Willo of Whiteley

£40M for a player with two goals and doesn’t want to be here? Take it and run. Good deal. He could turn into another overrated English player very quickly. But he could also do well.

Let’s have it right, Carlos Alcaraz was ok, he was a diamond in a turd during what was a very poor year. He was not “perfect” by any means. People hype him up the same as Armando Broja 🙄

We’ve enquired for Rak-Sakyi, but we aren’t the only ones. He wasn’t in the Palace squad today.

The club could’ve been proactive in targeting players early. Looking at players going out of contract etc. But nope we’re probably haggling over an extra million or two just to get the deal over the line

Brave comeback. Bet he’s full of pride and gratitude after that performance

Our squad is worse going into this Championship season than two years ago

I stopped reading after Alan Nixon, he’s as reliable as Alex Crooks.

To a point I agree. But he could’ve stuck Armstrong out wide, he could’ve played Sugawara RB, Fraser out wide, he had three other strikers to select etc etc

This will be a loss, and spark a panic buy of two players on the final day of the window.

I wouldn’t write him off, but Jesus Christ you can’t deny those tactics were awful today? Surely? How many people looked at that team sheet pre-match and thought “AA solo up front, Fraser at RB, three CBs, a back five? At home, yeah we’re winning this”?

People will say reactionary because of yesterdays game, but it’s been plainly obvious for a few months now we needed an established striker, a couple of established wingers, maybe a new CB and GK whilst clearing the deadwood. It doesn’t take a genius. Business should be done early, even if it means you pay a little more to get it done sooner. No point haggling over the odd million.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, we don’t target the right players. Sport Republic try to be cocky and clever, their success rate has got to be only 5%. Most of the signings in thier era have been dogshit. Take Leeds as an example, big club, in the Championship buying semi-experienced fringe Premier League players: Dan James, Joe Roden, Ethan Ampadu etc. Players that will dominate a league like this and kick on. Look at our signings, a couple of untried and unknowns from a foreign league who have “potential”. Southampton are a big fish in the Championship, so why is the club philosophy to buy untried players from abroad? If you’re serious about promotion you go and get players that will get you promoted. It’s not rocket science.

Or eleven

Three CBs or five at the back supposedly closes up shop if you’re defending, but you need to have defenders that are good enough, that we don’t. There is no benefit in playing a back five, you lose an attacking option. Sitting in the Chapel end today, the amount of times Fraser or Manning had the ball and there wasn’t a single player to play a through pass to. Armstrong made runs but that’s all he could do. Downes and Charles are basically the same player, both were playing no further than maybe five yards ahead of the CBs. Throw Matty Fernandes who dropped very deep pretty much most of today and we effectively had three CDMs and three CBs, Armstrong on his own against two 6”4” centre halves and Fraser and Manning out wide with seemingly no one to pass to. If these amazing tactics are to whip it into the keeper and play a diagonal ball for ninety minutes it’s going to be a long season.

We need four or five players and we need the deadwood to go. Dibling, Edozie and BBD gone. ABK gone. A CB gone.

Tell me something he did wrong today? Id argue he was better than Charles, Wood etc

I don’t think you can blame Armstrong for anything this season. Seriously how can you? He’s made runs, he’s pressed, he’s had shots at goal, put people through etc. But when you’re against at least two defenders a foot taller than you and largely playing on your own, what do you expect?

Tactically awful decisions today. Back five, again. Really?

Charles and Downes are the same player sitting deep; and all Fernandes did was run and play deep too. So we effectively had three holding midfielders not moving forward with three CB’s behind them.

If Will Still’s tactics are to drill it out from CB to wingers, and then to just float balls in for the keeper to catch every time, hen this is going to be a long season. That was a terrible performance. Absolutely abysmal. The attitude of some of those players, heads dropping, no urgency. They can all bugger off. Will Still got that entirely wrong today.

Absolutely fucking abysmal. Tactics from us is just crossing it to their keeper, low and behold, it works for them. Fucking terrible.

How have we not made another attacking sub!?!

I reckon Damion Downs will come on, he’s not on the pitch at HT with the others.

Three at the back does not work. It’s very simple. Players are overloaded with sideways options to pass to this not getting the ball up the pitch quick enough; and you lose that attacking threat, thus inviting the opposition to press.

This is a really, really, really terrible game. The tactics are all over the place. No attacking threat. Lots of sideways and backwards passing. Very Russell Martin-esque this performance. We need forwards on. Stoke spent more time rolling about in the ground, time wasting has been monumental. Ref has been poor throughout. Biggest cheer has been the home and away fans being bellends towards each other in the Chapel.