Chez

better passing from Saints, but no end product then on the break Cardiff look more threatening.

Targett...sweet jesus.

poor play by Valery. Got lucky Arter ddnt take the chance.

ball moving incredibly slowly across certain bits of the grass. Too much water?

Forgot they are playing Patterson up front. He's a midfielder. If our CBs don't do well today then they never will.

he didn't puck hi because he had a pretty average season. No more, no less.

wonder how he has been doing. Poland haven't kept a lot of clean sheets in recent times, but he may have been good for them. I'm not sure I was terribly impressed. he didnt look dominant in the air or fast for us.

I honesty don't know if Bednarek is any good. He did OK in five man defence, but not exactly exposed. Cardiff one of the easiest opponents he could face, so you'd hope he looked as solid as a rock.

Not sure i understand what you mean. Gabbi and Elyounoussi are attacking players that you would hope could create or score a goal if they are brought on. Whether they make any impact on this specific game is a different story

Clyne still fails to make the squad even when Alexander-Arnold is rested. Is he injured...again?

I shudder at the thought of Cahill being some kind of saviour. He's not very good.

Lemina thinks to himself: that post would be more effective than our centre backs

I think a few people did question the signing of both Ings and Austin due to their injury records.

is Gunn's actually better?

1. use hypnosis to persuade someone to take Forster off our hands... 2. use hypnosis to persuade someone to take Forster off our hands... 3. use hypnosis to persuade someone to take Forster off our hands... 4. use hypnosis to persuade someone to take Forster off our hands... 5. use hypnosis to persuade someone to take Forster off our hands... ...is it working yet?

Yes. Unless we bring in some gems in January, which relies on us managing to offload wages (not idea how we will do that) I just can't see how we can turn this ship around. Look forward to this thread being bumped in May and all those saying yes being hung drawn and quartered for being such pessimistic bastards.

some point out the failings of both. Don't think Redmond has had a free pass. Fans have slated him on here and booed him at games. Not sure JWP has received that kind of hostility. Redmond shows that pace isn't everything and JWP shows that you are nothing if you cant get round the pitch quickly. Combine the two and you have a player.

Interesting debate. I am not into stats. Rightly or wrongly I judge a player on what I see and trust my judgement. The word `effective' is obviously critical to the argument. Ultimately we need forward players to create chances and score goals, so if they are not doing that, then they are not `effective'. There are counter's to this argument. If someone creates chances and his teammate does not take them, does that not undermine his ability to produce a registered `assist'? Obviously quality (weight) of pass is important, so part of getting no assists might be his own doing. I know their are goal and assists stats, but I am not sure I've seen chances created stats. If they exist, how is Redmond fairing there? Like most, I've been critical of Redmond at times. His lack of direct running and attempts to take a man on have left me frustrated, as has coming back onto his favoured right foot (I still don't understand why he is ever played on the left). This season I've seen a change. He looks extremely confident and has beaten so many opponents its not true. It happens so often you almost don't acknowledge them. I guess you are thinking "so what, if there are no assists or goals, what's the point?" and my reply would be that it keeps possession, helps release pressure on the defence, enables us to manoeuvre the ball int the final third without the need to just lump it in a hit and hope fashion. He is a great outlet. Our only outlet. He's become our only flair player. He might not be the best out there, but he's the best we have got. You might regard that as a sorry state of affairs, and you might be right, but for me he's been the only bright spark in games. What hasn't changed is his final ball. It's a bit like Rahim Sterling's shooting in the past - lots of scuffs, under hit, lacking in conviction and full of muddled thinking. A lot of that is because he is often on the left and he has no left foot. At other times there is no one there or they are marked. He tries to thread the eye of the needle too much too. Far far too many crosses never get where they need to. The upside to this is he is getting in dangerous areas, he's thinking about the delivery (perhaps overthinking) and we at least have a player willing to dribble with the ball. I've seen improvement. There needs to be a lot more, but our failings aren't down to him, which is not something I would have said last season.

Hypnotism. Only way he will,convince anyone to take Forster off our hands. Do that and we have a **** load of wages available to pay someone that can actually defend.

They play together every day...for a living. Don't excuse the players. They are not good enough. Actually don't blame the players, blame the scouts failing us time after time.

Bednarek isn't better at all. He just about held his own when hidden in a firman defence, as Target did. Expose either of them in a four and they are not good enough.

certainly created chances, but Spurs were in second gear.

been saying it for a long time, but then again who at the back is?

elementary mistakes at he back,and not clinical enough up front. Encouraging number of chances we are crating, but lots of negative stuff too. Have we won a single contested header?

Fed up,of reading how we can or should let Bertrand go because Target is becoming a settled fixture in the side. ********.