Lighthouse

I feel dirty as heck saying it but I'd actually like Brighton and Leeds to get promoted. As funny as it was seeing Leeds go through all that, they've always had a big following. I'd quite like to see them and Newcastle coming back up. Brighton just for giggles as there would be a great big Skate-shaped hole in the southern flank of the premier League.

Oops.

Sounds like a pretty good reason not to sell him to me.

Trying to put a positive spin on things; I'm now actually relieved we weren't drawn against the Skates.

The problem isn't who we've replaced but who we haven't. Boufal, Redmond, Austin and Hojbjerg are all decent signings. The problem is they are all unknown quantities, replacing proven quality (with the exception of Redmond replacing Juanmi). What we need to be doing is replacing Martina, Long and two out of JWP, Clasie and Davis. None of these players does enough to warrant their place in the team.

Actually an invisible player would be fairly useful. Could sneak up on Lukaku and kick him in the nads.

In a high pressing, high tempo game, perhaps. When we're playing slow, possession football he just looks lost.

Billy's Harp scores again. Banging them in, albeit in League 1.

Genuine question; what would you say is the best way for a homeless person to get themselves off the street?

Long has always worked hard but rarely looks like scoring. Today was no exception, the goal came from a corner and as well taken as it was, he offered little threat from open play. Boufal was better today IMO.

It's nothing of the sort, don't be a wet lettuce. We're 9th, in no danger of going down and wont be sacking Puel any time soon. I'd go with Forster Cedders - Yoshi - Fonte - Bertrand Clasie - Romeu Redmond - Boufal - Tadic J Rod I know it will be 4-3-3 with JWP in the middle but that's what I'd do. Get some f**king crosses in, please!

Dreadful, I thought Romeu was the only player to come away with any credit. Virgil, Yoshi and McQ have all looked decent for most of this season but today all 3 looked poor. 2 really silly bookings from VvD, which badly compromises our trip to Everton, to really put an extra coat of gloss on things. Poor up front. Long may have scored but so what, it was another set piece. Nobody looked like scoring from open play all day, much like Spurs. Boufal and Tadic looked like they were trying but support from the full backs and central midfielders was poor. No overlapping runs, no forward runs in the middle. For all those begging for Morgan to return, what exactly would he have brought to the table today? Unless he has learned pinpoint crossing or charging into the box in his time at OT, he wouldn't have helped.

From block 43 it looked like a coming together. Probably just about a foul for us but not a yellow. I was more annoyed about Virgil TBH First one - daft, didn't need to do it. He easily had the pace to get back and cover. Second one - he'd be better off just letting him score TBH. Was always going to be a booking, which pretty much meant we lost anyway and now he misses a 6 pointer at Everton.

There are ways around those problems for anyone who puts their mind to it. Not having a bank account is not a valid reason to just give up on life. There are cash in hand jobs you can take and save enough money for some accommodation. You don't need much to get the cheapest low budget house shares on gumtree. Then you can open a bank account (assuming you never had one in the first place for some reason), find other better jobs and go from there. It won't be easy but it's possible for anyone with the determination to turn their life around. That's assuming you can't register the homeless shelter as your address. A friend of my sister had previously worked for a charity, I forget which one, which was involved with local homeless in Cambridge. He said that there was basically enough accommodation to house all the homeless in the City and that anyone you see sleeping rough has been kicked out. Usually for using drugs in the accommodation, fighting or generally being abusive to other residents. I don't know if this is true of other cities.

Spend whatever it takes to get him in, because obviously a team with Morgan in would never lose to Spurs by 3 goals. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35953098

FFS, every game we're on Sky, they show that bell end with the face paint and hat.

F A B Virgil!

Apart from two goals by our centre half, we failed to score after the first group game against Sparta. Saying it's his fault we aren't in Europe isn't harsh, it's silly TBH. He is a more complete midfielder than Romeu or Victor, granted but you're elevating him to almost messiah status. Top 5 in the last 40 years? I didn't even see the team we had in the 80s but come on. Even in the last 20 years we've had Le Tiss, Niemi, Killer, Virgil and Toby. 5 players who were without question amongst the very best in the League. Lallana, Mané, Pahars, Beattie, Bridge, Shaw and Bertrand were all superb too. I'd say our performance dropped far more noticeably after Matt Oakley's knee injury than it did after Morgan left.

Everyone in action today except for Saints/Spurs and Liverpool/Stoke. Watford/Palace for the early game on Sky. Hull/Man City this evening. Could do with Everton (Foxes a) and West Brom (Arsenal a) not winning the keep our place in the table. Also, Boxing Day occurs every year on 26th December. Discuss.

HCDAJFU.

'Wake me up before you go go' was the first single I ever owned. Parents bought it for me on a cassette when I was about 5. Massively talented musician but was clearly battling a few demons and health issues.

Obviously the majority have mental health issues and a background of substance abuse, domestic violence etc. The fact is 1 in 4 people goes through mental health issues in their life. It's up to you how you tackle your issues and control your own destiny. For some that is doubtless harder than others and many will need help. I don't really understand how you can help somebody who is unable to help themself. You can hand out food and blankets but what will that achieve in the long run? Sure you will keep them alive but they're still going to be on the streets. The sad fact is that most of them do have a drug problem and the only way they can feed it is by stealing or begging.

What have rich bankers and politicians not paying tax got to do with anything? My attitude is that there are jobs out there for anyone who wants one. I don't expect homeless people to be curing cancer or sending rockets to the moon but seriously, any idiot can flip a few burgers or hang on to the back of a bin lorry if they put their mind to it.

But for all the criticism of Clasie, JWP, Romeu and the gang, we haven't performed any worse with them in the side than Morgan. They're good enough to be 7th in the League and maintain two decent cup campaigns. Would Morgan really take us forward from that? As good as Morgan is, we could easily spend £25m (transfer, agents and wages) on his services and still be were we are now.

It did occur to me recently that there are a lot on Above Bar, I guess taking advantage of the Christmas market and increased shoppers. Perhaps I'm just a cruel person but I struggle to empathise, let alone feel responsible, for homeless people in Britain. This isn't South Sudan, most of them were sat begging for change not half a mile from the job centre. My ex was Latvian (probably still is) she came here with no qualifications and limited English skills and found a job within 2 days. FWIW I was walking down towards East Street at night, after the Beer Shev game, and a good half a dozen were sat outside a shop opposite Marlands, passing a joint around. Good to see the money they collect goes to good use.