sydney_saint

Yeah, I can't really see it working out for him in the prem. He's got a decent amount of talent, but not an exceptional amount to make up for the lack of effort. If he's gonna put in that lack of effort in his first in this league, I can't see that ever changing. You need to be an exceptional talent to justify building a system around him, and he's not at that level. I don't even know if he's got any pace, cos I don't I have ever seen him run! He could be very good in the Championship though, if we hit the ground running and properly dominate teams. He would be an exceptional talent by Championship standards.

Was just looking at saves of the week. First save is Pickford, second save is Areola, third save is Sa, fourth save is Martinez. All teams that are in/were in the relegation mix up. This is just the weekend! Let alone how many saves of these quality they have produced across the season. Has Bazunu produced a save that even gets close to any of these?

The signings look like a game of Football Manager where you sign a bunch of youngsters and they all automatically get better with game time and then you sell them on in a couple of years. Except real life isn't a video game. I also hadn't quite realised we had handed over as much as 35m to City for their youngsters! That is just so unbelievably dodgy, and only one of them looks good enough, albeit he looks exceptional. I don't mind the model of taking a chance on some youngsters, acknowledging some will fail. But you need to put them into a way more stable team. What really strikes me in that list is the lack of big boy experience. How many total appearances in the top 5 leagues between those 13 players?

Moi has 4 goals and 3 assists in EPL matches with us. KWP has 2 goals and 5 assists, albeit with a handful more matches. So yes, we probably are better off just sticking KWP there.

Exactly. Excluding the big 6. The ages of the first choice keepers are. Sa- 30 Pickford - 28 Neto - 33 Martinez - 30 Meslier - 22 Ward - 29 Fabianksi-37 Navas - 36 Guaita - 36 Raya - 27 Sanchez -25 Leno - 30 Pope - 30 Bazunu - 21 So really the only exception is Meslier. Every other club just about has gone for experience

Exactly this. It would have been a very good save if he had kept it out. However, an EPL goalkeeper should be making a fair chunk of very good saves, and Bazunu doesn't. It's not good enough to be an 'okay' keeper at this level, you need to be a very good keeper. If we take the relegation rivals keepers, most of them are saving it, or at least regularly producing saves of that quality. Fabianksi, Pickford, Sa, Meslier. Not sure if Neto would have kept it out, but that's about 1 goalkeeper in the entire division. Then look at the quality of keepers throughout the league from not the classically big clubs. Martinez, Leno, Sanchez and Pope. Navas was a hell of a signing for Forest and he's already saved them more points than Bazunu has for us all season. Every single one of the names I have said have far more chance of keeping that out than Bazunu. So it may not have been a howler, but its in line with his entire season. I'm not even sure if he is showing that much promise even for a youngster. Take two of the young keepers recently blooded in the EPL. Meslier and Ramsdale. Both of them made some utter howlers in their first season. But both were also making some absolute worldies. Bazunu needs a season in the championship, which at his age would still be a fantastic experience. As an example of our own history. In our first season back we obviously had some major keeper issues as Davis was not up to it. We could have played Gazza all season, seeing as he was back up. Instead we were decisive and brought in the experience of Boruc who made a massive difference to our season. If we had gone with Gazza, we could well have gone down.

What I also don't understand is why we would be raiding City's academy anyway, if it wasn't for hiring the guy whose reputation depended on us rading them. Where does their reputation for having a great academy come from? The only good player I think they have produced in the last decade is Foden, and Lavia will also soon be considered a major success. That's not a great return for all the money they have spent. Yet we have decided to hand over a huge chunk of money to pick up their youngsters. Lavia may make that investment look okay just by himself, but something stinks i agree. I would much rather have spent the money raiding Chelsea's academy which at least has produced several EPL players.

Really? Over the last few years we have seen some people in the spotlight get attacked by fanatical people. A couple of MPs, Rushdie and a few others. It would probably freak me out a bit if I was getting emailed death threats. Cos yeah 99% of the time its just a keyboard warrior, but you can never be fully sure its not that 1% who could actually put your life in danger. And some people take football just way too seriously that it would be enough to worry about.

Lowe sucked the soul out of the club. At least the current ownership are putting money into the club and trying to improve. They've made some horrendous decisions that are likely to relegate us, but it is nowhere near as bad as Lowe.

He is the perfect example of how standards have slipped. He arrived at the club, and within about 6 months it was pretty clear he wasn't good enough. Not enough pace, not even strength, not enough creativity. So we shipped him off on loan. And that should have been it. Not all signings work out, we wish him well. The club were decisive. And yet without any real improvements to his game, or even an excellent run of form, he has become first name on the team sheet!

Too many players on the pitch that are there for their defensive work, and predictly led to an extremely blunt attack. Moi hasn't got a goal or an assist for a very long time, and that is clearly not gonna change anytime soon. AMN offers almost nothing going forward and KWP is by far the superior player. A defensive set up makes sense against Chelsea, but we should have been braver today.

Let's be honest. It may not be a 'howler' but most keepers in the league are saving it. Bazunu has incredibly weak wrists, which he has shown all season. It's not good enough to be a decent keeper in this league, you need to be an exceptional level.

Surely out of all our number 10s we have one who works hard? Cos on the ball, Moi is just awful

That was a gorgeous ball from JWP.

Pretty happy with this. Leeds were always going to be fired up. If we can get to half time goaless, the crowd might start getting agitated

Selles just looks like a manager doesn't he

How on earth has Given got a job as a pundit? Every time I see him he just talks utter tripe. Clearly doesn't put any research or time into his job. I genuinely believe you could pluck the average fan out of the stands and they would talk more sense than him. It's between JWP and Juninho for the best ever. For me, as much as I love JWP, it is Juninho as the best ever. Scored so many, good conversion and rate and scored a more diverse range of freekicks. That said, there is no player in the history of football I would rather take a freekick just left of centre from 25 yards out. For that specific type of freekick, which is quite a common one, he is the best ever. And to be the second best ever taker is just a phenominal achievement.

Footage of Jones watching the game from a nearby apartment

Really good half, impressed by that! Chelsea look utterly clueless, but also helped by the pressure we are putting on them. JWP tremendous, not just for the goal but his all round game was fantastic. Getting back and helping the defence, linking the midfield to the forwards, a few interceptions as well.

JWP is just a joke. I was celebrating just at getting the freekick. He's also playing brilliantly

We don't like goal scorers at our club. It's a red line we will not cross. Like Perraud scoring a brace and getting dropped. Same for Djenepo when he scored. How else do you think Moi stays in the side? Say no to goalscorers.

Can anyone remember the last time we played our best players all at the same time?

With a selection like that, he's really taken a huge risk. Get a result and it looks genius. Terrible performance and he should be kicked straight out the door for putting that diabolical side together.

lol at myself for daring to hope for better

Yeah that's a fair point. I'm just a little bit worried that his time as an EPL starter might be near the end, and that really sucks as on form he was a player you love to watch, ghosting through the midfield and those spectacular shots. I think he would still be best as a substitute for that last 20-25 minutes. I wouldn't be even a little annoyed if he starts, I've just got a feeling that Orsic has plenty to give and we need to see if we can unlock it.