Saint86

We'd be idiots to settle for that. He's got 4 years remaining, is out captain and best player, and would be class for most teams. Plus he has every chance of going to the world Cup, where he might end up shining and raising the club profile. Rice has 2 years remaining and is being talked about as a £150m signing for city.

Well, he's been kicking about too long to be the cure at least 😅

I assume you mean me, in which case thanks. And thanks also for not adding an "h" into that typo 💩 😅 Its interesting, looks like most people roughly share the same kind of sentiment squad wise - Which is somewhat at odds with the extreme element of the ralph hate/love divide we get after almost every result atm. On the bracket front, i know some posters have included top 6 etc, and I debated splitting "top half" into top 6 etc, but then in reality this year I think 4th / 5th-8th are all similar quality, and we don't have anyone you could put forward as top 3 quality i don't think. So ultimately i went mid table and top half, and ignored top 3/4. Anyway, I want to think we are one window away from a very good squad. If we can "just" get a good CB and a good CF it would make big difference for us. But we need to do it at the expense of losing some of the poorer squad players, not first team players. i.e. not having to compromise first 11 quality like last summer - by trading starting defenders (albeit shite ones) and our main standout goalscorer (Ings) for A.Armstrong, Livramento and Perraud. We need to improve the first 11 and move the ones we replace to be squad players. And if we can do that and add in a quality GK or a quality Ralph "No.10" to that then even better.

I saw something today that showed owner wealth. We were 10th - No source currently available.... dum dum dum!!!!

Long post warning 😨 The season is effectively over for us, and rather than engage in the whole sack/defend ralph bi-polarised debate we have most weeks, I thought i'd do an exercise to see where I personally think the team/squad stands. I.e. I’m aiming to do this without turning it into a Ralph debate, and also not to intrude on the summer transfer thread - but if the MODs think it’s better suited to those threads, then fair enough ofc. Either way, it would be interested to see if people significant disagree on the quality of the current squad, or the quality of the players we’ve let go? And therefore, where they think we should realistically be finishing? In summary, I think we have a very average to poor squad overall, and one that will need to improve if we are to stay away from a relegation scrap for certain next season (my working/justification for that is below) – I am not saying we won’t improve. In fact, I do think in each season post Hughes/Reed so far there has been marginal squad improvement. But we’ve been hamstrung by the quality of the league constantly improving around us, whilst we have had relatively no money to spend (i.e. the net spend trophy and I think Burnley were the only long-term club with a lower net spend?). We’ve been wrestling with having to balance the books and improve the squad with no owner input and a growing debt. But now we do have the 10th richest owners in the league. Hopefully these new owners will give us the bit of extra financial muscle we need to make a jump up and establish ourselves as comfortably mid table, because incrementally improving year on year is a risky business and we'd only need a couple of serious injuries to key players to relegate us as it stands, I think. So anyway, this is all my opinion, but i do think it’s a useful exercise to have done. Looking at our team (and ignoring Broja who won’t be here after the summer), I’d summarise it as follows (*all based on perceived current ability, not potential). Top half standard players: JWP, KWP. Comfortable mid table standard players: Romeu, Salisu, Livramento, Perruad, S.Armstrong, Che. Bottom half standard players: Bednarek, Diallo, Forster, Redmond, Ely, Stephens, Relegation level: Stephens, Lyanco, Macca, Djenpo, Long, A.Amrstrong (this season), Tella, Championship Valery, Caballero, Small, Smallbone, Walcott, Lewis As above, for me personally that's a squad that should be aiming to avoid relegation and pushing for mid table in a good season (which is what we are achieving). It would be very easy to wind up in a relegation scrap with these players with injuries. Fundamentally we don't have a top-class goalkeeper or forward, and our 10's are very average if we’re being honest (and as much as we like Stu who is a technical gifted grafter). If we could have the 20+goals a season Ings back in the side alone then we would be a very different proposition this year. And beyond all of that, we really do have no serious strength of depth. I feel also like a point that shouldn't need to be restated is that we have had to sell to buy for years now...and we have had to sell utter dross generally to both cover operating losses and raise money to maintain / improve the team. This is who we have sold (and/or loaned out for financial wage bill reasons) since Ralph took charge (and lets not mention the money wasted on wages and signing fees for most of this lot): Carillo, Lemina, Boufal, Hoedt, Reed, Soares, Yoshida, Hojberg (would improve squad), Ings (improves squad), Vestergard (any better than we currently have?), Gunn, Obafemi, Bertrand, Gallagher, Targett, Austin, Davis, Claise, Elyonoussi, Tadic (well duh), Gabbi (improves squad but left 1month after ralph). Conclusion: We’ve shown a general trend of getting rid of older filler players that weren’t good enough and replacing them with younger players with potential (both talent/resale), so I expect that to continue – certainly with the financial backing and comments from the new owners. But to really push on an be comfortably mid table / pushing top half - we badly need to sign a better CB, better No.10s, and a quality CF this summer. And then if we don’t think that Forster is going to sign and maintain his current level, we need a quality keeper as well.

I can only assume we're trying to relegate Everton, whilst simultaneously putting our cb's in the shop window, and trialing forster for a new contract. Also, think how happy Jay and corky will be if they stay up 🥰 Otherwise this makes no sense 😑

KWP has been on of our best players ffs. We're losing 2-0 with 10min to go... Take of one of our below average cb's ffs.

No he's still on 🤣

I think it's because Adams can put himself about a lot and intimates defenders. When playing 4-5-1 broja may look tall, but he's actually a bit of a fairy strength wise, albeit a pacey one. We're a far better team with Adams playing up top. Be it a 2 or a 1. (I don't hate redmond, I actually think he's useful and unlucky to be so out of favour).

Quite, there is so little balance with Ralph from the fans. It's one extreme or the other.

Why have we actually improved this much since redmond came on? Is it because Adams is here as well and is actually a CF unlike broja? Or has redmond hugely improved our attack?

Che Adams should be starting over broja as well.

Jack Cork celebrated that one? But conspicuously not the 2nd goal 🤔

Plus side. Redmond here to save us. No formation change needed 😂

Eh? Any team that has to play Valery, bednarek, and lyanco as a back 3 all season would be relegated by April. We have a smattering of decent players, and a very average / poor squad overall. We were tipped by everyone for relegation this season and yet we've improved without ings goals. Its a bad performance at the end of the day. But this lot are young and on holiday whilst Burnley are fighting for thier Premier league season.

We've played 4-5-1 and stood off one of the worst possession sides in the league (who unsurprisingly have now set a season best first half for possession and attacking play). All because we got flukey vs arsenal (ta forster) with this formation.

Sadly hard to argue with that.

Full time predictions. Ever the optimist I think it will finish 3-2... But to who? 😅

Lyanco and Valery off. Adams and salisu on. I'd go with that!

Not bad! 😅

He has no time between getting Cork clear, to the header coming in, to him knowing whether Cork is going to kick it on the way through (which is clearly offside interfering in play for the keeper, you can see forster hesitate as it goes to Cork). Defence didn't deal with the previous attack or the corner well. The issue here is a back 3 of Valery, lyanco, bednarek.

To each their own, but I wouldn't be stating the blame game with forster for that goal 🤔🙄

Absolutely shocking performance so far. We can't be starting Valery, bednarek, and lyanco like this and then expecting forster to carry our defence. They're horrendous as a trio defensively!

How that isn't interfering in play I'll never know. Forster doesn't know if he's going to kick it ffs.

Is the defence playing to get forster a new contract?