S-Clarke

I don't rate Stephens, I think he's shit. THB is good, he gets a bad rep because of the teams he's played in - but he's the sort you build around. I like Edwards as well personally, so did QPR. There are another CB's at this club to get a tune out of, I wouldn't worry about that area - it's what's behind them.

This is the normal Bazunu argument, it's the same thing. They're not howlers, he doesn't drop howlers. He just lets in goals, all the time, every week, which make you think ''could he have done better there?''. Maybe, maybe not. But given that we ask the same questions every week, I'd say a good % of the goals he lets in should be saved by a competent GK. I'm not going to micro-analyse the goals today, apart from say that he looked like a midget in the goal when that free kick was taken - he had no leap because he had too far to travel to that site of the goal. He's going go down in the ages as a GK who doesn't make howlers, but also doesn't really make any notable saves.

Not sure why you'd think about a CB. We have 5 of them, 6 as Charles can also play there. The CB's are fine, I don't have a problem with those. You can get promoted with those CB's. The GK is a problem, I'll give you that. But we've already brought our GK in and sadly the club felt we just needed a third choice. This will likely be looked back on as a catastrophic error in May, but that's the project the club have gone all in with - for some reason.

Come on mate, you've had it in for him since day one and it's odd. A little chink and you've jumped on it, repeated it every week. He's made it clear why he's going 5 at the back, repeatedly. It will change once we have proper wide players in the building which we now do, and will have after Monday. There is lots of work to do. This is/was one of the worst ever PL sides to grace the planet, it's going to take some work to re-mould us and it needs time. This was never a ready-made win every week from the start role.

I thought the first half was pretty controlled, we didn't give up too much and I felt we knew what we were doing. Archer was a thorn in their side pulling them around, making runs in behind etc. Watford did always carry a threat with their physical profile though. 2nd half was trash heap. We couldn't keep the ball, we surendered the entire game really. I thought we'd got out of jail with that free kick, but based on the 2nd half a draw was fair for Watford. I thought we were too loose on the ball in the 2nd half, playing passes into spaces where no one was, poor touch and control from players, being broken at from our corners. It was all pretty trash heap stuff. Hopefully after the international break we can start bedding in some of the new guys, we're still not far off anything really. So early for people to be panicking about the position we are sat etc, the table means zilch right now. But we've got go control games better than we do.

Edwards isn't starting though, the change for Downes was to bring Robinson on. So can only assume it means Azaz moves back centrally alongside Charles, with Robinson and Fraser either side of Archer.

Yeah, midfield glaringly light. I imagine Azaz will move back, but it does seem horrendously light sadly. Not much we can do about it.

Downes withdrawn from the 11 due to illness, Robinson comes in.

But he was named in the original 11, so he must have travelled?

He is starting.

And then Chelsea score in the 9th min of added time, which was only added due to the time it took to chalk off Fulhams goal. It's those sort of things which make the PL pointless. You might as well not even bother to compete.

Showing how crazy top flight football transfers have become, these sorts of stats equal £70-80m transfer fee. This is the fella Newcastle signed, I don't see it myself. Maybe 15-20m striker tops, but 70-80? Crazy times.

Loan apparently.

Watford have lots of new players and a new manager too, they'll also be finding their feet. No idea how to really call Watford, they're a bit of an unknown quantity at this stage. I'd temper any meltdowns from any non-win result today though, nothing is going to have changed yet in terms of our squad and what we can provide - as many of the players haven't been registered in time. It will probably be more of the same, but hopefully more of the 2nd half Norwich than the Stoke game.

I will hold my views until late Monday evening, pointless judging it yet as there's still a fair bit to do (squad trimming)

Or most likely, the offer from WHU for Fernandes changed the goalposts and opened up our options financially. Morgan was pretty much our limited funds option.

All more importantly, can the authorities just dock Leicester points already? It's a shambles.

Yeah, he's off to Leeds.

Sheffield United were called out as 'one of' the favourites at the start of the season, but they look screwed to me. They've signed some utter dross (including the manager) and are now losing Gus Hamer.

That's the feeling I get too, targeting the best for the league we're in. Doing that then allows you the wiggle room to add the likes of Casper, Downs, Quashie as your potential talents.

This is why we needed these 'ready made' players, it puts pressure on those in the squad at the mo. People like Armstrong, Downes and co haven't had to look over their shoulder at all - but now they have genuine pressure on their places. That's what I wanted us to do this summer. George Long wasn't the best start at that, but these guys are really going to push the existing 10 outfield. My criticism over the last season or two is that the drop off to the 'backup' or '2nd players' is too big, but the last week or so inc. Mads has really changed that up.

His managerial inexperience showing there I think.

Confirmed he wasn't registered in time.

Does he have to give our old friend Nathan Jones credit for kicking his career into gear? He was drifting until that point.

Jelert is a left field one, but he can play left back and right back - given the injuries to Wellington and Bree (and maybe the departure of Bree), this makes sense. I never felt Bree suited a 'Still' system, and Jelert is much more similar in style to Mads. Potentially could have Jelert at left back, mads at right back. Fellows and Leo Scinza in front of both, Azaz in the 10 and someone up top. Defo need some to go before more come in though. It's weird to sit here after all this and still be a little bit confused about our 'striker' options. There is a lot riding on Downs for sure. But everything else looks spot on, the jump from starter to backup in the main outfield positions is closer to equal than it has been for a long time. That will stand us in good stead for a 46 game season.