S-Clarke

Softening the approach on Leicester to make up for an almighty brush under the carpet for City coming up soon. Sounds about right!! Like you said, Everton and Forest have genuine reason to be absolutley pissed. None of this is good for us though, that was potentially one of our 'saving graces'.

That's a great post mate, you nailed it all there. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Looks like he's been released early.

Ajax are still playing in a relatively weak league, even though they're a big name as a club. The problem myself and others have with Sulemana is his lack of footballing intelligence. He's similar to Edozie in that regard. You can be the quickest footballer ever, but if you don't know how to utilise that pace then it's all a bit pointless. He can beat a man, he can take on players, but more often than not there is nothing at the end of it. If he wasn't as quick as he is I doubt he'd have ever made European football from that right to dream academy. Last season, in the 2nd tier of English football, was his opportunity to showcase his pace against lumbering Champ CB's, but he didn't do anything. One of the last chances he had was in that utter shit show at the King Power, we wilted in the 2nd half of that game and he was one of the main culprits of downing tools - and that's likley why he's not been trusted since.

Yep, now Ajax. Hopefully a realistic fee on the buy option and not like Charly's at Juventus. Thanks for the two goals against Liverpool in that nothing game I guess.

Seen it pop up on some twitter feeds. We accepted a loan from Benfica last week, but his work permit was denied so that fell through. Apparently we've now accepted a loan bid from Galatasaray, with an option to purchase. But he doesn't want to move to Turkey so the club are trying to convince him.

That's not true. We'd accepted what Rangers had offered, they were the ones who pulled it at the 11th hr.

And he'd never see PL football again. He knows that though, thankfully.

He's primarily played from the left as far as I know. He played there for Sheff U last season. He played in tandem with McBurnie who held it and let him run beyond from wide to central. I guess we shouldn't expect much if we buy up the two strikers from the worst side the PL has seen in recent years.

The Martin logic behind that is that we get an extra player in the middle when we are on the ball. But when that extra player is Jack Stephens the advantage is somewhat removed anyway. Pep did similar with John Stones if you remember, but the gulf between John Stones and Jack Stephens is enormous and he should know that.

I agree it's not just about putting better players into the 11, there's more to it than that. We need some natural width out there and not BBD or AA. Pass out from the back by all means, but it's the over-doing it which is killing us. We got it out of defence a few times today, out to the full backs and somewhat away from danger - but we then played it right back to our CB's or GK when the opposition were mid-press. It's that sort of decision making which isn't brave, it's just bonkers. I'd also argue that our attack is more blunt because of the level we're at. Good Championship players with space, but lack that extra bit required (physique and power) to do it at this level. We'll see how it pans out.

At the moment, Sugawara - Bednarek - Stephens - KWP

I don't think he's proclaiming ripping everything up, more so just playing the better players in the positions that the weaker players are currently occupying. Smallbone and Aribo, I'm sure you'll agree, have been naff. It was a worry for me at the end of last season re: Smallbone, the game passed him by a lot in the Champ last season and he is going to be eaten alive at this level. Fernandes, albet a few games, already looks a few levels above either Smallbone or Aribo. What really worries me about our side is the attack though. I think we will all settle down once we get a goal from AA/BBD/Archer etc, at the moment I can't say with confidence where our goals are coming from.

Technically Smallbone or Aribo were taking his place, but how we were playing did mean that Stephens stepped into midfield when we had the ball. It's such a strange approach when we have better midfielders actually sat on the bench. For me, we have to go back to something that makes a little more sense. Straight back 4. Lesley and Downes in the two central midfield slots. Fernandes AA - BBD - Cornet as a three. (AA's place up for debate with Dibling pushing). I think BBD, physically, is our best option as an out ball if we need it. That should give us more control in the middle of the park, and width through Cornet and the full backs. That's how I'd do it anyway. We can still pay keep ball like that, but if we keep width (full backs) and have two '6's as such, we will have more angles. A lot of it is based on the receiving players providing the angle or the opportunity for a pass, we didn't really do that (we haven't all season), then we panic and it all goes to shit. Positionally it all looks a bit wrong at the moment.

He looks a bit like a rabbit in headlights so far. I have no doubts that he'll become a decent player at this level, but right now I think he needs to go back to basics a bit and calm down. Taking him out of the firing line is something I suggested too, ditto Smallbone. Sometimes for the sake of the player you need to take them out for a bit, settle the team down, and then re-integrate them when things are a little more settled. I think there are tools to work with here, but I do fear we are lacking any star quality in the top third to make much of a punch this season.

I hope to see more of Fernandes, but we need to see less of Smallbone or Aribo if we are going to make anything of this season. Feels harsh to say, but they're just a level below what is required for PL in speed and strength. You see it a lot - good Champ players that just cannot make that jump, in the end their careers level out and they become lower league. Unfortunately we currently have a lot of those sorts of players. A bit more game time from the likes of Lesley, Fernandes, Cornet, Sugawara, Ramsdale etc and we may be able to do something. I still think we've got way too much to do though given that we've been shown up so much by 2 of the weaker sides in the league. WHU played really well against Man City today but were done 3-1. This league is impossible if you cannot even compete with the dregs.

Stephen's hasn't made any obvious clear errors, but if you watch his game closely you can see him actually playing others into trouble. The THB mistake was because Stephens played a ball back that was never on. The Bednarek mistake was because Stephens ran in front of the ball and got in his way. He hasn't become a PL defender overnight because he's never been a PL defender. A squad player a PL level, sure, but this weird hybrid beckenbauer role at this level needs to stop. Two centre backs, Lesley and Downes in front. Fernandes in front of them. Full backs staying wide giving the GK and CB's angles. Job done.

He was signed at the start of the relegation season.

He's got a point to be fair. Kompany didn't get the Bayern job because he'd relegated Burnley by playing this 'brave way'. He got the Bayern job because he's called Vincent Kompany.

The worst of the first 4 was the Wigan home game, we barely turned up that day. Trounced by Arsenal though. We still looked like scoring goals though, by game 4 we had at least scored 5 goals and there was something to build on.

It's a really daft thing to say to be honest, he's trying to paint the daft narrative that English fans and English pundits/media are all about 'hit it long'' ''get it in the box'' Dyche style football. It honestly isn't that case. I'd say we appreciate sensible football that doesn't provide opposing sides with free goals every game.

I think we all fully expect KWP to leave for free. I'm amazed he's still here today. He'd be daft to commit at this point to a team that is pretty likely, at this point, to be back in the Championship rather sharpish. He will leave us in the summer and remain in the PL and he will leave with my best wishes.

I think he's struggled so far at this level (last season included). I know people talk about players needing time etc, but just look at guys like Dibling and Fernandes - they just look at home almost immediately, and that's usually because of their quality. Quality is always there. I think Archer will score goals, but he looks like a lower league forward to me. Much like AA, much like BBD. Lots of good Championship players, but pretty poor PL level players. I guess the hope is that they score enough collectively, but it's asking a hell of a lot - especially if we're conceding a bucket load a game. From this point I have no idea how we survive.

Another 3 goals against Cardiff City's U21's/u18's team as well. It's pretty evident that the way he approaches games will cost teams goals. At lower levels he can make up for that as his teams score goals against weaker sides, but at this level there will be nowhere to hide unless he becomes a tiny bit more pragmatic.

I don't know what he's on about there. He's not reinventing football or doing anything revolutionary, he's just asking us to keep the ball and pass it sideways and backwards. Of course everyone will want to talk about the mistakes when they cost us 3 goals in the first 3 games. It's not about context, narrative or however he wants to paint it, it's a clear flaw in how we're currently approaching things at this level. British football has embraced Man City who play out from the back, quick 1-2's etc. The difference is the quality. We need to respect our limitations at this level, which are vast. Because if we don't and we live in this weird bubble that we're doing something so incredibly brave, then we'll end up having to be brave on 6 points at the bottom of the league in May. I tell you what'll be brave at that point - wearing a Saints shirt in public after we've been made to be the worst team in PL history, that would be brave.