hypochondriac

I've got no idea and neither do you. I have had terrible food poisoning though and I was in no position to do anything. Either he comes and no drama or he doesn't and Martin and Wilcox look like idiots. Let's see if he signs next week.

No one outside of those two. He was rubbish there in the last game.

What else is new?

He's pushing Stuart Armstrong at CM though which no one really wants.

Good to hear Martin talking more seriously about incoming now and saying that he wants one more in for midfield after Downes. Should make us very strong in the middle.

Martin pushing the same story of illness this morning. He's going to look incredibly silly when it turns out it was all a lie.

OK so we made up a story about food poisoning?

Depends how poorly tbf.

What do you think then? Downes decided to refuse to come and then we briefed to journalists that he has a stomach bug and then our director of football and manager said he was coming whilst we desperately tried to persuade him behind the scenes? Likely?

Where's @trouserswith the picture?

My prediction is we lose on Saturday and this place goes into meltdown. We need a couple of signings to placate fans and continue the positivity as well as strengthening the team.

Carillo was pretty random...

Or maybe we like the Bristol City defender more.

My usual barometer of chatting to some mates who don't bother with any online stuff and there's certainly some murmurs of discontent about the lack of activity over the past week or so. We really need to get a few in after the departure of jwp and likely Lavia shortly.

I expect that's because we will. KWP going surely.

Maybe so. All I know from reading the westham board a few days ago is that Moyes was trying to play him like that and he got slated for playing him out of position and him underperforming

Downes isn't box to box, he's a defensive midfielder.

It will only get more annoying on Sunday when people will start talking about Geoff Hurst if an England player scores.

We don't have three decent keepers. You can't honestly believe that.

What do you mean? I'm sure he was annoyed because he wants the goalkeeper to be as confident as possible. You do however have to be blind not to see that the keeper has had his problems during his time here and I'm sure they woukd like to at least have the option of bringing in a competent player if his form does take a dip. That isn't saying that Bazunu isn't up to it, it's taking sensible precautions due to a young keeper with promise.

Not least because there's zero chance we sign two cbs of that quality.

Sorry I ruined the party is my abiding memory of Viafara.

Actions speak louder than words. I can absolutely see the logic in the manager publically backing his keeper. I fully expect us to dump McCarthy and get in another keeper who could do a job if Bazunu fecks up.

The thing I like most about Martin is how he seems to watch the same game as all the fans. With the last few managers (even Ralph) I found myself shaking my head when they praised someone like Mo or made an inexplicable substitution that seemed to make no sense at all. When Martin talks about the game on Saturday he has praised Charles and Smallbone and made other comments that I feel aligns almost perfectly with what all the fans are saying. It's reassuring when a manager sees things the same way that the fans do because it shows that he is on the same wavelength even if he has some added context behind the scenes that fans don't see.

That's what I remember unfortunately so you are correct.