Give Weimann A Chance!!!

I write this for a couple of very simple reasons.  The first one is obviously the fact that Bent is now out for the rest of the season.  The next reason is the fact that everyone who has ever worked or played with him has always given him rave reviews and can't stop banging on about how good a goalscorer he is.

So why not play him!!! As much as I like Gabby he will never be a goalscorer.  I know he has had seasons where he has been in double figures but in terms of goal scoring ability he will never be the best.  Then we have Heskey, need I go on?

But on our hands we have what Darren Bent described as one of the best natural finishers he has seen in a long, long time.  Surely he must be given his chance to prove himself now that the opportunity has arised.  However it wouldn't surprise me to see Big Eck play Heskey as a lone striker!

But lets just wait and see...

Positive Signs But Same Old Woes

Once again I have mixed emotions after a Villa game and it's really starting to get on my wick! We've got it in the locker to play good stuff and dominate teams, we showed that at times today. Why then do we go ultra defensive as soon as we take the lead? We did it under O'Neill aswell but not quite to this extent. Mcleish is the only man responsible, and only he can fix it.

There were clear positives to take from today, the obvious one being scoring twice away from home. Stan's one in a million's are turning into one in ten's, N'Zogbia started to look like justifying his price tag (not totally yet) and Chris Herd did everything I thought he could do. We had moments where we dominated possession and we created a few good chances. Much better away from home.

But once again we are talking about dropped points. I know that both Sunderland goals could potentially have been avoided if the ref had given decisions our way but that doesn't excuse poor defending. The first goal was decent but easily avoidable and the second was just unforgiveable. The smallest player on the pitch with a free header from close range when we are just a couple of minutes from 3 valuable points.

If we cut out the stupid defensive errors and get Heskey out the side I think we have the makings of a solid
mid-table side. Unfortunately I think that's the best we can hope for but I for one would be happy with that. There have been whispers of relegation recently so I would be very pleased to cement our place in the Premier League.

Hilarious Heskey Video

When I first saw this Emile Heskey 'tribute' video I thought it was brilliant.  So simple but for any football fan, hilarious!

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=GooOjXP53pY

Injury Latest

Good news for us coming out today that we could have as many as 5 players back from injury for the Wigan game on Saturday.  Darren Bent, Emile Heskey, Jermaine Jenas, Ciaran Clark and Carlos Cuellar are all back in training and hopeful of making the squad this weekend.

• Bent has apparently overcome his groin injury that kept him out of the QPR game but he thought he had shaken it off one time already so it will be interesting to see if there is any reaction on Saturday.
• Heskey is also back after his hamstring strain, though I'm hoping this doesn't mean he will be taking back his place in the team at the expense of someone more worthy.
• Jenas should finally make his debut at last! I've been really looking forward to seeing him in our midfield to see if he can add that spark that we have been lacking.
• Clark has recovered from a knee injury but this just means that our bench will look a bit stronger as there is no chance he will get a start.
• Finally Cuellar is making a return!!! I rate him highly but sadly I see no way of him breaking the current partnership at the back.  I agree with the saying "If it's not broke, don't fix it" and I think this statement should apply here.

This is what Mcleish had to say:

"Darren trained today which is good news. The injury wasn't as bad as first feared so it will be good to get him back in action and unleash him again.
"Emile will train later this week with the group. He has already started preliminary training but he will be with us when we are preparing for the weekend game so he will be available.
"The good news on Jermaine is that he started training yesterday and he had a good session.
"He had another good session today and looked very lively and he is ready to go as well.
"James played through the pain barrier and was hobbling about a wee bit at the end of the QPR game but he is one of these that will run through brick walls.
"We feared the worst afterwards but the scan was good and there was nothing broken.
"He has suffered severe bruising and his ankle is a little bit swollen but we think he might make it at the weekend.
"Ciaran Clark is another one who will join us later and will be available for the weekend."