit the damage that the African competition will do to his squad. The Israeli phoned Berti Vogts, the Nigeria coach, with a personal plea for Mikel’s release date to be postponed this week and received confirmation yesterday that the German was willing to grant his wishes. Grant has had less success with Ivory Coast, however, with Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba due to report after tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round tie against Queens Park Rangers, despite Drogba’s knee injury.

Was a man spending a lot of time copying and pasting an ad for his Internet marketing company on every forum he could find. Nothing remotely interesting or individual, spam of the most boring sort.

Don't think I'll see the end of this unless I live to 999,820.

For now maybe... Anichebe £0.00 Vaughan £0.00

Actually think I registered on there once, can't remember posting though. Quality over quantity for me every time Craccer .

Hi Green people, any realistic possibility of you guys staying in the play-offs til the end of the season (and then winning them)? Live in Devon myself and I'd be bloody delighted to see you do it, specially to have an Everton game locally . Louis strikes again btw!

Like Jacko said the official site is the place to get the tickets, you'll get the best available seats in your chosen section. Best place for a hotel is down by the docks imo, the two I've used are..Travel Lodge here..>>>HERE<<< and the Campanile which I can't find a direct link to, but there are many.

My router (speedtouch) came free with my internet package. Piece of piss to set it up and it's automatically locked, aren't they all? Unless I misunderstand what you mean by locked....I mean the neighbours may be able to get the signal but they can't connect without the WEP (I think) code. It's ADSL btw.

Agree with saint on the Tuncay "penalty". Not just Arsenal players who'd have gone down, most would have so fair play to him. Bit naïve maybe. Also how were there 27,000 people there when the ground (35,000 capacity) looked half empty on TV. The areas out of view of the cameras must have been packed solid. Final thought, is being a 'Boro supporter the most depressing experience in football? I reckon it must be. Spent fortunes, never risen above mediocrity and no prospect of ever doing so. Think I'd kill myself.

The away supporters section is area J. An adult ticket is normally about €50 but they've been cheaper in the UEFA so far this season. I'd imagine though by the time we (all being well) meet you they'll be up to full price. Apologies for the delay . .

No problem, the way we're going it's the teams above us that need to worry .

Grear stuff. Grinding it out, keeping it safe at the back, then class comes through in the end. Up to fifth, good place to start the year...we're on the up still.

Finally...go AJ, just a clean sheet now!!!

I have no vices that I'm not done with yet .