Bailey

Alcaraz will give us the on the ball qualities that we got from Stones. I would be more inclined to go with Distin and Alcaraz is the former is fit because Jagielka is a mistake waiting to happen at the moment.

Everton 2-0 Villa Barkley

Completely agree. The St Helens guy does have a cheap shot first and if he had just hit him back he might have only been looking at a sin bin, but to then jump on top of him and punch him again just shows how much of a cock he is.

I dont understand why Hodgson persists with a diamond when we are looking to spread the play and open teams up? Baines and Chambers look to be under instructions to rarely venture too far forward so we have no width and half the team end up inside the width of the 18 yard box getting in each others way. I watched a little bit of the ROI game against Gibraltar and at least MON had the nouse to get his wingers to hug the touchline to great bundles of space for Keane and any other runners from midfield.

Jesus Christ... I cant wait to see what the next 'problem' with the club that will be down to Martinez. I actually feel sorry for the guy now and think he should probably get out while he can. I had had enough of Moyes by the time he left and thought the negativity at the club was more to do with him but reading this forum sometimes, I think it is probably just our supporters. Everything is rosey when we win but as soon as we hit a rough patch everyone starts pointing the finger with no evidence.

Martinez may be a qualified physio but I'm pretty sure he didnt sack our medical department when he took over. Martinez (as with any manager) has enough on his plate as it is let alone supposedly analysing every players injuries. He will be getting the info from his medical dept as does every other manager, the only advantage he has, is that he understands what they are saying.

Or maybe it was because Martinez couldn't give an accurate diagnosis for extremely painful nipple rub so they left him off the OS. Martinez didn't want to comment because he couldn't intentionally mislead everyone himself so it was only when the rumours surfaced and he thought shit let's just put him up as unknown until we think he might be ready to jog with a shirt on once more. I have heard from no reliable source that it's an extremely bad case of nipple rubbage and it may rule him out for at least 1 to 52 weeks so don't be surprised if it's back up as a soft tissue injury in the morning.

I presume that's sarcasm Haf!

Don't say that Newty82 he hasn't given the exact injury name, or given a date they start training or named the game they will next play and in which position. What on earth are all of us doctors and physios on TT going to do now.

I didn't realise it was a competition.

Exactly I really don't understand it. Moaning for the sake of moaning.

2 up at half time from 2 set pieces. Welbeck has missed 3 chances from within 7 yards. 1 was difficult but 2 were sitters. England have been too slow and predictable though. You know what you get with San Marino, I would have liked to have seen a plan on how to cut them open.

I'm pretty sure I have read somewhere that he has since picked up a hamstring or groin injury. I think it's the former.

I think his impact against Krasnodar is being overlooked since the Utd game. He played a huge part in us getting the ball up the field and also in us scoring the goal. He hasn't made the impact he did last year but some of the comments on here overlook some of the positive contributions he has made.

There is more to his game that just scoring goals though. He does make good runs (look at the ball Baines played to him first half and the one in the second half where he almost split the CB'S from the half way line. His first touch is erratic but he can front up defenders, beat them for pace and strength especially in game where there is room to play. My biggest gripe with him is in congested games where opposition teams can crowd him out. Naismith, Kone, Etoo etc can still find space but Lukaku then needs someone to then do the work for him.

Absolutely gutted.

Hibbert has done well and better than expected but he has still been caught out quite a lot.

It's a fair good point. Naismith took his goal well but he went largely unnoticed throughout. I remember in the first half where he actually could have played Lukaku in but he turned backwards and laid it off. That's probably my main frustration with him playing in that role. The pure effort of Naismith though was needed in that second half. It's something the whole team could take his example from, especially the big man.

I hope we get him fit and get him some game time. He could be a really important player to have in the squad and I just hope he gets the chance to prove it.

It sounds like the injury keeps flaring up when it looks like it's getting better.

Certainly not from what we have seen so far but I can hardly think Martinez was planning on having both his starters (Pienaar and Mirallas) both out at the same time. If Atsu has shown more then it probably wouldnt have been too much of a problem but with Barkley also out we lack that spark from an attacking player. Its pretty unfortunate to have your three most creative players all out injured at the same time though and as I said before, it would cripple most teams.

Yeh I think that if there is anything to it then its likely to be a personal issue.

Its a pretty big injury list at the moment though! In hindsight we could have done with another quality winger/attacking midfielder but we do have most positions covered with some depth. RB would be another area but Hibbert has pulled his finger out and Browning has promise. We have enough options centrally too. You take the quality of players that we have lost this season out of any team and they will struggle with quality (and form) in depth.

You watch Broady or Jimmy after a misfield or dropped catch. They pretty much pierce a hole in the fielder with their eyes! Being made to apologise makes it sound quite formal but I wouldn't be surprised if they did give the fielder a bit of a bollocking straight away. I would kind of expect it if I was a top cricketer that dropped a dolly.

Yeh and at that speed it wouldn't have taken much! Even so it shows you how good the crash helmets are nowadays because 20 years ago he would have been long gone. Like Matt says it's not gory, you just see the car crumple but the areas of impact and the heights just makes you wonder how he survived. P's Matt I think the cars blowing up only happens in American movies