S-Clarke

He's done his trade at a 'lower fodder' club (Sheffield United). I can see him turning up at somewhere like West Ham (if they don't sign Areola) or Spurs as a replacement for Lloris.

Spurs v Leicester is off tonight. Feels somewhat inevitable that it will have to be paused across all, otherwise there are some unfair advantages being given during what is a busy period usually.

I thought he was fairly frustrating last night, but I'd agree in that over the course of the season he has been our best 'number 10' by an absolute mile. Granted, the standard isn't too high, but credit where it's due. Mid-table would be a great effort, I think think we need to align our expectations to be battling relegation for most though - but hopefully have enough to pull away come the end.

Agreed. If that happens I think they'll go full hog and we'll see a break until January in my opinion. Shame really as I love the Christmas fixtures. It'll remove the mass gatherings of people as well which the government want to avoid.

This is my worry, games where we play fairly well in we're still not winning. We don't look comfortable in any game, no matter how well we play. Lots of draws, lots of points thrown away after playing well. We're not seeing it over the line when we deserve to win. My concern is what happens when we have a dip in form and stop actually playing well at all, as all teams go through.

Not sure why we bother, it offers nothing. Might as well do a short throw to the corner flag and at least play for a corner or something. I'm not sure what Salisu shows in training, but i've seen nothing in game that suggests he should go out of position to produce a throw in that achieves nothing.

''If you're going to a stadium this weekend, make sure you are also getting jabbed or at least helping the effort. Don't just go there for the event''. That was the exact quote, and somewhat bonkers I thought too given that you wouldn't get that happening at stadiums where a game is on. The government are so out of touch with how life works.

Good point raised about the goal keeping distribution, certainly something I've noticed as well. Seems to be playing a lot more long, which are more accurate - as opposed to McCarthy's which just went out of play.

I didn't think Lyanco was bad either. He does worry me at times though, he's very rash and over emotional at times. Prone to getting caught by diving in for challenges he shouldn't as he's over keen. Makes me nervous in that sense, but he was ok tonight.

Ah not stu, was referring to Adam Armstrong. Not really expecting to see Stu anytime soon, feels like one of those random unexplained never-ending absences!

We've got to win this one, but you know we'll somehow contrive to drop points in a typically infuriating way. Be interesting to see how the squad looks - I wonder if we'll have Armstrong back? I don't think he was too far away today, so he may start to replace Smallbone in the squad (2 games in a few days would be a bit too much for him, imo)

I can't really moan about the subs today, they made sense and were around the right times. The attack was fading, so we wanted to freshen it up. Granted it didn't make us any better but there wasn't much to go with on the bench today. In the circumstances I don't know what else he could have done sub wise, including timings. They just had a bit better quality on their bench which impacted the game, i.e Olise and Benteke.

I like how we attempt to play and I agree with the approach, you've summed it up perfectly there though - we don't really have the level of quality or right sort of player to execute it correctly, that's why it's all a bit fits and starts.

I've watched him in recent weeks and I see someone a bit hurried, he panics and is starting to hack clearances into the air if you've noticed. He's getting on the wrong side of attackers and being done in the box, he's diving in too late and giving away fouls. He's certainly not faultless defensively and has been a contributor to some of the goals we've let in. He's only 18 though, would be daft not to expect him to have a drop off. We need to give him a break for his own sake though.

We still carried somewhat of a threat with Tella on the pitch, but I think the problem we had is that they tired. The subs were just ineffective really.

Defensively really, really sloppy in the last 6 weeks in my eyes. Bit nullified in attack too, but still quality on the ball when he does have it. Needs a rest in my eyes, not sure why we don't give him one.

Easily our best striker, really good recruitment from Chelsea in the summer that's for sure. Not sure what our chances are of keeping him, but I'd try and extend his loan in January to 18 months if we can - get him here for another season so we can plan around him. We don't have any other striker close to him in terms of threat and natural ability.

As long as we ensure our expectations are aligned with survival in this league, and no more than that, this is a very acceptable point and performance. First 10 mins were a mess, but we got ourselves together and bossed the game for the rest of that first half. Tella and Broja causing all sorts of problems, Tella in particular was a thorn as he was floating all around the 3 and his pace was causing a problem. 2nd half wasn't bad either really, but we let Palace back in a little bit more - but with Zaha, Olise etc on the bench then we were always going to be pinned back at some point. Our subs did nothing more than weaken us in an attacking sense, but I didn't expect them to do anything else. Not much Ralph could have done as he needs to project Broja and Tella was blowing towards the end, sadly the only options he had was Long and Theo who are finished at this level as we all know. And Moussa, the less said about him the better. Pointless player. Onto Brentford then, we need to win that one. If we're on 20 points by Christmas I'd say we're on course to survive, but that's all my expectations are this season and all they really should be with the lack of investment in this team.

I do feel sorry for Armstrong, the expectation on him was to be 'Ings'. He had to be, otherwise we'd regress. The club put too much faith in the existing group of non-scoring attacking players, so they decided to try and gamble on the replacement in the hope our existing lot would step up (don't forget, we signed Theo too..!!!). Sadly that gamble has so far backfired, the existing players look as hopeless as they ever have in terms of scoring goals and thus the burden lies on the Ings replacement, Armstrong. I hope he proves me wrong, but when you see a player you often get an idea of their quality and ability - Tino for example, you just knew straight away he had a few levels to go. Armstrong is a case of what you see is what you get, a very lively striker with limited refinement to his overall game.

Wages would rule that out almost straight away, even 50% would be breaking our structure I'd have thought. He'll end up at Newcastle without doubt.

I love your optimism Dave. I don't think I've ever seen a negative post from you! Let's see what happens.

So sorry to hear this. Thoughts are with you winner, stay strong.

That was prime grounds for the monkey petting zoo. What a wasted opportunity.

I feel sorry for Ryan, to me it's been clear for a couple of years that his legs are going/gone and he doesn't have the capabilities to perform at the highest level like he once did. He was a cracking servant for us under some of our best years in the PL, but I think he's setting himself up for a fail if he keeps prolonging his PL career. He needs to drop down a level to where he can now compete.

That is ludicrous and incredibly scary in my eyes. I'm all for giving people a choice and these sorts of sanctions are something I never thought I'd live to see in my life.