saintant

You're clearly very clever and far more so than most. Well done.

What does 'Er no' mean? If you disagree with me why not make your case. 'Er no' tells me nothing.

It's the easiest thing in the world to spend other people's money ie Dragan's. Seems to me he needs to get more of a hands-on grip of things rather than letting a bunch of chancers keep pouring his hard earned down the drain for some ego trip of their own.

Just read an article in which RM states he has no issues with ABK or Onuachu and they are both training hard. When asked why neither were in the squad for Everton he said the players he selected were right for what we needed in that particular game. As the COT say, 'make of that what you will'

It's also reported in detail on a site called givemesport. They emphasise interest from Man Utd which makes sense since he's just had a very good game against them and both Ashworth (ex Newcastle) and Jason Wilcox work for them. We need to offer him an extension on better money to protect our asset.

If he's fit and keen to play and his head is in the right place and is considered one of the best centre backs at the club (which he is) he should be starting games. The manager and players don't have to like him - sure, it helps if they do. We don't always get on with those we work with but if a person was good at their job a manager wouldn't have them sat at home on full pay because he wasn't the most popular with him or his colleagues.

You contradict yourself by saying we scored plenty of goals last season while saying we don't have a competent striker. How many goals did AA score last season?

It was, by the majority but on this one RM remains very much in the minority.

A win will be great and the hope is that it comes off the back of a good performance.

You'll score few goals if you don't create many chances. It's a formation issue.

Even assuming RM accepts this why has it taken so long for his penny to drop? I'm still not convinced he doesn't think AA can play as a lone central striker but we'll see. One thing we can be sure of and that's the fact that he'll never pick Onuachu.

Sorry but with two players on the pitch one of whom has scored 7 out of 7 and the other has not taken a penalty you would always choose the former and he would keep the job until he starts missing a few. It's not even a football thing just common sense really.

We don't play 4-2-3-1 and that's the problem.

Expecting to see more pedestrian, walking football played in a 4-3-3 formation that hasn't and won't work for us.

The concerning stat is that, with around 25% share of the possession, a poor Everton side still managed more shots than we did. If RM is going to succeed at this level he needs to start getting the side to create a lot more chances from our high share of possession otherwise it's all a bit pointless.

If this is indeed correct we'd have a very narrow field of potential new managers to consider.

We had one - BBD who now has a record of 8 from 8. You would need to have a conversation with RM to find out why he wasn't the nominated penalty taker as opposed to Archer who had never previously taken one. Alfie House tried to question him on it but he had a hissy fit and came up with a load of nonsense about number of games played.

Good line up and formation but not one RM would consider. I'd probably play Lallana central and Fernandes on the left. You've got plenty of creativity and players who can keep the ball and play on the half turn plus the security provided by the double pivot.

Agree although Fernandes did play two really sloppy passes that put us in trouble. Generally though he was excellent. Lallana still has that sharp football brain and it's a pity his legs are going.

This type of football is not conducive to creating many chances. It's more reliant on flashes of individual brilliance from say Dibling, a set piece or a defensive error.

Very good penalties from our lads and a crucial save from McCarthy who finally guessed the right way.

We are absolutely dire.

RM coaches this absolutely pointless style of football. It's mind numbingly boring to watch and creates just about nothing.

No, we're short of them.

That was a typical half from a RM team - there is zero urgency to get the ball forward quickly. Wood is an accident waiting to happen. Cornet did ok in flashes. Lallana still class. Big Les having a decent game. We have little threat up front.