S-Clarke

We started the game that way, playing triangles and pushing up high...but we were getting caught, Coutinho was sat in the pocket and they kept catching us out. We didn't have the recovery pace or the reading of the game from Salisu and it made a huge difference. When we play how we play these results will happen, you will get picked off if a team beat the press well enough and have a clever player in the hole. That's what happened today really. We were probably a little too gung-ho (complacent?) against the quality we were up against, as Villa's attacking talent is as good as anyone outside the top 5 or 6.

But Holding isn't an upgrade, very similar level and he's not going to raise a profit when we sell him - so he'd be a 15-20m investment with very little sell-on value, not our style. He's a proper mid-table centre back if I've ever seen one. If we upgrade on Bednarek I'd like it to be someone with a higher celling, like Caleta-Carr etc.

That was horrible viewing, but we were kind of overdue that really. I had a funny feeling about today, I just felt they'd have way too much for us in the number 10 roles and so it proved. Couldn't handle the movement of Coutinho at all, the CM's and CB's were getting pulled all over the midlands. Watkins and Ings were very sharp as well. It did show up a couple of areas in our squad we need to evolve if we really want to challenge the Villas/Wolves etc - better CB without doubt, we can't really go on with one top 10 centre back (Salisu). Better number 10 with pace as well, we really lack that. As good as Elyonoussi and Armstrong have been, we do lack pace when they play. One of them days, always going to happen for a mid-table side. Hope we can still finish top 10, that's got to be our aim.

We could have been away, so that's the only positive. Generally we needed to avoid City or Liverpool and have them play each other in the earlier rounds, but they're not (Chelsea avoided a tough draw as well). It really hasn't opened up this year, certainly not like last season.

They don't realise how utterly stupid they look, do they? When they watch it back in 5 or so years they'll grimace. All we see are lumbering overweight morons struggling to stay on their feet thinking they are somehow looking amazing to avoid being caught, yet they look so daft and out of place by trying to avoid being caught. They're probably as far away from being 'cool' as you can get.

I've always described JWP as a tactical managers dream. You need to be a certain type of coach/manager to appreciate what JWP brings to the side and to then make the most of him. There are many managers out there like Mark Hugues who'd look for the glamour of a Lemina before the reliability of JWP, same as most fans at the big clubs in my opinion. I hate the saying but he's not 'sexy' enough for a big club to be spending £80m plus on. Rice is the player the big clubs will probably go after, he has those physical attributes that just put him a little bit above. Most managers could benefit from that.

I'd say it's certainly not the norm! Maybe you're just a good omen!

If he does go I think he'll end up being another who realises the grass isn't greener. He's part of a 'team' here and has bought into a collective, he is the key pivot in this tactic under this manager and a captain to the players around him. Take him out of that and throw him in Man Utd's midfield and he'd look a much different player in my opinion and he'd show his limitations. It's taken him quite some time to convince the fan base of his importance to us, he would get 5-10 games top at a big club before being cast aside if he doesn't look amazing. I don't think he's the sort of player who'd go into a big club and immediately make a difference. He reminds me of Noble, but a slightly better quality Noble. Never quite has enough to make the top, top level moves but an absolutely critical player for the club he plays for.

Villa are a top 10 team, certainly competing for the areas we occupy at the moment. I don't agree with views that we're better than them, they've got better options in the 10's and in the other area's we are fairly matched. They've been a bit erratic form wise but they have some great attacking players. Not sure how to call it, I see it as similar to the Wolves away game.

Haven't felt this good leaving St Mary's since the Koeman days, our consistency at home has been great.

I saw him as a poor RB at the start of the season, so I'm absolutely stunned that he's now turning in decent displays at CB. My MOTM last night, he's very proactive in his play and very engaged. This is all down to simply phenomenal coaching. No one would have seen a CB in Valery, but somehow Ralph did and has made him more than capable at it as well.

That's the tie I was forgetting, I knew there was another. It's weirdly on Monday 7th though.

I probably worded it badly, but I meant 'discussing the starting 11/moaning about it' is irrelevant now.

I did have underwhelming reactions to Bertrand I think. We'd sold Shaw for £30m and signed a replacement on loan etc etc. (who was relegated the previous season). He certainly was great for us for 2 years, but pretty shit for the remainder of his contract though. and I can remember having a mini meltdown with us missing out on Brandon Williams, that aged well.

Why are you still moaning about our starting 11 for the game? We won it, the starting 11 is now irrelevant and the manager was proven right. Just as he was against Coventry, which brought similar reactions. I also wouldn't class today as scraping through, it was fairly comfortable all told.

It took him a while, but I think that's because he wasn't the sort of player I was expecting. I was looking for a KWP type at left back, which is why I was maybe a little underwhelmed at the start. But. he's tenacious, terrier-like. He hasn't got the driving runs or skill of KWP, but he has heart and the right attitude and that alone immediately upgrades our LB position for the last 3 years.

I think we're doing a discredit to the likes of Stephens, Perraud, Smallbone, A Armstrong, Diallo etc who are fully capable. We still had KWP, JWP out there too. We've got ourselves a really decent squad full of depth at a profit, amazing effort by everyone.

It'll be interesting to see how Chelsea play the summer, they won't be sold by then in my opinion so they clearly won't have a pot to piss in during the window. So, do they sell the players who have value (Broja, the other Tino, Gallagher etc) or do they bring them back and incorporate them into the squad? My hunch is that they'll sell the 'sellable' ones to try and raise some funds. I think we'll be out priced though on Broja though, he'll go for £40m ish and that's beyond us.

Not sure why people were so put out by the team we selected, we've got a well coached squad nowadays with good depth in most places. That means that our level never drops too much which is huge credit to everyone. I didn't think we played badly at all, even first half. It was a bit frantic to start with but once it settled down it suited us, as we had more time on the ball to probe and that's where Perraud popped up - he's been threatening that in recent weeks. Second half we had a little bit of a WHU barrage, not huge...just a little we had to withstand, they got 1-1 from a really crappy bit of a goalkeeping but we didn't let that hit us and we took it to them again. Cracking impact Broja had, changed the game in respect of his pace and control. The third goal was a worldie by him. Onto a couple of negatives - I think tonight was a game too far for Long, he can't really cause a threat against experienced PL defenders nowadays. Moussa...I hope he goes in the summer and we invest in someone decent who can actually contribute on the pitch, he's absolutely hopeless. No amount of Ralph coaching can improve him now. Game is up. Lots and lots of positives though, my MOTM was Valery as he's not a CB but he looked assured back there. Stepping out well, reading danger well, recovering with his pace well etc. Granted, WHU only had Antiono isolated but he still did a job against him. Not sure he'd do well in an aerial bombardment, but he's certainly capable in games like this. Jack helped him massively though. Perraud gets better and better, settled in now and is a proper full back. Adam Armstrong, for his limitations, put in a cracking shift. Really stretched them and his pace caused them all sorts of problems, he just lacks a certain edge to his game though. Not sure if that's confidence or not though. The way the quarters will potentially line up is very daunting, let's hope for a tie at home against whoever. If we're away at Liverpool or City it will all feel like a total waste of our time.

At the time of being linked with Elyonoussi, I described him as a quick/pacy player who will add speed to our attack. I obviously watched the wrong player at Basel. To be fair he's somewhat redeemed himself this year, but he's probably the slowest number 10 we have!

Burnley didn't turn up tonight, they were so, so bad. Maybe that's their level. Leicester just had that extra bit of quality to play with, but they weren't amazing themselves. Everton/Newcastle/Leeds breathing a sigh of relief, but I can't see any of them going down.

It's since 2015, and that's why we're nowhere near. Our academy fell through the floor after 2011, signs it's on the way back now though. If it was done in say 2010 then we'd be way up on the list having sold Shaw, Lallana, Chambers, Chamberlain in that time frame etc.

Leeds would have been better off getting someone experienced in English football for the next 6 months or so, they need someone to come in who will shore up their defence first and foremost as they play too on the front foot. I know Big Sam is ridiculed but getting him in for 6 months, tightening up that defense, then going again in the summer as a PL club for someone like Valverde is probably a decent course. This guy is exactly the same, he plays a front foot style too and I don't think it really suits Leeds without Phillips and Bamford in their side.

Generally I think Howe is doing a decent job, if you looked at their squad prior to the season you'd say they're probably good enough to stay up as was and Bruce was having a disaster. Willock, Wilson, Fraser, Almiron, Saint-Maximin etc - decent mid-table and above players throughout their core. I even quite like Schar and he's decent to build something around. He didn't have a quick start but he somewhat steadied the ship I felt, he's had to wait to get certain players fit and up to the right level (Fraser in particular) and now he's reaping the rewards. He obviously knows how to get the best out of Fraser as Bruce never managed it. The additions in January aren't world beating, but they've added more experience and know-how which can only help. They'll still lose games between now and the end, but I can see them finishing in and around 40 pts which would be a job well done. The next step is seeing if Howe can take them to the next level, i.e pushing top half/top 6 as they're clearly going to spend like maniacs in the summer. I'll be interested to see what happens next year as the expectations will be on a whole new level.

They've got Nicky Hammond, if that's who you mean. More of a consultant and advisor than a DoF though, he wouldn't have had any major influence in their signings.