bugenhagen

Stewart struggled to lead the line on a few occations last season, even Larin did once or twice... Think we need to see more from him, but he probably can't do it in the same way that Larin does - but there is more to his game than when we had Arma or Archer as the lone striker. I would think that Tonda has an idea of how he wants Mubama to work up top, even if it means that we have to play a little different than when we have Larin.

Nah, that would be Mubama. The Prince is the backup to the backup 😉

Yeah, but seeing as Azaz plays almost every minute of every match when fit, he is probably not just the Azaz alternative. They probably see him playing in several roles, and have probably sold him on that idea, even though Preston fans say he is shit as anything other than 10…

Pretty normal that he has been left out so far. Tonda said earlier in the season that Baz and Ramsdale had been told that Peretz and Long would be prioritised as the two other were expected to leave. If Ramsdale is still here when every other window also has slammed shut, he will probably be reintegrated. If he is still not number two after that, it may be because of a hefty bonus upon being named in the match day squad.

That might be who I was thinking of, as Master Bates confirmed that Dibaga played last week.

Pretty sure I heard somewhere that he has a long term injury. Can’t remember where, but it was earlier in the summer when he was not included in the preseason. No idea how long he is out for or what sort of injury. Probably pretty far off being any sort of squad option this season.

I actually think we are stronger in the striker position if Larin gets injured. Had Stewart been our backup, he would have broken down soon after, or just been able to play limited minutes/start every other game. I would love to have enough good players in every position that we can suffer injuries to Larin, Peretz, Downes, Leo, Finn etc - but that won't happen. I would guess that Tonda is pretty happy with the squad, both in terms of size and backup.

Still, I think you will see that he will end up being just that (not comparing attributes, just one out, one in)

To be honest: Pretty close to what I was expecting. Expected us to sell Charles and THB all along, based on Dragans comments. Replaced by JWP and Schlotterbeck, and Mubama replacing Stewart. Keeping Jander and Leo was not given, but I had hopes we would. Getting another good CB would be great, but above my expectations.

If he saw it, he might have just seen it as to players colliding, and therefore let the play go on. He might not have seen the two heads hitting each other. There is still an element of subjective understanding of a situation, and then applying the rules to that. Not as black and white as "the rule states..." I liked his way of appliying the rulebook all through the game.

Love watching him play, and the fact that he can play 90 min every match is also a great strenght.

Have to admit, I did not think he would drop Stephens, but so good to see that you will be dropped after a performance like the last one (or last ones). It sends an important signal - and it means we have competition for places, and if you are not consistently on the top of your game, you are out

I don’t think we will be signing Falchener. Viking has no need to sell, and say they will do what they can to persuade him to stay and play in the CL with Viking. Falchener says that he will only consider it if Viking accepts a bid, and it’s a dream come true to play in the CL with Viking. I also believe that when he does go, it will be to a bigger club. Would be a good signing if we could pull it off, though!

I don't think that the sideways/backwards football is something that Tonda is changing. It was allways there. Also in the good parts last season. Only in the very difficult games were we a lot more direct (partly because the other team had a lot of the ball). The difference is in the quality and confidence of the players. Remove Charles, Jander and THB - and we will struggle to play through the lines. Remove confidence from the less good players, and they will pass back to safety instead of trying something. On top of this, when the runs stop being made (or if the opponent is extremely good at pressing and closing down), there is no good options to pass forward to.

The problem is that Tonda needs to think he is better than Stephens...

He's more like the turd the club don't even try to flush

As someone else here mentioned, is Captain Jack ill or something? This is worse than just the switching off and brainfarts we are used to. Again, at the last goal, he blocks Wellington from following Bowen inwards, and then barely moves as Bowen moves to the side of both of them.

Can we just tell Villa that we only sell our CB's in pairs, and 20M for THB is OK, but it includes Stephens.

Yeah, looked to get involved. He lost the ball a little easy a couple of times, but he was trying to do something with it. One of the things he has made me think about is that he looks a little more like a quick passer than Leo and Fellows (who both looks to take on their player first) and Dobbin kind of looks like he looks for the pass first, and that could be a good match with Azaz (a little more like Matsuki with pace on the wing).

Turning on the game, and the first thing I hear is "expelled from the playoffs" and "the spygate scandal" and within a minute he said the same thing again.

Yeah, this was my initial thought when I saw the team.

Yeah - in my book, a team of players "fine" for the Championship finishes the season between 12th and 16th somewhere... We should aim for better than "fine"

Yeah - the players! Last season form and run means nothing - it all has to be earned again by putting the work in. The effort today was not good enough by most of the players. They looked entitled

Just read the text... his stance "could change in the coming days" - a prime example of clickbait, and the need to make money out of nothing. Flogging a dead horse. Just to keep the story alive, even after it's dead in the water. In the next couple of days there will be new "development" in this story to keep the clicks, views and £££££ ticking in.

As a person with English as a second language, I read that as he is another option op front for us, that Johannes wanted, not that we are looking for another striker in addition to him. Might be wrong, but I think it’s just poorly worded.