woodsaint1

Said it before on here that hes been excellent for NI under Michael O'Neill, a manager who keeps it simple and asks players to just work hard and do their job

Especially when you look at where one of your said clubs Luton are currently sitting in the Championship. It can happen if we're not careful

Fair play to him, he's done really well since he left us.....but no, just no

On number 1, spending more £ doesnt always equate to better quality. Based on our player recruitment on the whole since SR came in, I wouldn't trust whoever is in charge in spending £40m on one player. They would be worth half of that after one season fs. We just need to be better at recruitment and try to return to the good old days of Paul Mitchell. A team of Bitcon (a rugby guy), Mowbray and whoever else is helping out with recruitment doesnt fill me with any confidence

On the plus side, at least some of our recruitment looks very good - Fernandes, Suga and Ramsdale definitely improve us. Lallana and Taylor both good additions on a free. The other new signings - BBD and Archer, they're not setting the world alight on performances so far, but still a long season. Think both need a goal to get their confidence up

Why is nobody at the edge of the box for when its cleared 🤷‍♂️ basic stuff fs

Ramsdale Suga THB Bednarek KWP Downes Fernandes AA Dibling BBD Archer Thanks for the 3 points* * Smallbone will almost certainly play and we'll also play 5 at the back for some bizarre reason

Yeah but when the reaction to what is happening on the pitch is the usual; RM is too stubborn to change things (well he did change lots of things last season), RM can't set up a defence (when it mattered we conceded 1 goal over three playoff games - a 97th minute consolation from WBA), RM has never achieved anything (well he did get us promoted at the first time of asking after inheriting a mess of a team with zero confidence) RM got lucky with our promotion or we finished 4th (worse than finishing 3rd and not getting promoted it seems), then you can clearly tell that they don't want the manager here, without the need for them to actually say it. It's the same people that were saying it on this thread last September, and they're back for another go just so that they can have some sort of weird 'I told you so' moment.

Imagine judging a team by the outcome of a whole season - a fairly big season with 49 games. Mad behaviour 😵‍💫

We still got promoted though didnt we? That was the aim. Delivered when it mattered and when we were under big pressure during the playoffs and also adpated the way the played in those games which some thought RM was incapable of. Anyways....dont know why we're revisiting last season, the unbeaten run is old news (I'd actually forgot about it) and what matters is this season and the 35 league games still to go. Hopefully RM is able to adapt again, otherwise it is going to be a very painful season. Every team will make mistakes in possession, but those mistakes dont always have to be terminal. I appreciate our possession based style starts with the keeper and goes through the defence but we need to find a way of implementing our style without taking so many unnecessary risks. If we play well, I have no doubt that we can beat most teams in this league, but it wont matter how well we play if we're gifting teams a goal or two headstart. Thats not rocket science.

Exactly my thoughts. All this talk of raw potential, still young etc etc, he should have tore the championship up last season, but he didnt and in fact he looked very mediocre. Hopefully he does well at Ajax and we can recoup some of what we paid for him, because right now it doesnt look like he has a future here

He really had a chance to be our starting LB last season and he would have flourished in the Championship. However RM wanted his own man in Manning and we've since brought in Taylor (plus KWP will play LB also). Disappointing as I think he has a great career ahead of him, possibly at PL level

Its ok, that article is referring to our fierce rivals FC Southampton

Tyler Dibling is special. Like a young Lallana. Old Lallana also deserves a mention, was excellent when he came on

Yeah but its clear it is still a consequence of the system we play, regardless of those in the defensive positions. Cant judge the Newcastle game with the man advantage but we gifted plenty of chances against Forest and again tonight. Needs to improve

Completely understand the need for 3 CBs; last weekend being the perfect example of a game where it seemed obvious. We'll also likely deploy it away to City, Liverpool, Arsenal etc. But when we're at home against sides like Forest, we need to have the confidence and the conviction to play 2 CBs, especially if Les and Downes is our likely best pairing in front of them. Bijlow Suga THB Bednarek KWP Downes Les AA Dibling/Fernandes/Aribo BBD New Striker To me that would be a pretty strong side, and depending on the striker, one which is easily capable of staying up. We also have the likes of Archer, Stewart (when fit), Sulemana, Lallana and Wee Man (when he signs) who could all make an impact off the bench.

Sensible more like, especially given his lack of games recently. I'd be more worried if we were paying 8-12m up front

Pretty sure you said that last season too. And he took us in the opposite direction to what you thought. Two games in and the fuckin hissy fits have started already

Ipswich have spent over 100m already and theres still a week of the window to go

https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1826732106350735486?t=P5LZLwLAQezZfu9fVk5zfA&s=19

I think it has since changed to €18m and Hugo on loan as opposed to permanently. We paid €13m or so for Charly so €18-20m for a player that has barely played for us or Juve in the last year is decent business. Charly is worth nowhere near €30m

Ripley motm 😱

A mate for Big Les

You dont know how well they've done transfer-wise. The season will determine that. Yes if they get the best out of Delap, Broja, Phillips and Cajuste (none of whom have been particularly good or regular starters in recent years), and the likes of Hutchinson, Greaves and Szmodics make the step up to PL level, then yes they'll be comfortably safe from relegation. However, its also very possible that these signings dont work out and they're forced to move many of these players on next summer at a massive loss.....as we know very well

Thats the spirit.....you should maybe change your username