Ngog we trust?

I've been pretty busy in work recently so updates have been lacking. Here's a brief overview of the last two games.

Sunday's match with Arsenal was really disappointing. Although, I was really happy at half time. We had started really well and Masch was closing them down to great effect. El Nino was back in the saddle even though he didn't look anywhere near 100%. He was presented with a great chance early on which he fluffed but I felt a fit and firing Torres would have finished with ease. But Deadly Dirk struck to put us ahead with a cool finish from close range. We might have been 2-0 up if the ref had have given us a peno when Gerrard was taken down in the box. But after the break GloJo was unlucky to score an o.g. After that our heads dropped and Arshavin struck again. He must with he could play us every week. After that we fell apart. There was very little effort and only a few half chances for us to go level. The contrasts between the halves was stark.Fortunately, we got things back on track with a 2-1 win over Wigan on Wednesday. This was a much more solid display. We created quite a few chances after Ngog opened the scoring. He started in place of Torres who is having his injury managed and can't play two games per week.

Yossi, Agger and Gerrard all had good chances to increase our lead before Torres, on as sub, went round the keeper and scuffed it over the line. Not the prettiest he's scored but they all count. It did get a bit easier after that but we still had a nervous ending as N'Zogbia got one back for them in injury time. On a positive note, Insua looked much fresher, and seems to have benefitted from a rest. Ngog continues to score and now has 6 goals this season. He's developing every game and his movement and link up play are improving rapidly. Given the fragility of our Spanish striker, I expect young David to continue to play regularly for the rest of the season. A £1.5m bargain from Rafa, despite the bosses reputation for profligacy in the transfer market.

Today's match sees us take on Portsmouth in Fratton Park. This hasn't been a happy hunting ground for us in the past but that was more under 'Arry. They're not in great form but have Grant in charge now and he may make a difference from their early season form. GloJo and Babel are back in the squad for this one. Happy to have Glen back but Babel is a waste of space. I expect another tough and nervy match given our fragile confidence and form but it's one that we should win ultimately.

The Ruud Van Nistelroy rumours won't go away. There might actually be something in this. I think he'd be a great impact sub or striker to have on rotation.

Danny Pacheco has a bright future according to the boss. I think we all saw hints of that future with his cameo against Fiorentina. I can see him getting more game time now that Voronin is out in the cold. Another youngster who made an impression in the Champions League group was Jovetic. He's a player that Rafa tried to sign in the summer before budgetary constraints kicked in, according to Dominic King in the Echo. I think he'd be superb for us but I fear he's out of our price range now.

I'll leave you with a one liner I came up over last weekend.

What's the difference between Berbatov and Voronin?

About £31m.