washsaint

Just like last season - huge gap between midfield and front players. So far in pre-season we have looked rubbish - no attacking threat whatsoever. Starting to get a bit worried about the coming season.

Aside from Boufal, we look utter s***e

Holy mother of god.....listening to some of the posters on here you'd think we've been flirting with relegation these last 4 years. Comments such as 'last few pre-seasons a disaster in terms of preparation' etc. are beyond ludicrous. I'm sure we'll sign another 1 or 2 players before the end of the window. Do we need wholesale changes - no. Do we need extra in terms of quality - yes. Last season the team under performed badly in the main - we'll see this year if it was the manager or players at fault. So many posters on here have spent way too long playing Football Manager I reckon - hopefully we will continue to punch above our weight but not sure how anyone is expecting us to keep up with the likes of City, etc with the totally obscene amounts of money floating around.

You're right.....we should just bid 60 million so the likes of you are happy.

And they have signed Mendy too.....

Some proper mentalists on here - anyone who cannot see that Stephens is developing into a top, top CB is mad. As soon as he came on yesterday the whole back line improved - he was marshalling the defence, reading the game superbly and his passing was sublime. He has come on such a long way and really looking forward to seeing how much more he improves this year. And Puel deserves a LOT of credit for playing him rather than taking the easy option and playing Caceres (as so many on here were pleading for).

Sidney is a troll. Period. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it is yet another login for the nutter that is Glasgow/Bournemouth/Heisenberg

Unfortunately he/it is not in the slightest bit funny. Dragging the forum down with his blatant trolling, yes but funny no.

Superb!

For once, that is actually very amusing! Kudos to Nick/UI

Don't think he would be sorely missed if he left. Find his comments quite outrageous.....he was utter gash last year and his finishing was beyond woeful. and this is even before the fact he was offside way too much. Very limited player who runs around a lot and therefore gets adulation from the crowd........

But he's spot on. How on earth can you proclaim MP plays the football we all love to watch when you have likely never seen a game he has managed? Can I remind you that Alaves finished 9th and got to a Cup Final and scored very few goals? He may be brilliant - and I truly hope he is - but to make the statement you made without anything to back it up is purely nonsense. Funny how MP is getting the benefit of the doubt from people on here whereas Puel never got that same treatment.

How completely underwhelming - the club has dropped a b*****k here in my opinion. Not sure how any on the shortlist are better than we had - and certainly not the 'names' that would encourage want-aways to stay. Obviously they could pull a rabbit from a hat - but without the players at his disposal he will be on a hiding to nothing. Our current squad is not good enough for top 6/7 and is a mid-table quality side. No manager is going to change that reality.

Those comments speak volumes about Puel - an honorable, decent man treated very poorly by the club and fans. Yet those some muppets baying for his head will be the same ones slagging off players when they leave and how dishonorable they are.

All the names listed by Wilson are completely underwhelming - as are their managerial records. Puel should have been given another year. Utterly bizarre situation we are in.

We don;t always agree but this is absolutely spot on IMO. I think, as a fanbase, we have very unrealistic expectations - and also look back with rose tinted specs. When we finished 6th under Koeman we played some awful football for 1/2 to 2/3 of the season but we scraped wins and this dullness was forgotten in light of the end result. I think Puel was harshly treated - although he did not help himself at times - but if he did refuse to change our style at home then probably best we parted ways. Because the majority of the games at home were truly dull. Personally I think he was harshly treated - and the names being bandied about don't make me think 'wow, what an upgrade'.

so, if the tea leaves are right let me get this straight............... We fire a manager that got us to 8th and a Cup Final playing, on the whole, dour defensive football and are looking to replace him with a coach that: Got to 9th in La Liga, lost a Cup Final, played negative dour football and got fired Can someone please tell me how that can possibly be an upgrade? Makes no sense if that happens and is bats**t crazy. Puel has every right to feel very, very aggrieved.

No surprise that he was fired - but I'm not sure I trust the Board to get a better replacement in. The squad last season reminded me of our times under Strachan - quantity over quality. The Board screwed up by not getting a real striker in last summer and the likes of Long and Rodriguez should be hanging their heads in shame - to say they were awful all season would be an understatement. There were glimpses under Puel of what may have been - but unfortunately they were only glimpses. The home games were as dull as dishwater in the main but the away games were much better. I feel very sorry for Claude and believe he should have been given another season - all this chopping and changing will come back to haunt us eventually. Also, what viable candidates are there out there? Tuchel is not coming and I am struggling to see who else might be a good fit.

But his days seem to be 1 in 10 these days

Really? Talk about clutching at straws.... VVD has been talking to Liverpool, City, Chelsea, etc. and you really think that he wants to stay? He has shown himself up to be as a big a scumbag as Klopp and the rest of the bin dippers.

^^^^Disgusting - the book should be thrown at them (Liverpool) and Van Dijk comes out of this really, really badly too. Sure Liverpool, as ever, will get away with it based on their groveling apology.

You really are one. With your hit rate for ITK stuff, its safe to say we can typically take the exact opposite of what you say as the actual truth. No idea how something can be a done deal when the club who holds the contract have not even been spoken to.

How on earth is Silva any better than Puel? Abject surrender by his Hull side when the chips were down and some dodgy links with Jorge Mendes. Madness why this guy is talked about so highly

you can't argue with that at all - but sadly, they style of play at home is what will do for Puel. Simply not good enough - very little entertainment and a very defensive style of play. Way too conservative - if your're winning (like Koeman did last season when there was awful football for 1/2 the season but nicking 1-0s) then all will be well. Lose or not score and people won't (rightly) put up with it. I was back in the UK and took in the City game and was bored beyond belief the whole game - we never went for it once in the game. I would say having to suffer that style of football every home game would seriously make me question whether I wanted to renew a season ticket. Its a shame as he seems a thoroughly decent bloke and has brought some of the younger players on a lot. 8th and a Cup Final would normally be considered a success - but the style of play detracts from these stats. Please not SIlva though!

If that is Puel's last match then please god not Silva - anyone who thinks he is an upgrade is seriously demented. Still sat here wondering WTF with Puel's last substitution.