Dusic

Burnley messed up the transfer window but IMO they were right not to overpay for Tella.

That obviously isnt the strategy. He was clearly annoyed with the performance too. Please can we move on from it being his fault everytime we don't win a game?

I wouldn't necessarily say that none of the managers have rated him. Ralph gave him some gametime pretty early on in his time here. Jones said recently he was the best finisher at the club and in the last couple of weeks RM has repeatedly said he trains very well and is a good prospect in addition to bringing him on in a few quite crucial moments like Stoke & Preston away. He was also picked and scored for France U21s recently, which clearly shows he has something. Seems like maybe he struggles to replicate his talent in training onto the pitch, and easy to forget he is still fairly young. Every time he plays for us he probably puts a lot of preasure on himself as he knows he doesn't get many chances and needs to make a statement. Seeing as we paid upwards of £10m we arent going to just cut our losses. If Adams goes in Jan then I think he stays. If Adams stays then maybe a loan move to somewhere abroad would be viable but only worth it if he actually plays.

Just re-read my FA level one and feel that we have got to be considering Holgate as a front sweeper for this one.

Out of interest, how do you know about Aribo & Mara having attitude issues? Certainly at odds with Russell Martin's recent comments on Aribo in particular where he basically said the opposite.

One thing for sure: we will sell him for more than we paid!

Nice to see Papa and Deano at @Dig Dig birthday party tonight, alongside other SFC top lads including Jeff Le Taxi, Camden Brett, BGComplaints, Ron and Dave. P&D both on form and complementary about Saints under RM!

Don't really see the big deal on this. He isnt a defensive midfield player so he is really competing with the likes of Gallagher as a box to box player and players like Bellingham and Maddiaon for a role further ahead. Henderson is arguable but clearly Southgate values his experience and will obviously just be a bench option now anyway in the proper games. Besides, clearly his best attribute is set plays and there are others who are fairly decent at them who will be starting games for England anyway whereas if he did make the squad he would just be an used sub. He is a good player and a great character but he isn't better than the players who are currently picked. Thats why they are and he isn't.

The December period will be crucial. From 9th Dec to Boxing Day, Ipswich have: Boro (away), Watford (away), Norwich (home), Leeds (away), Leicester (home). Thats a pretty tough run at this level and surely if they are to slip up its going to be during a period like this. Leeds also have a tricky spell from 2nd to 29th Dec: Boro (home), Blackburn (away), Sunderland (away), Cov (home), Ipswich (home), Preston (away), WBA (away). If we are going to make up ground and put ourselves in a really good position then we have to do it during the next two months when our best looking run of games coincides with others hardest spells and where our deep squad should help in the Christmas period.

Swansea fans wouldn't disagree that he successfully instilled a possession based style. Neither would MK Dons. In both cases the stats clearly show this. I know you aren't a big fan but pretty hard to argue the fact that RM can get his teams playing heavy possession football - he has done it at all three clubs!!

Makes complete sense but also worth stating that whilst getting us into 4th with usual auto promotion PPG he has also totally overhauled the style of play - which was clearly a massive part of why he was brought in. Always a sign of a good manager when they can quickly get a team playing the style they want and RM has undoubtedly done that, even if its jot everyone's cup of tea. As was obvious at the time we recruited him for the reason above, with the hope/expectstion that with better players he would get better results than he has at previous clubs where he also successfully instilled his style. So far it appears that its going the way that the club wants - hopefully that continues.

Another Crooky special: https://x.com/reptracker/status/1722954038562508838?t=pZrNdlsemYUisRo6JgFvMg&s=09

The gap between U21 star and pro mens football is massive and I don't think he would have got many minutes here given the pressure to win and the fact we went out the EFL Cup so early. Sure this loan will do him plenty of good and hopefully for him he will have a long pro career and not end up as another Seager, Hesketh etc who were excellent at youth level and couldn't translate it to the senior game. He definitely has something about him and seems mentally strong.

Easy to see why players seem to want to play for him and that is half the battle. Must be so draining being a manager with the pressure and scrutiny, so being clear on what you want and sticking by that when the inevitable bad runs happen is a good thing IMO. Pretty much all our best managers have been seemingly decent people.

Steven Davis was a much better player than Stuart Armstrong. He is a decent player for our current situation and overall has been a good signing but his contract isnt really a cause for concern.

Watched the first half today and it was very clear that without the star names of Doyle, SAA, Dibling etc the vast majority of the young lads playing toda will never make it at a high (PL/EFL) level. The CBs were awkward on the ball and the midfielders lacked any real authority. It was a bit of a patchwork XI and Bragg looked decent at times but just highlights how far below pro mens level this really is...and I can only assume Vokins is still playing there because he is on a big contract he has no chance of replicating elsewhere. Of course at this level its more about producing good individuals than a good team and we have a handful of really top players in this age bracket but a huge drop off when they don't play. Also...Doyle out injured at the moment but I think his contract ends at the end of the season. He strikes me as a quality technical player who once the physical stuff comes could be an excellent player. Would be a big blow to the academy to lose him but no reports of any agreement imminent and he hasnt been involved first team wise despite the relegation.

Watched the Jomes CV thing and pretty much the only bit of interest was that when he spoke about Sekou Mara he said he is/was "probably the best finisher at the club". He obviously scored in that game but interesting that RM has also been positive about him recently and Ralph was also keen to give him a chance so he obviously shows something at Staplewood if not really in the games. Aside from that we were really aggressive and stuff.

Once Stewart is up and running I don't think we will go for a nrw striker even if Adams goes. Stewart, Armstrong, Mara, Alcaraz seems fine as options for essentially one position, anyone else would barely feature.

He is definitely not going to go from no football for 10/11 months to suddenly starting a game. Personally expect he will either be an unused or very late sub vs WBA or will feature on the bench after the next Intl break. Looks like Adams is back training so really no point rushing Stewart, there will be plenty of games for him to make a big impact this season.

Imagine we will try to get a fee for Adams in January so good to get RS up to speed by then. Also end of December Ipswich and Leeds both have much tougher games than us on paper so good to have all the options we possibly can around then due to the tight (ridiculous) schedule.

This post is just wrong. He wants both the wide players (Sulemana and Arma in the main) to come inside because thats where they are a threat. Arma is up with the top scorers from this position largely because he is enabled to come inside by the fact KWP goes on the outside of him to provide the attacking width. Sulemana they want running with the ball into the box, thats obvious based on every game so far where he has attacked the full back and ran towards goal, not stayed wide and put crosses in. KWP is our best player and an excellent attacking RB so asking him to "concentrate on disciplined defence" would be an awful use of his skills. Utter dross.

Had earmarked this as a perfect game for Bree to be a front sweeper covering the whole pitch and stopping attacks. Would bring him in for Adam Armstrong who didn't score many in the PL the last two seasons. That means Holgate in for Manning and Safri to give Smallbone a rest.

If Adams goes (last chance to get some cash) then we need another forward. Otherwise aside from maybe LB cover I don't see much happening unless we have an injury crisis. Again, keeping KWP will be huge.

Very good win, especially considering how many players had been away and Hull's home record and great to be the team putting pressure on in the latter stages. Nothing to fear in this league and should still be aiming for the 2nd automatic slot.

Highly doubt he will be involved in the squad seeing as we havent seen any pics or videos of him training with the team and surely after such a long injury he would need some U21 game time or friendlies etc?