Smirking_Saint

Both this and The9s posts above, though Id suggest that we would likely have to habe a terrible 2015 to not make Europe in some form and as such Id like to think the club is beginning to plan for that. As others have said it would no doubt affect our league form in the 15/16 campaign unless we started to bulk the squad out a bit more. Thankfully we have a few youngsters there or there abouts which would come in useful however a lot of our form this year is due to consistancy of selection, something we wouldnt be afforded if we were playing in that many conpetitions. We will need another 5-6 to what we have now IMO, and thats forgetting that Toby and Ryan are on loan here, I can see us signing on Bertrand permanently but Toby is a step above, Id love to secure him but dont see it, and so we will need another CB so make that likely 6-7 recruitments of some discription. Personally if the club has any sense they would try to get 1-3 in during Jan.

Well there is that Turks, I myself hope we dump a 20m pound bid in. Whats karl Henry and Lee Cattermole up to these days ?

Whether its what he was asked to do or not I couldnt say but he spent too much time inside yesterday which meant city were able to crowd him out. Personally Id of liked to see him wider more often and running at the FB though its worth remembering Pablo is regarded as one of the best RBs in the world. He isnt as bad as is being made out, of the three up there yesterday he was marginally better. Pelle was again nowhere to be seen, he just doesnt work hard enough and tadic was very poor which didnt help. He has real potential, and has had flashes of excellence.

Because he doesnt fit with the way we play, well, the only positions in which he would will be in place of Long or J Rod (who is better imo) he isnt the man to be back up to Pellè Top level management isnt about buying who is on form Im afraid, they need to fit the system and frankly ings doesnt

Exactly, we timed media sniping at its best, I cant see us winning another gane all season now. Another rebuild job required in jan

Really not been that impressed, and wouldnt be backup to Pellè as he doesnt play the same way which makes it pretty redundant. If he wasnt a saints fan we wouldn't even be discussing it

I stopped reading after the rediculous first point tbh

He has previous, never wrong this lad If Im honest Im unconvinced, does have issues coming off his line but ultimately not at fault for anything tonight, realistically one of our 3 CMs should have picked up toure, its madness that they were all in the box which ultimately reduced his view. We have been defensively so sound he hasnt had a lot to do, seen him make some v good saves, then there was monday. Not ready to write him off by any means

The midfield battle was more or less even with Morgan on the pitch, afterwards we lost out. Despite Toby actually looking good on the ball he just wasnt able to plug the gaps that Morgan does, and so City gained in strength and turned the screw

Sorry ?

They were very very good, we started slowly and had little options up top with Pellè and Tadic having off games. Losing Schneiderlin opened it up for them, Toby wasnt aweful in there, he is good on the ball but his positioning was off which is understandable for a CB playing CM. They pressed well, closed up the gaps and retained possession well though, all in all we played a refreshed champions. Dissapointing but not the end of the world.

As opposed to what you pleb ? He had to back off to reduce space and options ? He had little choice, wasnt his fault that nobody tracked cluchy

If course its nothing to do with that though. We missed Morgan when he went off, lost control of midfield which allowed City to build pressure. Tadic and pelle being poor meant the ball wasnt held upfront either.. Again, meaning city could build pressure

He was ill

Tadic and pelle v poor today. We looked like rabits in the headlights for much of today. Still, we are third, we march on. Will need a massive improvement wednesday though

Great save but why the **** does he stay on his line ?

So thats 3 in 3 against last years top six....

Pelle does t work very hard does he ?

Nor do I really, none of our 3 midfielders picked up toure

You really are a massive cock

I always say if your a striker, and the keepers coming out hit it near their legs. Far harder to move your legs then get your hands down

Villa did a great job on him tbh, Id say Monday was more their good defending then himself though today he has been v poor for me. Villa Id of liked to have seen him drag their CBs around though, I know he operates primarily through the middle but if you are being man marked that well then you want to give them a problem by drifting wide and deep to break their shape

Tadic is really sluggish today, usually v sharp

Thats one, well done.