Blog Roundtable

Your favorite irregular feature where we talk round and round the issues of the (fantasy) day. In this episode we give our live "commentary" on the matches (line-ups, goals, assists, shots and cards), transfers - real and imagined, and Arsenal's narrow midfield.  This is uncut, mostly unfiltered, and likely vertigo inducing.  So be warned.

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Session Start (Jeremy Spitzberg:Neal Thurman): Tue Jan 27 08:17:04 2009

[08:17] Jeremy Spitzberg: it remains to be seen whether or not City target Shay Given is included in the squad

[08:17] Jeremy Spitzberg: DNH?

[08:17] Neal Thurman: would make me very happy

[08:17] Jeremy Spitzberg: and you could have citeh's keeper for under 3

[08:17] Neal Thurman: throw in the new home at Citeh and I'd be feeling pretty good

[08:17] Neal Thurman: jinx

[08:17] Jeremy Spitzberg: which was 1/2 the reason i was holding on to him

[08:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: but still 3.36

[08:18] Neal Thurman: would be nice if these things moved a bit faster though

[08:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: so another 50 cents

[08:18] Neal Thurman: right

[08:18] Neal Thurman: wow, the matches today really suck, huh?

[08:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: lol

[08:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: Steve Harper signs new Newcastle deal to pave way for Shay Given exit

[08:18] Neal Thurman: :-)

[08:19] Jeremy Spitzberg: Harper is expected to replace Given in manager Joe Kinnear's team that faces City on Wednesday night at Eastlands.

[08:19] Neal Thurman: sucks because we're home due to snow today and I'm sure I'll end up at the office tomorrow

[08:20] Neal Thurman: would also really like Arsenal to conclude the Arshavin business - I'm just so tired of it

[08:21] Neal Thurman: I think I'd rather know for certain that he's not coming than keep up the speculation that really offers nothing new from day to day

[08:21] Neal Thurman: at least with clubs in Western Europe you sort of know how to interpret the BS - the Russians are completely a mystery

[08:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: ha

[08:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: do you like the buy?

[08:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: or too much of the same?

[08:26] Neal Thurman: not sure - I like your idea of 2 from 3 between RvP, Arshavin, and Cesc and even more so if he can move out to the right wing until a better solution is found/developed

[08:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah... it's a real nice rotation

[08:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: but still needs de jong behind them

[08:28] Neal Thurman: I think that Diaby/Song are fine in that role

[08:28] Neal Thurman: I still think the big needs are CB and wingers

[08:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: wingers?

[08:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: sicky, eboue, walcott, nasri...

[08:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: granted they're all hurt

[08:30] Neal Thurman: Sicky - not a winger

[08:31] Neal Thurman: Eboue - a decent squad winger/jack-of-all-trades (see Neville, Phil)

[08:31] Neal Thurman: Walcott - still to early to tell

[08:31] Neal Thurman: Nasri - even if he is the solution on the left (and I'm not sure of that), we still need one on the right

[08:33] Jeremy Spitzberg: so how come no one is bemoaning hleb's sale?

[08:34] Neal Thurman: because he wasn't a winger either

[08:35] Neal Thurman: too many of the same player on the roster (Sicky, Nasri, Denilson) who are really attack Ms who tend to play too narrowly and aren't particularly fast when deployed on the wings

[08:36] Neal Thurman: Walcott is an OK solution because at least he's fast enough to be a winger and when he's on, he can take on defenders with the dribble - just that his crossing isn't that great from anywhere but the endline

[08:37] Neal Thurman: it may be that I'm being too harsh on Nasri - it could be that he's still getting himself up to speed in the Prem - he's young and adjusting to a new (better)league - he at least seems to have an eye for goal

[08:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: and to be fair when he does score he wins games

[08:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: as opposed to sicky

[08:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: who doesn't contribute until things are settled

[08:40] Neal Thurman: yeah - I sort of just forget about Sicky really - I assume he's a bit of a lost cause

[08:41] Neal Thurman: injured too often, not that great when healthy, redundant even if productive

[08:41] Neal Thurman: maybe he's a candidate for MLS :-)

[08:41] Jeremy Spitzberg: ha

[08:41] Jeremy Spitzberg: if healthy i think he's a good player

[08:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: but they guy behind the guy, maybe

[08:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: and like you say...

[08:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: really prefers the center

[08:42] Neal Thurman: I probably saw his best performance ever in person so I'm definitely a believer at some level

[08:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: too bad wenger doesn't adopt some form of the 4-3-3

[08:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: the US game?

[08:43] Jeremy Spitzberg: i think we all have that goal burned into our brains

[08:44] Neal Thurman: yeah

[08:44] Neal Thurman: he completely terrorized the center of the midfield in that match - I'm guessing wenger had him in mind to be Cesc until Cesc got older but then Cesc turned out to be productive beyond his years

[11:14] Jeremy Spitzberg: ferdinand back

[11:14] Jeremy Spitzberg: park too

[11:14] Neal Thurman: I'll bet if you look closely you can see the duct tape and bailing wire that SAF used to hold them together

[11:15] Jeremy Spitzberg: edwards benched for sun :-(

[11:15] Neal Thurman: ouch

[11:15] Jeremy Spitzberg: d'oh

[11:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: i guess he was just playing in place of malbranque

[11:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: stupid mistake on my part

[11:20] Neal Thurman: well, you can take solice in the fact that I'm keeping Guthrie's goose-egg on the bench until more is known about his hammy

[11:22] Jeremy Spitzberg: you're getting a lot of nothing from nufc this week

[11:22] Neal Thurman: and I'm ok with that

[11:23] Jeremy Spitzberg: ;-)

[11:23] Jeremy Spitzberg: one of those week where you get goose eggs and still gain ground

[11:24] Neal Thurman: certainly a possibility

[11:24] Neal Thurman: waiting for last minute news that Given is a go and Robinho is getting ready for a hat trick

[11:29] Jeremy Spitzberg: pennant and kanu for por

[11:29] Jeremy Spitzberg: belhadj in midfield

[11:29] Jeremy Spitzberg: nugent back on the bench

[11:29] Jeremy Spitzberg: heskey starts for villa

[11:29] Neal Thurman: wow, changes everywhere

[11:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: sidwell drops for gardner and knight in defence

[11:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: no reocoker anywhere

[11:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: let the rumors commence

[11:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: cuellar back to fullback i guess

[11:30] Neal Thurman: what rumors would those be? Sidwell rumors?

[11:31] Jeremy Spitzberg: where's nrc?

[11:31] Jeremy Spitzberg: would be a good pick for some club

[11:31] Jeremy Spitzberg: first team football for him

[11:31] Jeremy Spitzberg: carlo starts for spurs

[11:32] Neal Thurman: yeah - wonder where NRC would end up playing if he were to transfer - midfield? or defence?

[11:32] Jeremy Spitzberg: would guess he's defender by need only

[11:33] Neal Thurman: agreed

[11:33] Jeremy Spitzberg: any clubs need a good (reasonbly) holding middie? ;-)

[11:33] Neal Thurman: not really too many clubs looking for a box-to-box type are there?

[11:33] Neal Thurman: Bolton maybe?

[11:33] Jeremy Spitzberg: everyone set in that position

[11:33] Neal Thurman: Rovers?

[11:34] Jeremy Spitzberg: ars

[11:34] Jeremy Spitzberg: hamburg looking for middies

[11:36] Neal Thurman: hard to see him going to ARS if he can't beat out Petrov/Sidwell

[11:41] Neal Thurman: wow, half the team hurt and Fletcher can't crack the starting line-up - wasn't there talk earlier this year about how great he was?

[11:41] Jeremy Spitzberg: 4 shots, 4 goals i think it was

[11:42] Neal Thurman: someone should name their team that ;-)

[11:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: ;-)

[12:03] Neal Thurman: NRC injured

[12:03] Jeremy Spitzberg: a ha

[12:03] Jeremy Spitzberg: never mind ;-)

[12:03] Neal Thurman: stop the rumor mill

[12:04] Neal Thurman: Blue Horseshoe does NOT love Annicot Steel, I repeat Blue Horseshoe does NOT love Annicot Steel

[12:04] Jeremy Spitzberg: Various sources in the English press claim that Portsmouth are set to sign Javier Saviola on loan from Real Madrid till the end of the season

[12:04] Jeremy Spitzberg: wall street, right?

[12:04] Neal Thurman: yes

[12:05] Neal Thurman: better than the gangly/gangly partnership of Kanu and Crouch

[12:05] Neal Thurman: the Saviola to Pompey rumor won't go away, maybe there's something to it

[12:08] Jeremy Spitzberg: lennon for spurs

[12:09] Jeremy Spitzberg: defoe assist

[12:09] Jeremy Spitzberg: grrr

[12:09] Neal Thurman: woohoo

[12:09] Neal Thurman: btw, Lennon back to spurs for a bunch of cash and then Saviola to Pompey on loan would be some awesome business

[12:10] Jeremy Spitzberg: defoe?

[12:10] Neal Thurman: yes, oops

[12:10] Jeremy Spitzberg: agreed

[12:13] Neal Thurman: Giggs could win player of the season?

[12:13] Neal Thurman: What games do these people watch?

[12:14] Jeremy Spitzberg: must be the 5 mins highlights of giggs...

[12:14] Jeremy Spitzberg: doing something

[12:14] Jeremy Spitzberg: not sure what

[12:15] Neal Thurman: me either, I'm sure he's done well being glue and all that but still - hard to take it outside of the group of BFAY, Zaki, Lamps, Gerrard, RvP (Zaki only because he has Wigan in the top half)

[12:16] Jeremy Spitzberg: can't argue w/ that list

[12:19] Neal Thurman: guess you do need to have SOMEONE from ManYoo since they're leading but I'd be inclined towards Vidic

[12:20] Jeremy Spitzberg: consensus pick

[12:20] Jeremy Spitzberg: all fulham

[12:20] Jeremy Spitzberg: very nervous

[12:23] Jeremy Spitzberg: defoe

[12:23] Jeremy Spitzberg: $#*t $#*t $#*t

[12:23] Neal Thurman: did he score?

[12:23] Jeremy Spitzberg: y

[12:24] Jeremy Spitzberg: me of little faith

[12:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: now dawson from modric

[12:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: wow

[12:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: stoke collapsing

[12:26] Neal Thurman: as they tend to away from home

[12:26] Jeremy Spitzberg: KJ shot on

[12:28] Neal Thurman: day starting off well

[12:28] Jeremy Spitzberg: grrr

[12:29] Neal Thurman: Heskey on his debut

[12:29] Neal Thurman: from Gabby

[12:29] Jeremy Spitzberg: sigh

[12:31] Neal Thurman: Defoe with an SOT cleared off the line

[12:31] Jeremy Spitzberg: do those count?

[12:31] Neal Thurman: not sure

[12:33] Neal Thurman: seems like it should since it was a shot that would have gone in but for the intervention of someone on the goalline but who knows when it comes to Yahoo

[12:34] Neal Thurman: wow, SUN/FUL got to halftime quickly

[12:35] Jeremy Spitzberg: not much happening

[12:36] Neal Thurman: good for you on the keeper front

[12:36] Jeremy Spitzberg: shhhh

[12:36] Neal Thurman: don't talk about the no-hitter while it is still in progress?

[12:36] Jeremy Spitzberg: shhhh

[12:39] Neal Thurman: wow, Hayden Mullins with two actually opportunities thus far - two more than he's had all season?

[12:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: berbs from carrick

[12:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: i can't make a good choice these days

[12:40] Neal Thurman: well, since it was Berbs or Defoe, I guess I'm good with Berbs getting one as well

[12:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: ugh

[12:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: just ugh

[12:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: cron killing me so far

[12:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: should have gone lamps/berb

[12:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: and not cron/elk

[12:45] Neal Thurman: hmm, Defoe to Berbs? or keep Defoe for Bolton match?

[12:46] Neal Thurman: ouch - just missed CRon to Carlito

[12:49] Jeremy Spitzberg: that would have been sweet

[12:55] Neal Thurman: CRon misses another good opportunity wide (he's just not quite at his best these days, is he)

[12:58] Jeremy Spitzberg: grrr

[12:58] Jeremy Spitzberg: probbo (the other one) red

[12:59] Neal Thurman: ManYoo to start being REALLY rampant?

[12:59] Jeremy Spitzberg: PLEASE!

[12:59] Neal Thurman: grr

[12:59] Jeremy Spitzberg: grrr

[12:59] Jeremy Spitzberg: nothing

[12:59] Neal Thurman: wow, those are some crazy expectations

[13:00] Jeremy Spitzberg: ?

[13:00] Neal Thurman: were you "grrr-ing" that nothing had happened for ManYoo yet?

[13:00] Jeremy Spitzberg: y

[13:00] Neal Thurman: well, the RC just happened 15 seconds ago

[13:00] Jeremy Spitzberg: actually admonishing you for grr'ing

[13:00] Jeremy Spitzberg: when nothing has happened

[13:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: KJ goal

[13:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: grrr

[13:01] Neal Thurman: lol - I'm grring the potential

[13:01] Neal Thurman: go KJ - making it hard to figure who I'm gonig to gut for Pennant

[13:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: why do you need to gut anyone?

[13:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: you're scoring left right and center

[13:02] Neal Thurman: well, that's why I'm not going to do it

[13:02] Neal Thurman: I'd like to have Berbs too but I don't have a slot

[13:02] Jeremy Spitzberg: tevez!

[13:02] Jeremy Spitzberg: finally

[13:02] Jeremy Spitzberg: something

[13:03] Neal Thurman: grrr - the Tevez goal was completely avoidable

[13:17] Neal Thurman: stoke pull one back, was Bale inserted?

[13:18] Jeremy Spitzberg: lol

[13:18] Neal Thurman: James Beattie, welcome back to the Prem (from Eth)

[13:18] Neal Thurman: nice to see their money isn't going entirely to waste

[13:19] Neal Thurman: well, Davies isn't going to live up to your expectations that way...

[13:19] Jeremy Spitzberg: :-(

[13:23] Jeremy Spitzberg: edwards on

[13:23] Neal Thurman: so that's something

[13:24] Jeremy Spitzberg: *shaking head*

[13:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: belhadj taking some corners

[13:25] Jeremy Spitzberg: but pennant busy at the least

[13:26] Neal Thurman: and it sounds like Belhadj was THIS close to getting tossed

[13:26] Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah

[13:26] Jeremy Spitzberg: villa just playing it out

[13:26] Jeremy Spitzberg: dangerous game

[13:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: c'mon cron

[13:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: do some f#c&*ng thing!

[13:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: well, i guess i can sell him for the eve match

[13:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: liv/che and man/eve

[13:27] Jeremy Spitzberg: does that take cron lamps and gerrard off the table?

[13:27] Neal Thurman: yeah - should be some good watching this weekend

[13:28] Neal Thurman: hard to say - certainly doesn't take Gerrard off in my mind - CHE are hardly the rock solid D they once were

[13:28] Neal Thurman: Lamps will depend on discount for me

[13:28] Neal Thurman: currently at 3.5 below market

[13:28] Neal Thurman: so he stays

[13:30] Jeremy Spitzberg: can't argue

[13:33] Jeremy Spitzberg: belhadj off

[13:33] Jeremy Spitzberg: more for pennant to do ;-)

[13:34] Neal Thurman: :-)

[13:36] Jeremy Spitzberg: vidic from giggs

[13:36] Neal Thurman: player of the year?

[13:36] Neal Thurman: (Vidic, not Giggs)

[13:36] Jeremy Spitzberg: either ;-)

[13:36] Neal Thurman: lol

[13:37] Neal Thurman: and there's the confirmation

[13:39] Jeremy Spitzberg: b/w cron and edwards i'm matching guth and given

[13:39] Jeremy Spitzberg: but for about $20 more

[13:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: throw in milner and it's a lousy day all around for me

[13:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: (almost)

[13:40] Neal Thurman: other than Tevez

[13:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: and fulop

[13:40] Neal Thurman: and there's the final whistle on that no hitter

[13:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: cron from giggs!

[13:40] Neal Thurman: happy to share the points with you on that one - KJ goal and Fulop win/cs

[13:40] Jeremy Spitzberg: inhale

[13:41] Jeremy Spitzberg: exhale

[13:41] Neal Thurman: grumble

[13:41] Neal Thurman: but hard to imagine it wasn't coming eventually

[13:41] Neal Thurman: now have to start thinking about getting CRon back in the line-up somehow

[13:41] Jeremy Spitzberg: giggs w/ 3 assists?

[13:41] Neal Thurman: player of the year?

[13:41] Neal Thurman: ;-)

[13:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: now just need a late something from milner

[13:42] Neal Thurman: lol

[13:42] Neal Thurman: wonder if there's any way to get to CRon, Lamps, and Gerrard

[13:42] Neal Thurman: :-)

[13:42] Jeremy Spitzberg: probably

[13:43] Jeremy Spitzberg: but it means no fwds

[13:43] Neal Thurman: need to find about 10 to get from SWP to CRon

[13:43] Jeremy Spitzberg: heskey/mcc/kj maybe

[13:43] Neal Thurman: how much is Pennant?

[13:43] Jeremy Spitzberg: bridge to olsson

[13:43] Jeremy Spitzberg: 6.55

[13:43] Neal Thurman: Defoe to Pennant (10ish to 6.55) - Bridge to Olsson (7ish to 2ish?)

[13:44] Jeremy Spitzberg: try it

[13:44] Jeremy Spitzberg: see how close you get

[13:44] Neal Thurman: how much is heskey?

[13:44] Jeremy Spitzberg: 6 something as well, i think

[13:45] Jeremy Spitzberg: 6.38

[13:45] Jeremy Spitzberg: zamora 5.46

[13:46] Neal Thurman: about a buck short :-(

[13:46] Jeremy Spitzberg: mullins 3.56

[13:46] Neal Thurman: meh

[13:46] Neal Thurman: don't want to cripple the rest of the squad (beyond Olsson)

[13:47] Jeremy Spitzberg: myhill

[13:47] Neal Thurman: would be worthwhile with Pennant/Heskey as either would be likely to produce a decent return

[13:48] Neal Thurman: Given, Pants, Bos, Olsson, Gut, Gerrard, Cron, Lamps, Pennant, Benni, KJ is pretty solid all the way through

[13:48] Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah

[13:49] Neal Thurman: Pennant for Zamora means that I'm trading three entire slots for CRon and nothing from the other two

[13:49] Neal Thurman: unless Zamora suddenly finds his WHU from two seasons ago form

[13:49] Jeremy Spitzberg: cron from berb

[13:49] Neal Thurman: grr

[13:50] Jeremy Spitzberg: kj muy studly

[13:51] Neal Thurman: points coming in?

[13:51] Jeremy Spitzberg: no

[13:51] Jeremy Spitzberg: just opining

[13:51] Neal Thurman: certainly at 7.09 I'm liking him a lot

[13:51] Neal Thurman: should ManYoo sell rooney? :-)

[13:52] Jeremy Spitzberg: and buy tevez?

[13:52] Neal Thurman: they seem to be much better going forward without him

[13:52] Jeremy Spitzberg: nah...

[13:52] Neal Thurman: the Ewing Theory?

[13:52] Jeremy Spitzberg: couldn't get value for him

[13:52] Neal Thurman: I'm sure they could get crazy value from Citeh

[13:52] Jeremy Spitzberg: lol

[13:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: milner booked

[13:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: :-(

[13:53] Neal Thurman: did Defoe even show up in the 2nd half?

[13:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: did he have to?

[13:54] Neal Thurman: not really - has there even been an update from that match since Stoke scored?

[13:54] Jeremy Spitzberg: no change

[13:54] Neal Thurman: and its over

[13:54] Neal Thurman: Berbs off

[13:54] Neal Thurman: (substituted, not sent off)

[13:55] Jeremy Spitzberg: for tosic

[13:56] Jeremy Spitzberg: villa over and i'll be lucky to get nothing from milner

[13:56] Neal Thurman: wow, Carson with worst day ever? 5-0 loss + a yellow card

[13:56] Jeremy Spitzberg: i dunno

[13:56] Jeremy Spitzberg: he's had some bad days

[13:57] Neal Thurman: true, but that's worse than anything any of my keepers (Carson or otherwise) did this season

[13:57] Jeremy Spitzberg: though i don't know that he's made a save

[13:57] Jeremy Spitzberg: maybe 2

[13:58] Jeremy Spitzberg: from berbs and park

[13:58] Neal Thurman: going to be -20 or so?

[14:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: so -15, -3, -1 + 4

[14:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: ~15 down

[14:02] Neal Thurman: ugly

[14:02] Neal Thurman: and it isn't over yet

[14:02] Jeremy Spitzberg: tevez shot

[14:02] Jeremy Spitzberg: -13

[14:07] Jeremy Spitzberg: and we're done

[14:08] Neal Thurman: well, probably about even on points today

[14:08] Jeremy Spitzberg: 3 goals and a clean sheet from 6 players

[14:08] Jeremy Spitzberg: 2 goals and an assist from 3 players

[14:08] Jeremy Spitzberg: for you

[14:09] Neal Thurman: yup

[14:09] Jeremy Spitzberg: bos, bridge, mcc a wash

[14:09] Neal Thurman: oh, didn't realize you'd gotten on the Mcc bandwagon

[14:09] Jeremy Spitzberg: so it's elk/noble tomorrow

[14:09] Neal Thurman: vs Lamps/Gerrard/SWP

[14:09] Jeremy Spitzberg: v. lamps/gerrard/swp/guth/giv

[14:10] Neal Thurman: hmm, physioroom still doesn't have a return date listed for Gut

[14:11] Neal Thurman: not sure if that's good or bad

[14:11] Neal Thurman: they didn't have one listed for Ryan Donk and he played today

[14:13] Jeremy Spitzberg: guth in the squad list

[14:13] Jeremy Spitzberg: FWIW

[14:13] Neal Thurman: sweet

[14:14] Neal Thurman: maybe I won't be a man down

[14:14] Neal Thurman: or rather, maybe I'll only be down the man that I want to be down in Given

[14:15] Jeremy Spitzberg: But with Nicky Butt suspended and Danny Guthrie out of the trip to Eastlands with a hamstring injury,

[14:15] Neal Thurman: hmm, but still in the squad list?

[14:15] Jeremy Spitzberg: y

[14:16] Neal Thurman: very strange

[14:16] Jeremy Spitzberg: Newcaslte (from): Provisional squad: Given, Harper, Forster, Krul, Enrique, Bassong, Coloccini, Taylor, Edgar, Guthrie, N'Zogbia, Duff, Gutierrez, Lovenkrands, Geremi, Donaldson, Doninger, Godsmark, Owen, Xisco, Carroll, LuaLua, Ranger.

[14:17] Jeremy Spitzberg: godsmark?

[14:19] Neal Thurman: new blog favorite?

[14:19] Neal Thurman: listed with the strikers?

[14:19] Jeremy Spitzberg: who knows

[14:20] Neal Thurman: how awesome would it be if he was even competent

[14:50] Jeremy Spitzberg: pts coming in

[14:51] Neal Thurman: wow - that was quick

[14:51] Jeremy Spitzberg: 62 from my 6

[14:51] Neal Thurman: 50.5 from my 3 (7.5, 20 KJ, 23 Defoe)

[14:51] Jeremy Spitzberg: 50.5 from your 3

[14:51] Neal Thurman: jinx

[14:52] Neal Thurman: go Benni/Lamps/Gerrard/Gut's Hammy

[14:52] Jeremy Spitzberg: mike w/ 42.5 from his 3

[14:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: i don't know if i want your guys to play or not

[14:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: too funny

[14:53] Neal Thurman: lol

[14:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: jon the winner so far

[14:53] Neal Thurman: you don't want Gut to play - he's been great since I picked him up

[14:53] Jeremy Spitzberg: 76.5 from 5

[14:54] Neal Thurman: yup - but he has crap left

[14:54] Jeremy Spitzberg: i liked him first!

[14:54] Jeremy Spitzberg: guth, not jon

[14:54] Neal Thurman: HA

[14:54] Jeremy Spitzberg: still has ireland, jummy

[14:54] Jeremy Spitzberg: deco and box

[14:54] Jeremy Spitzberg: bos

[14:55] Jeremy Spitzberg: and jrob, who i think is hurt

[14:55] Neal Thurman: Deco hurt

[14:55] Neal Thurman: JRob maybe hurt

[14:55] Neal Thurman: who knows what's up with Ireland

[14:55] Jeremy Spitzberg: Strikers Jason Roberts and Matt Derbyshire are back after missing the FA Cup match at Sunderland, as are midfielder David Dunn and defender Andre Ooijer.

[14:55] Neal Thurman: d'oh

[14:55] Neal Thurman: is Jummy going to play?

[14:55] Neal Thurman: he hasn't played in weeks

[15:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: virus

[15:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: might be on the bench

[15:01] Jeremy Spitzberg: last i read

[15:02] Neal Thurman: that helps then :-0

[15:02] Neal Thurman: getting annoyed at him being so far ahead of me :-)

[15:03] Neal Thurman: even if its less than 100 points total

[15:03] Neal Thurman: who is flambegas united?

[15:03] Neal Thurman: he's at 73.5 from 4 players

[15:04] Neal Thurman: with Robinho/Almunia/Nasri/Duff/Kilbane/Bos/Mok still to go

[15:05] Jeremy Spitzberg: toby

[15:06] Neal Thurman: and the answer to "is Gerrard/Lamps/CRon possible?" is apparently "yes" with Zaki and Robinho up front and Nelsen the only sketchy inclusion (see Goldenballs FC)

[15:06] Jeremy Spitzberg: nice

[15:06] Neal Thurman: yeah - if Modric ever does anything, that's a great line-up

[15:06] Jeremy Spitzberg: 8pts today

[15:07] Neal Thurman: yeah but long dry spells

[15:07] Neal Thurman: has been much better the last six or seven weeks though

[15:07] Neal Thurman: but 10 points total the five weeks before that

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Oh, and it ends rather abruptly.  Sorry about that.