Chez

Hoped for a little more from Amstrong there. Decent chance to really strike one. Hit the target, but relatively comfortable.

bad/nervy start by Diallo

is Salisu injured?

Brighton linked with Brereton today in a £20m move.

Slow defenders are a liability. It doesn't mean they can't play well and a great defensive unit can be built with them in. I mean Leicester won the league with Wes Morgan at its heart, but why buy a slow CB when you have the funds (as Leicester did) to buy one with strength, power, ball skills and that pace? Maybe that was the scouting brief: another Wes Morgan, big and good in the air, maybe a but better with the ball. Perhaps the headed goals earlier last season and Euros glossed over the poor second half to the season and the quite frankly shite seasons prior. All being said, not sure we've upgraded in Lyanco though.

each to their own, but for context, and admittedly it would be based on only half a season, what would your assessment be of Perraud?

IMO he was top notch. At his best, no opponent ever beat him, he was so quick and his decision making was excellent. Great first touch and he kept the ball well. He also got forward to create chances. I guess he didn't score goals many goals, but he was probably the best left back in the country at one point. He ain't now, and players that rely heavily on pace, as he did, often fall of a cliff in terms of overall output and effectiveness once the legs go. I'd of liked to have kept him (on a much reduced contract) as backup to a younger player, but that was never going to happen.

back in the day it was radio only, and to be honest as a spectacle its made for radio. To be honest, the first place I look is the BBC website and there it was. Good to see David Seaman looking well and with a huge smile on his face, as always. Shit draw though. Always want a new ground and the long trek to Swansea is not overly appealing. Such is life.

so, no real improvement points wise. I think we might be playing a little better, but 30 points from the last 30 games has to be a concern.

is the first 15 this season better than the last 15 of last season? I don't know. But that seems like a reasonable thing to compare.

Agreed. It's bizarre how bad we are in second halves. That wasn't the case yesterday. We continued to play quite well, but that's unusual. I wonder if there is now an awareness at the club of this second half drop in standards and all the points dropped?

Yep, hacking it away/into the corners creates a panic and simply turns over possession. We should be keeping the ball, be composed, pass it and make them chase, but then again, JWP tried to keep the ball, passing it rather than hacking it down the line...and that was exactly what killed us. Not sure what the right tactic is, but we certainly are not the best at seeing a game out and burning ten minutes without offering much in the way of chances.

We ain't very good, and we lose a lot of games, but still better to watch than Puel's teams. That said, despite the budget constraints, there is no reason why we shouldn't want more. Being better than Puel should not be the limits to our aspirations. Lots of managers out there. Hope we are looking at a few and at least wondering if they might improve us if we make a change.

don't get me wrong, I am not defending Ralph, I am just saying that football managers are not conductors of a game. Their influence on proceeding is limited. Every goal and result is not entirely down to a manager. Tactics, instructions and subs have a bearing, but it is players that play the game. Are we too nice? McCarthy time wastes, we have defenders that foul and midfielders that take tactical yellows and forwards that make the most of physical contact. What are they not doing that you'd like to see more of?

Up the Sulphurites. With a bit of luck Town will get the chance to beat them twice a season from next season. Would have loved have been in Milton end cheering them onto a last minute victory, but was at the game at St Marys.

I should add that our players know how to time waste, earn cheap fouls, take the ball the corner flag etc. What they don't seem to be able to do at the death is keep the ball and go nowhere like they seem more than capable of at all other times during a game.

other than subs, not sure any manager can dictate what happens in the dying moments. By and large, a managers power to dictate what happens on the pitch is overestimated. All the handwaving and shouting is a load of bollocks, it's just pantomime that has given TV companies something extra to put on screen and help earn managers parity with player wages.

I should point out, he wasn't alone in making poor decisions near the end of the game. Livramento allowed the ball to run across him, thinking he had the pace to outrun his opponent, he didn't and fouled the guy giving them a great chance to cross int the box. Ely left with nowhere to go or pass to (Lyanco didnt help him- he was the closest man for some reason) when headed to the corner flag, losing the ball and leaving us exposed to the break. Lyanco shanking a hacked clearance...

Broja can play up top on his own, and maybe Tella and Redmond out wide. 4-3-3 with flying fullbacks. Diallo or S Armstrong in that middle. It's an option and Ralph has been willing to move away from 4-2-2-2 (I still have no idea how this works in practice - its a 4-4-2 isn't it?), so might happen.

yep, the time has come for us to start deploying Sunday league half time rituals. We can't really do any worse than we are currently.

he didn't really do anything after the injury occurred, so probably not much. Should have been subbed though.

maybe in the days prior to eh pass back rue change, but you can't play a keeper that cant kick ball due to injury these days. No chance. Madness.

terrible ball. Terrible decision. Can see what he was thinking, (and trying to keep the ball is no bad thing) but it was an error. I put that down to tiredness. Still bloody annoying though. Killed us.

selling Ings was a no brainer for the football business. Our financial model does not permit us to allow good players to walk for frees. Got to spend that money wisely though, and try to get maybe three out of four transfers right. Tough ask. I wonder what the league average is (almost impossible to calculate I suppose) in terms of `transfer success'.

the obvious alternative is to change formation and play three in the middle. Whether that improves results I don't know, but it would mean less space for JWP and Romeu to cover, so maybe less tiredness.