verlaine1979

I want to know how the fuck he passed the interview. You only have to listen to him repeat the same empty phrases for a few minutes to realise that there's literally no understanding of the game in there - all he talks about is attitude. The days when blood and thunder was enough to consistently win matches is so far behind us that half the Saint Mary's crowd probably weren't born when that was the case. I'm all for trying to use data to gain an advantage, but the quants clearly shit the bed here - the multiplying effect of money in the PL is so massive that it makes any kind of linear points/spend comparison with lower leagues utterly pointless. That should've been the first clue. Then a two minute chat about how he thinks football games are won and lost should've been enough to send him on his way.

It was a cup game they gave only the slightest of shits about. And they still had the chances to bury us (as our old friend xG pointed out at the time).

Sterling I can see. Ronaldinho? Not even a little.

So you're saying that selling Targett has probably been the single most damaging event in the club's recent history? Hard to disagree...

Are you having more luck trying to make "Jonesy" happen?

Hah maybe time to revisit the debate about the xG from the City game. We're a Djenepo worldy and a rare Haaland miss away from a conversation about Jones with no fond memories at all. With some new managers you can see what they're trying to do and it makes sense to give them time until things click. I've no idea what Jones has been trying to do for the past three months, other than attempting to turn Che into a target man and Lyanco into Ronald Koeman. The team has no shape, because we change it three or four times a game. The lineup has no consistency because he makes bonkers changes in search of his fabled aggression and front-footedness. And we have no clue how to build attacks as our passing and movement in possession have gotten worse, which is staggering as we were dire to begin with. There's nothing to click here, so no point in waiting.

Nobody seemed to have a clue what they were meant to be doing last night. Now we've got the new players in, can we just settle on 4-2-3-1 with Alcaraz in the middle of the attacking three? That's where he looked positive in his previous cameos, trying to burst through the middle and get into the box.

I assume the handful of people who STILL bang on about Lemina not putting a shift in during the semifinal against Chelsea in 2018 will be similarly outraged at the crass incompetence of Jones(y) in picking such a shite lineup and formation? No? Does chewing your nails and being Welsh get you some kind of free pass that isn't available to Gabonese midfielders?

Bree, lol.

Rumours are we agreed fees for Gakpo and Ramos, but didn't agree personal terms with either. Suspect we're about to see the same happen with Vitinha. In fact, didn't Gakpo downplay the possibility that he was ever going to sign for us to the extent that he only mentioned Leeds having been in for him when he joined Liverpool?

There are people on the forum who believe that Semmens is so powerful he pevented Gao from selling the club and recouping 200m until a buyer was found who would guarantee to keep Semmens as CEO. It's cobblers, as is the story about us losing Gakpo or Ramos - neither player was ever coming here. You use Saints as a stepping stone when you're trying to move from Willem II or Braga, not when you're already playing for PSV or Benfica.

We didn't play any better against City (and particularly not against Everton) than we did against Chelsea before Lavia got injured. Jones has added nothing to the passing style of the team. Nothing at all. Our ball retention is generally terrible and our possession stats have nosedived. I'll listen to claims that we're nastier, or more compact, or more aggressive or whatever (even though I think those are mostly junk or irrelevant). But there is literally no argument to be made that we're a better footballing side. We have no idea of how to move the ball, no distinct patterns of play, no discernible combination play on the wings, no movement through the middle. We're garbage to watch.

The answer is Lavia. It's nothing to do with Jones. When Lavia is in the side, our midfield looks okay. When he isn't. it looks dire. JWP playing further forward worked for a grand total of one game.

Lavia isn't playing more than 60 minutes per game at the moment, and we're almost certain to lose him in the summer whether we stay up or go down. Diallo is as a nuisance, but a massive MASSIVE step down in quality from Lavia, particularly in terms of keeping what tiny percentage of possession we have in game these days. Hjulmand, a winger and a striker on loan is the absolute best we can expect at this point, which means it's almost certain that none of those will happen. But eh, at least we managed to add a right back with the worst passing stats in the championship to the squad.

Maybe if DCC hadn't been absolutely skinned for their winner he'd have a case for retaliating. As it is, I'd rather the team focus on trying to hit more than two consecutive passes before they start getting in touch with their feelings, aggressive or otherwise. All of this gash about aggression and getting in people's faces is just a distraction. If you can move the ball and score goals, the dark arts are the icing on the cake, maybe giving you an edge in exceedingly close games. If you're utter shite like we are at the moment, all they do is get you waved off the pitch by the team that's just beat you.

Err, considering Edozie, Mara and Armstrong have a grand total of one league goal between them this season, I'm not sure where your confidence in their ability to overcome lesser sides stems from. Hoping that JWP will score enough free kicks to keep us up is a pretty startling display of optimism.

Plane on the runway even though he was playing for PSV (and scoring a hattrick) the night the window closed?

Prophets always face persecution

US commentators saying no pattern to our play, which just about sums it up. Every player seems to have to spend a couple of seconds looking the next pass when they get the ball. Couple that with the lack of confidence in their ability to actually execute a pass (Diallo the main culprit there along with Mara) and it's no surprise we barely string more than two passes together.

Almiron played about 3 one-twos building that move up the right before Willock blazed over. Could we try, y'know, passing and moving it like that once or twice, maybe?

Evan Ferguson has just got 3 in 5 for Brighton at 18, so still seems to be a case of if you're good enough you're old enough, even with the money that's flooded into the league since the era of Owen and Milner.

Whoa there, horsey. I didn't make any statement about Brighton's league prospects, just their recruitment. We managed one successful squad turnover in 2014/15 and signed VVD a year later. But for the most part, every major departure since then has seen a deterioration in quality until the most recent window (also, I'll give you Ings, though that was more of a punt on reviving a well-understood but injury ravaged career than smart scouting). We were cash constrained, so maybe we just could afford an heir and a spare like Brighton apparently can, but I've seen saying for years that our transfer strategy is flawed if we want to pursue a buy to sell model. Going one in, one out just carries to much risk of a single bad signing disrupting our finances. Football is a results business, and we had some good years under Poch and Koeman. But it's an entertainment too, and to be honest, I'd much rather we finished every season 15th playing attractive football than finish 8th playing the tedious dross we've endured the past three years.

Brighton's recruitment seems a bit more far-sighted than ours did in our glory days. Over the past two seasons they've sold big players in White, Burn, Cucurella, Bissouma and Trossard, along with losing Mwepu to early retirement from a heart condition (while also getting good money for the likes of Maupay, Knockaert etc.). But in addition to buying a few 20m+ replacements, they've also been speculating with cheap buys from non-European leagues and then sending them on loan for a season. Caicedo is already being linked with 50m+ valuation, and it won't be long before Mitoma is similarly rated - both arrived for relative peanuts, spent a year on loan, and then returned to the first team. In contrast, even during the height of our sales we generally only replaced 1 for 1, which meant when the likes of Lemina, Boufal and Elyounoussi failed to step up, we had no other options. In that respect, Brighton are making a much better attempt at copying the Dortmund model than we ever did. It's a numbers game - not all signings work out, so you need to spread the net wide. If you can afford to.

I find it amazing that anyone watched that game and thought we went toe to toe with Villa. The gulf in class during the first half in particular was vast - they cut through our midfield like they were Man City, and had long spells maintaining pressure on the edge of our box while we struggled to connect three consecutive passes. We had a two minute spell of pressure in the second half that produced Armstrong's shot and the disallowed goal while they failed to turn their superior possession into clear chances. But they were wasteful while we were feeding on absolute scraps - let's not kid ourselves that those are the same. As an attacking side we're just so rigid. Players hold their positions and wait for the ball rather than looking to find space. It reminds me of that saying from the Poch era, that the players play from a position rather than in a position. Be disciplined by all means and keep one eye on what your movement will mean if we lose the ball and you have to defend. But at least try and find space that isn't within a boot-length of your opponent. For three seasons and counting our only attacking idea has been playing the ball to a fullback in a postage-stamp of space on the touchline. It's getting pretty old.

He's utter gash. The KWP offside goal demonstrated all of his worst qualities: terrible awareness, no anticipation, no technique. Trundles around at 5mph, always on his heels. Che is where our attacking intent goes to die.