S-Clarke

If we fast forward to next summer, and he's still here and once again hasn't done anything and is out of contract, I bet you there will still be fans who say ''Give him one more year just to see...'' ''Just in case...'' ''good squad player''. Not at 50k p/w he's not. Time to stop clinging onto the hope. He never made it here, and along with Osvaldo our 2 'marquee' signings have been disasters for the club.

Goalkeepers: Forster-8 - As people have seen, our defensive record has dipped without him - and whilst it's not only down to this, he made a huge contribution to our record. Top keeper and we will miss him. Davis-6 - Good servent, hasn't done too badly when required, but not really up to the standard - you do notice that with the goals we do let in. Not howlers, but a better keeper would prevent them. Gazzaniga-6 - Doesn't look any different to when we last saw him. Nervous, un sure, poor decision making, and pretty much let's any shot on. Time to go I think. Defenders Clyne-7 - Had a terrific first half of the season where he'd have been a 9/10, but he's let the speculation surrounding his future affect his game in the 2nd half. Hopefully once he ties himself down he can get his focus back again. Fonte-10 - Outstanding season, best season he's ever had for us...and I imagine it's his best personal season. Probably playing at the peak of his powers right now. Toby-9 - Really good season, terrific player. Injuries blighted his campaign a little, but even in the amount of games he's played he's made a difference and personally I'd spent £10m+ to get him in. Yoshida-7 - Stepped up this season I felt. Distribution has always been one of his weak points, but that's improved this year - heck, he even had an assist! Gardos-5 - Bit disappointed to be honest. Came with a big fee and seen as the 'Lovren' replacement, but just hasn't really done it for me. I assume he'll be around next year, but his spell here has also cost him his place internationally, so maybe he's feeling a little uneasy. Bertrand-9 - As I've said before, the biggest compliment you can pay to him is that we haven't missed Shaw. Terrific player, so glad we don't have to worry about making that loan permanent - we got in there quick! Targett-6 - Not sure about all the high ratings other people have been giving, he's a decent player. Hasn't played that much, but we do lose a bit of quality when he does play. Decent cover, but no more than that. Midfielders: Davis-7 - I'm a big fan of Davis, but he's not had his best season. He started off ok...but the dip he's had has been pretty alarming. He's usually Mr Reliable, always retains the ball, but he's been quite sloppy these past 3 months. I imagine we will look to 'evolve' his position over the summer. It's time to get a proper number 10! Wanyama-9 - Had his best season for us in my opinion. Technically he's improved, his passing and distribution has been better and when you combine that with his strength and power...then you have a damn good player on your hands. Still pretty young, got plenty of improvement left in him I feel. Not worried about him going just yet. Reed-6 - Done ok when called upon, not as 'technical' as other's, but he'll give it 100% and play like a terrier. In some games those players are valuable. JWP-6 - Frustrating, and same old JWP really. Starts the season well, people talking him up, sounding him out for England etc....and then like clockwork he gets an injury around mid-season and then never comes back the same player, and just drifts as a sub for the remainder. This has happened for the past 3 seasons now and it's a bit of a concern. He's technically outstanding, we just don't see enough of it. Morgan-9 - He could have sulked, moped around and not given 100% this year...but we probably saw Morgan's best ever season, which shows his character. I've loved watching him for these last 7 years. He's top level, up there with the Pogba's, Vidals etc of this world in terms of value to a team. I wish him all the best (Unless he goes to Spurs..!) and I'm proud we got to see his development over the years. Tadic-7 - Would have been 8/9, but he dipped alarmingly. The thing I will say though, is unlike others, he showed his quality. We all know what he can do, that's why we're all a little disapointed in his 2nd half. It seems to me that he was playing through a bit of an injury, so hopefully a pre-season can get him back to the Tadic we fell in love with. Djuricic-6 - Looks good on the ball, but ultimately achieves nothing. Too lightweight. Forwards: Pelle-7 - 16 goals is a good return, you can't complain at that. His lack of away goals is a bit odd and one of the reasons our away form has tailed off a little. I'd like to know how the club feel about him, but personally I wouldn't see him as the player to continue our 'rise'. We may already be looking to evolve his role. Mane-8 - Love mane. You never know what you will get from him, which can be frustrating and bloody exciting at the same time. I think he's hit 11 goals this season, and for his first season that's impressive. I would not be surprised to see some big clubs making tentative approaches over the summer....but he won't go just yet. Long-7 - Done ok, nothing more. Makes a difference when he plays, but that's because of his work rate and running rather than his quality. I imagine he'll continue as a squad player for next year. Ellia-5 - Trash. Apart from 2 deflected goals against Newcastle he has contributed zilch. Looks like a player on a very quick slide down to obscurity and I hope we let him continue that slide elsewhere.

We got lucky v Chelsea at home I felt, we withstood an absolute barrage in those last 15 mins.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22112980 "If someone was to say that I'd end my career playing for Southampton in the Premier League then I'd snap your hand off for it."

Or we just carry on playing the same way that got us there.

This is classic scouse: having watched the first half and especially those 23 minutes just now (missed it live), it was a weird game. not a particularly poor performance from us, other than in our own penalty box. we did enough to go in comfortably 2 or 3 goals up with a little bit of luck and if the defence had simply not been quite so brainless. other than those defenders, i don't see how anyone can say that the players have stopped playing for rodgers - and i think the defenders were just poor, rather than lazy or not arsed. So, they lost 6-1 because of bad luck.

Fresh quotes - Jordy Clasie on departure "I will not just leave Feyenoord, but it is possible. I'll see what's going to happen in the summer. "

All if possible, but if we could only lose one, Elia without question who has been abject.

And the conclusion from the loan assessment should simply read - Not anywhere near good enough, no further assessment required.

Exactly, I don't know what they think makes them so special. Their support base is so nauseating.

The last thing he mentions in that clip says it all.....''The history of the club...'' Thats it. They just live in the past. Not just the fans, but the managers, the ex-players and pundits. We could live in the past if we wanted to, so therefore we have a god given right to finish 2nd as we did in the 80's. We have a god given right to win the FA Cup as we won it in 76. The reality is that they have been overtaken by financial strength and past achievements mean absolutely nothing. They cannot hold on to any of their top players anymore - Alonso, Masch, Torres, Sterling, Suarez - the list goes on. And although they have decent fee's, the transfer policy over the last 6 years has been a disgrace. Downing £20m, Henderson £20m, Carrol 35m, Lovren £20m, Ballotili 16m, Adam £8m. Who the hell sanctioned those? Seriously disgusting waste of money. I don't know what they expect really, we have a genuine glass ceiling - and so do they. They're obviously going to buy players this summer, but they're shopping 2 or 3 notches down from the big 4. They need to get it through their deluded skulls that they are has-beens. They are now just a decent Premiership team, no more, no less. But if their transfer record carries on as it is, then they could dip even further if they're not careful.

The media just don't say a bad word do they? He had a **** start to the season, not really acknowledged by the media. However....when he went on that run around December > Feb he was some sort of genius, the best manager in England. Tactical masterclass. Then it all went wrong, but then the media go silent again. You start to wonder if he pays the media to STFU.

Austin would be a great fit for us. £10m for a player who has just knocked in 18 PL goals. More than £25m Lukaku, and Danny Ings. It's just a no-brainer of a signing.

Oh it's just the gift that keeps on giving. Those Rogers comments are not just biting him on the arse, they are biting him all over - twice. So funny. Karma, karma. Couldn't have happened to a nicer club after their summer tapping up crap.

Yes, congrats. Top pro, been on a massive journey with us. And to be fair, had a good game today.

Too many if's. The answer to it all is that we don't have a big enough squad to sustain a top 3/4 finish in this league at the moment in time. That's not to be used as a stick to beat the club with either, as no one expects us to. To finish where we were in Nov/Dec we would have needed luck every single weekend of the season, and football doesn't work like that. What we saw was just a straightening out of the league, the bigger squads flexing their muscles and getting over the line, and the smaller squads just dipping away ever so slightly.

Anyone seriously expecting us to finish where we were in Nov/Dec was slightly naive.

As I said, delusions. Oh dear.

Yes, fair point, but how they've done it just feels a bit weird. Like they have serious delusions. The comments about money to spend are dim though, no doubt about that. They'll probably go out there and spend lots of money on ''names'' in the summer and Alpine and co will get all upset because we're not signing their targets, but come the end they'll have struggled. I think with ourselves, we had a sustainable plan and we were in a little bit of the **** at the time.

No one is saying Elia or Djuricic are better - they need to go as well. But Tadic is better, there's a lot more to come from him next year. We already saw his quality, we're still waiting for the others.

I think you've come to the wrong forum.

Swindon being torn a new one by Preston. Currently PNE 3 - 0 Swindon, just before HT.

Also, are West Ham being incredibly ambitious and forward-thinking, or utterly, utterly stupid? They came out and have obviously said Sam has gone, but they then said the next manager will have ''sizable transfer funds to spend''. 2 problems with that. 1) - You've just told the entire world and their agents that you have money to spend. Congratulations 2) - You've just pretty much said to most of your squad that you will be replaced/are not good enough. Good motivation 3) - You don't have a manager, so who is going to get in early to sign all these players you want?. Good timing. They've tried to get Klopp, Bentiez but look likley to end up with someone who has never managed in England - Bilic. Some people may see what the owners are doing as ambitious, but I see it as utter stupidity. They're simply gambling with the PL position of that club. Let's flip a coin and see what happens...

I'd love that. They'll probably try for Klopp, get rejected, and end up going for 'Big Sam'. That would be a laugh, and another 'meltdown'.

He's had 10 too many chances already for me, It's time to cut our losses and stop living on this cloud that ''gaston may come good!!''. He won't, he's just been relegated from the PL. He isn't a PL player, and that's the biggest proof you can get. Not a bad player, but simply isn't PL. We shouldn't waste our time trying to ''see'' if he can do something, we've already wasted 3 seasons with that. Let's put his wages into someone who will actually contribute.