Lord Duckhunter

Contrast his performance with Doucouré, who cost Everton £20 million. One player dug his side out of a hole, tackled, dropped in to attack goal kicks when the centre half was struggling handling Adams, scored, and gave a proper performance. The other one minced about offering no leadership at all. Get rid.

Lack of communication for the first one. Pretty weak for the third.

Same old same old

So far so good. The front 2 look a real handful & the full back has fully justified his selection ahead of KWP. Walcott picks up some good positions, but flattered to deceive a bit . We’re passing with pace, and quick into the tackle. Positive so far

They’re checking them, but using thicker lines .

Pogba in a nutshell. Let’s the Leeds player go and he scores, and then plays an absolute fantastic pass for 2-1

Surprised? It would amaze me. He’s shown zero leadership for seasons. It’s the one thing that’s been lacking from such an experienced pro. He’s a good player, one of the best full backs I’ve seen at Southampton (40 plus years), technically good and defensively pretty sound. Best when he was linking up with Tadic. However good he was, leadership on the pitch isn’t something I’d associate with him.

You’ve got to wonder what the stat obsessed posters would make of Bobby Moore. “Not particularly strong in the tackle, very one paced & not great in the air. It’s a no from me. What about this guy from The Christmas Islands”.

Unbelievable isn’t it? Good enough for Jose & England but not for our play station kings. They don’t “rate” him because everyone’s heard of him and they don’t get to show of their player knowledge. If he was an unknown from FC Back of Beyond from Uzbekistan they’d be raving about him. He’s not top quality, but he’s better than most of the shite we’ve got.

You’re a dinosaur mate. It’s all about Xg’s , ISLM’s & how many completed passes you make. If you don’t rate highly on the play station stats, you can’t defend bro. I never thought I’d see the day when someone criticises a centre half by saying he’s a “head it & kick it” defender What’s next, not wanting a striker because all he does is put the ball in the net. FFS. That keepers shite, all he does is stop the ball going in the goal.

I’ve watched him plenty of times, for Spurs and England. I agree with Jose Mourinho, who regularly played and praised him. I don’t know where you get this “fully incompetent “ opinion from, maybe your controller was playing up that day.

Are a couple of posters really turning their noses up at Eric Dier. Dear god, where have they been the past 4 seasons. He’s exactly what we need. There’s a reason Jose liked him, and it wasn’t his ball playing skills or vision. He heads the thing, kicks it, gets stuck in, and is a man. Someone you’d want in the trenches beside you, as opposed to the son-in-laws we’ve got “fighting” for the club at the moment. Hell, he might even push back and challenge some of Ralph’s tactical ineptitude. Won’t happen, but fuck me, he’d be captain with 6 weeks.

Dear god.

You forgot his ”best friend” who lived opposite

Even if the squad contained 100% of players signed by Ralph, the cult will probably point out that Ralph had no part in cutting the grass or the paint colour in the dressing room.

There’s nothing to spell out. As you say it’s about priorities. This “we have 2 keepers earning big money” is just a get out to excuse the manager. Do you accept that if he thought it was a higher priority then he could sign another keeper. If you accept that, then the contract situation of the 2 we have is irrelevant . The argument then becomes whether the manager has his priorities right. You keep banging on about a forward & left back as opposed to a keeper, but they’re not the only new additions. Ralph has clearly decided that he’ll make do and focus on other positions, that’s his decision to make. Time will tell if it’s the right one, the status of FF or AM won’t change that. He could have got someone in, he’s chosen not to.

Why do you think you have to shift one, before signing somebody else, is there a limit to the number of keepers you’re allowed to pay? Can we not sign someone to replace Redmond because we can’t shift him. It’s bizarre anyone would would accept 2 shite keepers just because they’ve got contracts. Other clubs bin keepers regularly, regardless of whether they’ve contracts . We did it when first promoted. I don’t suppose you chumps were saying we had to put up with Kelvin because he had a contact and signing Boruc would have meant an extra keeper on the books. Who is responsible to playing and putting up with a substandard keeper, if not the manager?

The point I’m making is that after 2.5 years the manager has to take responsibility for the team he picks and the fact we have substandard first and second picks in a position. It sums up the whole “nearly good enough” attitude that seems to run through the club. I’d expect a manager to have identified that there’s a weakness in that position, and dealt with it by now. It didn’t happen overnight, they weren’t good enough this time last year and the year before. How much is Walcott on a week?

Don’t be silly.

IF the left back & striker didn’t sign a new contract because they didn’t like the manager, the way he used them, or had no faith in his ability to help their career, whose fault is that? Les Reed’s.

Well I can’t get my head around the number of people absolving him of any blame for anything. He’s been here 2.5 seasons, it’s his job to manage the club, be proactive. This hasn’t suddenly just come over the horizon. They’ve both been shite pretty much the whole time he’s been here. He’s made choices, he decides where we need strengthening and where we’ll “get by”. He’s decided to “get by” with 2 sub standard keepers. If we go down because they’re awful and undermine the back 4, that’s down to him. Not Claude Puel, Mark Hughes, Les Reed or any other figures that have been gone awhile. What’s Walcott on a week?

No money? Choices have been made. The buck stops with the manager.

The fact we’re discussing this highlights the managers dereliction of duty. He should have sorted this out , no question. I assumed the rotation pony last season was to decide which one to move on, but it appears not. It wouldn’t surprise me if he chops and changes again this season, and then wonders why we concede so many. Shocking.