S-Clarke

Not sure he's under rated at all? He's clearly our best left back by an absolute mile, no one is even close. He's slowed and aged, but still....we have no one who can touch him. We do need to have a better player behind him who can come in when required and then potentially become his replacement in a few years. Sadly I don't think that will be Vokins. We've produced a lot of good left backs and it's often been quick to see that they're capable, but Vokins doesn't look anywhere near the right level to me.

On top of the injuries....we also have key players out of form. Ings, Adams, Theo not great at the mo....so if you have those players dipping in form, and others missing...we have no chance! That's why I'm kind of pleased in terms of how well we competed really.

I hope KWP is back, I don't want to see Valery in the team again. Vokins isn't anywhere near either, so he needs to drop back. Glad Bertrand will be back for this one. I'm not sure about throwing Diallo at full back, as we take away his clear quality from the midfield. It's a really tough call. How about Ramsay? He may be a shout. Anyone but Valery, basically.

I wasn't expecting anything today, so not really surprised. I thought we played kind of ok, but we lacked the quality in the 3 areas of the pitch where we are stretched. Full backs, and CB. They took us apart down the flanks all game because of our full backs, who to be frank, were diabolical. We need a new full back as soon as possible, as neither of our backup options are clearly anywhere near the level we need. Ings is out of form, he's had a very stop start season due to injuries and he's struggling to get a head of steam going. Adams hasn't been great either for me, not really impacting the games as we have seen him do. Looks like it's all got a bit tougher for him all of a sudden. Diallo and Armstrong probably our best players, Armstrong's running in particular is a big positive to our positive approach at times. Onto the next one. Let's be honest, 10th-12th is a fair reflection of our squad. Let's not get sucked into the dream of finishing top 6 or even Top 4, it was never ever a possibility - we just had to enjoy it when it happened, and I think we did! Where we are now is realistic and without investment it's where we will stay, with occasional seasons flirting with the drop.

People are just expecting/demanding him to be a world beater. But he's not. He's good at what he does and he's been a good outlet for us. He's never been a clinical finisher, a good decision maker or blessed with the most amazing technique - so if fans want that, then they need to watch Messi.

I think it's more a case that we are 'aware' of the contract stuff, and some fans are now reading way, way too much into every single move, pass, smile, or facial expression he gives.

Wouldn't surprise me, I've already seen some 'he's shit anyway' type posts in recent days. Shocking really, but that's modern football fans for you.

Agreed, best player on the pitch for us. His running with the ball has been very impressive.

Yeah, JWP is certainly a better option than Valery. The prob is you lose that midfield join, he's really key in that pivot. I wonder if we'll get that backup full back before the end of the window which we've clearly been looking for!

Certainly not helping, but every team has a similar schedule. They have squad depth though. Our core squad (first 11/12) is Top 8 quality, the depth is bottom 3 level.

Any fix needs to include replacing Valery, who is one of the reasons we are being cut open down that side. Vokins not much better though. No one on the bench to replace either, herein lies our issue! Let's just see what happens.

It's been a very hectic game, end to end. They look like cutting us open on most attack. Stephens dreadful, Valery positionally shocking, Vokins not quite switched on either, McCarthy with a brain fart. We keep giving the ball away in the middle of the park as well. We've hit the situation we all knew we would. A very stretched squad due to injuries and on top of that some key players a long way from a decent level of form. Our squad depth was always going to even our league position out sadly.

It didn't take long for WHU to swing that around! 1-2 to WHU atm.

If you're going to spend big dollar on a striker, it surely has to be Haaland? The guy is the most natural finisher I've ever seen. I think he's got a £60-70m release clause at Dortmund too, they are probably regretting that low amount!

I did think it was a bit shit stirring to be honest. He'll always get gigs in the media because he's a 'cheeky chappy'. But I think the fans a the clubs he's been at know what he's all about.

Bit of a bump, but I saw these quotes from our old mate Austin, and thought they were quite interesting. I'm not sure if Austin is doing his usual shit stirring though. Manchester United decided to sign Victor Lindelof over Virgil van Dijk in 2017, says Charlie Austin | Daily Mail Online

He was being picked, but he was never anywhere near being good enough. We had no other options at that point, it was pretty clear we were looking for any half decent RB to come in and they'd automatically take Valerys place. Dreadful positionally and switches off too much, seems to be in his makeup. There was a point we were trying to get a second full back as well, so we clearly don't have full faith in him as backup either. I can understand why.

I don't think we have the money for even a loan. I'm not sure many clubs do to be honest, I've forgotten it's a transfer window. Martin Seemens comments the other day were quite telling - we won't be buying players who are first team ready players, our now model is to find the Diallos, Salisu's etc who we have to build up to get to the level we need. Might take them a few months until they make an appearance etc.

So it'll be Valery then, awesome. Should be a game to watch from behind the sofa. Saka will have him for dinner and then finish him off for desert. Whoever is in front of Valery will need to be tracking back and then some.

Chelsea have got a history of having no patience though. They didn't stick with Salah, De Bryune, Lukaku - all 3 turned into world beaters. They brought in a policy of developing young players, so they sucked up every young player they could find and sent them all out on loan for 5 years if they hadn't become a world beater by day 30. Lampard was the manager to help develop that join between young and first team, but they only gave him 18 months. The only time they have ever had stability and what looked like a recruitment plan was when the Roman era started, back in 2004. Since then it's been a bit chaotic in the main.

So much time for that bloke. Created the most enjoyable 3 or so years I've ever had supporting this club. We were relentless. (I will credit him with input in what we did under Poch as well, he built an amazing foundation)

Good to see you still around. We've all had our 'arguments' over the years, but we all still had the same thing in common.

Proud moment for you. He's on!

Ok? I didn't question any of that. But there's no doubt he's happy enough with his load, even though he hasn't actually done much for any of the clubs he's been part of - apart from taking lots of $$$

He probably doesn't see it like that. Lots of bling, nice fast cars, nice women probably. He's laughing all the way to the bank! This potential deal is no surprise though, he's a proper journeyman. Hopefully at some point clubs stop giving him the opportunities, he's a hopeless professional.