Chez

with WBA going up, its never going to happen, but Matteus Pereira has been the best player in the championship IMO. I think he can shone in the Prem too.

Looks a good player whenever I have seen him, but as with all skillful players, if what they are trying does'nt come off and opponents set up to stop you, you can easily disappear. What position does he play? We seem to have moved away from having the tricky players behind the striker in favour of more hard working midfielders. I am wondering if he would fit the system. He looks like he has great balance and good composure. A workmanlike team has got us to mid table, but if you want to take on the bog sides you need a bit of flair IMO. Even that title winning Leicester side had Mahrez.

I didn't find out until a few hours later that Svensson had scored. I thought Niemi had got it and even now like to think he did. Crazy celebrations.

McGeehan broke his leg whilst playing for Luton at Shit Park and was booed by the skates whilst being stretchered off. Missing the vital pen and providing the long awaited karma three and a half years later shows incredible patience on his behalf, but well worth the wait. Well done sir.

sometimes those expectations don't become reality and you have to reassess. You have to be a special player to get that free role at a big club that he has thrived in at Norwich. Prefer Books myself, although his injury makes it a touch call to spend big on him. King is another quality player IMO.

Nice work Cameron McGeehan.

Rob Dickie was MOTM the other day against the skates and looked pretty decent. Worth another look tonight to see if you think he can step up two divisions. I think he was linked to us in February.

tremendous commitment from all the players. With something to defend they gave it all. Danny Ings was bloody everywhere. They were all excellent. Really enjoyed the first half. Less so the second as it felt a goal was coming. Really pleased Che got his goal. It has been coming. He has looked confident since the restart. We looked a threat on the break with Redmond and Armstrong creating issues for City. Slightly surprised more subs were not made. We were ran ragged for the last 15 minutes. I don't want to end on a negative, but... despite Danny Murphy loving KWP, I was really unimpressed by has back post defending of crosses. He missed a few headers that on another day could easily have led to goals. He looked as bad as Cedric ever did. Hope that was a one off. On the ball he was decent though, and made a lot of good decisions...there I didn't end on a negative after all.

when you make recruitment mistakes in the Prem you really do end up paying for them. Just a couple more years and then we can start a fresh. Just need to hang on until then and make every signing count.

wonder if our Sunderland player attacking grey tracksuit wearing numbskull and his stressed out boggle eyed curly-haired friend among those North Stand cardboard cut outs?

Che also has his birthday coming up and will be 24, which for me is a footballers prime. As with Michael, I really want him to succeed, but he has to grasp opportunities and dare I say it be a little more greedy. I know many strikers get long runs in the team without needing to score, but I am not sure he will get a run of 8 or 9 starts again for us unless there is a goal or two in there. I think he was a tad unlucky to drop dow the pecking order and when he returned his confidence looked shot. The break has done him good and he looks bright again. I like his all round game. He is strong with his back to goal and a good outlet when we are under pressure. He has a decent touch and I think he strikes the ball well and can see him scoring a hatful of goals again..for someone, at some point. He just needs to get into a grove. At Brum he struggled for about a year or more and then (with a change of manager) it all seemed to click into place and pretty much everything the touched went in. I think it got to the point when he was just so confident that he only needed one chance. That is the type of player we need. We just have to get him back to that frame of mind. Lets hope he just needed time to settle and we reap the benefits next season. A proven championship goalscorer, not in a side, is going to be high demand from championship sides. Not sure many will be able to afford him next season though. I think he will stay.

Obefemi will only be 20 in a couple of days, so plenty of time for him to blossom, however, if judged right now, on what we have seen then you'd have to say that his all round game is a little limited. I also don't see a player offering high work rate. He may have a laid back style, but that shouldn't prevent him getting round the pitch to press opponents a bit more - especially as that's our tactic. If you are not doing that at 19, just in the first team, you probably never will. His first touch isn't great. The number of times he receives a throw in and immediately turns over possession is not good. I don't think he holds the ball up well enough or provides enough as a target man. Those two areas might be something he can improve on, but if your touch is not great at 19, is it ever going to be? Because of that he doesn't look like a top flight player. However, the game is not always about neat and tidy feet and deft touch, there is still room for pace, power and most importantly finishing. He does look strong for his age and reasonably sharp, although I'm not so sure he's lightning quick and his finishing, well, from what we have seen so far it is a bit hit and miss. I think we need a larger number of games to assess that and i am mindful of a James Beattie struggling to notch before eventually becoming a league leader. He has two more years on his contract, and I suspect plenty of opportunities to show what he can do.

spitballing here, but could it be that when we play away, he opposing home teams try to play out from the back more and that is exactly what our pressing game needs to be effective. AT home opposing away teams play safer and maybe longer, which means they don't get caught in possession in their own third of the pitch very often.

so we win more games? Good plan. I quite like the current third kit and would be happy to roll with that. in general I have liked the predominantly white kits over the years such as the Hummel white and green number, the Umbro all white with pin stripe and the current kit. I wasn't a huge fan of the very popular sash kit and am not keen on this year's sash either. As others have said, anything will be better than this years horror show.

Keeping KWP on the books is just dead money for Spurs and that should be the starting point of any negotiations, assuming we see him as the answer. I wonder who else in the Prem would be chasing him. Burnley maybe? Cant see them offering Spurs a big fee or the player huge wages. We should drive a very hard bargain unless there isn't another half decent right back in Europe we can attract.

Pretty decent analysis. In my eyes PEH would not be replaced by Smallbone and should he leave we'd bring a senior pro in allowing Smallbone to keep developing, but not being relied upon.

even on free, will Celtic pay another £55k or whatever a week on top. That feels like a stretch to me. Champions league qualification for the league stage might play a part...

I agree with you that we are stuck with at least two of them, which is not great. All three keepers are less than inspiring and have two, or in the case of Gunn, three years left on their contracts. Players don't budge when they have years left on their contracts unless they can earn a shed more elsewhere. This is one of those times when you wish real life squad management was more like a computer game and we could shift players in and out easier to help revamp the squad.

The Sun report that Celtic are currently only paying Forster £15k a week: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/11971686/southampton-fraser-forster-celtic-ntcham/ I think its safe to assume his full wages are four or five times that. I therefore struggle to see how Celtic can afford to pay us a transfer fee AND then match his current wages. Something would have to give.

Like the stripe thickness, just remove the black shoulders, get rid of the shield, add some sort of nice weave/subtle toning, make the collar red or white, return to the navy shorts, and it's job done. Simple, classic.

Interesting that Craig Gordon is out of contract and could well leave. Sounds like they very much regard him as their second choice https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53135170

Dier has struggled for a year or more. He looks a little slow these days, maybe an injury has caused that. I honestly don't know if he would be a good signing for us, despite him being an England regular not so long ago. Something is not right there. He chases shadows and isn't sharp at all. What's Winks like? He impressed me when I first saw him, but he has fallen out of favour. I'm guessing that's because he isn't a giant, which Mourinho prefers.

I actually thought Foyth has looked promising, but he's a CB being played out of position at right back. I don't think Spurs are blessed with defensive cover, so you have to wonder of they are of the standard we require if Spurs are happy to offload. I know you can find some gems, but Im always of the opinion that you go out and find the players the big clubs will want to sign from you a year later, not sign the players the big clubs have already worked out are not good enough.

I was reluctant to remark on his meh performance for that exact reason, but the truth is I've thought and probably said he's average pretty much since day one of hi coming here. The Inter Milan game at the San Siro was a classic example. We got hold of the game, totally dominating but time after time Hoj passes were intercepted and momentum (and time) was lost. We played pretty well that day, Ive no idea how VVD didn't score and the team win, but one of the biggest memories is just how disappointing Hoj was in possession. He's just not good enough with the ball. He's not a bad player, their isn't a lack of effort, but if the side works its socks off to get the ball you can't then give it away cheaply two second later. I honestly do not care if he goes and thats rare for Saints players with a hundred games under their belt. Of course its then all about who replaces him. If we have £25m+ to spend I'd hope we could find someone as good if not better. We will see.

We were tad fortunate not to behind early on when Norwich got beyond the press and carved us to bits on the break, but not long after we too charge and it was all us. Our high press was very effective. Norwich overplayed right into our hands, turning the ball over time after time. Our tactics won the day. Armstrong makes such a difference. We tend to look flat without him. Great to get him back. Pleased to see Valery back. I just wish he was a little more busy and nasty. He's very comfortable on the ball, but too passive and very casual. I dont think he will change, but to me he just looks like he needs a rocket up his... Not many gripes. I've never rated Hoj. He gives the ball away far too much when not under any pressure. Poor ball retention kills you in this league. I struggle to see what he does well. I'm not an Obefemi fan either, just controlling the football is an issue and I wonder if he has the quality required. I guess if he puts the ball in the back a net enough the other attributes can be overlooked. The thought of playing Long and Obefemi up front, should Ings get injured, is not exactly inspiring.