Legod Third Coming

Exactly. It is a good team, playing the right way and learning (as is the manager). I am bemused that people expected more from four of the five games we have lost. The only game we should have won 'on paper' was Wigan. Our formation is no different to the other top sides in Europe. Our style of play is no different. The difference is we don't yet have a dozen international class players, but as players learn how to adapt we will improve. (We will still lose even then). And where there are defeciences in the playing talent, we'll buy/breed new/better players... One thing's for sure, the Chairman did not get promoted only to get relegated again. Adkins will make mistakes. People have top deal with that. He has had SIX games in the top league in Europe. So either he will learn and improve or be fired. My money is on the former. But the fact remains, our plan might have worked at Everton. The fact it didn't doesn't mean it had anything to do with Adkins' tactics.

Went to the game and can confirm: 1. QPR are terrible - Clint Hill is the worst defender in the football league and Cesar looks very shaky. 2. West Ham are bullies - that worries me... 3. West Ham are very quick going forward - that worries me... 4. Mark Hughes is the most over-rated manager in the Premiership - no clue tactically. His best player Tarabt spends 60 minutes on the bench. Two fears I was left with. 1. That West Ham will bully us out of our passing game. 2. That Hughes will be sacked and someone who knows what they're doing will be in the chair by November 17th...

BINGO - apparently being beaten by Everton is tactical failing... Here are Everton's home Premiership results working backwards in 2012: 3-1, 2-2, 1-0, 5-0, 3-1, 4-0,4-0, 2-0, 0-1 (Arsenal), 1-0, 2-0, 2-0, 1-0, 1-1, 1-2 (Bolton),... So during those games (which include United twice, Citeh, and Chelsea), Everton have been beaten precisely twice at home - once by Arsenal and once by Bolton. But new boys in the league should have won but for tactics? This place is fecking mental some times.

And had we bought three new defenders (as well as the goalkeeper and new CB), would you have expected to beat: United, Citeh, Arsenal and Everton? I expect to beat them in a couple of year's time when Ramirez is among many players we have worth £15m and upwards...

He has, yep. He's shown as our most accurate passer and hardest runner by a mile. I'm a bit surprised it's not the job that Davis can do when Morgan is out, but even over the past three years, when the analysis is done, we win more games with Morgan playing.

I wouldn't say there were no tactical issues against Villa. We were too exposed down the left flank in the first half so he swapped Fox for Clyne, brought on Richardson and made us a better side. Clyne and Puncheon were irresitible, and Richardson and Lallana worked well too. And they swapped as well with Lallana and Puncheon running at defenders on both sides. It's obvious that the best way to defend the flanks is to have players like Lallana and Puncheon occuyping the opposition! From what I saw (only FF this morning), we missed someone 'sweeping up' in front of the back four and our midfield lacked bite as a result. But there will be better teams than us get stuffed by Osman and Baines running at the defence!

Jay Rod misses a chance to go 2-0 up and the game changes... Adkins is a man who wants to outscore the opposition by playing posession football. It works. We play the way many teams in the Premiership are now trying to evolve to. Last year, mistakes wouldn't be punished because our quality of football was so much better than the opposition. This year, we're playing guys worth £10-£50 million every day. It won't work as well for us while we don't have proven Premiership players. So we've adopted a strategy of buying young players and making it work over time. It might well deliver results.

I'll be honest, I dreamt about a stunning start, proving to the world that we were an unexpected force of nature, driven on a wind of teamwork and optimism. And for a while at the Etihad, I had visions of collecting on my 2500/1 each way... But then I'm 42 years of age. And in life, and football, I'm old enough and ugly enough to know that dreams rarely come true. And I'm sensible enough to know that nothing worth having was not hard work. If you'd been stopped by a MORI poll researcher on the 1st August 2012, with the Olympics fresh in your mind and Premiership football relegated to the basement of dignified sport, and they'd asked you to nominate the number of points from the following games, what exactly would you have said: Manchester City - away Manchester United - home Arsenal - away Everton - away I know what my answers would have been. And for 27 years they would have been very similar predictions... And I bet they would be very similar for fans of 16/17 of the clubs in this league.

I've just watched yesterday's game on FF and you could lay the blame for all three goals at the door of our midfield...

Adkins wants to play football. He fundamentally does not want to go to Goodison and park ten men behind the ball. Other teams will try that and lose 3-0. I'm not saying 3-1 is a good result but for the record Everton have won more games in 2012 than any team bar United and Citeh. Everton have a manager with seven years Premiership experience, not six games. Everton have been in the Premiership my whole life not just the past two months. If you expected us to go to Everton and turn them over, I admire your optimism but you need a quick cold ice bath in the reality-ville hotel.

Asian bookies are about the only place you can have these bets these days. I couldn't get £50 on Hodgson to be the next England manager!

£40m - we'd have to spread it fairly wide!!! My bookie can 'just' get £100k on a football match...

Ah yes, those bookmakers who allow football clubs to place bets of £40m to lose... Remind me, what's their freephone number

We won't go down. The Chairman has put it all on red and he is not in the habit of allowing it to come up black...

Ramirez - £12m? JayRod - £7m Clyne - £2m? Gazza - £1m Yoshida - £2m Mayuka - £3.5m Davis -800k Probably between £25m and £30m I suppose. Still massive spending.

We have spent £35m. Going down would be a fecking disaster. Top 6 spenders in the league, top ten in the whole of Europe by my estimate. And you're thinking relegation is acceptable?

He is. We're the 6th highest spending club in the country. You think the Chairman is playing a long game? No chance. Either Adkins learns fast or you will see a proven manager in the hotseat. It's neither right nor wrong, it's just what happens when you gamble £35million.

But that's the manager all over. 2-1 up against United and made three changes in two minutes? You have to accept Adkins is learning. He's had six games at the highest level. What do you expect, Mourinho?

Because the manager is still learning and so are the players. And he's learning about them.

Ta, shame - he offers the pace and guile we need at this level.

Why did we drop Puncheon after he terrorised Villa with Clyne? Anyone know?

Thank you Trousers. That'll do. Would like to have seen that.

Right just back from work. What have I missed?

Er wouldn't 62 seasons be more appropriate?

I lasted 30 minutes against Palace at home before walking out on us for the one and only time in my life (that's some going given that my supporting goes back to 82). All summer it was obvious we needed defenders. But Burley bought midfielders - at one stage I counted something like 18 midfielders in our squad...