S-Clarke

On a different note - slightly - Barton has been banned from Football for 18 months for betting irregularity or something. Can we get the points back from the Burnley away game in that case....! http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11708/10851609/burnleys-joey-barton-banned-for-18-months-by-football-association-over-betting-rule-breaches

Can see why those two clubs are involved in that case. Payet being the standout for WHU....but then newcastle went big with Cabella, Thauvin - Marseille involved in all those.

Maybe Austin can offer that sort of alternative, but I'm not 100% sure yet - need to see more of him in the side for sure. For me, Davis should be upgraded by someone such as Sigarrdson...but we all know that's a pipe dream!

If Tadic goes, then yeah we'll need a number 10 type. But if he stays, then I don't see any reason.

And Redmond, and VVD...etc etc.

Davis is better in the role just in front of two sitting midfielders in my opinion. The role which allows him to drive forward with the ball and open the play up, he's not as effective in a CM role and comes up short in the physical bits.

I can see what you mean with regards to Gabbiadini in terms of his close control, he doesn't seem to win enough in the air to be a focal point type though. I'm not saying replace him as a starting player, but just someone else with a bit more height and strength to give us another option up top. Gabbiadini has also played from the flanks at his previous club, so there is flexibility in the way we can use him if we want. I think it's sensible to have a mix it up option, not saying that needs to be our main style, but just other alternatives if the passing game doesn't work. It's not necessarily bad football if it's executed right and not just a case of lumping it up, but if you think back to when we had Lambo in the team - and then Pele - a fair few of our goals came from the fact players used to get in and around him when he knocked the ball down, or headed it on. Just gave us a chance to get points and wins in games where we haven't really done enough football wise.

Hopefully they've arrested Sullivan's son for crimes on twitter.

That's true, you cannot ignore that. All of the 'natural' Top 6 have improved either with players, management etc. Ourselves, Leicester, West Ham etc shook them up last year, and in the end Leicester winning the league didn't level the playing field, it just forced the big clubs to wake the hell up - hence that they're all performing better. Arsenal haven't even been hugely different from previous years, but they're actually quite a bit adrift of the top 4, which says a lot. Also, everton are now performing as you'd expect them to after underachieving for a couple of seasons, so the long and short of it - if we can finish 8th this year on 50 odd points, then we can be pleased with the work we've done in my opinion. Gives us a decent platform to build on and we can see where we go next year.

Lack of leadership through the spine pretty much. We also lack the power and pace which made us a threat in seasons gone past. We have a good side, good technical players, good quality, good opportunities and possibilities (etc. etc..!) Any team will miss VVD. The club also know they dropped a bollock not replacing Fonte, so that's two leaders gone. Pelle was also more of a miss than many assumed he would be, not only did he hold the line better than anyone else we now have - but he was also a presence and a bit of a personality. We've got a team full of nice guys at the moment, we just need some strong bastards at the back, someone to help Romeu and maybe a Pelle type focal point up top. We're not miles away from it, we don't need a huge overhaul or enormous surgery as some suggest. I'm sure the club are aware and we'll see what happens in the summer, which by all accounts will be a huge summer for us. Ideally, this summer needs to be about evolving our squad - not worrying how we're going to be replacing our current players.

What do you actually want to be honest? You didn't rate Koeman either. I'm not sure what you expect, you seem a little confused with your expectations.

It's good for his experience and development, there's certainly a lot more mileage in us giving Stephens the exposure rather than a washed up CB. He's a composed player, not sure what you're getting at. He's been one of the improvements over the course of the 2nd half.

People are also ignoring the fact that Caceres is actually more of a RB than a CB, he's played most of his games as a RB. Basically, the club dropped an absolute **** by not replacing Fonte and needed to be seen to do something. The fact we bought in Caceres proves that they know they dropped a ****.

Well done for admitting you're a WUM.

Yeah, well he's not going anywhere is he.

Who the **** is gamby?

I remember when we lost 6-1 to Liverpool at home, and 4-1 away to City. Bloody MP and Koeman.

Thought we gave them a good game, they just had Costa/Hazard on top form and that's very hard to stop - even more so when you have reserve CB's. I'm a bit frustrated with Boufal, I thought he had a great first half - I can only hope he felt a tweak or something and he didn't just wimp out, that's not exactly going to make it work for him here. Romeu had a great game, in one stage he bossed that midfield, but we were just too meek defensively. Too nicey, nice. Still doesn't feel as if this season has ever really started for me, nothing has got going. Let's just get to the summer and regroup, big summer - we can go two ways.

He never really makes much sense tbh.

How many bust ups has Bertrand had with Puel? Didn't this originally evolve from a fake news site that made stuff up?

40 points is enough. We're not getting relegated.

You chat so much rubbish.

Huge games for all the teams at home this afternoon. I expect Hull to win today, so anything less than a win for Swansea and it is goodnight Vienna - no survival Sunday this year.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/leicester-southampton-in-contact-with-nice-midfielder-jean-seri-4178399 he has had a great season tbh.

I've always loved Jay as a player, but he's definitely lost something since his injury. He doesn't seem as mobile to me and looks a lot more leggy and certainly not as quick along the ground. I think it's pretty clear he'll be going this window, hope he gets a club better than WBA though. Wonder if he could turn back up at Burnley.