S-Clarke

Close, blimey my maths isn't as bad as I thought! Still it would need one hell of an upturn that's not really been seen since we returned from lockdown in 2020. I think we got something like 16 points from 27. We need 25 from 54 points as homesick said, almost half the available. And that is taking into the account that we must play Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Brighton, Utd, Newcastle, Man City. That's almost 24 points written off if we go with the form book, which kind of means we need to win every single game against the rest - starting on Saturday. That's how unrealistic survival is imo.

If you take the kind of form you are suggesting over an entire season, that's around 55+ points - which is pushing into the contention of those European places.

I think most of us have the same idea, just a shame we're not the manager. Bazunu (Willy/McCarthy) KWP (Bree/Lyanco) - ABK (or DCC) - Salisu (Bednarek) - Perraud (KWP/Larios) Lavia (hmm) - JWP (Diallo) Edozie (Moussa/Theo) Alcaraz (Airbo/Ely) Sulemana (Orsic/Armstrong) Ounachu (Adams/Mara) Biggest hole's still are in CM for me, we have 3 players for each position elsewhere. We just have to hope Lavia stays fit.

I don't think people are saying he's a sexy striker by any means, but I don't think you can underestimate just how important having a presence up front is in the PL. Tadic, Mane and Long thrived off a pretty agricultural Pelle. Rodriguez, Lalanna thrived off of Lambert etc. It makes a huge difference and it's been an area we've been deficient in for some time. The added plus to this is that we’ve filled all corners of the jigsaw, so we’ve added extra attacking quality to supplement what he’ll bring to us centrally. So if we can get our new wide man, Orsic and even Alcaraz closer to the chaos he’ll create then our attack will look light and day IMO.

Now that we've got ours over the line, how about we spare a thought for Everton? Oh yeah, thought not. What a cluster fuck for them. They had a pretty average squad as it was, made it weaker by selling Gordon so they had funds to reinvest and then didn't reinvest any of it. The only positive I can see for them is that they've got a lot of ex-Burnley players there and have added Dyche to manage them. He will have the defensive tools to work with and to make them hard to beat I think, but I just don't see anything in their attack.

I'd say for 60% of that tie we were absolutley humped by Newcastle, they could have had more than the 1 in the first leg. They controlled it and kept us at arm’s length for the most of it. For 20 mins yesterday they annihilated us through the middle and just took the piss, it was like boys against men. We did not look on the same level as them, and given that we play in the same league that is concerning to me. We rallied in the 2nd half, but a lot of that was due to Newcastle retreating and calming down themselves, so they let us play - and we just played in front of them for most of it.

The chirping back is usually the sign of someone not very confident in their own ability as it is, so they act defensive and play the woe be me card. Seen it lots of times in work. The right thing for Jones to have done to the criticism was to just ignore it, pass over the comments and get on with it. But his little snipes back at the fan base just scream of someone who know's he's out of his depth, so is trying to be defensive to protect his ridiculous opinion of himself.

I can't remember the last time we picked the same 11...? There's no continuity in this team, which is a lot of the problem as well. Chops and changes like there's no tomorrow. It's almost like he doesn't know his best team, but like you said I think he's overthinking and trying to be a bit too clever with tactics and personal adapt to certain situations etc. The obvious rules in football to me, very basic... 1 - Put out your best players every week so they build up a connection/familiarity. 2 - Keep the ball out of the net 3 - Score in the other net That's pretty much football in it's simplistic term and the most successful teams, like Newcastle, don't do anything fancy - they just do the above.

This is what really confuses me with all of this. They've shown ambition with their transfer outlays, more than we've ever spent and credit to them on that. They've shown ambition in getting the backroom people, like Wilcox and Shields before him (both highly rated across football circles). They showed ambition in the summer with Ruben Selles who has a huge coaching rep across European football. So, I thought moving on Ralph would allow them to the opportunity to show ambition in that area as well - but it couldn't be more opposite if they tried. A totally unproven guy, acts, talks and manages like a lower league manager which is all he is. Would love him to prove me wrong and I'm not one of those calling for him to go as there's no point wasting energy on a futile effort like that, but it was an incredibly weird and confusing move from SR and at odds with everything else they've done.

I think that's harsh. We haven't spent that on dross, we've spent a lot of it on talented young players and have got the balance a bit wrong. We've somewhat addressed that this window with more proven experience and international players, so we'll see where we go

The new players won't be in the mix though I wouldn't have thought, they're both still waiting for Visa's and haven't even trained with us yet. So I expect much of the same against Brentford with Elyounoussi putting in a diasterclass of how not to be an attacking midfielder.

Tight hammy, taken off as a precuation.

Not doing this again! We've filled the obvious holes (minus DM), need immediate goals or contributions from Ounacho but he looks to have the tools we lack. I still look at it being a very tall order for us. We're going to somehow need to find European qualification form for the remainder of the season, and I just cannot see how that is possible. This is not just on the players, but we have a manager who looks entirely out of his depth.

I was worried he was going to be our only attacking addition – luckily not! But this signing in isolation is still someone we needed. We have lacked quality and pace in the attacking third all season (and longer than that). We've had to put up with Moussa, Ely and co and they're just not good enough - add to the fact that Stu is crocked, so we have nothing. This guy will add immediate pace which we lack through the lines, looks direct and will win free kicks and all that stuff. It looks like a big fee, but it's an average PL transfer fee nowadays!

I can't judge him on that first half, as he didn't seem to know where he was meant to be playing. He was also being supported by Lyanco which isn't going to help anyone. Second half, in a more natural 4, he seemed at home. Good touch I thought, bit of physicality and height at full back (which we haven't had). 2nd half decent, 1st half to write off as he wasn't sure of his role. (which makes a mockery of him knowing Jones systems...)

They have almost certainly put their money with their mouth is, across both windows. They got the ballance wrong in the summer with a load of kids, but we've focused on proven experience this window which I think will hold is in good stead. You cannot say they haven't tried to fill the obvious holes with players we needed. The ambition is almost certainly there, the execution of it has just been wrong (so far). Still a bit nervous about DM, as our options outside of Lavia are totally inept, but that would have always been a bonus.

If you look at what we've been lacking, it's height and power up top. Obviously, we like to 'hoof' it up to Armstrong, which has about as much success as you'd imagine it to have - but this guy, at 6ft 7 will give us an immediate change in that regard. This will also give us someone to play off of, pop the ball up to him, get others in and around and closer to him. It will give us a totally different attacking dimension. He will win most in the air, potentially win free kicks in and around the box, be a target for corners and free kicks etc. I don't think he's a 'sexy' striker by any means, but we didn't need one of those, we needed a unit like this lad. Ticks all the boxes for me.

Can't see him ever playing a game for Chelsea, certainly not when they're happy to spend £105m to fix any hole they currently have, as they’re no longer in the market to wait for young players to develop. At least he has a decent bank balance now. Delayed his career by many, many years though.

No, just PL games against teams we need Newcastle to take points off of!

Would be a good Derby against Millbrook FC.

I think that's the case, both done as far as I can tell.

Where is this coming from? It appeared under Ralph as well, yet it's clear it never worked. New manager, still appears and guess what - it still doesn't f***ing work. It's light and day how comfortable the players look in a 4, how can they not see this. They've got an entire season of evidence to look back.

It's a fair view, and probably why we looked at that Leece fella - but I think, rightly, our priority dollar has gone on the attack which is the bigger issue right now. The problem with the DM area was created in the summer when we got rid of Romeu.

Don't disagree, I think it was a huge gamble - but they've gone all in on that gamble to be honest, that's not going to change up now. We will almost certainly need to score more than 1 goal to win games for the remainder of this season.