Stoke FC vs. West Ham United

Quote from BFS.......I changed the team around today, one to try and freshen the team up, two to bring some of the players in to show they can deliver, like the lads have delivered before. They'll be looking at me and saying we've lost the game 3-1, so why did I make those changes

Exactly !

Big mistake Sam what with your meddling and a very dodgy ref I now have my worrying head back on  

Who was that ref ? don't think ive seen im before.

The Penalty incident was unbelievable, he led with his elbow and the ball struck it, is that a natural arm position ?

saying that from what I saw it didn't look like we deserved a win....... but goals change games and if we got a pen then who knows what would have happened.

have to agree with the junior kray... as good as we were for spells, over all we really didn't look like or deserve to get anything other than beaten...

A disappointing result considering we had taken the lead so early and been more in control of the game for 65 minutes. The decision to tinker generally didn't help, but particularly at the back. I said in my Everton comments that Ginge had been outstanding in that game. If Reid was to return to the starting line-up, then it absolutely certainly should not have been in place of Collins. Following his recent performances, coupled with his goal for Wales, Collins would have been in good form going into a battle he would have relished at the Britannia.

We definitely should have had a penalty for the handball. A draw would have been a fairer result but Stoke probably edged it in terms of playing the right pass at the right time - we didn't do that when we got into half-decent positions. On a personal note, I did get on Match of the Day, when they homed in on the West Ham fans while going through the teams...

For Man Utd, I would recall Ginge without a doubt, probably in place of Tomkins. As much as I am a fan of the ever-reliable McCartney, I would give Armero a go at left-back to see what he's like ahead of the more crucial Hull and Sunderland games - apparently he's pulling up all kinds of trees in training. Downing, another who I am a fan of, had a real off-day at Stoke and it might be worth having him come off the bench against Man Utd, saving his legs for the two aforementioned games; I'd bring Jarvis back in as his replacement. Also Mo Diame is not a winger and the qualities that he does have are wasted out there. I'd put him back in midfield with Noble and move Nocerino further forward to one of the flanks with licence to roam inside. This will make our play less one-dimensional, with the Italian offering more nous and creative ability than Diame in those areas.

Adrian 6
Demel 6
Reid 5
Tomkins 5
McCartney 5
Nocerino 6
Noble 7 (West Ham Man of the Match)
Downing 5
Nolan 6
Diame 6
Carroll 7

J.Cole 5
C.Cole 5
Armero 5