S-Clarke

Probably, but this sort of link screams Matt Crocker, given Cooper's involvement in the U19's when Crocker was heading stuff up for the FA.

Out of possession it was two banks of 4, compact and deep. Armstrong hanging on the shoulder with a combination of Moi and Redmond floating around behind him to provide that potential 'break'. In possession we pushed JWP into an attacking wide role as we didn't seem to play a 'wide right' - Redmond just floated all over. Romeu just sat. The full backs weren't as advanced as they have been, they are a little deeper - although they did have their moments to burst forward. I think tactically we did a job on WHU, totally outsmarted Moyes. When we started to struggle, Ralph made the right subs to bring us well into the ascendancy in the closing stages. Lots of positives from yesterday in my opinion, a win wouldn't have been undeserved and we were so close to that.

I personally thought we looked better when Diallo played that attacking role, we had more mobility straight away. We did play quite a low block and a compact team, that probably made it harder for the likes of Armstrong or Moi to really stand out. West Ham themselves are a solid outfit too. However I'd say that Redmond, with his pace - and Moussa - need to be our outlets in that kind of tactical setup, that is what they were there for. Redmond is just Redmond though, that chance summed him up - just f***ing hit it! I knew as soon as he took that extra touch it was done. That's him in a nutshell, he will never, ever change and it's infuriating to watch. He just wants too much time, he looks better in lower league games as he gets more time...but you don't get that at his level. I'd like to have seen Tella to be honest, he commits and attacks with much more purpose than Redmond does - he's not afraid to have a crack for a start. Moussa works hard and is likeable for sure, does a good job defensively for the team - but where we need him he just doesn't produce. All legs, no action.

This sounds like a key attribute in his entire makeup, as was alluded to in the scouting report when we bought him: It's not all just about being a big strong boy, however. Despite being just 21 years old, Salisu possesses incredible positioning and awareness which defies his age. He consistently finds himself in the right place to attack crosses or block shots, doing so more regularly than any centre-back his age in Europe's top five leagues.

Not sure what game you watched mate. Salisu in particular snuffed the threat of Antonio, so did Stephens to an effect. He followed him and made him know he was around all the time, didn't stand off and they both engaged all the time and made life very difficult. The foundations of yesterdays performance were based around the centre backs and how they controlled their attack.

He was our option last season when we needed some power and height in attack. Now we have Broja. They're on different planets.

He adds some bollocks to our team, you cannot question that. But he is definitely a player who has improved markedly since Ralph came in. He's not a world beater, but he's no worse than a Dawson or a Mee at this level - in my opinion anyway. Did you see him give a bollocking to Perruad today? He wasn't happy he let the cross come into the box. Salisu was even trying to calm him down!

He's a talent, he had Antonio in his pocket to be honest. He adds a dimension we didn't have last year at the back in a starting CB. He'll get better as well, he's only young and he's still gaining experience - but he has all the tools physically and I think he reads the game very well. If he can improve his passing out of defence then he's pretty much there.

That was a decent result really, I thought we cancelled each other out in the first half. Armstrong was very isolated and we struggled to get him into the game, the 'number 10's' didn't really help the cause either as they were a bit erratic to say the least. Bit more quality in those 10 positions and we win that. Defensively I can't fault us, back 2 were solid, goal keeper was strong when he needed to be. Antonio couldn't get a sniff and he's not easy to shut out of a game, we clearly frustrated the hell out of him as well as he wasn't getting his own way. What it did show from WHU's point of view is that if you shut out Antonio correctly then they've not really got any other threats or alternatives. Into the second half I felt we got stronger, they had a decent chance in the opening quarter of the 2nd half...but then we just got stronger. I think our subs impacted the game, not just Broja but Diallo as well - I thought him coming on split their midfield a bit, created some space and gave us more mobility in there against a tiring WHU midfield. So the subs worked, put us in the ascendancy and we were unlucky in the end. Broja is a unit, not just a focal point but to have that turn of pace and power is pretty special - that is going to be some weapon to use this season, hope to see more of him as he's clearly got something about him. I guess overall it's positive, but still very frustrating. We should have at least got a win by now given the quality we've shown in periods against Utd, Newcastle and today, but we're just lacking that cutting edge at that crucial moment - sadly that's what happens when you lose the experience and undoubted quality of someone like Ings. There's more to be positive about than negative though, we're certainly very competitive.

He wasn't bought to play any part in the PL team. For registered pros at a club aged 21 or over (I think) they HAVE to be registered to the PL, it's a rule. He will not play for us. He is there for the u23's and to aid experience, albeit it's not exactly helping.

I still doubt the clubs wisdom in signing Theo. A waste of a decent chunk of wages for what is in effect a club/academy cheerleader. He's very injury prone and even when he's not injured his impact is limited due to his diminishing physical attributes. Worst decision the new scouting setup have made to be honest.

I imagine he's as frustrated as us to be honest.

Great post Minsk, appreciate the effort you put into these in previous season - so I'm looking forward to seeing how this one follows through! Hoping for the best, fearing the worst.

I hope Seaborne is fit, we've really missed his quality at the back.

If he's back, I imagine he'd be on the bench - no more than that. The only changes I'd make from the previous games are bringing back Perraud at left back, moving KWP to right back. Dropping Moussa and shifting Moi to the left, and moving Tino to right mid ahead of KWP. That's how I'd play it tbh.

The taking the knee stance at the beginning served a point, to a degree. But now it's become more of a commercial gesture. You get the big corps like Sky and the PL all over it because it enhances their popularity and benefits their corporate image. I don't think it's serving much in the way of 'stopping' anything happening as such, it may raise the awareness to a degree...but now it feels like it's having the opposite effect and creating more inflammatory responses and divisions - which is what this is suppose to be stopping.

I have black friends, but I've been shouted down for saying black in the past so I reverted to that. That's another example which probably illustrates my point of walking on egg shells/not sure what you can say or do anymore.

This game could be an interesting pointer to see how far we've come in a short space. We got bullied by them at the end of last season. I'd personally go for more pace and physicality against Antonio, so I'd drop Stephens for Lyanco - but I reckon Stephens will continue to start, I think he's got that slot at the mo and he'll keep it for the time being. Romeu in midfield will be important, Diallo and JWP last season just couldn't get close. We need some physicality in there. That's still my worry with the squad - after Romeu we have no real physical midfielders. Adams and Armstrong should keep their centre backs honest, I expect Zouma will start. We'll probably create openings, I just hope we're clinical enough.

This may divulge slightly off topic, but it's still relevant. Personally I have no issues, and never have had any issues, with people who are of colour, people who are gay, lesbian, transsexual. Absolutley no problem. They don't offend me, I live my life and they live their lives. There's nothing wrong with raising awareness of when discrimination happens, not at all (and to be fair it's much better than it was many years ago) - but what I do have a problem with, and many people do, is being told how to act or what to say in order to keep certain sections of these groups happy - not the majority, let me add, as I have a lot of friends of colour who are against what is happening and they feel it's creating more divides - as we are probably seeing. That NHS article above sums it all up really. This is exactly the waffle which is infiltrating organisations far and wide at the moment. To add some relevance, I was working with someone at work who was terrible. He made so many mistakes, so many errors, I was spending my own time fixing all his mistakes and he was incapable of learning and was taking the piss on the side. I was advised by management not to flag it as I would be seen as racist (he was coloured). That had nothing to do with it, he was just terrible at his job. Funnily enough this guy is still there and he hasn't improved. I don't want to live my life walking on egg shells in case what I say or do is seen as the wrong thing or out of context. Any decent human being will have absolutely no problem with culture and embrace it naturally, we just don't want it rammed down our necks 24/7 and made to feel racist or homophobic if we dare disagree with one of their view points. Taking the knee is an example of this and it's run it's course now. I wouldn't boo it but it feels like it's creating more tension than good.

I believe we have money left over from this window, which we will put together with whatever small amount we have to play with next year to give us a head-start to potentially look at keepers in the £15m bracket from word go, without having to sell first. That's how I'd expect a sensible cash-strapped club to operate and I have faith that we are sensible nowadays. Offering someone like Romero a deal, whilst we are still paying McCarthy and Forster £150k between them isn't sensible. Romero won't want buttons, he will be as well paid as both of our current - if not more. I think there are lots of options we can look at in the summer. Once we have got rid of Forsters wages and have maybe £15-20m to play with, then there are options. The scouting should be all over Europe as we are after a first choice keeper who will last us for years to come. Be interesting if we had a look in the Turkish, French or Russian leagues as there are some quality young keepers over there.

It's been a great second half. Hungary aren't a 'bad' side. I was impressed with them at the Euro's, but we've just had way too much for them 2nd half.

We did a fair amount of business in August to be fair. I didn't want to make a prediction that early on as so much as up in the air, but we've got the strikers in now, we've got the CB, we've got proper cover at full back. If...if...Lyanco turns out to be a steal and Armstrong can half translate his Championship form then 11/12th - outside chance of Top 10. If the CB signing is poor, Armstrong struggles a little in his first season and we end up not scoring enough.....17th. But right on the brink.

Phil Ifil came with good pedigree, probably a similar rep to that of KWP had when we got him. Nothing happened with him though Safri wasn't a bad signing on paper, just didn't work out for him here. He was excellent at Norwich. Andrew Davies was just injury prone, good player if he got a run of games but he never managed it. Fairly sure he retired a few years back after landing in the SPL. Enough to make anyone retire. I saw what we were doing with the likes of Perry, Lucketti, Christan Daily etc - we had a really young core to the side, so we thought we'd throw experience around them. Sadly the only experience we could get were from washed up players who should have retired.

He's bang on, it's very depressing. I'd say the window before that was a start of the downturn as well, given we splurged £16m on Boufal. We just got the big signings all wrong for 3 consecutive years. Our scouting needs to be spot on for our model to work. We can't absorb a bad signing in the same way a bigger club can. But we've had to absorb 4 or 5 bad 'big' signings and it's almost killed us. It still might. I saw an article the other day that had us as one of the biggest spenders in Europe since 2011, ahead of Dortmund. We are also one of the highest in terms of fees received - £448m in 10 years. We got it right in Koemans first season, but I think a lot of that was down to the manager we had. A strong manager was required to attract the right players and have enough about him to put his own views across. I don't think Les really liked that and it always felt a bit tense between Keoman and the 'board' at the time. We unsurprisingly then went down the road of hiring one of the most passive yes men in history. You wouldn't hear Puel say boo to a goose and he just went along with the carnage that was about to occur. Similar for Pellegrino as well, not strong enough managers. There are certainly shoots of recovery now that Reed and Wilson are out of the way and Ralph is having a big say....

He is an absolute freak isn't he. He hangs in the air and manages to get so much power on his headers. That's one element of his game that has evolved, he is a huge aerial threat. I'm sure Jack Stephens will have it covered though.