S-Clarke

I notice Watford lost tonight, surely Bilic is on the brink now? I give him 3 more games.

Don't be so stupid. Was your expectation at the start of the Championship season to finish 1st, miles ahead of everyone else? This league had West Ham in it and Leicester City with Sven by the way. I certainly didn't expect us to win automatic promotion at the start of the season. I'd hazard a guess that no, your expectation wouldn't have been to 'walk the league'. So on that basis Adkins actually overachieved in that season. The 'financial' backing stuff is a little bit fluffy as well, in that Championship season we signed Cork for 700k, Jos for 500k and De Ridder for a nominal fee. West Ham and Leicester blew us out of the water twice. You and lard have an incredibly odd fixation to prove that Adkins failed with us, seemingly due to a strong desire to need to be seen right in that he was the 'wrong choice' when we appointed him in league 1. Breaking news...he wasn't the wrong choice, so suck it up and accept that you were wrong.

Well exactly, that's why we can't play in that market if we're serious about doing anything of note.

If our scouts couldn't find better than Che Adams and Adam Armstrong, after months of scouting reports, then that's a little worrying.

Arguably we have the players to do it at the back, it's the midfield and attack I'm not sure about. ABK - DCC - Salisu KWP Perraud

It was upgraded until we sold Romeu, but now we're probably on par there as we have the same situation when Lavia is out as we had when Romeu was out (too lightweight) It is strange how we always do this. In some windows we leave CB short (when we didn't replace Fonte), or when we loan out all our full backs so we only had KWP. This season we have undoubtedly left our striking positions significantly weaker than last season, thinking we can ''make do'' with Che Adams, a kid and Adam Armstrong. That is probably the last position you can afford to play that game with, so we've dropped an almighty bollock imo.

Think we first play them in the new year. I always thought Forests approach was daft, should have focused on keeping who they had rather than buying all new. They'll go the way of Fulham without doubt.

It does feel as if the end is here now, it's just a matter of time and some paperwork to sort out I imagine. I will openly say I've supported Ralph during the years here and I've backed the style, as I think it's a modern and progressive way of playing (gegenpressing/energy/pace etc) and he's had to do it with a bit of a rag-tag squad in the main. During that period we haven't been in any 'deep' relegation battles either - so I think looking at it like that, he's done ‘ok’ in previous years. But things have changed now, quite dramatically. We no longer have that modern style, or any style in fact. Gone is the counter press, gone is the pace, gone is the energy - we're just flat, there’s nothing about us at all. I don't know if that's by instruction or if the players are just warn out by it all and need a change, but the last 12 months have been turgid. I had hoped this summer would have provided him with the players to adopt that style again - Lavia/Mara/Edozie/ABK/ etc - young, quick, energetic players. But sadly, we have regressed even further, there now seems to be a genuine plan to just hoof it long and hope for the best (as borne out by the stats) and that is usually what happens when you have no idea how to play. So, I feel a change is inevitable. It's a shame it hasn't worked out, I do feel Ralph was the right man at the wrong time originally. If he was backed from day 1, I think we'd have had a different outcome, but in the main he's had to work under difficult conditions here and I think that's made him alter his philosophy as manager, as he's light years away from the guy who managed RB and us at the start. At the end of the day whilst you can’t ignore our ‘2020’ form, you also can’t ignore our 2022 form. It feels as if the players have lost a little bit of belief or understanding in what we are trying to do.

I agree that he needs to do it over a period of time, but as long as he stays fit (Which has been a small concern over him) then he will become the best, as he's a freak. He'd improve any team he plays in, his power and strength alone are too much for teams to deal with. It does help having players like De Bryune who can pick him out without looking, but he's also the sort of player who has the attributes to make lot himself. To be on 17 goals by the start of October is just ridiculous. There's no longer a golden boot race, or a title race for that matter.

Romeu was declining for sure, but he was still an able player if required and added steal to the middle of the park. Whilst we saw Lavia as the 'modern' replacement, it really should have been a case of playing him with Romeu for a year and not selling ourselves short. I can somewhat understand the personal side of it in terms of the club not wanting to stand in the way of his return home, but sometimes I think we need to be a bit more selfish and think about our own needs rather than everyone else's. Nice guys always finish last and all that.

These games are always weird, everyone expects a total thrashing, embarrassment, record scores etc etc. We played City twice after being pummelled by Leicester, and even though we lost the league game, it was a somewhat respectable 3-1. It won't be record scores, but we'll lose. I was hoping we'd be close to a positive GD for the first time in many years this season, so a low-scoring defeat should be the target.

This is a transfer which looks more baffling by the day. Most agreed last season that we had no one who could come in and replace Romeu if he drops his level or he's injured etc. So we got in Lavia as a young player to develop underneath him. But to then sell Romeu we've put ourselves in exactly the same problem position as last season, with just one true 'destructive' CM in the team. Which has been made even worse because he's now injured, which will happen to young players as they get used to playing football regular. Absolutley insane risk to take to be honest. We had a really good start to the window, but the final few weeks of it were a little shambolic to say the least and it's undone all the good work really.

This in a nutshell really. Our best periods in the last 3 years have coincided with Broja or Ings hitting form, our good form has never coincided with Adams or Armstrong going on runs as they're incapable of doing so. It's frustrating to be honest, it feels like the failure to bring in that game changing attacker is going to undermine and render all the other improvements pointless.

Agreed, I think he's all but gone (maybe not January, but in the summer). Ditto KWP - some sell on there and he will have takers. The club will see it as we already have the replacements in the building in Tino and DCC, so we don't need to spend fortunes replacing them.

Another year - contracted until 2024.

The reason I don't think there will be a change 'yet', is because of the comments made by Semmens (I think last season). This has always stuck with me - ''For us it's not about where we finish or how many points we get, it's about how well we are developing players and providing a pathway'' So for as long as the manager in charge picks the players with potential resale value and provides them a platform to develop, then he's doing the job he's there for. The change will come when we start to see a stagnation in player development, which will lead to us in a proper relegation battle and a potential risk to the model - which we are starting to see...so if it carries on then come the world cup they may think it's time.

We (reportedly) had a few targets. Sasa from Stuggart, Dembele from Lyon, Ramos at Benifca and then Cody Gakpo at PSV. Gakpo being more of a complete attacker than the others. No idea how close any of those were really, but there was money down on the table for the 'right' attacker. I guess we decided to stick as we couldn't get anyone better than what we have, but I must admit our scouts have failed a bit if they couldn't find better than Adams and Armstrong in terms of goal scorers! We've probably got an entire season of ''oh what a miss by Adams'' ''Adams has to be doing better there'' ''Skied by Adam Armstrong, he had to do better''. Best buckle up.

We've had so much worse in other leagues. I remember having to deal with McGoldrick and Jordan Robertson, after we'd sold Rasiak and loaned out Saganowski due to our log jam of strikers! PL wise it's hard to remember much worse though. It's possible that Edozie, Mara etc could become some of the best we've had, but they're nowhere near yet and the sad thing is that our transfer window has meant we were/are relying on those two filling the Broja void - but the jury is out on that, if they don't we are substationaly weaker than last year, and to be weaker than last year isn't going to end well sadly.

If we signed that striker in the summer, that was probably going to be a pretty straight forward second half. Adams once again shows he cannot be relied on, the sad thing is that no one else can be relied on either to be clinical - we've got ourselves in a right old mess in attack, the worst we've been since we've been promoted. First half was flat as a pancake though, players looked disjointed and unsure what to do most of the time. AMN was absolutely inept, like a pub player thrust into a football match. He's either not fit or he's regressed so much in two years. I thought he had more about him. Aribo, in the second half, was the only one who looked like he could offer a spark. We started well and got on the front foot, took the league and we had them where we wanted them. We don't have the players to make it 2, 3, 4 though and seemingly we're still prone to brain dead bollocks by giving away free kicks and allowing crosses into the FUCKING BOX. how many times. I thought ABK was a bit sloppy today, DCC not too bad but should have scored at the end. KWP absolutely shit for the equaliser, ditto Armstrong - was it a game of who can stand off the longest? It was 2 against 1 and we didn't pressure him at all. I'm a little nervous about Bazunu, although it's to be expected with such a young player. Although I'm getting Angus Gun vibes in that he just doesn't seem to be able to save goals, anything on target goes in. Hopefully more potential there than Gunn, but jury is out. This was always the gamble though - going for kids over tried and tested, that requires patience because the ground could swallow them up quite quickly if they're hung out to dry. The starting 11 was full of more intent, but sadly no structure. Not really sure what most of those guys have been doing for two weeks as they looked like they'd never seen a football before. Our ball retention and use of the ball is the worst in the league imo. Not sure where we go from here. I still don't see Ralph going yet, the world cup break will provide that opportunity. The clock is ticking though as this isn't getting any better and it's the first time under Ralph, for a prolonged period of time, that we are playing with zero identity. There's nothing about us anymore.

You always hear stuff like this when it's ''not going well'' though. A few months ago Bednarek was claiming Ralph could manage any club in the world. He's stubborn for sure, but you can probably put that on a lot of managers. And re: Fergie, this is the same bloke who threw a boot at David Beckham and fell out with players quite often...!

I don't have much time for players like him, who have had massive contributions to our shitness whilst they were here, then coming out after they’ve left to stick the boot in. He was lucky he was given so many opportunities by the manager he criticises, he was never good enough for the top level so he should thank himself lucky he had a manager who was prepared to give him a chance and develop another string to his bow by playing third CB. He should spend more time trying to figure out why he was caught out of position 90% of the time.

I have a feeling his injury is one of those ''5 weeks, but turns out to be 2/3 months'' type ones.

Am I missing something? They're talking about ''the feelgood factor' around their club. What have I missed? Have they had new investment or something I've missed? They've got the same number of points as us but have won less games, and we're supposedly in the gutter.

I notice Watford have sacked ANOTHER manager. At least they gave him 11 games this time. That's 16 mangers in 10 years. Absolutely insane way to run any organisation, not just a football club.

A lot of screaming about TAA not being included, but I think most normal fans can understand why. The one which has always bemused me is fikayo tomori - class CB, been an absolute super star out in Milan and is a mainstain in that side. Athetlic, quick, powerful. Why does Maguire, who doesn't play, get in ahead of him?