benjii

Agreed. He was rubbish.

Ramirez played pretty well (much much better than Adam "End Product" Lallana). No idea why Lallana is getting picked ahead of Puncheon.

I think DPS may be a bit of a div.

He bit someone FFS. What a disgusting act. Should've got 20 games at least.

Has 17 sisters and 10 brothers.

Why would no one start Puncheon, who has been better than both Ramirez and Lallana this season?

No doubt the usual economic irrationals will be on here moaning about not having to pay sooner.

His silly tackle led to the goal on Saturday. Nice guy, not good enough.

Bearsy.... haha! Legend.

You misunderstand probability.

Didn't think we played well first hald but it was like a cup banana skin when you play a plucky team from a lower league that actually has one or two ok players. Second half we took the **** a bit but Reading looked shot. We should have scored more. I am really impressed with the physical condition of our team - I think Pocche may be a bit of a Strachan in that regard. If oyu have players who are willing to buy into those methods then you can get great results. What please me the most is the way we seem to recruit very few bad eggs. Our transfer committee really has done an exceptional job in moulding a squad full of early twenty somethings and one or two experienced heads with talent, commitment, level-headedness and desire. I think we will look to improve at centre back and add one or two new attacking players. Provided we don't sell anyone we don't want to sell there is no reason why we can't get 50+ points next season.

Re the bit in bold: you could say exactly the same about Lallana. Any sort of "flair" player will end up doing some things that look a bit silly. He didn't have a great game yesterday but he was involved in the build up to the first goal and he also played a great pass to Rodriguez when he hit the bar which I doubt any of our other players (possibly Puncheon excepted) would have executed. The "open goal" that people are slagging him for was from an open goal. He had to go near post as there was a blocking defender right in front of him covering the other side of the goal. He mis-hit it. It happens from time to time (vis. Van Persie missing a good chance against Chelsea last weekend). We are good enough to afford his type of player and, potentially, he is the best we have. So why not support him?

Start with Punch. Much more effective going forwards and much better defensively.

Thanks all. Perhaps Chambers can get above Frazer as back-up RB next season then. He'll have to go some to get in the first team!

Following on from the thread about Gazzanigga and the U21s, I was wondering what those who watch the development teams regularly think about Callum Chambers and which of our players are most likely to push for the first team next season? I saw Chambers a couple of time in pre-season last summer and he was deployed as a midfielder with a brief to get forward. Physically, he reminded me of a young Gerrard; he is a powerful runner and a strong looking lad with a rangey sort of style. He looked decent enough but was overshadowed by Ward-Prowse who looked proper class. Recently he seems to be turning out at right back. Have the coaches decided this is his best position? How's he doing there? Arguably you might think he has more chance of getting into first team contention as back-up right back than as a midfielder. Are England deploying him at the back as well now or is he still playing in midfield for them? What about the others? Who is most likely to make an appearance next season? I've heard people say that Targett (left back) is a good prospect. Can he realistically challenge Shaw though? If he is good then you would think he would get a chance at some point as Fox still makes the squad and it is a bit much to expect a 17 or 18 year old to play every single game. Omar Rowe? Looks like a fast, tricky winger with a decent left foot. He would have to displace Puncheon, Lallana, Rodriguez and Guly (plus any new signings in the wide positions) to get in the squad. Any chance of that soon? Could he be a viable "pace option" off the bench? Is he better than Mayuka?! Isgrove? As above. Jack Stephens? Is he good enough to compete with Jos and Fonte? Again, I saw him in pre-season and he looked decent enough, certainly had the potential to be a capable football league player but it is going to be so much harder for these guys to break into the team when we are in the Prem, keeping our best players and looking to sign better ones. What about Turnbull or Mugabe, the other centre backs? Is there anyone else who could do it? Sinclair? He always looks a bit too lightweight to me and maybe one of those players who is gradually caught up and taken over by his peers but then I didn't think Shaw would be ready physically this season and I have been proved wrong. Would Sinclair benefit from a loan spell somewhere? Cheers!

MoTD (and indeed all BBC and ITV analysis) tends to consist of nothing more than drawing a halo around a player or counting the number of defenders in the frame. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 defenders there and no one has tackled him". Brilliant. Thanks Alan. Well worth a shedload of any licence fee payer's money. It is a bit depressing sometimes.

Is that really all IDS earns? No wonder we have such awful politicians with ****-poor pay like that.

Yoshida is a cracking player and still young for a centre back. Forren -er... no idea! Fonte and Hooiveld have shown that they can do a good job. Personally, I think Fonte is the better of the two at this level as Hooiveld is a bit immobile. Both of them seem like great charachters though and I think they are important parts of the squad. Do we need to sign another one... well, I would say so, as Yoshi is the only one who looks to be genuine international class (Forren might be?!). Our aim, should we stay up, will doubtless be solid top half next season and to do that you need a lot of genuine class players in your team. I reckon we will sign Astori.

No chance 40 will be needed.

I want a QPR win so they take some momentum into their game with Wigan next week.

I wonder what Harris is accused of? Always found him a little odd but didn't think he was sinister. Compared to Saville, who was obviously a sex case.

There are Labour MPs who echo the first half of that.

Agree entirely and there is hardly any chance they both will IMO. Both of them average 1 point per match so far this season, giving Wigan the benefit of the doubt and assuming they win their game in hand. They also have to play each other which means one of them would need to get 9 or 10 points from 7 games to finish on 40. I still think 35 points and a decent GD may be enough to stay up. 38 should definitely do it. I can't see Reading or QPR getting more than 35 (they may not even get close) and they both have poor goal differences. Wigan's form over the season so far would put them on 35 points come season end with a poor GD. Villa's would put them on 38 points. Sunderland would be heading for 39 on season's form but with key players injured and a hard run-in it is quite reasonable to expect them to finish with less than that. Basically, I reckon two more wins and a couple of draws will be plenty for us. I think we will win four more games and get a draw though so will probably finish well clear of it.

Since Shaw, Cork and Boruc have come in to the team we haven't really struggled at all. We've had the odd dodgy result, same as anyone, but in most games we've been at least equal to the opposition and really should have picked up more points. The reason we were struggling was because Fox, Davis, Gazza and a lack of midfield cover were costing us points. Coupled with a tough start and an inexperienced squad and management meant we had a poor quarter season. We have a squad that is good enough to finish mid-table next season, not struggle - that should be obvious.

Summer transfer targets IMO: i) Boruc or, failing that, another good keeper ii) Really good centre back iii) A player to go in the "3" behind the front man, preferably with a different style to Punch, Gaston and Lallana You could say that Rodriguez already fits the bill in terms of the third position but if Lambert were to pick up an injury we would need him up front. Sinclair seems to fit the profile too. Other than that, I think we're in good shape. Fox is not adequate cover for Shaw at left back but maybe Targett is. Either way, there's no point signing an LB to sit on the bench. Likewise, at RB Richardson is a good second choice and we are unlikely to be able to sign a better RB than Clyne. Centre mid: Morgan, Cork, Davis, Ward-Prowse fighting for two (occasionally three) positions. If we could sign a real top-drawer player then great but it would have to be someone pretty exceptional to knock Morgan or Cork out of the team and hold back JWP.