S-Clarke

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.

Surely a part of any fee we receive will have to go towards servicing the debt? (not least the interest for year 1). Probably have around 10-15m to play with on a replacement. It won't get you much at all, but that's the world we live in now unfortunately. It'll be about developing a young player, not a straight Ings replacement. How that works out is anyone's guess! Hey, Ings may not even go yet.....although it does look very possible. Too much chatter for this to be progressing to a positive conclusion - we all know how this ends sadly

We all thought Koeman would leave us for a CL side, PEH said the same etc. The money will talk and the reality is that Everton and Leicester's owners have far more ambition and money than ours, so they are also in the equation for potential clubs - if he's available for £30m. A snip for those clubs

I share your fear and frustration. I think most of us knew that we'd struggle to sustain our form over an entire season. Whilst we had a good run for 40 or so games, that was actually spread across two separate seasons, so fatigue/fitness/injuries didn't come into it. Putting that form across 30 games in an actual season is impossible for us, it can't happen. With our current squad I'd say 10th-12th is about fair. It's frustrating because the core quality is probably top 8 plus, but we don't have the depth to cover for the inevitable loss of form/injuries over the course of a season, so our true position will always be 10-12th. It just felt like we were always an injury crisis away from slip sliding away from that top 7 area and unfortunately that seems to be happening. I will say that our recruitment over the last 4 years hasn't helped, it's been disastrous for a club of our size. Spending big fees on Hoedt, Lemina, Elyonoussi, Carillo, Boufal. That's upwards of £60m quid of players, 3 are out on loan and two of them left for free. That has killed us without question and I think it'll be years before we recover from that. Throwing 12m at Salisu doesn't exactly seem like a sound decision either, although still time there. It would be nice if we had an ownership who was engaged and interested in helping us progress in the here and now, rather than sat back and ensuring we make them money and run 'sustainably'. That's code for spending what you sell. It is a sad state of affairs and until we get a change of ownership which has some ambition (which looks further away than ever now) then we are hamstrung massively and relegation battling seasons will always be a possibility.