Lee On Solent Saint

Not that confident, just clinging to that fact that Sheffield United are just as shit as we are up top

I'm neither a Reed lover or a Reed basher. I can recognise the good and the bad of his tenure. I think the divining issues were the recruitment of the managers. In Poch and Koeman we had strong characters, they knew the types of player they wanted. When Koeman left, this club started it go down the slide. We didn't get the right manager to replace him. In my mind, that was Reed's biggest mistake. I don't know if Puell, Pellegrino and Hughes had players they didn't want or rated forced upon them, but they must have had some input into the recruitment of the players that we brought. Fast forward to Ralph and in many respects he is the one paying for the previous mistakes in player and staff recruitment. That's obviously not to say that he hasn't made mistakes, far from it. When he first came into the club, it was clear that he was passionate and charismatic, more so than the three previous incumbents put together. We all wanted him to be successful, because like us fans, he really seemed to care. I believe he still can turn this around, but he needs support. Not only from the board in terms of actual money available, of which I know we haven't got, but also on the sidelines. Other managers seem to bounce ideas off coaches and assistants all throughout the game. When Ralph needs help, who does he turn too? Maybe that's not how he works, but if so, what's the point of them being here?

Get your point but we still played nearly twenty minutes against 9 and still couldn't score

If ever there was a banker for a nil nil draw this is it. Both teams are struggling for goals, they are probably marginally more shit up front then we are at the moment. Not sure how the best way to approach this game is. Our usual all or nothing first half, hope to score a couple to get a decent cushion for the second half. Or just be as conservative as we have been lately, concentrating on keeping the ball.

And Gunn probably another 30k on top of that

I was referring to the game at St Marys. The one that saw us top the league

From past experience you just know that McBurnie who looks utter shit is going to score in this one. Equally,Brewster will probably come on has a sub and score his first Sheffield United goal, both probably assisted by either Sharp or McGoldrick.

Elastic

Trouble with that is, you risk another mauling if City decide this is the right game for them to be clinical in

Hopefully he can play two games in a week

Sums up how I feel about him. One of my favourite players over the past few years, just not interested now. Not sure if that's like you say, his pace etc has gone or if it's something else. I know he stated that he wants to finish his career here, just wondering if the club have had a different opinion and have told him they won't renew on the terms he wants

Absolutely, if Ralph persists with this idea, at least Stephens has experience playing there, not much more but a little. He didn't do much wrong against Newcastle earlier in the season.

As a senior player, Redmond should be pulling up trees to get us back into games, instead he wanders around the pitch, never hunting for the ball, if his shorts had pockets am sure his hands would be in them. Much the same for Bertrand, I used to really rate him, but since the turn of the year, maybe longer, he hasn't been interested either. I think the club aren't renewing his deal and he knows it. Despite all the shit about him wanting to end his career here

Our best player on the night, Armstrong, probably won't be fit enough for Saturday's game as well

I saw Palace v Fulham yesterday, Fulham so much better than we are currently. Anyone saying were aren't in a relegation battle is deluded

If Ramsey is good enough for a new two year deal, then why is he not playing as the club's only current fit right back??

Probably the easiest game Everton have had all season

65 minutes in and not worked the keeper at all.

There's Mouusa's favourite tackle!!

Henderson would be a fantastic signing, never in a million years is he coming anywhere near us though

Unfortunately with only a year left on his contract with us, his real market value will not be reflected in the offers that are made

Just caught some of the Villa-Leeds game earlier. Have to say I was pretty impressed with Targett and got me thinking whether, in hindsight we should have kept him and allowed Bertie to leave. Might be that he might just be going through a decent patch, but have to say he looks more athletic and more aggressive than I remember him being when he was here. At the moment, compared to Bertrand, think I would prefer Targett at the moment. If I'm being honest, I didn't expect to say that.

Not sure if I would be tempted to go with a back five for this one. I know it's not pretty to watch, but at this time for us, it's so important to not get beaten. Be defensive for at least 60-70 minutes, then if still in the game, the shackles can come off. Maybe drop of the press, let Everton have the possession and just try to engage in our own half.

We are struggling at the moment and it seems inconceivable that we won't limp over the line. For me the Sheffield United game is crucial. Lose that one and we deserve to go down.

I think this season has highlighted the shocking recruitment we had in the last 18 months or so of Reed and Kruger. 5 or 6 supposed first team players out on loan is simply unsustainable for a club our size. Factor into that Boufal and Carillo also just being able to leave, it really does become a shit show behind the scenes. This is why we have such a small squad, that are unable to cope with the injuries that we have had. The squad depth isn't there because we have filled it up with players that aren't good enough or have over inflated opinions of themselves. I know it's difficult to predict injuries etc, but the signing of Walcott was, in hindsight not a great move. It was pretty obvious that he was going to get injured at some stage in the season, a player relying on pace as he does would invariably do so at some stage considering his age too. Better to have used that loan space in an area where we were lacking. The same with Mini,when it was obvious we couldn't get a full back in, surely we should have looked at CM instead. I always thought that Ralplh's words about working with a small squad would come back to haunt us.