S-Clarke

To be fair to Stephens, he played well today I thought? That block at the end was 'goal' worthy. Let's not forget he has also progressed under Ralph. We wouldn't have given Vestergaard the time of day this time last year, he's improved...and so did Stephens. He's not flawless, of course not, but he's a lot better than he was in 2019.

Easily our best RB since our Clyne days IMO.

Walker, Cancelo, Alexander-Arnold - 3 who spring to mind who are light years ahead of KWP. He's good, but not at their levels.

I like him, I've liked him in the sub appearances he's made as well. He's a much more nimble and agile midfielder than Romeu, but what you get for that is lesser strength and physical presence. Good technical, mobile player though.

That is the exact reason he leaves the subs as late as they are, they're no better than what is on the pitch....so unless you are absolutely convinced the better/more experienced players aren't going to cut it, then you stick for as long as you can. It's a shame, but there's not much more he can really do. You notice when he has quality to select on the bench, he does it much earlier.... He can't be happy with the depth he's got to play with...but what can you do.

I genuinely don't feel we have the squad to sustain it over a full season. We've managed to sustain that level of form over two seasons...with a big gap (or two) in the middle, so we were adversely affected by fitness or squad availably. Over the course of a season when you lose key men (like we are atm) then we will slip slide away. Top 10 will be result for this 'squad', talk of Europe over a full season isn't doable until we have more depth in the squad, which we don't. Decent side when all is fit, no doubts, but over a season that will never stay the same - so you have to then call on the likes of Long to not do anything, and thus the results will automatically dip. Nothing you can do about it.

Wouldn't have said it 6 months ago, but missing Vestergaard is a disaster. Not just for our defensive shape, but our attack....he is pivotal in spreading the play, we don't have anyone else who can do that. That automatically removes an enormous chunk out of our game. Could be a ropey January.

Defo take the point from that game and run, not very good. Could have been much worse, so I can't complain with the result. At the end of the day our squad is poor once you have to start delving into it. When you have to start Shane Long, who scores a goal once every decade, then you know how weak you are depth wise. I think there are better goal scorers down in the lower leagues tbh. Certainly shouldn't have offered him a 2 year.

That is possible - the 'local' teams are doing a decent job pulling the vaccines together and creating some organisation after what the government and national teams are feeding them. I've seen behind the scenes from an IT view of how it's panning out, it's chaos from the 'centre'. The government have outsourced the mass distribution of IT kit to private companies (there's a surprise), the local teams aren't told what is arriving or when and there is no info on how they are configured. When it does arrive (if it does), it's usually only containing half the tools they require....so the local teams are the ones having to think on their feet. The government's handling from a national standpoint has been shit throughout, only reason things are kind of working is because of the local front line teams.

Pochettino has his new job......PSG have just sacked Tuchel

Can't disagree with any of it, it has been absolute carnage. The Vaccine rollout is equally as shambolic. They haven't got a single thing correct. I wouldn't trust them to turn the tap on my bath.

I will always stand by the belief that they shouldn't have sold season tickets, real shit show money grabbing attempt by the club. At the very most they should have given the fans an option to pay a small fee just to guarantee their seat and a part in any ticket ballot (where you'd buy the ticket for the match you're chosen for). I think it's bonkers that they took everyone's money when it was all so unknown. The hassle that people are going through to get those refunds is a very poor show as well.

Who'd have ever thought, 12 months ago, that we'd be worrying about a) Tier 4 restrictions and no fans at games and B) Vesterguard not being able to play. This year isn't real.

Leeds are bat-shit crazy! Great to watch, but how they play is not sustainable at this level. They need to lock it up a bit or they are gone.

Not sure why Massimiliano Allegri is never mentioned for these 'potential' top jobs? Proven manager who has won stacks with Juventus.

Leeds can't defend for shit. Good on the eye, but they will be in trouble this season unless they learn how to defend as a unit. Way too easy to get at.

They did get a second in the end. Well deserved, Tottenham were dross today. Really poor. Slow and lethargic through the middle. Bale looks like a Champ player atm.

Disallowed due to offside, still 0-1. But Leicester well worth the lead so far, Spurs haven't been in the game so far.

Yeah, we'd be back on GD i think?

GET IT IN THE BOX FFS

I agree with that, he looks to have more about him. Tella is a bit of a non-entity thus far.

It looks more and more like Redmond had a bit of a purple patch over half of that season (when he won player of the season, stood out in the 2nd half of that season under Ralph - he wasn't amazing in the first half of that season) As soon as he signed his new deal he has regressed back to the same as he was under Puel, Hughes and MP before. Doesn't take players on, goes backwards too much, poor control, poor decision making. He's sub appearance yesterday really annoyed me. It was an opportunity to come on and impact the game, but he took us backwards. (literally) Walcott, in his few months with us, looks 10x the player Redmond is.

I notice Watford have sacked yet another manager, he's been there 3 months I think? He was manager of the month last month, god forbid you lose a SINGLE game at Watford. Apparently they've had 14 managers since 2013 (since those nutjob owners took over). They need to slide down the leagues now, no way to treat people or manage a football club.

Fulham comfortably ahead at Newcastle, who have been dreadful as per usual. Lemina looks pretty tidy tonight.

Everton 1 - 1 Arsenal. Pepe does something for once (Penalty).