spyinthesky

If some of our transfers have not worked out, I guess we should be pleased that no none suggested us paying £25m for Dan James, who came on as sub and suffered the embarrassment of being hooked off.

As has been said in other posts we were very second best for three quarters of the game. The subs made the difference and perhaps Leeds became a little bit tired after being at full tilt up until then. My observations: BAZANU.....................did enough to confirm he is our No 1 KWP.......... ................class player who stuck his goal away immaculately. BELLA_KOTCHAP....did OK and think he will grow into the team. SALISU.......'''''''''''''''''''an OK performance. Problem he has is that his footwork is limited and whenever he receives the ball at the back his passing ability is often limited to long balls forward. BEDNERAK................ From what I saw he did OK. DJENEPO...................he tries hard and has to put up with playing in an unfamiliar role. However we desperately need a proper left footed left back. Hurry back Peraud, or similar. JWP.......................... He is not a left sided advanced midfielder. Off the pace a bit in comparison to his normal top rate performance but still a good performance. Fitted in better later on when moved to his right midfield position. LAVIA........................ A bit hit and mis but for a 19 year old making only his second Prem appearance, there is much to look forward to with this lad. S. ARMSTONG..........Looked a little lost in his allocate position. To my mind his best position is wide right midfield. ADAMS..................... Gave his all but produced very little. ELYOUNOOUSSI...... A couple of decent involvements. Otherwise bang on average. SUBS ARIBO...................... Made an impact from the moment he was introduced. Thought he had missed the opportunity to score but his perseverance saved the day. A. ARMSTRONG......Looked lively when he came on. To my mind he can only function playing off a target man. MARA.......................Two bits of class. The wonderful through ball to KWP and a snap shot, well saved, soon after. It will take some time for him to bed in but he may have something special. STEPHENS............... Too late to make an impression. THE MANAGER........Saved by his substitutions. Up until then his job was really under pressure. I really hope he can turn this awful run of results round but I'm not so sure.

Can any one remember what it is like to feel the elation of winning a game, comfortably? Seems like an age ago (Brentford @ home??) that this happened.

Under 18's won 5-1

Have just finished reading this. Well worth the read.

I heard from a normally reliable source that Ralph has 6 games to pull us out of this dire run of form. If unsuccessful his new No 2 will take over.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man Utd, Spurs..............31/31, Villa,Newcastle................................................................................28. West Ham..........................................................................................27. Man City............................................................................................26. The one and only SAINTS...........................................................24. Blackburn...........................................................................................18. Leicester..............................................................................................17. Fulham, Sunderland...........................................................................16. Leeds,Middlesboro...........................................................................15. Palace.................................................................................................14. Bolton, WBA........................................................................................13. Norwich, Stoke...................................................................................10. Coventry, Wolves................................................................................9. Burnley, Charlton, Sheffield Weds, Watford, Wigan, Wimbledon. 8. Birmingham, Derby, QPR, Swansea, Portsmouth ............................................................... .7 Bournemouth, Brighton, Forest..........................................................6. Hull, Ipswich, Sheffield Utd................................................................5. Reading .................................................................................................3. Bradford City, Brentford, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Oldham..................2, The clubs shown in bold are founder members of the Premier League Not a bad record but, unfortunately, most of the time we have been in the lower positions but at least we have been in the top League pretty consistently in the past 31 years. Poor old Oldham, once a Prem side, now down in the National League. There are also seven clubs who once graced the top League wallowing in the depths of the old Third & Fourth Divisions.

But I think they have signed 11 new players spending a shed load of money in the process

Rebekah Vardy has convinced herself that she has been hard done by the court's judgement. Like many people who live their life by how many 'followers' they have, Mrs Vardy will be able to 'repair' her reputation to some extent by becoming the 'victim' and promoting her mental health 'issues' whilst making money by media interviews and low rent TV appearances. She ought to get herself the same PR as Katy Price who seems to move from one crisis to another but still retaining a strong base on social media.

As a Remain voter I would be happy to acknowledge there have been benefits from Brexit which will make is stronger economically and assist in maintaining the Union. However there doesn't appear to be that many, if any. Can anyone assist with some good news...please?

Apparently on a per capita basis Uk ranks 18th in Europe with our friends across the Irish Sea ranking 4th!!

Mara rather anonymous today. Hope there is an improvement in store"!!

I think it is very difficult to predict next week's team Foe my sins I am going with Bazuma. Valery Bednerak Salisu Peraud. KWP JWP Romeu Armstrong S Aribo Adams This is on the basis of Valery doing better than expected in pre season and when KWP has moved forward he has the skills and pace to suit the role Bednerak only for his experience at the moment and having played with Salisu before. Not too sure about Stu Armstrong on the left but Djenepo is too much hit and miss for me and there could be a case made for Redmond but he has not shown up too well so far in pre season. Up front there is a case for Adam Armstrong but in my opinion Che Adams just shades it. However with 5 subs there is quite a few changes that could be made as the game evolves. The squad itself is relatively string in depth but to my mind only JWP and KWP are certain starters.

I reckoned if anyone has it would be Mad Nad

For those of us who have had a manual prostate examination, I can see no pleasure at all in what is provided by the so called 'experience'

You may well be right but I have based the assumption on the relativity of transfer fees to wages paid so I could be well out.

Putin has gone public on his aspirations to return to historic Russian borders.

My view of last night from a bit of disillusionment first half to optimism and enjoyment of the second half performance. In general terms it was a decent match played at a high tempo with quite a lot of crunching tackles which didnt affect the flow of the game thanks to the referee and both sets of players taking the challenges in their stride. Overall we look a bigger, more physical side. Defensively we look OK but just need the star dust up front a decent striker will bring Ratings McCarthy 6 Often stationed well outside the penalty area to receive back passes. Distribution dodgy at times. Cant be blamed for the goal in my opinion and made one excellent save to tip the ball onto the post first half. Valery 7.5 One of his better games. Decent in possession and relatively strong at the back. One misplaced pass in an otherwise very decent performance Peraud 6 Surprised to see him back after injury. Subbed at half time but he did OK after a reasonable lengthy time out. Stephens 6.5 Solid despite having to play on the left side of the back four. Lyanco 6.5 Similar to Stephens defensively. One or two raking passes forward which could have led to something. Went off injured towards the end. Redmond 6 An average game in my opinion. Did nothing to hurt Monaco in the final third of the field Romeu 7 Purposeful game and seemed to have the opportunity to get forward a bit more than usual. Diallo 6.5 Buzzed around a lot in midfield but occasionally out muscled by some of their bigger players. Adams 6 I think Che has a part to play this season. He works hard and adds a bit of robustness to the forward line. Far too right footed but this wont change. A Armstrong 6 I feel rather sorry for Adam. He has ability but his stature occasionally goes against him when faced with big, quick central defenders he often has to face. Has scored two goals in pre season so that is a plus. However can see him leaving if more complete strikers are brought in. Elyounoussi 6 Bng on average Replacements Djenepo 6 I feel sure he is well liked by his team mates but to me he is a frustrating player. Has talent but doesnt show this consistently enough for me. Ideally I would like to see a left footed player on this side of the team. Too early for Thierry Small unfortunately. Aribo 7 Nice cameo performance. Seems he will be used as an old fashioned inside right. Provides more height and physicality in this part of the field. JWP 7.5 Seem to be used on the left side of midfield pushing forward more than usual. Took his goal really well. Stuart A 7 Helped make a difference when he came on. Perhaps deserves another half point for a well taken goal. Bednerak 6 Slotted in well when he came on later in the game Bella-Kotchap 6 Same as Bednerak. Looks a useful acquisition. KWP 6.5 With Valery at FB Kyle played more forward, more or less as a winger and did very well. An option there when Livramento returns?

I wonder if Pompey would field a strong side against our U 21's to get some revenge for the 4-0 thrashing at Fratton Park the last time we played?

Next two years will undoubtedly be difficult for whoever runs the country. I have real doubts that a Truss Govt with her right wing pals in Cabinet will cope. This will leave the Tory 'faithful' clamouring for Boris to return. Ironically in the play 'The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson' , Margaret Thatcher comes to him in a dream during his 'Wilderness' years and implores him to return to the party fold to lead the 'Bre-entry' campaign!!

Unfortunately she seems to have strong support from the Conservative members. No doubt she will give Cabinet position uplifts to Mad Nad and Rees Mogg plus introduce other staunch supporters like Fabricant and ;possibly even Chris Chope. Looks like I will be voting Labour in 2 years time!!

Fair summation

Didnt we sign Delap and Prutton for big money around the same time when Stuart Gray was Manager?