Lord Duckhunter

Not playing him & freezing him out isn’t just about saving match squad bonus’ it’s also about forcing him out the door in the Jan window. Once he’s spent 4 months sat in the stands every match day, any offer in Jan will be better than another 4 more months of that. If he was number 2, involved match days, helping Peretz prepare, on the pitch, in the dressing room, there maybe moves/loans he considers a worse option than that, especially if he’s interested in coaching eventually. I imagine we told him to find another club otherwise he’ll be frozen out, so we need to stick to that. I’ve no doubt he’ll play if Peretz is out long term. But we’re forcing him out otherwise .

People are rewriting Archers value to the squad, he was fucking pony apart from a couple of games when he was ok. In fact, one game under Tonda (can’t remember which one) he turned in one of the most inept performances I’ve ever seen. For me, the window has been pretty decent. We re signed 3 important players, only lost 2 better players (for good money), & cleared out a load of deadwood like Baz. The only one that looks a bit weird to me is Dobbin, he looks as bad as Archer. 9mil!!! from what I’ve seen so far, we’ve well overpaid. The cynic in me can’t help wondering if over paying by £5mil is linked to the same side matching our valuation on THB. There’s certainly a few dodgy valuations doing the rounds at the moment. It will be interesting what Villa’s obligation to buy Garnacho is, from the club which spent shit loads on a villa player. Clearly our financial position is worse than last year, so it’s no surprise on paper the squad looks slightly worse. However, we’re judging Stewart & THB on the last 4 months, the 4 months before that they were injured or playing pretty pony. With clever use of the squad & more consistency across the whole season, there’s no reason this bunch can’t finish even higher than last year.

It’s not at all. Even if Maguire had smashed it straight into the net it would have been a goal for most of the past 100 years.

What’s he going to find easiest to sort out, the team or his barnet?

I think you’re underestimating the ego of players. How many times have we wondered why players sign for clubs when they clearly won’t get much game time. They don’t see it like that, any potential signing won’t be thinking “I’ll play second fiddle to Larin”, they think they are good enough to replace him. I've no idea whether they’ll look at another option up top. I imagine it’ll depend on Archer leaving and whether they’ll think the young City lad could potentially fit in wider on the odd occasion. Personally, I’d prefer another central striker, but it’s not a priority or the end of the world if we don’t get one. Whilst we may not need a Larin clone, our fingers will be crossed he doesn’t get injured anytime before dec window.

That’s more like it, but there’s still a couple of worries. The first goal was poor & after the Downes/Bragg fuck up they should have gone in 2-2 at HT. The penalty seemed to change everything as before that they had a decent spell of possession at the start of the second half. They seemed to fall apart a bit after that, and our confidence just grew & grew. Leo looked back to last seasons form, Larin on fire, & decent start for the centre half. Wood also seemed a bit more aggressive & Bree had his best game of the season. Perfect scenario for Prowse to slot into the Downes role and he kept us ticking over well. I’m still not convinced by Bragg, gave it away cheaply a couple of times, but I guess he’s not going to be first choice much this season.

Looking forward to his return in the home fixture , to say a proper goodbye. but have seen it’s 17th October so won’t be able to…. He’ll be dropped by then ☹️

What a window… 10/10

It is, I was expecting to pay them at least £6.5m to take him…

Not convinced. Liked the way he played for Jones, slightly further forward so wouldn’t be against him slipping into that role at the end of games (as Charles did few times). Could be useful if we’re chasing the game, particularly replacing Bree (again, as Charles did at Leicester). But I don’t think my blood pressure will be able to cope with him coming deep to bounce balls back to the centre halves or full backs.

I can’t help thinking we’ve dropped a bollock here (pun intended). Maybe they know something we don’t, Bolton’s Goalkeeping scout certainly looks pleased with himself today.

So that’s a no from the last 2 clubs he’s played for, who are in the same league as us. But a yes from us. If he hadn’t played for us, people would rightly be asking why West Ham don’t want him, & why Burnley appear to be showing no interest in a bloke, with more in his “locker” than Shea Charles. OR, Theo Walcott & Lallana were far better players than he ever was, and look how those worked out. You wouldn’t want him above Manning on free kicks, he wouldn’t add more energy & wouldn’t toughen up the centre of the pitch. Bill Shankley once said there’s a difference between old players and experienced players, I know which side of the line Prowse falls imo…

🤣🤣🤣🤣What a load of old pony.

What the fuck are ”goal involvements”.

Total football lego style…

Second worst?

Dreadful. Second half as bad as anything under Will Still. The worrying thing it was the performances of the senior players & players who will feature quite a bit, first team players. Stephen’s & Wood the obvious ones. But Bree is nowhere near where he was, Bragg seems to be going backwards ( or fucking sideways), Leo woeful again, Tom F shows nothing that indicates he’s going to step up this season. Dobin is fucking pony. The lad up top minced around. Edozie weak as piss. I guess you can forgive Wellington as it was his first start, but the others. Dear God. It really was men against boys at the end of the game. No urgency, no fight & no passion. I thought we were going to stuff it down the EFL’s throat this season, use what happened as the trigger to drive us on. Instead of that we look like a load of show ponies sulking about it. Tonda needs to knock it out of people, and Spors needs to bring some real men in, blokes who weren’t affected by it who can impose their personality on the club like the keeper and Larin did last season, We’ve shown less passion, less determination & done more mincing about since that “injustice “, you’d expect more to put it right, not fuckjng less.

Two of my favourites were Yellowstone & Clarksons farm and we’ve had a new series & spin offs this summer. Clarksons farm, not quite as good as other series”. They haven’t jumped the shark yet, but it’s getting closer. The Kaleb is a bit of a thick bumpkin is wearing a bit thin, and there’s not enough of Gerald. More of his Mrs, which is welcome, but it’s still not quite as good as previously. Dutton Ranch is great though, certainly better than the ridiculous woke Marshals. RIP is such a great character and you can never have enough Kelly Reilly. Young bird and even a Gilf, cowboy punch ups, and decent story line. Very enjoyable….

Surely lego is drinking in the last chance Vegan juice bar as far as his career is concerned. Maybe should have retired after the play off final, what’s his win % since then?

That was painful, but I’m hoping it’ll kick start a run like QPR game did last season. Both full backs nowhere near the level they were the second half of last season. Wood is ok when battling with a forward, but his distribution & touch when he’s got time on the ball is horrendous at the moment. Luckily Downes was excellent because Matski was poor in there. Leo, probably the worst performance I can recall him putting in. TF tried hard, but it’s still not clicking. Larin 2 in 2, looks bang on it and good finish from the young lad (and great to see him celebrating). Thought the penalty a bit harsh, but haven’t seen the reply. I don’t think he gives that at 1-1. I wouldn’t say we were lucky, but couldn’t have too many complaints had it ended up 1-1.

😂😂😂

Get hold of the ball, stop giving it away, have a shot, take someone on. He’s been woeful so far….

I don’t think “again” is appropriate. One thing that’s impressed with him so far is his sensible and predictable line ups. He tends to pick players in their best positions, and pick sides that aren’t that controversial. Of course, you could argue with the odd pick, Stephen’s/Wood or Fellowes/ Matski but overall he’s picked round pegs in round holes. Even the 11 on Sat was pretty much on the mark. It’s not like he’s played centre halves in CM or false 9’s like some other clowns. That’s probably why it was such a surprise that he played Leo as he did, and then didn’t switch it earlier

From what I’ve seen the past 2 games it’s pretty clear, substitute.