Patches O Houlihan

He's an Irish international who is only 22. Goalkeepers as we know hit their prime later than average. Last season he had not protection, and whilst there have been a few clangers this year there has been a big improvement - particularly collecting crosses and playing the ball out under pressure. He was clearly signed as a longer term investment by the club, and as we know goalkeepers tend to stay longer at one place than out field players (or at least that's my impression). He is clearly the best goalkeeper we have at the club right now. If we get promoted we will need to sign 8 or 9 players for ~£20m each on average, and avoid falling foul of financial fair play in case we screw up and get relegated. I think it is unlikely we will sell him if we go up. I think we have many larger priorities for funds than another goalkeeper, and if his trajectory of improvement continues he will be at a similar level to PL teams that finish 10th-16th which realistically will be our level. What will screw up this plan is if he loses his confidence because he gets loudly criticised by his own fans after every match (even one where we lost 3-0, he didn't play and wasn't on the subs bench). In 15 months whether he's amazing or just good, as a ball playing international keeper with 3 seasons of first team starts he will be worth plenty - even if just bought as a back up. As far as I can see he is what we have until the summer of 2025 at least. Moaning endlessly will not change that, and is just likely to devalue him in numerous different ways. Yes he screwed up for our first at the weekend, but he's also made some great stops that he wouldn't have made last season. I will always try to give our players the benefit of the doubt, otherwise being a fan ultimately just seems to be exchanging your time and attention for an excuse to be negative about someone who has broadly made a success of their life so far. TLDR: Every time we moan about Bazunu it doesn't reduce the likelihood of him playing, it just reduces his value and makes him more likely to play badly in future games.

Fuck off with your endless vendetta

BFH

We've started ok, and Ally McCoist will be the saving grace of this whole TV production. An even handed pundit worth listening too - such a rare beast!

I have a theory. We only have 3 CBs, and Charles was always going to play in midfield. If we play Harwood Bellis they will make their mind up to sign him tonight and we'll have the whole Van Dyke saga to relive all over again...

I can see it now: Sulemana in the Sims role, Arma in the Schlong role. Titanic music plays, Anfield silenced and tears on the touchline. Bring it on! 😇

Ross Stewart is reported to be jogging now. RM cagey on chances of returning before the end of the season, so probably unlikely.

We're not even good enough to be flat track bullies right now

I'm fucking cross

Rothwell is a waste of a shirt

We need edozie on the left, Sulemana through the middle, Adama on the right. what can't RM see that? Has he not watched sultana's goals against Liverpool?!

That's harsh on Fraser, Brookes, KWP, THB, JB and Stu at the very least

We do look like flat track bullies on that chart 😕

Can't help thinking things would have been different if we'd started with Aribo instead of Rothwell...

Welcome to helmetweb Bring your own socks

Reading further down it seems the Rotherham keeper played a blinder against them too. We need to get him on the bus!

I would imagine it doesn't hurt that we've stuck with a generational Irish youth talent in Bazunu (who's their national keeper). Shea Charles is also getting regular minutes and although from Northern Ireland I'm sure that gets noticed too. It feels like there has been a wholesale shift of thinking on our recruitment. Not sure whether it is based on work permits, funds available, or just cultural thinking, but everyone we've brought in recently has been from the British Isles and is prepared to put a shift in. Has made us a right pain in the arse to play against, and the squad seem united and fired up. COYS

You are aware that that was a rabone? Presumably to get it to curl towards the goal. If you zoom in close the technique is ridiculous

Has anyone seen any of Romain Perraud's games at Nice this season? https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/romain-perraud/profil/spieler/318523 Transfermarkt has his value down 25% since the loan. He'd have a year left on his contract at the start of next season. Wondering if HCDAJFU in the PL if we won promotion. We've four, maybe five loanees that we'd be really keen to buy, and would need money for at least one striker to replace Che, so the opportunity to get in a LB who is a known quantity might be handy. I always appreciated his efforts, and the only time he played under RM he was hung out to dry at LCB against Gillingham: He looked like a fish up a tree, I felt really sorry for him.

🎼 🎶 Arriboo, Aribo Arriboo, Aribo Arriboo, Aribo Joe's our new Romeu! 🎶 A twist on a song we all love to sing

Last time Downes was injured we fixed it by playing Bree at LB and having the two full backs be less adventurous.

You'll remember that this team has always struggled when Downes is unavailable. Last time around we fixed it by swapping Bree for Manning and limiting the adventurousness of the full backs. I felt like KWP was more restrained than usual in getting forward which will have limited the passing options for the midfield. Add some general lethargy caused by fixture congestion limiting our ability to aggressively win the ball back as soon as we loose it, and Charles being out of sorts and that's going to have an affect. Whilst our midfield was clearly off the pace today, the number of slips and severely misplaced passes caught my attention. Adam Blackmore stated that there had been torrential rain all afternoon. The pitch looked in a shit state and you could see the ball was very slow and sticky. Let's say you coached a counter attacking team of middle of the pack players and were due to play a slick passing top team on a 25 game unbeaten run. If you had seen the weather forecast would you be tempted to subtly limit the drainage of the pitch to make it slow and awkward for the team likely to have 75% possession...

I can't see us keeping a clean sheet tonight. I'm going 1-1 at half time, finishing 1-3 with a sub scoring at least one.

You gotta love Frannie, he's as authentic as it gets - but you couldn't really call him the font of all knowledge when it comes to punditry! COYR