S-Clarke

Bit of a late review on it all, but it was pretty **** all being told. All huff and puff in the 2nd half, no real quality. First half we ****ed ourselves over because we ****ed around with the back 4 again, yet to absolutely no one’s surprise we looked more balanced in the 2nd half when Bertrand was on. Something really odd going on there with him and the manager, no questions about that. Doubt he'll be around after January. But generally, the midfield was ****, apart from Romeu who put himself about. JWP just flatters, Hoj is exactly the same - they have 1 good game every 10, and then just lapse back into mediocrity. Adams struggled big style and Ings didn't do much after he came on either. Boufal was frustrating, lots of runs but very little end product (same as the Boufal we came to know and not love). Redmond looked rusty, no surprise - looked like a game too early for him if I'm honest. Don't get me started on Vesterguard, jesus f christ. Absolute oaf. Yeah, he's tall, but so am I – but I don't play football, and the jury's out on whether he should either. Honestly, dreadful. Getting pulled all over, the pace of a turtle and the turning circle of a tank. Another absolute awesome signing by the genius that is Ross. Onto Tuesday we go then, but the Bournemouth game just set us back a bit as it really did highlight our two biggest weaknesses – don’t enough goals per chances and concede too many. The recipe for quite a rubbish team, if we’re honest.

He broke us though, let's be honest. We finished top half, but we were absolute toss, in my opinion. He tried to focus too much on pass, pass, pass, keep the ball for the sake of keeping it, either backwards, sideways. Always retreating, didn’t gable or take risks, we always seemed to play with fear. Never any real penetration. Maybe one or two games were different, but that’s how his reign was in the main. It went the same way at Leicester, and he turned them into a dull and turgid team too. Only now are they coming back out of their shell.

Former Tottenham talent spotter Paul Mitchell 'rejects up to four Premier League clubs' to sign new contract as Red Bull's global soccer technical director following successful spell with RB Leipzig

Hughes really is clueless isn't he. Look what he did with both Romeu and Bedernek - probably our two most steely players right now. He just didn't have a clue what to implement here, but at least we have a coach who know appreciates having a system in play. We have a way of playing, we now need certain attributes in certain positions to aid that way of playing. This is what they give us. Not superstars, but they have the right attributes. Enough of these stupid 'pass the ball' philosophies we tried to implement with Pelligreno, Puel and Hughes - it's refreshing to be back in the hands of someone who knows what the **** he's doing.

Yeah I've spoken to a Pompey fan I work with too. He said they're as bad this year as they were when they were in L2, they lost their best two players in the summer and have just regressed. Fans and players are against Jackett apparently, feels it's only a matter of time. It still feels like an almighty banana skin though. We obviously have enough, but it's all about attitude and application here. I reckon we'll throw a strong side out there.

Vestergaard scares me. I feel like he's going to fall over all the time, he certainly can't keep up with anyones pace. I'm sure even I could outpace him to be honest. He's good for his height, no doubts there, and his use of the ball is decentish, but christ is an oaf. I'd keep Bednerak and stick Danso next to him to be honest. Bertrand LB, Valery or Cedric RB. Job done.

Wasn't he linked with them a while back? If we're all honest, I wouldn't shed a tear if he went. To say his results have been mixed is an understatement. Could be an opening for Mithchell to link back up with Ralph. Who knows.

But still a hell of a lot better than we all feared at the time!

What a surprise, player scores a goal and is in his team of the week. Why is he given air time, honestly. Romeu would have been my pick ahead of anyone, but he doesn't even get mentioned. Ahh he's so irritating.

I think we have a good mix in attack to be honest, it's a mixture of pace, some strength and power - I don't expect all the goals to come from the focal points, as I don't think we play like that really now days. Redmond, Moussa, Boufal, Ings, Adams all pop up and move around. It's a very dynamic attack and I'd expect all of them to contribute goals this year, but I don't think we'll see a standout 15 goal return from one of them as we don't play that way.

They're a good side are Bournemouth, but again...as with Sheff U, i think their style suits us. They don't sit back, they won't take a draw. They play an open game and that's never going to change. I doubt we'll be able to keep them out of our goal, but we will certainly have chances of our own make no doubts about that. The 3-3 we had last year pretty much summed up the state of both!

If I'm honest, I thought it was quite a nice flowing game - the ref' seemed to allow it to flow. A lot of what I saw was us controlling the 2nd half with controlled possession, not play acting or rolling around. I think some of our players are wise to the foul and they can take it, but that's part of football I guess. The top players in the world are like that. I don't think we were particularly dirty though. It was a fair contest I felt between two teams who gave it a go at both ends, frantic and end to end. Evenly matched really, but a moment of star quality made the difference. Home fans will always feel a bit bitter and aggrieved, but the reality is that in my opinion we just took control of the game in that 2nd half and we had that little bit of extra quality up front which meant we took our chance. That’s what experience does.

He showed real desire and honesty there, a very encouraging trait to see.

City are going to seriously miss Laporte. Their defence was a shower tonight. Fair play Norwich, played the right way and got their reward.

Boufal is flying at the moment, looks like a player re-born. I remember quite a few posters asking for the club to get Boufal back and see what Ralph can do with him, well there you go. He's done a job on him for sure. Moussa is still very, very raw...but he's got some real ability in his locker. Reminds me of Mane in the early days, he could trip over his own feet one min and then go on a storming run the next. A very exciting attacking pair to be honest. Bring Redmond back into the mix and that attack, for the first time in what feels like years, is actually full of ability and pace. It will make a huge difference over the season.

I thought that was a superb away performance. There were long periods of that 2nd half where we just bossed it, took control of the ball and just played at our pace. We did get lucky on some occasions, but so did Sheff Utd as we could have easily had 1 or 2 in the first half. It was an honest and well fought game between two keen sides. Positive outlooks for both sides I think. We've got ourselves a couple of quality players in attack and we're always capable of getting a moment of genius, Moussa showed that before today and he's shown it again. And we all know what Boufal can do with the ball at his feet. Adams was unlucky today I thought, generally his performance was there, and he was getting in the right places....it will come, there's a genuine player there and we need to stick with him as the goals will come. Overall, cracking run we've got ourselves on. Two tricky away's at Brighton and Sheff U, 6 points - didn't expect that, so onwards and upwards.

How weird. No idea. They're going to be well cut adrift, games in hand is all well and good, but they're going to be miles off the pace for months playing catchup. Funny really.

Sad news. He did great stuff for us in our time of need, selfless stuff really. He was one of us, without a doubt. RIP.

As I’ve said before, he's flawed. He'll never make it at the top level. He’s never made it at any of the clubs he’s been at. Talented, yes, but not the right mind-set or attitude. He'll just meander between different clubs for the remainder of his career before calling it a day on his career quite early on I'd imagine. Then he can bask in the $$$ whilst he laps up his Instagram.

He's back with his master again. Only fool who is interested in giving him a chance. Season long loan to Leganes. Done.

Given the £65 cost, I'm not surprised there were empty seats. There was almost an empty row next to me, bar 1 or 2 people. £65 to watch a 90min football match is quite frankly disgusting, I'll be honest.

Standard Cedric really. Poor in posession and crossing, it was his side the goal came from....but he was seriously exposed at times.

A really well fought point - although with a bit more quality, we may have been able to get a bit more out of the game. Our press really unsettled them early on and we had them giving away passes left, right and centre. We didn't exactly create anything in that first half though, whilst we competed well enough, it was a bit huff and puff. Second half we showed a little bit more composure and quality in our build-up, penned them in a little bit more and got a deserved goal I felt. I think that was Vesterguards best game for us, great defensive performance through blocks, tackles and headers - and then he pops up with a goal for us too. Also a shout out for Romeu who had his best game in a long while too, those two were like rocks throughout the spine. Danso was very naive, I'd have hoped he was a bit more mature than that - it was an incredibly daft tackle to make. He is very raw, I’ll be honest, but he has some terrific attributes to his game which can be refined. He's a bit of a unit. Che and Ings ran the United defenders around but had very little quality when they did get the ball. I’m really looking for Ings to step up now, he's been here for a year and a bit and I've hardly seen anything from him which makes me believe he is a good fit for us. Che is still learning and raw, whilst he does look a bit out of his depth at the moment, I'm hoping he will mature and settle as time goes on. Good little run we've got going now, performances are getting better, we're giving everyone we play a game. 4 points on the board isn't ''too' bad given our starting fixtures up to now, it could have been a lot worse. Good time for a break I think, focus on getting a couple of the injured guys back and fill the squad out a little bit. I think there's plenty to be positive about though, it looks like we can actually compete again compared to times at the start of last season.

It took Jay a little while to get his first goal for us after his transition from the Championship, people were doubting him too. It'll come for Che, he causes problems with his movement and has a lot of power and strength in his game. Snatches at chances a bit at the moment, probably through eagerness. He just needs one to go off of his backside to get him going.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with how we play, our approach, the setup. The coaching is top notch and the players have responded to it. The main problem? The lack of quality within the group to take advantage of opportunities when we do win the ball back through our approach. Anything people see as being wrong with this team is nothing to do with Ralph, it's the limited ability of the players we have.