derry

If he signs he will have to be a top performer immediately, he may be like Poyet and fit in, on the other hand! I would still prefer Phillips and Ince plus a couple more.

Maybe if this wasn't a Cortese led initiative the plug would have been pulled a while back.

Can't help thinking all this just points to a waste of time. Ince and Phillips would be a good compromise and a lot less expensive.

Webb has become a celebrity big club games referee. Maybe he needs to referee a lot more lower and middle table games. Rodriguez was poleaxed inside the area. The player played the ball but clobbered Rodriguez with his uncontrolled follow through. Anywhere on the field but MC's penalty area it was a bolted on foul. Bloody poor refereeing. We need a first class keeper. Davis deserves a chance but he just doesn't look the answer especially when we will have lots of games where we will get pressurised. Fox is a decent player with a fatal flaw he ball watches and rarely checks over his shoulder. He lost sight of his man and the header was desperation as he stumbled. His mark was ten yards away he had loads of time and could have let it go. Hard working gutsy performance under the cosh from a dominant skilful team. We need to upgrade some more positions now, a few in January and more next summer to build a really competitive team.

All weekend games whether Saturday or TV designated days are deemed to be Saturday for registration purposes so as not to give an advantage to a team playing on Sun/Mon. Different rules for loans.

A throw away comment?

The next week on a day off I flew a photographic survey for the Forestry Commission to survey the fallen trees on their properties from here to Yorkshire. Unbelievable destruction.

I was interested to hear what happened in 1986 regarding Uruguay not that I didn't guess as they had form.

Does it really matter? I was a year out in a throw away remark that 1986 or 1987 meant little to me as I was too busy flying and travelling.

I was commuting to Aberdeen at the time and was there that night.

Talking about an international teams behaviour isn't racist. There have been many episodes over the years when Uruguayan teams have resorted to kicking out when things have gone against them. Additionally there hasn't been many Uruguyans that have been successful in this country over the years.

I think you should take a look at yourself, this is not racism. Exactly what was Suarez charged with over Evra? My comment was as a result of a perception over the years of Uruguayan football team's behaviour when things go against them. Forlan was a poor example, he was an outstanding character that cared for a handicapped sister but at MU wasn't that successful until he went to Villareal. Poyet was a great success but an attitude waiting to happen.

What happened in 1986 apart from the big storm?

Anybody know any Uruguayans that have been a success in this country? Uruguayans internationally are more noted for a lack of discipline and sometimes cynical physical behaviour. Liverpool have been treading on eggshells with Suarez.

Nothing changes- Everything on Tick.

This is the blindingly obvious conclusion that sums up the successful use of players, whose interrelationship needs to be blended together in a way that suits them and brings out the best in the team. Picking a system and shoehorning in players, who for whatever reasons, do not seem to perform well, however talented and successful they have been playing in a way that suited them previously, is a recipe for failure. It is a pointless exercise neutering talented players by asking them to fit in to a more technical system. Adkins has been noted in the past for getting the team to perform better than the sum of the parts. Unfortunately the team isn't really performing better than the sum of the parts at the moment. Only Sharp seems to be able to score and doesn't look like first choice. Failure to score against both Ajax and Udinese where we didn't create anything much at all, looks more a failure of the system rather than the players.

The need is to have no slowish players, important is acceleration and sharpness, Pace in the right places is necessary. I don't care what system is used but it must suit the players.

Having seen Ajax, Wolves and Udinese and seen the way the team is set up and the way three vital players in particular, Lambert, Rodriguez and Lallana are struggling to make any impression, I think that it is right that questions are being asked. I'm delighted to be in the Premier but question whether the players that are good in the systems we played last year are now automatically able to translate that to a completely different system. The Ajax game was almost like watching a slow motion replay, Wolves was a bit better and the Udinese game a whole lot better but that game demonstrated the deficiencies of a team unable to break out from midfield and predictably rely on slow buildups. Apart from Clyne and to a lesser degree Puncheon nobody ran at the opposition.

Bert, don't make the mistake of thinking that the system is the most important thing, it isn't. It is no earthly use buying a striker for £7m then deciding to play him as a wide midfielder who is far from pacy in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 system because he has to play. The personnel needed to play the 4-3-3/4-5-1 successfully would not be the same to play the 4-4-2. What we have done is take players who are successful in 4-4-2 and assume that those same players can be moved around and provide an efficient 4-3-3/4-5-1. Three or four are like fish out of water. If we are going to play this way then we have to bring in 3/4 players that fit the system.

I don't think he is influential enough in the centre of midfield. He was much better on the left in the last ten minutes against Udinese. A big concern is the midfield's lack of pace.

I think we should forget about the numbers. It's about the best collective team and how the players complement each other. At the moment we have a pedestrian middle and nothing up front. At least two strong quick players are needed in midfield and play two up front.

Picking a system and shoehorning in players that have to adapt to play it, mostly ineffectively, is a recipe for failure. The only thing that works is to design a system that gets the collective best out of the player's abilities. It is better to be efficient because the system suits the players, than neutered by a system that doesn't suit, no matter how technically sound it is.

I know one thing: I prefer DeRidder's erratic delivery and pace to no delivery or pace.

Clyne and Puncheon were useful and caused Udinese problems. Davis no chance with three goals all from a distance. The back four were ok with Fonte having his best game so far. Lambert looks a bit fitter but isolated. Where we do have real problems is the middle of the team. First of all the centre, Lallana, Schneiderlin and JWP in the first half. Schneiderlin unusually gave the ball away at times, Lallana was peripheral and the game tended to pass him by, JWP had a decent game and is nippier than the other two. We failed to close down the scorers and they had all the time in the world to line up their shots. We lacked the ability to break at pace. Rodriguez was tidy but didn't really do anything. Puncheon had one of his best games to date. We brought on Gazzaniga, Shaw, Davis and Sharp. Gazzaniga settling in nicely. Shaw looks useful but we were weaker with him at left back. Davis is a decent passer but lacks pace and wasn't an improvement on JWP. Sharp put himself about but lacked support. We were very pedestrian and whilst retaining the ball reasonably well didn't threaten. I can't remember the Udinese goalkeeper having to make a save. Lallana went to the left for the last ten minutes and looked much more at home. Guly was ok but by that time Udinese's second string were on the field. We have to find some pace from at least two midfielders or we will struggle to score. We had as much of the game as Udinese but they were like lightning on the break where all four goals came from.

This season the due PPs are August and February, two payments of £4m if complete. That means only £1.58m due in August. But how much of that is already earmarked.