shurlock

Decent piece with plenty of new facts, though clearly most of the material is sourced from the club, so doesn't give the full picture in important respects.

Fact is that even in MP's first season, he was behind Jos and Maya in the pecking order - his progress last season was phenomenal.

True, though don't think his defensive performances this season have been as strong as last season. It's his attacking play that has probably caught the eye.

Excellent news. Nearly a season overdue, having begun to think Pearce's shambolic management at the Euros would continue to count against him. Certainly vindicates his decision to move here rather than one of the bigger clubs that were sniffing around at the time (cf. Zaha's situation).

Lallana looking dangerous tbf.

You just need Shane Long to come good for us now and Gaston to be our X-factor

Glad you're thinking long-term

No problems with loaning Bertrand -given the question marks around him and the lack of real prem experience- though would I have preferred to buy some of the other options we were linked with at the time? Probably yes. That's now in the past. Bertrand has got off to a good start; but it is still the case that even with the option to buy, LB remains a position of uncertainty.

What?

As I said elsewhere at the time (not quoted surprise, surprise), looked timid whenever I saw him play and needed a good run of game time which would probably benefit him immensely. Still a loan in the context of selling/replacing Shaw, a huge talent, remains a downgrade, leaving more questions than answers.

Seen Tadic play better that's for sure - his crossing was the most frustrating part of his game yesterday. Alot of underhit crosses.

Still early days but was impressed -good tight control and stayed on his feet much more than on Tuesday (ironing out Sandro was no mean feat). Nice to see him drift inside where he showed good awareness of space and others movement, suggesting he's more than your vanilla winger. Thank f**k, the genius Levy thought he could hardball us into selling Morgan by rejecting our bid for Townsend. Talk about cutting your nose to spite your face.

Tiredness caught up with us in the 2nd half; but also think more is going on. Zamora's entrance made a big difference as he bullied Alderweireld who was probably the freshest of our players (Wanyama's substitution left us a bit exposed in this respect) and Hoillett was much more threatening than Phillips (though could be due to tiredness). But even towards the end of the first half, we were sitting deeper and deeper, gifting QPR plenty of possession (like we did against Newcastle when we went 2up) as well as turning it over, perhaps because we're happier to be quite direct. So far, we've coped pretty well -Austin's finish, for instance, was brilliant, no fault on the defense, other than perhaps Hoillett's ability to cut in and run across the edge of the box unchecked. Still wonder how we'll fare against teams that are better and more clinical in possession - the first half against Swansea left a lot of unresolved questions.

Would be surprised: two completely different players at different stages of their careers. Happy to nail my colours to the mast: Long is mediocre at best and nothing more than expensive cover. Will easily go down as our poorest signing of the summer.

Thought Alderweireld struggled -not only his awkward passing but also lost quite a few physical battles. Him and Fonte lack understanding as both were going for the same ball which could have cost us twice towards the end of the game. Hopefully these are just growing pains.

This.

Lost count of how many bed sheets you went through this summer.

Really? Seems much less comfortable with the ball at his feet -and more likely to hit it long (admittedly keeping it in play), even when a pass is on.

Even more impressive is the fact that the ball was spinning back to him as he went to hit it. Could have quite easily got under it.

Tired towards the end but considering he had Campbell and Oxo going at him, thought he was excellent. While he didn't get forward much, his distribution and touch were assured.

Was OK -not as good as some on here are suggesting. A few dodgy moments -primarily because of the pace of the game- that could have been easily punished. By contrast, apart from a moment at the end when Chamberlain waltzed past him, Targett had a very good game.

What do plastics know? Should ignore them either way.

Good performance - nowhere near as fluent as the last season's 4-0 but credit for closing the door on Newcastle after they threatened at the end of the first half and adjusting to Long's departure. Next week will be the best test to date of where we are.

Was there too. The way the ball accelerated as it hit the ground and the wind picked up was a complete fluke. One of those you-had-to-be-there-to-understand-it moments.