Today's Banter: Crouch not for sale, Hicks not selling, Agger not fit... yet, & more

Greetings, hope everyone is doing well. I'm neither sick nor incarcerated so life can't be that bad. Anyhow, I guess Rafa and Crouch have kissed and made up since it appears that the England International won't be going anywhere come January. If he continues to play like he did against Porto, even I wouldn't mind having him around. There was speculation earlier this season of him being unhappy about playing time and basically acting bigger than his boots, but apparently egos and differences have been put to rest and for the most part everyone is content. Which brings me to my next point.

In this past month, there's been a visible change in our side. Though there's always plenty of room for improvement as a squad, there appears to be a metamorphosis in attitude. Peter Crouch not whining about playing time being just one of the signs. The thing is, between the Blackburn match and the Fulham tie, our boys began to approach matches with a new found outlook. Instead of going in thinking that they will win because we're the better side, they started believing they would win despite the circumstances. I firmly believe it was the record-setting performance against Beşiktaş that assured them that they are a class bunch capable of beating anyone. Funny how revenge that would make Montezuma blush does that. Then, despite coming up empty most the Fulham match, we didn't give up and continued to push and attack until we finally broke the camel's back. I just thought I'd share that observation.

Apparently Hicks isn't interested in selling his shares in the club. In fact, he's angry that such speculation has come about. I find it a bit humorous that any grown man would get angry over such a thing, not that the press didn't just make up that angle to lure readers. Whether he's interested in selling his shares or not, I don't know, but with how unstable financial markets are these days, anything is possible.

The metatarsal injury Daniel Agger sustained two-and-a-half months back, still isn't fully healed, or at least it doesn't feel right to the soon-to-be 23-year-old. He could return next week though versus Reading thanks to special protective boots. Killer boots, man!


Going into tomorrow's match with Bolton, Rafa gave former Liverpool coach Sammy Lee some credit for Bolton's current run of form. As I mentioned in my kids watch yesterday, the Wanderers are unbeaten in their last five matches including a win over Man United. I'm not sure how much recognition their former manager deserves though, not playing Kevin Nolan wasn't exactly the brightest of ideas. He did break in Danny Guthrie into the starting side though, so I guess he's entitled to some credit for that. By the way, Bolton will not have either Nolan, due to suspension, or Guthrie, due to on-loan regulations, when we face them tomorrow.

Finally, Rafa has come out and said that Torres needs to improve his current form. I know that may shock some supporters who believe the striker was our best player in the Porto match, but let me assure you, if he was our best player, we would have lost. Two flashes of brilliance don't make a great match and I've seen Fernando play far better than that. If he was top that match, he would have probably scored four. Be back soon with my 'What will Rafa do?' for Bolton. Godspeed. Yes, that's my new favorite word.