SonicBoom

Fair enough. You do sound like you have seen more of him than me. Let's hope he does develop and he comes back ready to play for us.

3. He is expensive and I doubt any better than Gallagher who we should have stuck with I've never understood the fixation with Gallagher. No manager picked him regularly. He went to MK Dons and didn't score a goal in 15 games. Then he went to Blackburn and was better. 12 goals in 47 games. Pretty good. Then he went to Birmingham and has 6 in 22 games. He may well return as we have given him a contract but the club definitely don't see him as being ready yet - and the stats support that.

MP left and went to Spurs. He's won..ummm nothing. He also won nothing with us. But he has more resources and better players now - so really he's more of a failure now than he was with us.

Atmosphere has died second half

Defensively we look half asleep.

You do fear that any changes we make will be to hang on, not to push them back.

It's a murky world that's for sure. I've heard stories that clubs want to keep one kid but will also keep another player or two on because they are his friend and he'll be happier. Great for the player who is wanted but seems cruel to give false expectations to other lads who believe they are in with a shot. From the clubs point of view they are looking for those nuggets. Find one and he could be worth tens of millions which will fund the academy for the next ten years. The local kids are also the victims of the clubs success. The higher we go the better those kids have to be. That's why kids at Chelsea and City etc never get to the first team. They are just seen as a revenue stream. Local lads had a far greater chance of getting through when we were in League 1. We could afford to take a risk. Now they have to be ready for the PL straight away. There's no development. I'd say to any kid that wherever you are , make sure you are playing games. You'll have more fun and if you are good enough then you'll always float to the top. Lots of excellent players never went through an academy system. Then again those players today are getting stupid money. Witness the lad they discussed on the radio today. He's at City I think and he just bought a house for 2.2 million and he's 20. He's never played for the first team.

Well everything I heard and read pointed to the fact that Cortese was the opposite of an excellent leader. He ruled by fear and many people at the club were treated with utter contempt - including good guys like MLT and Benali which was disgraceful. He was certainly ambitious but on a personal basis. Most of what he did was to big himself up and raise his own profile. He actually seemed like a bitter spiteful man beset with small man syndrome. If he was this excellent leader then he would have been snapped up by a champions league club. Wasn't he going to Milan? Or even another PL club? OK what about championship? Nope. No one took him.

Not sure why Austin is getting stick. He is the only player we have that given a chance would stick it way. People moaning he's not mobile but that's not his game. Gabbi is very mobile and he barely gets the ball. The real issue is that MP should find a system that can make the most of the players he picks. I doubt that Austins introduction will trigger a flood of through balls into the channels do you?

Most premier league games are pretty dire affairs these days aren't they. Even Liverpool United was a snooze fest. The current trend seems to be to not lose at all costs.

"Saints til I die but there comes a point when enough is enough"? Well ? Which is it ?

Cos they are pretty much all dicks.

As we came up the leagues though we were the big fish. Certainly in league one and still pretty big in the championship. We played a lot of small teams and rightly thumped them. The players were all loving it. They were getting success, winning promotions, getting bonus's and scoring loads of goals. Of course none of them wanted to leave. The crowd loved them for it too. Then we got to the premier league. We win less games, score less goals, and the "better" players suddenly see they have the chance to move to greener grass. So player turnover goes up and we identify less with the players we have as they are either brand new or we know they are only here for a short time. Then again I get less bothered as I get older and more cynical. Football is now a very cynical game. The players manage their profiles and careers above and beyond any club they play for. They also see each club as just a job and will move elsewhere for more money despite earning unimaginable amounts anyway. Maybe Id do that if I were them. Im not though. Im a fan and so I no longer invest so much emotion in the team or players as you know you're basically a mug and it's all one way.

Pace is all relative and speed of thought is worth more than anything. If you are intelligent you can always be in the right place. Look at Kane, he's not particularly quick. Hes' just quick enough. Anyway personally I'd play Austin. Gabbi seems to be getting a free pass. People criticise Long as he just runs around a lot. Well Gabbi hasn't done much more since his great start. I hear all about his "intelligent" runs but he is simply not getting into games. Making the same runs each week and not getting the ball doesn't seem that intelligent to me. Yes the service is terrible but until we sort that out we are basically carrying him. Austin is our best finisher. he has the record to prove it and if I was him getting ten minutes each week I'd be getting well p'ed off. We were all pleased he signed but worried about fitness. Now he's fully fit, the team aren't scoring and he's last choice behind Long.

For lots of players going down is a legitimate part of their game. Mane, Hazard and Coutinho are three that spring to mind. They are constantly evaluating where they are. If they realise they cannot get to where they want with the ball then they immediately switch to trying to engineer any contact so they can go down. Hazard is the master. It seems obvious to me but the ref usually just obliges and awards a free kick or pen around the box.

I find him frustrating. He doesn't get down the line enough and he likes to cut in but from what I've seen his shooting is awful. Mostly drags it wide along the floor or straight at the keeper. Worse still I've seen no improvement in any area of his game. He's not better now than when he arrived. He starts every game. I do wonder how Boufal would improve if he was indulged to the same extent. Redmond has had his chance for now and we've failed to score in 9 of 12 home games. Give Boufal ten games in the side and I'd like to think he'd show us something.

We could incorporate a camel to indicate our current goal drought.

When the players are sluggish and don't seem up for it then the first place I would look is the players themselves. You should not need a manager to hype you up. They are fit enough so they should look at their own mentality. Obviously the tactics etc are extremely important but the lack of fight is purely the players. A team full of leaders would have been sorting themselves out on the pitch and possibly having a few harsh words with each other.

Watford have started the season very well. Decent side. We have the usual problem. Gabbiadini a virtual passenger and never sees the ball.

WTF does he have to be "fuming" about? Did we tell him that he would be allowed to move to Liverpool? No. Was he told when he signed his second contract in two years that he could walk out whenever he wanted? No. He is not "fuming". He is sulking - if what you say is true. There is a way back, get your head down, train and play. BUT, it's this sort of report - that he's fuming - that really will turn the fans against him. It's done, you didn't get a move, we know you don't like it, but shut up, and do what you are handsomely paid to do.

What I like about Redmond is that even on a bad day, he doesn't seem to hide. He'll keep getting the ball and at least trying things. His finishing is terrible though, he seems to want to smash it in and ends up pulling his shots. Tadic though is more annoying. He looks like a player that does have the touch, but he seems content to drift through most games having little effect. I know people tell me he's provided x amount of assists - far enough but i also rely on what my eyes tell me. Assists are a strange stat. Just because you were the last one to touch the ball before the scorer, that doesn't tell the whole story. By now he is a senior pro and should be leading the team on the pitch, unfortunately he often seems more concerned with rolling around on the floor waving his arms about.

Where is the pressing? Gabbi tries to close but no one else is within 50 yards of him. We only look interesting when they get into our last third and we seem to have no interest in going forwards at all.

I have to ask , do we EVER get the ball to Gabbiadini?

Well I can confidently confirm that I'd never heard of him and I've never seen him play so I bow to all the European purist hipsters that know all about him and predict he's better than Van Dijk. Although to be frank for the money, he's really only got to be better than Yoshida or Stephens....

I think the point is that anything that helps the atmosphere is to be applauded (although if more applauded then we wouldn't need them ironically), but they just don't make a very nice noise.