S-Clarke

umm..

I wish we could have an away shirt like Newcastle

Good video! Nice to see people on twitter are as engaged as usual. And most interestingly, a Southampton based everton fan seems to be taking the lead on helmet watch.

Leroy Fer is an interesting one. I think he has ability, but he's been in 2 situations these past 2 seasons whereby he hasn't really been able to show it, as he's been shoehorned into **** squads. It'll be interesting to see how he does surrounded by better players and a better structure. But it would be a gamble.

I don't think that's particular fair. They played a terrific defensive game, both in midfield and at the back. They didn't start with a natural striker, more of a false 9 - but when they did get the ball, they used it well and they had a couple of other decent opportunities themselves. I think overall it was just one of those nights for Arsenal, they could have played till midnight and not scored. As I said the other day, too many similar players in the lineup at the same time. It didn't work as there was no balance, and they were all stepping on each others toes. I think there have been games whereby we have been lucky ourselves. Chelsea away, Chelsea at home, QPR away was a bit jammy. I think we've both had similar seasons, just the opposite way round. We started like a train, they're finishing like a train.

These top clubs don't really forward plan, it's about the here and now for them. They'll just spend £30m on another RB in a year or 2 if that happens, no problem for them. I mean Liverpool are looking to replace Gerrard with Pirlo......I thought the whole reason to let Gerrard go was to evolve his position with a younger player...but Pirlo?? Cracking player, but what have you got, 1 year max out of him? Sensible move.

It's just another of Saint Charlie's accounts.

People on their forums? match day sponsors? local radio commentators? hospitality guests?

To be fair, I wouldn't expect Morgan to be rushed into signing a new contract this closed season. If he doesn't go, he doesn't go - he still has 2 and bit years left. We may, just may, get one more season out of him - but I wouldn't begrudge him a move, he's given us 7 years and we've watched him grow from a skinny little french lad, to one of the best midfielders in Europe. Deserves to play at the highest stage.

So you're not allowed to have MOTM's in the NPC then? Bit harsh. To be fair, I had a look on their forums and most agreed that he's a very technically able player, who predict he'll go on to make a good career - but there are some comments about him being a bit lightweight. He generally got about 6's and 7's in the end of season player reviews, which given that he was only there for a few weeks isn't too bad. He obviously made an impression.

...I have a feeling that we'll hear of another new contract being signed soon. I think the big clubs have moved away from him.

£10m for Austin is very good value if we pull it off. As other's have said, he's a goal scorrer and as long as they get the service, they will score goals in any team. It's just about giving them a chance, same with Lambert. I'm sure he's been on our wanted list for a while though, as we were constantly linked whilst in L1.

To be fair, we used to get quite a good result from our Scandinavian imports.

Ah one of those rules. But pretty likely i'd have thought.

I think our best chance of getting in the CL is probably through winning the Europa league if I'm honest, not as many eventualities need to fall our way as a top 4 finish would require. And correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't winning the EL get you straight into the CL group stage? So the equivalent of finishing in the PL top 3.

Every transfer has an element of luck to it, you can cover as many eventualities you can...but there's always a chance it's not how you thought it would be. It happens at every club in the world. But if you have a good structure in place, then you have the scope to cover as many eventualities as possible and reduce the risk. For as many poor players we've signed, we've signed good ones as well. Yoshida, Clyne, Jay, Victor, Lovren, Mane, Tadic, Davis, Bertrand, Forster, Cork - Not a bad return from any of those, whether it's on the field performances or eventual profit. I'd include Pelle but I feel he was more of a Koeman signing.

https://twitter.com/BenStanners/status/598162744068673536/photo/1

It's exactly right what he's saying, it's not massively likely...but the best chance a club of our stature has of getting there is to constantly plug away, season after season, get your structure right and your long-term plan right and you never know - one season the glass may smash and you get through. But having a consistent top 6 club is more realistic for us. And it's something I never thought I'd ever see 6 years ago.

I think Pastor has just unintentionally 'come out'.

Not necessarily, if the scouting is top notch then you go out and get another player who has the same attributes as Clyne, not quite at the same level right now - but with the coaching he develops and turns into someone as good as Clyne is now. Same with Morgan, or Victor. We can't go out there and buy ready-made, that's not what we're about. If we lose Morgan for £30m, I'm sure Clasie is being seen as the replacement at about £15m. He has a ton of potential, and it's important to remember that good coaching comes into effect here - how well a player did at club x, doesn't necessarily translate to how he'll do at the new club. If they're coached well and brought along well, we could even end up with better players than the ones who left over time. It's a sound way of doing it for a club like ourselves, there may bumps every now and then, but we're never, ever going to be a club that will buy a ready-made £30-40m player. In the same way that we're never going to be able to say ''No thanks'' to a £30m offer for one of our players.

Well that's not going to happen. If he hasn't scored by the end of August the knives will be out, just as they were when he first joined us.

I think for most it would be a no-brainer. Keeping Morgan would be enormous, he is a CL level player without question and one of the best players in his position in world football. Clyne is a very good player, but a hell of a lot more replaceable than Morgan would be. But to be honest, I don't want either to go!

It's a minuscule thing to focus on really, I don't agree with what you are saying at all. I'm not saying Cork is a bad player, but he was the same player as plenty of others we had. He wouldn't have changed anything. But he was a good pro and a decent player, so he's not going to look poor for his new side. I believe Cork did get given a few deadlines and the club made the decision to get as much as they could, rather than lose him for nothing, as he was clearly not going to stay beyond this year. I don't see what anyone has done wrong here. He's a totally different player to JWP or Davis, in my opinion. As poor as they've been latley, they're a lot more agile and suttle on the ball and are able to play that number 10 role a little easier than someone like Cork, who wasn't the most technically gifted player in the world - and he'd probably admit that. But if we had a midfield of Morgan, Wanyama and Cork I don't exactly think that would help our goal threat, it would probably hinder it further. And whilst Europe would be massive for our progression, it's not the be all and end all if we don't make this unexpected step this year, which let's face it - it will be an unexpected step based on where we all thought we'd be. I think we'll still do it, got a feeling we'll be 6th next Sunday, but whatever does happen it won't be because of Jack flaming Cork.

No, it isn't a gamble. ACL injuries aren't as career ending as they once were, he's had good support through the year and looks in good shape now. Either way, even if he's not quite as good, the club is in a much stronger position than it would be if his contract was running down. But if you say giving him a new contract is a gamble, then surely going into next season with a few months left on his deal is an even bigger gamble? He comes back, starts scoring, clubs see he's returned - off goes a £20m value player on a free transfer. The club would be ripped apart by people on here if that happened.

Jack Cork is not a number 10. He is a Morgan/Wanyama type midfield player (Reed like as well). He would only have played through injury and suspension, he was not first choice in those positions which is fair enough - as you said, Morgan is in a different league. We will have had as much goal threat as we have at the moment with Jack Cork in the side. He is not the savior of football. He left for first team football, he could have stayed and signed a contract, but he wanted to play every week. No one did anything wrong, but of course a bad patch of form will bring trash like this to the surface. Because that's all it is. Player leaves club and does well elsewhere shocker.