12/01/2014 MOTD2 Extra


12/01/2014

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Hello, welcome to Match Of The Day 2 Extra. We are on BBC One, BBC Radio

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5live and on the BBC Sport website as well, to discuss the weekend's

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football. Coming up this lunchtime, we will look back on yesterday's

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games, and focus particularly on the boss -- on the battle at the

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bottom, which includes practically the lower half of the table. We will

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also look at Newcastle vs Manchester City and Stoke vs Liverpool. With me

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in the studio this afternoon is a former Burnley, Bolton and Wigan

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manager, Adam Coyle, and Rory Smith from the times. We want your views,

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as ever. Text us, or get in touch via the BBC Sport website as well.

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We've got an awful lot to get through, but any side, from ten

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down, must be worried about dropping out of the Premier League. Very much

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so. It is starting to compact at the bottom, and a lot of clubs will be

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looking over their shoulders. But that is the Premier League. There is

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constant pressure from week to week. Many will have seen it before, and

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it will stand them in good stead. I think we are in for the most

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exciting relegation battle we have ever seen. Possible. We often have

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seasons where we get the big finale on the last day, at the bottom or at

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the top. We may even get both this season. Normally you have three or

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four teams. That is not the case at the moment. I don't really see that

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changing, because if you play against each other week to week, a

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lot of teams, going into the business end of the season, have

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real fears of relegation. The cliche is there was always one team that

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dropped like a stone. That's true. A lot of teams are used to playing

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under pressure. It tends to be a team like Hull or filler, in the

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position they are in now - not that I am saying it will be them! -- Hull

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or Aston Villa. The other thing that is crucial now is the way the

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fixtures fall, who you played in the first half of the season and who you

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play and where you play in the second half. One club that will be

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properly affected by that will be Sunderland. They went to Fulham

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yesterday and beat them 4-1. Let's get the views of the manager. I

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think we started well. We were in control of the game. We were

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dominating. We had some really good chances. One was for Berbatov, and

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you want chances to fall -- to fall for a calibre player like that, but

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it didn't come across. From the free kick, we saw ourselves 1-0 behind.

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We had a massive mountain to climb, and that mountain grew bigger when

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we conceded another just before half-time. Every time we put a few

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results together, we couldn't make the last one to go off the bottom.

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We did well. We did it in style. A very, very good performance today.

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The interesting clip from Renny Meulensteen there was that he

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highlighted chances that Fulham missed. But you look at goals

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against. They have conceded 46, 11 more than anyone else in the Premier

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League. So they are going to have to have parity with the back four, and

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not miss those chances. They are always very strong at the back, and

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if they get back to that, I do think they have matchwinners and

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goal-scorers at the top of the pitch. But they have to stop

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conceding goals. If you are going to concede one two, three goals every

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week, that is a lot. I think Hangeland is key for them

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defensively. He has been and awful mess for them. He has been missing

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for a while now. I would expect them to tighten up defensively when he is

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back. You worry for them. They have made a managerial change. They can't

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do it again. They are now losing heavily, and that is a bad

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combination. It is a managerial change they have made without

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seeming to believe it. They brought in Meulensteen. They then brought in

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Curbishley as technical director, which I wasn't aware was a role that

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he wanted. You then bring in an assistant head coach. It looks like

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they are putting a patchwork staff together without having a cogent

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plan. That has been the case for so long at Fulham. It is an ageing

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side. There is very little pace and very little useful exuberance. There

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was a lot of material players there. You wonder if they have the balance

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in place. Like any team at the bottom, you need your best players

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available. West Ham have been decimated. Hangeland is a huge mess.

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Sometimes it takes that one key player to make a difference. --

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Hangeland is a huge mess. Do you think that Martin Jol is culpable to

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allow that squad to age in the way it did? He is looking for people who

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are a decent value for money with lots of Premier League experience,

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and as a consequence, he had or has a really old squad. They made the

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change, with players coming in, and that eventually happens. For me,

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Martin Jol would have seen that three. To me, it is a great

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opportunity for Meulensteen and his staff to see the situation through.

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I'm not sure what Martin Jol could've done. There wasn't the

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money there. That's true. We live in a blame culture now. For any

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football club, it is always a collective effort.

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For Sunderland, not getting any blame at the moment. He went into

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yesterday's game saying, we have to treat this as a Cup semifinal. Every

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game now ought to be a Cup semifinal for Gus Poyet, because it worked!

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Every game is a cup semifinal! It was good for Sunderland. They are

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restrained side. They do have some good players. They have a lot of

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players on more money than they may be deserved. Again, it is a

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patchwork squad, but there are two or three matchwinners there. I have

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watched them since Gus came in, and I think they have played very good

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football. They have never looked at that cutting edge in the final

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third, but they looked it yesterday. They looked as though they could

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score more goals, and that will stand them in good stead. The other

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thing, prior to yesterday, Sunderland wanted four points from

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the bottom teams in the table. If you can win those games against the

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teams at the bottom end of the table, those other games that keep

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you the league. If he keeps them up, it will be one of the achievements

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of the season. That's right. I think he has given them performance. The

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Cup wins have helped as well. There's been a lot of speculation

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about Fletcher leaving. For me, he is an outstanding player. Those are

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the type of players you need to keep at your football club. The point you

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made about the amount of points they have picked up in that mini league

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at the bottom, most of those sides still have to go to the Stadium of

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Light, because, as everybody knows, they had this difficult fixture list

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at the start. The way it has fallen, they should have a stronger finish

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than they did start. They have all of their rivals to come. You win six

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or seven games at the Stadium of Light, and you should probably stay

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up. The other thing, as well as being a blame game at the moment in

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this country, as soon as somebody puts two good games together, they

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then ought to be going to the World Cup! We have had tweets about Adam

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Johnson and whether he could make a late run for the World Cup squad. I

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would be surprised. When he was at Man City, playing 20 minutes, he

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looked an England player. Then when he went to Sunderland and you were

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looking for 90 minutes from him, week by league, he looks less of a

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long -- less of an England player. If you can get Adam Johnson doing

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what he did yesterday for 90 minutes, week in, week out, then

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maybe. That is a key. Particularly for winners. There is no doubt he

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has talent and pace. But you have to do that week in, week out. No

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question about his talent. He is one of the best technical England

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players about. But he is quite predictable in terms of what he is

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going to do. He will cut in and shoot. But he is very two footed. He

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needs to realise that he needs more than one string to his bow to mix

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that up. But he is a strong player. Mentally, he is focused. Gas has him

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in the right place at the moment. For me, Gareth Barry has been

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outstanding. He scored a great goal yesterday. If you are looking for

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players to force their way into the England squad, he is a contender. He

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looks like he has a new lease of life at Everton. So if you sent your

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full back up to allow Alan Johnson to go down -- Adam Johnson to go

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down the outside, he would rip you up! He tends to play on the right.

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He does come in a lot. He is better as a sort of impact sub, for half an

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hour at the end. That's not an insult. But as a World Cup player,

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him and Townsend could do the same thing. I think you will be getting a

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few full -- a few phone calls from the full backs he has been playing

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against! He loves feedback! Robert Wilson, a Fulham fan, says that it

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is a dark day when Adam Johnson scores a hat-trick against you.

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Michael Brown said that Fulham made an abysmal start under Martin Jol.

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But we have had had sparks of improvement. Another, we find it

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pretty disappointing how we are playing at the moment. If you look

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at our squad compared to the others around us, I would generally have

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thought we would be ahead. But the players are still struggling under

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Rene Muelensteen. The other big game yesterday was Cardiff against West

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Ham. West Ham won by two - zero. Mark Noble got the second of those

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goals, and we spoke to him. It was tough, but the lads stood together.

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To get the goal and hang on, because Cardiff put us under some pressure

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in the second half. Obviously, Thomas got sent off. It became a tax

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versus defence. But then I managed to get the point, getting in the box

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on my own, and slotting it away. I have been on my NatWest Time for

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years now, and I am used to it! -- on my own at West Ham. We have stuck

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together as a club. It was big that the chairman came out and stuck by

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the boss and backed him. We have come here today at a tough place,

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with a new manager, and managed to get three points. There was such a

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contrast in the West Ham that played at Cardiff yesterday to the one that

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played at Man City during the week. Some have said that that is down to

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the opponents. That is no disrespect to Cardiff, more praise to Man City.

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But it is more than that, surely. I know they put out a young team at

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Nottingham Forest, but they have scored a lot of goals against

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everybody this season, especially at the Etihad. But you should not be

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conceding six goals to anyone. Sam Allardyce has always seemed to be

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well organised, disciplined and intelligently set up, so that will

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have full and infuriated him. But it doesn't say a lot about Cardiff. In

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their defence, you have to say that, in their defence, they are very

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short of players. Manchester City, in full flight, can do that to

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anybody. They have opened teams up, cut them, and everything else. Sam

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Allardyce, even maybe the players mentally don't want to go to

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Manchester City and lose heavily. Knowing that Saturday's game at

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Cardiff was huge, so mentally, physically, that was the game they

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were prepared for. I completely agree. He didn't exactly sacrifice

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the cup. You know you have a big game coming up, and that can affect

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you. For West Ham, that was probably the biggest game of the season.

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Going into that, Sam was under duress. With West Ham, the owners

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came out with the letters to the fans, which was brilliant. That

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performance from the players and the staff yesterday showed that West Ham

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were united. Guy Demel is out of hospital this

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morning, which we should say. Andy Carroll is the gamble that Sam took

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this season. He has not played for the first five months of the season.

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He came on yesterday and set up Noble for the goal. That is an

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enormous boon for them going into the rest of the season. If they get

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Collins back as well, they look too solid to really be sucked into it.

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You would have thought they would get out of it if those players get

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back. Andy Carroll never started, but he was in the squad and that

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gives the squad left. Good players like to play with good players. They

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recognise a top talent is back in their squad, the body-line which

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changes, they think they can win the games and that is how it proved.

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Nolan is an interesting one, that is a major decision for Sam Allardyce.

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Getting sent off once for a silly tackle, you can accept, doing it

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twice... There is a source of frustration as well. He's desperate

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to do well for his team. He's a real team player. But the fans have been

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on his back. He made a bad decision, that is what happened. If you

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watched last night, he was at the side of the pitch and when West Ham

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scored you could see his face, as a captain, the celebration and

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everything else. I think you still got an important role to play. Let's

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move onto side that were beaten by West Ham, Cardiff. Here is Oleg

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Solskjaer's thoughts. We never got going in the second half. The energy

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and enthusiasm we saw was not there. Obviously we wanted to win here

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today, but it wasn't to be. We had about double the possession of them.

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Twice the shots. Sometimes, for all is that way, you don't get what you

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deserve. Five points of Number 10, so there are two leaks. It is so

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tight, from ten down. We will be competitive, don't worry. Let's do

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the possession and shots stats first. We love stats, obviously. But

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West Ham allowed Cardiff to have the ball in front of them, they allowed

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it to get it wide and put a cross in because they knew they would beat

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Fraizer Campbell in the air, for most of it. Stats can be misleading?

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Of course, teams can dominate games, 70% possession, but they don't turn

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it into real goal-scoring opportunities. Whereas the team with

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35% have a cutting edge. I think Sam realised what Cardiff's threat was,

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they let themselves more wide open, they allowed across is to come in.

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Talking to a lot of West Ham fans this week, on phonings, if they did

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not have a manager and were in the situation that they were in, Sam

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Allardyce would probably be the man they would turn to to get them out

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of that. Which is a huge tick for Sam Allardyce. How may people would

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have gone for Solskjaer to get them out of it? I think it's quite an

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exciting appointment. He is a young guy. People say he has no expedience

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of the Premier League as a manager, but he did work at Manchester

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United. You know, he has worked in England, done well in Norway. It's

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exciting, but it's a gamble at the same time. Appointing any manager is

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a gamble. In fairness, he cut his teeth, he went to Molde, and he has

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ten down opportunities before. If he feels this is the right opportunity

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for him, there is no getting away from it, it is a tough job. Joachim

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K did fantastic, we are all surprised by the events when he

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left. Now Solskjaer comes into a real dogfight, relegation battle. It

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will certainly mean knowing what the Premier League is about from a

:19:02.:19:04.

managerial point of view, it is a tough job. I asked the Cardiff

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chairman yesterday, if you look at the programme notes, a lot of his

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backroom staff have got Manchester United connections, was that

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deliberate? He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, well, would

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you not want to tap into that expertise? He introduced the

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Glazers to Manchester United as well, which I'm sure everybody at

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Old Trafford is grateful for! Some of the people from Molde have gone

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with him, they are well thought of as coaches. I think it's an exciting

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appointment in terms of being a young manager. He has as much

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pedigree as you could hope for, he has won two titles. We tend to look

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at Norway as a lesser league, but it is not an amateur league. There are

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some decent sides. He took a side that hadn't won a title in 100 years

:19:57.:20:01.

and did it twice, then won the cup. The issue is if the timing of him

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arriving in a land or Wales is a right one, if he is the man that you

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want in the thick of a relegation battle. I think he understands how

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football works, he's been a terrific player, he's using it as an avenue

:20:14.:20:19.

to get a terrific job. If it was a Championship club, went to Molde

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grow and did well, then to have got that job in the Premier League, does

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it help that you have been a fantastic player Manchester United?

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Of course it does, I think we understand that is how it works.

:20:33.:20:36.

Another Premier League manager, an ex-player managing in Norway, Brian

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Deane, who saved them from relegation. He's a great goal-scorer

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for Leeds, but would a Premier League club be wanting to bring

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Brian Deane in? It's not to be dismissive, I think you can do a

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fantastic job, it's just some have easier routes than others. One of

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the reasonss we want to talk managers is that the Sunday Times

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has done an interview with Richard Bevan, Jonathan North Croft has

:21:13.:21:15.

spoken to him and the interview says we want clubs to obey the law. With

:21:16.:21:19.

all of the sackings that have gone on, the Observer today as well, they

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do a double page spread of all of the managers that have been sacked

:21:26.:21:28.

in the Premier League since it started. There was no football

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before the Premier League, as we all know, of course(!) But his point is

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that clubs don't necessarily obey employment law because their first

:21:41.:21:45.

way of thinking is, we want to minimise the amount of money we paid

:21:46.:21:51.

to a manager? First and foremost, Richard Bevan and the LMA do a

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fantastic job, protecting managers and everything else. That goes

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without saying. From my own experience, all I can say is that

:22:01.:22:03.

any club I have been at they have always dealt with it the way that

:22:04.:22:06.

they showed. But, like any business, people will want to cut costs and

:22:07.:22:11.

everything else. For me, it's important when any manager goes to a

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foot or club that, contractually, everything is there for them and

:22:16.:22:18.

they know it will be honoured. If it is, that should be done right. I

:22:19.:22:22.

think it is when grey areas crop up in contracts that can happen. 23

:22:23.:22:27.

managers sacked in this season, 2013-14. Should we be worried about

:22:28.:22:33.

that, Steve Wilson? I am not desperately concerned about it, I

:22:34.:22:37.

have had to say. Because you are not a manager! So managers get sacked

:22:38.:22:42.

and it leaves you scratching your head and you can't understand it.

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Sometimes they get sacked and you scratching your head and it works

:22:46.:22:47.

out to have been the correct decision. Nigel Adkins is the

:22:48.:22:54.

obvious example. I don't think there are ever right or wrong decisions,

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it is just the decision, it is what happens after. The other thing I

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have said before, as long as we understand the nature of the beast,

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we enter into it with our eyes wide open, as long as you are always

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treated fairly, that is the key evident Richard Bevan said, as long

:23:09.:23:12.

as people are treated fairly, they understand the nature of the game

:23:13.:23:16.

and how it works. There are some downsides in football management.

:23:17.:23:19.

But the good side outweighs that. It's the best game in the world and

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that is why we enter into it. The managers where you hope the LMA

:23:27.:23:29.

provide back-up, legal advice and the rest of it, people managing for

:23:30.:23:35.

six months in League Two, the rotors pulled out, short contract, no

:23:36.:23:38.

payoff and it's hard to get another job. Those are the managers you

:23:39.:23:43.

should be concerned about, with all due respect to the people in the

:23:44.:23:49.

newspaper that have been sacked with Premier League clubs, they have all

:23:50.:23:52.

left, you would expect, with a good payoff because there should be grey

:23:53.:23:57.

areas in the contract. Nigel Adkins, 40 public sympathy there was when he

:23:58.:24:02.

lost his Southampton job, he will have got eight good payoff from the

:24:03.:24:07.

job and will take over at Reading? And then West Brom will think about

:24:08.:24:12.

appointing Nigel Adkins. There is a huge issue further down the league

:24:13.:24:16.

were the managers have no security, often the contract are not paid up

:24:17.:24:20.

and they are living hand to mouth. That is why it is important that

:24:21.:24:25.

everything is seen by the LMA, and those contracts are honoured to the

:24:26.:24:28.

letter of the law. There is a flip side, you might argue there are

:24:29.:24:33.

managers that are still in the job because the club can't afford to

:24:34.:24:36.

sack them, lower down the division. It might even extend their life?

:24:37.:24:40.

They might get a board saying, we can't afford to get rid of them? If

:24:41.:24:44.

that's the case, you might give them the opportunity to do the job that

:24:45.:24:47.

they came to do in the first place. Exactly, it might work out well.

:24:48.:24:54.

Andy in Southampton, speaking as a Southampton supporter and

:24:55.:24:57.

yesterday's match, I think West Brom are in trouble. They were abysmal, a

:24:58.:25:01.

waste of time from the first minute and put everybody behind the ball.

:25:02.:25:05.

Martin says Martin Jol must take the blame for the mess Fulham are in.

:25:06.:25:10.

Players brought in on an ad hoc basis, with no plan on how they

:25:11.:25:13.

would work together. He was sold short by the board on transfer

:25:14.:25:16.

fees, but fitness and organisation cost nothing. The most popular

:25:17.:25:22.

question on Twitter this afternoon was asking you three who you think

:25:23.:25:27.

are the three that will get really get it. I know people and for all

:25:28.:25:30.

our lowest to point out the three-day think will go down? -- I

:25:31.:25:38.

know that people in football are loath to point out the three that

:25:39.:25:44.

they think will go down. It is probably three from ten teams at the

:25:45.:25:48.

moment. That is not wriggling out of the question? If I genuinely felt

:25:49.:25:51.

there was one team guaranteed to drop, I would tell you. Steve

:25:52.:25:58.

quickly agreed with you. Steve and Rory are in a better position to do

:25:59.:26:07.

it. He's BBC, he has to be in impartial. Sunni I asked Michael

:26:08.:26:12.

Laudrup if he thought he could get sucked into it. He said, the fact it

:26:13.:26:18.

is so tight, if you can put together back-to-back wins, you can shoot

:26:19.:26:21.

from 17th to 11th. He thinks his team is good enough to put together

:26:22.:26:26.

back-to-back wins if push comes to shove at the end of the season and I

:26:27.:26:35.

agree. You heard Solskjaer say five points from 10th, they will all feel

:26:36.:26:38.

what they need to do is make sure they park that and that they are

:26:39.:26:42.

capable of winning those games. The other thing is, it will change from

:26:43.:26:47.

week to week. When your team wins, fans think you are the next

:26:48.:26:50.

Barcelona. You lose the game and they think it is the worst scenario

:26:51.:26:53.

ever. That is the beauty, why we love football. For full disclosure,

:26:54.:27:02.

in the paper last week, we had to predict who would go out of the FA

:27:03.:27:06.

Cup, a stupid thing to do, because it is a random draw. I predicted the

:27:07.:27:09.

castle, I am probably not well-qualified. -- that Newcastle

:27:10.:27:19.

would win. I think Swansea, Stoke, they are too good to be sucked into

:27:20.:27:24.

it. I think the bottom six as they stand will be where the bottom three

:27:25.:27:29.

come from. We are getting a lot of Villa fans saying they will be in a

:27:30.:27:34.

relegation battle. I am surprised they are where they are. I have seen

:27:35.:27:37.

them play three or four times this season and they have difficult

:27:38.:27:42.

matches. I haven't seen very much from Villa this season. Craig

:27:43.:27:47.

Walker, I am at a Villa on Monday night, I don't want to take response

:27:48.:27:50.

ability for your comments, he says, I have been a Villa season ticket

:27:51.:27:54.

holder for many years, I personally think we are that big team that will

:27:55.:27:59.

be relegated this year. Let's focus on today's games with Owen Coyle,

:28:00.:28:04.

Steve Wilson and Rory Smith. The four o'clock game, which you will be

:28:05.:28:09.

able to listen to one BBC five live, Stoke against Liverpool. We have had

:28:10.:28:14.

some excellent results, very good performances. We know it is going to

:28:15.:28:18.

be a tough game. We respect them, we still have a lot of the players that

:28:19.:28:28.

were there, they are strong and committed. It is a difficult place

:28:29.:28:36.

to get a result. We will be prepared and ready for that. Given their

:28:37.:28:40.

form, given what they are trying to achieve this season, if they are

:28:41.:28:44.

ever going to win and Stoke they've got to do it today? They have won

:28:45.:28:50.

very heavily at Stoke in the past, a League Cup tie, about 7-0 a few

:28:51.:28:56.

years ago. What is the weather? If it is raining, the wind is blowing

:28:57.:28:59.

at the Britannia Stadium, it is very hard to play football there. Stoke

:29:00.:29:07.

are a decent side. What Liverpool are going to turn up? They look

:29:08.:29:13.

great at home, not too clever away from home sometimes. The performance

:29:14.:29:16.

at Hull, who would have happened down to lose there? The one thing I

:29:17.:29:21.

would say is that Stoke can't play Assaidi. Even when they lost against

:29:22.:29:42.

quality sides, they were terrific. Do you feel that they just have that

:29:43.:29:46.

little banana skin in them, in a way that Chelsea debut don't? I think

:29:47.:29:51.

people are saying that because what happened in previous years. Chelsea

:29:52.:29:57.

have certainly looked more solid at the back. Liverpool are pleasing to

:29:58.:30:00.

the eye, they look at the top end, they looked explosive. I think

:30:01.:30:06.

Liverpool can go and win it at Stoke. A tough game, but I think

:30:07.:30:11.

they can win that match. They really have to. They have lost their once

:30:12.:30:18.

and drawn four times, it's not the fact that Chelsea won yesterday, it

:30:19.:30:21.

is not the fact that Manchester City might beat Newcastle, Liverpool need

:30:22.:30:26.

to think about Manchester, Spurs and Manchester United and they won

:30:27.:30:30.

yesterday. They have to win to keep that slender advantage. Top at

:30:31.:30:39.

Christmas, Liverpool, and if it goes against them today, they could be

:30:40.:30:45.

seventh. I know they normally get points, but they perform really

:30:46.:30:49.

well. Coming out of those two defeats, it was really important to

:30:50.:30:54.

get that win, and they did. Is Brendan Rogers a good example, when

:30:55.:30:58.

we go back to talk about managers being got rid of after six months or

:30:59.:31:04.

year, that actually - and I hate word project - but when there is a

:31:05.:31:10.

project, it takes time. Both in coaching the players you want to

:31:11.:31:15.

play and bringing in the personnel. Brendan had a coaching history of

:31:16.:31:19.

working at Chelsea. Then he had a managerial job at Watson -- at

:31:20.:31:24.

Watford. Then he went to Reading. No doubt up to that point. I think it

:31:25.:31:31.

was six, seven months. Then Reading made the change. But to be fair,

:31:32.:31:37.

Jenkins at Swansea recognise the ability he has. He has a great lad.

:31:38.:31:42.

Outside of football, he is a terrific man, and I am delighted to

:31:43.:31:47.

see him enjoying the success he has. I think he can take Liverpool from

:31:48.:31:51.

strength to strength. It was difficult for them last season.

:31:52.:31:55.

There is no pressure for him inside the club. The owners have always

:31:56.:32:00.

been very supportive. They made it clear that Brendan Rodgers was their

:32:01.:32:04.

guy, and they wanted to see the project through. You can't avoid

:32:05.:32:10.

that word now! I think they sat that -- sat down collectively, and said,

:32:11.:32:14.

we are going to get young, talented players through the side who can

:32:15.:32:18.

grow and get better. That's what they are doing, and they are getting

:32:19.:32:23.

better. They hit the point that was more or less rock bottom for

:32:24.:32:27.

Liverpool, in that context of how bad it gets for them. Under the

:32:28.:32:33.

previous owners, really. The club was shattered. Roy Hodgson was the

:32:34.:32:36.

manager at the time. They had a home game where there was about 13,000

:32:37.:32:42.

empty seats. The lowest crowd at Anfield for donkeys years. Then they

:32:43.:32:46.

went to Blackburn and got heavily beaten midweek. Roy lost his job

:32:47.:32:52.

after that. You are not going to bounce back from that quickly, and

:32:53.:32:56.

the new owners have to... I think they are going to have to get a

:32:57.:33:00.

Champions League place this year, otherwise your top players are going

:33:01.:33:05.

to crave Champions League football. Suarez will be playing in the

:33:06.:33:08.

Champions League next year, for somebody. Let's hope it's for

:33:09.:33:14.

Liverpool. In Carlisle, someone says they have just watched Norwich. He

:33:15.:33:21.

says, just watched Norwich to slip into trouble big style. Hope you are

:33:22.:33:31.

back soon, Owen. And on Johnson, Phil says, he is playing at a

:33:32.:33:35.

struggling club, and that makes it difficult to play well week in, week

:33:36.:33:40.

out. How will we know if Johnson is up to international standard and

:33:41.:33:44.

less we give him a chance? Do contact us. The early game at 2pm,

:33:45.:33:50.

Newcastle vs Manchester City. We will talk about that after we hear

:33:51.:33:55.

from both managers. It is very important when you come up against

:33:56.:34:00.

teams of this quality, that the consistency of performance goes

:34:01.:34:05.

through 90 minutes. You can't start poorly or end poorly, like we did

:34:06.:34:10.

against Cardiff. That's something weenie to work hard on. We have lost

:34:11.:34:14.

the last three games on set plays, something else we have touched on.

:34:15.:34:21.

Manchester City have got a real flair from set plays. It is very

:34:22.:34:28.

important for me to be an attractive team to see. I think that, for the

:34:29.:34:35.

moment, we just scored one goal less than the complete last year of this

:34:36.:34:40.

team, so that is very important, not only to win a trophy for me or for

:34:41.:34:45.

the team, but the way that we must play. The former Newcastle keeper,

:34:46.:34:54.

Steve Harper, is covering this game for 5live this afternoon. How are

:34:55.:35:00.

you? Newcastle's recent form, after going so well, they have lost the

:35:01.:35:03.

last two in the league, and the defeat in the Cup as well, which is

:35:04.:35:10.

a concern for Alan Pardew. It is. They had a good run before that,

:35:11.:35:15.

winning seven out of nine. But this crowd soon forget that. It's a very

:35:16.:35:20.

important game here, but certainly one the can go into and get a very

:35:21.:35:27.

positive result. How'd you think they can take on Man City? Can they

:35:28.:35:33.

match them how wise, at least? I am not sure power wise, but they need

:35:34.:35:38.

to do what they did against Chelsea, which was stay in the game

:35:39.:35:43.

for an hour. Turn them round, get a bit of pressure on them in the

:35:44.:35:47.

second half, and hopefully come on top that way. It is a very

:35:48.:35:51.

powerful, frightening Manchester City. As far as Newcastle are

:35:52.:35:59.

concerned squad-wise, the starting 11, they are fine there. They could

:36:00.:36:03.

do with some reinforcements, couldn't they? Of course. As a fan,

:36:04.:36:10.

you would want that. Manchester City and Chelsea are mega clubs with

:36:11.:36:14.

almost infinite budgets, and Newcastle are not like that. As a

:36:15.:36:18.

fan, Alan Pardew would like one or two options at the top end of the

:36:19.:36:22.

pitch, because they have been pretty good defensively. Man City tore them

:36:23.:36:28.

apart first game of the season, so they will be looking for some

:36:29.:36:31.

revenge. As a fan, you would be looking for one or two additions.

:36:32.:36:36.

You look at the likes of the players Manchester City will have on the

:36:37.:36:39.

bench, and it just shows you the difference between the two clubs,

:36:40.:36:42.

the gap that has appeared between them. As far as the budget is

:36:43.:36:49.

concerned, that is. Alan Pardew has said that a successful season for

:36:50.:36:56.

Newcastle would be to finish sixth, if they don't qualify for the

:36:57.:36:59.

Champions League, because he would not want to finish fifth and qualify

:37:00.:37:06.

for the Europa League. We have seen the effect that qualifying for the

:37:07.:37:11.

Europa League does have on you. The teams in the top three seem to be

:37:12.:37:15.

away, and the next four teams are in there. The bottom 11 clubs are going

:37:16.:37:22.

to be in for a scrap. It will be very tough for Newcastle to get into

:37:23.:37:26.

the top six this year, but as long as they are comfortably in the top

:37:27.:37:30.

ten and can build on the squad going forward, everybody will be happy.

:37:31.:37:35.

Good to talk to you. Steve Harper covering the game for five line this

:37:36.:37:42.

afternoon. -- 5live. Aside from winning the FA Cup, what would be a

:37:43.:37:47.

successful season for Newcastle? I think finishing sixth will be

:37:48.:37:53.

fantastic. They will have let me down personally! I think finishing

:37:54.:38:01.

sixth will be a dream come true for Newcastle. In terms of reality, as

:38:02.:38:07.

it stands now, possibly eight. They might get seventh if one of the

:38:08.:38:11.

teams above them falls away, but as Steve says, that is the perfect

:38:12.:38:16.

analysis of the league. The top three have gone. There are four

:38:17.:38:23.

teams behind them. Then the bottom 11 fighting it out. That is how it

:38:24.:38:29.

will pan out. I wouldn't disagree. It is a priority for Alan Pardew, in

:38:30.:38:34.

this transfer window, to keep what he's got. That is maybe his first

:38:35.:38:38.

priority, because there's a that someone might come in and bid for

:38:39.:38:46.

Cabaye or Ben Arfa. He needs to keep what he has. He has a good 12 or 13.

:38:47.:38:51.

He needs to have them in February as well. Alan Pardew was the first

:38:52.:38:56.

manager to come under pressure this year, when people were gunning for

:38:57.:39:02.

them, and he has stayed. He will be looking to get them back to that

:39:03.:39:06.

quality, because if they do, they have shown they are capable of

:39:07.:39:10.

winning games. It has shown, the Europa League - you have experienced

:39:11.:39:18.

that that season. I think Tottenham is an example of that, who compete

:39:19.:39:22.

on the Thursday, and then play on Sunday. How did it affect you? The

:39:23.:39:30.

Thursday-Sunday thing is trotted out a lot. A lot of fans will say, why

:39:31.:39:36.

does Thursday - Sunday differ to Wednesday-Saturday? The whole club,

:39:37.:39:46.

especially the fans, loved the adventure for Wigan Athletic. It was

:39:47.:39:49.

the first time they had been in Wigan -- in Europe. In terms of the

:39:50.:39:57.

answer to the question, when we were playing the games and sometimes we

:39:58.:40:04.

were three -- three games behind, and there were games we couldn't

:40:05.:40:07.

play because we were playing in Europe. I think it's psychological.

:40:08.:40:14.

We now play Mondays and every other day in the Premier League, but I

:40:15.:40:19.

think it is psychological. It is more catch up thing for you. Your

:40:20.:40:22.

players could be looking at the and saying... For Wigan Athletic, we

:40:23.:40:28.

went to play a game on a Sunday, and we were three games behind the rest

:40:29.:40:33.

of the league. If you win games, you will be here, but you have to go and

:40:34.:40:38.

win them. So there was a little bit more in terms of football pressure

:40:39.:40:43.

on you to win that game. I think it is about and mental rather than a

:40:44.:40:49.

physical aspect. I agree entirely, but one of the things I find most

:40:50.:40:52.

baffling about modern football is the way that clubs talk themselves

:40:53.:40:56.

out of competitions, like the Europa League or the League Cup. Everyone

:40:57.:41:01.

says, it doesn't matter, it is a distraction from the league. Look at

:41:02.:41:05.

Sunderland. They beat Manchester United, and then they went and

:41:06.:41:10.

smashed Fulham. With any cold addition you go into, you want to do

:41:11.:41:20.

the best -- with any competition. For Russ, it was a catalyst for us

:41:21.:41:25.

to get promoted, because of how well we did. I love competition as a

:41:26.:41:30.

player, and I love them as a manager. It is fantastic. You look

:41:31.:41:37.

at Michael Laudrup, and his position is that their league position will

:41:38.:41:43.

suffer. If you talk to yourself like that, it is going to happen. You can

:41:44.:41:49.

use it to your advantage. We can actually do very well. Swansea are

:41:50.:41:53.

going all the way in the Europa League because of the quality

:41:54.:41:56.

players they have. Man City are not going to talk their way out of any

:41:57.:42:01.

competition. They are up for a quadruple. Many people say it is

:42:02.:42:07.

understandable because of the players they have. You can't be up

:42:08.:42:18.

for a quadruple in January! Newcastle are not. I think a

:42:19.:42:23.

quadruple would be great for Manchester City, but extremely

:42:24.:42:24.

unlikely. They are playing Barcelona. Even though they have the

:42:25.:42:30.

strongest squad in the Premier League, their big-name players are

:42:31.:42:35.

still playing, for example, in a capital one semifinal. -- Capital

:42:36.:42:45.

one Cup semifinal. They have that quality. They have strength and

:42:46.:42:54.

depth. I think they are looking the team, for me, who are on track for a

:42:55.:43:00.

quadruple. If I had said treble, would that have been better! It

:43:01.:43:05.

would have been more realistic, but no. Even that is a big ask! The

:43:06.:43:12.

Champions League is what they all crave, but it is a fantastic draw. I

:43:13.:43:18.

think they are in for a real game against Barcelona. We are out of

:43:19.:43:21.

time. We could keep arguing all afternoon. Thank you to Harry in

:43:22.:43:29.

Southampton... Sorry, from Warwickshire. He says West Ham,

:43:30.:43:33.

Fulham and restore Palace to go down. -- Crystal Palace. The live

:43:34.:43:42.

football on the BBC in the game this afternoon, Stoke against Liverpool.

:43:43.:43:48.

That is on 5 Live. And Aston Villa against Arsenal is tomorrow night on

:43:49.:43:54.

5 Live. Thanks to all of you. We will see you on Match Of The Day to

:43:55.:43:57.

for all of today's games. Goodbye.

:43:58.:44:01.

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