verlaine1979

I've always been a fan of Boufal - I'm referring to those people who are pretending he's a different player just because he got an assist today.

Boufal looked exactly the same player he's always been. He likes to run, but the idea that he never looks for a pass at the end of it is guff.

Seems like a front three of Redmond, Boufal and Djenepo might be the way to go (if one of them can play on the right). 4-1-2-3 might work, with Romeu behind Hoj and JWP and those three ahead. Means dropping Ings and Adams, but I've not been impressed by either so far.

Thought Villa looked alright once they shook off the awe of playing Everton after ten minutes.

Waiting time for a visa interview in London is about 2-3 weeks at the moment, and there's no way to expedite it at all.

Agree with this - the midfield really struggles to contain opponents because Romeu, Hoj and JWP lack dynamism. No lack of effort, but you can see them plodding after the ball, always arriving just too late to close anyone down. Redmond and Adams aren't that quick either, so our pressing from the front is again more effort than attainment. When Djenepo came on, you could immediately see what genuinely fast reactions look like. Hopefully we can integrate him and Danso into the first XI soon, as without them we must be one of the slowest teams in the league.

Djenepo's cameo a reminder of just how leaden-footed the rest of the team are. Thought we huffed and puffed first half against a team that we're still limbering up, and were then extremely lucky to still be in it by the time we were gifted a goal. Oh, and seemingly every member of the defence made an error that either did or should have cost a goal today.

More concerning with Long is the fact that the image of him running tirelessly and always putting in 100% is also a memory of several seasons ago. He's now just as likely to be standing around with his hands on his hips lamenting as he is dashing uselessly between capable defenders. Not saying he doesn't still show up and work hard from time to time, but the idea that you can expect maximum effort from him every game is just fantasy at this point.

If he's dreadful, he's had some randomly very good games against us in the past.

Exactly. First half we edged and could've given us a good platform for the second half. But Burnley came out with far greater energy and intent (even if their game plan remained the same) and we're left talking about whether JWP should've taken a freekick or not.

Is Vestergaard still as good as anyone outside the top six?

We'd be winning if the object of the game was to get the ball wide to your fullbacks, but not a great deal happening after that point. Hopefully RH has seen enough to tweak the team and the advantage.

Ings completely uninvolved so far. Attack very one dimensional as a result.

Had been hoping for a more substantial squad overhaul after the club's rhetoric when we didn't sign anyone in January. That said, three players with pace and power is pretty good going, and hopefully they'll reinvigorate the spine of the team.

No player is signed with a right to be training with the first team. If RH only wants to train 22 players, he's free to send the rest to the under 23s.

Indeed, easy to forget that our last accounts still showed a profit of almost £30m. Since then we've lost some big earners, replacing with much lower-profile signings, and player trading has been pretty much cost-neutral.

I just meant the idea that there's 'no value' in the market. There's always value if your scouting is good enough - and so hopefully this last minute signing will prove!

Isn't this just a failure of scouting?

You might argue that the owner's inability to invest capital in the club at the level permitted by FFP is entirely germane to the club's finances and competitiveness.

If I were being a sophist like you, I'd point to the Macquarie loan. As it is, I'm sure you understand perfectly well why I consider a debt taken on by the owner for the sole purpose of purchasing the club as germane to the club's overall financial position.

The whole 'we don't develop players for other clubs' attitude was from a different era, when we were debt free and had a reasonable amount of financial clout compared to our size and status in the league. If the club's financial position really is as stricken as various mouthpieces insist we must believe, then we can't afford to be high-minded about using any means at our disposal to improve the squad, even if it's just temporarily.

This was *not* the rhetoric used when the club was sold. It was all about taking us to the next level - someone should have to own that, whether it was outright deceit or a subsequent change of tack.

If we don't break our investment policy and sign a CB, then I hope the club's confidence that we have a zero risk of relegation next season proves accurate. Otherwise the whole fiscal responsibility line will ring pretty hollow when revenues plummet for the sake of adding one more senior squad member.

Fantastic, so the sale to Gao has taken us forward as far as becoming the most cash-constrained non-promoted club in the league. Let the good times roll.

Our turnover to wages ratio is high, but not the highest in the league. Why are we a special case?