S-Clarke

What, a mid table finish? I'd take that, and I'd also expect the club to continue to back Ralph if that's where we ended up. Then we can continue to evolve next summer with a new GK etc. If the season is two extremes, i.e we start this season as we finished last (i.e lose every week) then I can't see him sticking it out. But a more balanced season, less extremes and a mid-table finish is the most I expect and is acceptable with the shortcomings we have.

I wasn't discrediting them by saying they are just long ball or anything like that, I just like the way they don't muck around and they literally just go for the throats. They do have skill, but they have a lot of pace and power which makes them impossible to deal with if they're on their game. When they are without Antonio and they have no focal point they'll struggle though.

West Ham don't mess around do they, they just get up the field as quick as they can. Either down the flanks, long ball, or just direct running. They've got the power and presence to be very effective at that. They are your typical Moyes team, he's got his new Everton.

In a few years time we're going to have one of the most exciting young teams in the country, just got to hope we keep our head above water in the here and now to allow that to happen. A risky but brave approach we're taking this window.

Good point, was a year out on that one!

We wanted to keep him, but Reading wanted something like 1m. In hindsight that was a snip, but Cortese wouldn't pay that. So we spent £750k on De Ridder instead. Oh well.

Why aren't you playing KWP? Tino needs a rest now, I wouldn't expect him to be part of this game.

The most alarming thing in that article is the fact that he's now taken over Theo. Shouldn't he have been paid more than him already? How much is f***ing Theo on??? The bloke isn't a footballer anymore.

Wow, quite a sad bump. I loved the Blackberry Bold. Aprox a week after posting this, it was stolen whilst I was on a bus...! Oh well.

To be fair to Stephens I think he's improved massively under Ralph, he's the only defender we have with a bit of bollocks to his game. Prone to the odd lapse but he's light years better than he was under Puel and Hughes etc.

I don't think he's going anywhere to be honest, just coincidental fake rumours circling and he's out injured. Nothing to see here I don't think.

Cut price deal to Burnley? (Removes the log jam of number 10's etc etc)

I'd imagine it'll be similar to the season ticket refunds during the lockdown - just a credit on everyone's account that they can use against other matches etc.

It wasn't a fantastic finish...but he did at least make the keeper work. He could have blazed it over, that would have been 10x worse and Long-eqse. Like you said, he's getting into the right places and his movement is great. If he keeps getting into those positions he'll score more than he misses. SKD is just looking to take the unpopular view just to get reactions.

I'd imagine Forster will play, along with KWP, Bednarek and probably Diallo. Might get a chance to see Broja? And we'll probably have to put up with Redmond too. We can 'almost' put out a totally different team, I do think we have better depth now.

It was a shambles, honestly. What has changed? New company doing it? Are these new readers on the turnstiles? It was a bit of a shambles tbh, for a Premier League club totally unacceptable but credit to the club for actually offering full refunds. Held their hands up. Heads will probably roll over this, it's going to have cost the club a small fortune and we don't have money like this to waste atm.

If people expected Armstrong to replace Ings clinicalness then they are daft. Never going to happen. What we will need this season is more goals from the likes of Moussa, Armstrong, Theo, Adams, JWP to contribute to the goals Armstrong gets. That's how I feel we'll fill the Ings void, not through Armstrong exclusively, but by getting more players in on the action. Armstrong reminds me of a combination of Ings and Long - pest, always on the shoulder, always harrying down clearances etc. Let's not forget his flick in the lead up to the goal either, I'd put that down as an Armstrong assit.

I'd like to see him in front of KWP, those two as an attacking combo could be f**ing frightning. Tino is top level though, he has a swagger about him that you see in the Elite players at a young age. Certainly very exciting.

A very unexpected result! I thought we were somewhat fortunate at the beginning of the game, that chance off the line was ridiculous - I thought that was in to be honest. But we came into it, we composed ourselves as the half went along. Utd got a little frustrated and our press was causing them some problems, as illustrated by the goal. A shame that Adams can't claim it as his own, but I'm pretty sure that was wide had it not been for Freds intervention. The second half started with the Utd reaction, but we actually prepared for it in the sense of changing it up a little. I thought it took us a little while to get used to the formation though and we did sink too deep, invited pressure in the first period of the 2nd half - sadly that told, and they put on in the net. Should McCarthy have saved it? If i'm being really critical, yes. But it wasn't a glaring goalkeeping catastrophe. We actually grew into the game after they equalised and we showed some courage and character which has been missing from this team. You'd have to say that an Ings would have made that 2-1, without a doubt, but we all knew Armstrong wasn't a like for like Ings replacement in goal scoring terms - I like him though, he's a real pest and he suits our style down to the ground - but he's not as ruthless a finisher as Ings. Tino - looks like a superstar already to me, Chelsea will be buying him back next summer on the basis of these two games. You can see why he was so highly rated, he's just got that 'top level' swagger about him at such a young age. Defo. going to the top, so let's enjoy him whilst he's here. Overall an unexpected and morale boosting result. Lots to build on from that.

Sadly I think the Walcott deal screams ''Club PR'', as opposed to pure footballing reasons.

Imagine losing him but keeping Redmond and Moussa. I'd lose the will.

That part in the article - ''The move could be accelerated if Armstrong moves on from St Mary's'' - what do they know that we don't?

Nope, I think he's a diabolical keeper. I have no idea how he is in and around the England setup either. Mind you, McCarthy was at one point.

Not worked for 3 years is a bit of a stretch, for an entire calendar year we were a Top 8 side, just sadly across two seasons and not a full season.

To be honest, I'm just willing to give him the benefit of doubt. £5m on a squad player isn't a great deal in this day and age, that's all he will be. Would I have liked to use this opportunity to evolve Bednareks position? Absolutley. But I realise that as a club we are in the pits financially and we're not able to compete for those sorts of players who would make a huge difference. We are very close to the inventible in this league with this model, I'm not doubting that. But what else do we do? Until we have a change of ownership and some direction from those above we will continue to tread water, and that will inevitably mean that we drown in the riches of the other clubs. The club are doing the best they can in the circumstances they have been dealt. We've just got to hope they've made the right choices, it enables us to keep our heads above water for another 1 year or so and we may end up closer to that illusive ownership change. Until that happens, we're going to have to get used to these sorts of signings.