Saint-Fred

Or Long would have scored 15 goals and Lukaku would have been sold in January.

The person in charge of Everton last year had the same striker but didn't finish as high up! Could be with Puel in charge of Everton Lukaku would have only scored a few goals like Long has...(who was only 5 goals behind Lukaku last season! )

We have been lucky with the managers we had. Poch now has Tottenham punching well above their weight and Keoman has got Everton in the mix, temporarily possibly (I still think they are likely to finish seventh). The manager really is the difference..as Man U have found out! Do you reckon if they have another bad season next year they might move for Poch?

so because we got to a cup final- Puel is better than RK or Poch? How many league points are we in front or behind of Everton, chelsea, west Brom, Man U, Liverpool , Spurs or even Bournemouth..compared to last season? That will tell you the progress we have made.

Personally I think it would be a disaster. Without anyone else in the side who is creative we would be relegation fodder. I like Boufal but he has a long way to go before he is creating chances with regularity. We sold the goals now some are suggesting selling those who created them is not a further step back?

I don't get the feeling from Puels team that it will ever be capable of those highs of a Keoman team though? I do think we are pretty consistent, very much more so than under RK, where we could be appalling or brilliant, often in the same game.

The two situations aren't exactly the same. RK has previously seen out contracts (if he wasn't sacked first) then moved on. Compensation for managers is small beer in the overall scheme. In the same way we don't let players go into their last year Everton are just protecting a possibly 30 million investment. For me with RK we may not have got to a cup final but we would be as a minimum be the best of the rest, including Everton so top 6/7. I think under Claude it will always be more of the same..play the same way, get beat by the big boys, do OK against the others and finish around 8th to 14th. About right for a club our size I suppose.

Lol I like it..although if you were to stick to your principles you would show Virgin the way by only charging them 20 quid.

Even Palace away we had something like 60% possession.

You are paying hundreds of pounds extra for a ticket so your mate can come instead of your son for the odd game? Have you worked out how much that is costing you per game that he comes? I can give you a money saving tip that doesn't involve Virgin!

I would probably agree with this. I struggle to remember a team we had that is so consistent. I know others think we aren't but I don't see a lot of difference between our best games and worst games.. That is probably exactly what Man City need! This is a difficult game to call, it's unlikely we will have as much possession as we usually do. The first goal could be crucial but whichever way that goal goes I would think it will be tight with neither team running away with it.. I will go 1-1.

Bloody Virgin.

That's my point..saying how would Keoman cope this year with our squad is irrelevant to the debate. It's impossible to prove, the only fact is RK wont have finished outside the top 7 in three seasons in the premier league, there is no reason to believe he wouldn't have done so with us again this season.. But that's also irrelevant as it can't be proven either way.

I like it thanks!

Haven't Man U only won 6? So we are top 6 form :-)

And yet both have scored goals for us in the past? And before his injury J Rod was playing for England and we were all scared he would be sold? Funny how things change.

Sorry you can't have it both ways...he cannot be responsible for the good and not responsible for the bad or vice versa.

Of the teams below us only Bournemouth, Boro and Sunderland have picked us less points over the last 10 games than us. Can't see us going down but we may well struggle for mid table.

Ooo Keoman seems to be managing without them this season?

Leicester are showing how important the right manager is..same players, so, so different results. IMO Puel is the wrong manager but I respect those who think he is the right one. Pessimist view is that we could really really struggle next season based upon league results in the second half of this season. The optimist will say he has a window to get his own team in..however people are listing up to six or seven players (some even more) they think are not either Puels type of player or good enough for his system.

Austin managed to score at that end.

O Lol even if Kat had been managing the team we would have played at Milan and played in the Europa league group stages...that was a given for any manager taking the job this year...an achievement for this year would have been getting a result in the San Siro and getting out of the group stages ( especially given two of the teams were of really really low quality).

Is hard to be too optimistic given Palace's form...only one goal conceded in four is it? Without Gabbi, like yesterday, you wonder where we will get a goal from? I will go 0-0.

TBF to Ryan, if Claude has taught us one thing, it's that players (except VVD and Romeu for some reason) can't play two games a week so in reality he should have been rotated and rested for this one having played mid week.

No I said we were ok. Never said it was bleak. I do think those thinking those two games in hand are 6 points in the bag are a little too happy clappy though. The summer will be critical. I don't think, like some others,that we have a bad squad, it could do with strengthening in some obvious areas but it's better than Bournemouths all day long. Oh and as for how long I have supported Saints? I remember us getting promoted to the old division one...do you?