Donatello

Ta. Jimmy's Twitter video offers a decent perspective, perhaps more so ('cos video clarity).

Exactly! I can only assume that's why people are having a dig at McCarthy - because they didn't watch it live and are relying on said picture.

Feel the criticism of McCarthy is unbelievably unjust. I'll have to watch it again, but the movement of the ball on account of the handball was completely unpredictable, i.e. that still is not representative of how the ball reached that position. He had a cracking game, imo. But as above, I'd like to see it again.

Thank **** for that.

Yeah, he *has* to make a change *now*. We're not riding this out for 30 mins.

What the c*nt was Davis doing?!

He had a bit of a purple patch when he first arrived, sure...lots of new players often do. But his general play (as you've alluded to) is clearly geared towards running behind and box play....which is fine, and he's good at it, but my opinion would be that those attributes don't make for a solid lone striker. If you think those attributes do, fair enough, but a cursory glance at the league tends to suggest what sort of strikers thrive long term (freakishly good players like Aguero aside).

Fair enough, looks good on paper....but I personally don't think Gabbi works well as a single striker (when the qualities of the rest of the team are factored in), so if we're insisting on this formation, it's Long, Boufal and Tadic for me (with Davis behind - although there's evidence to suggest Hojberg *could* play there). I'm guessing Lemina is still carrying that ankle injury though, and that the midfield three is determined by that at present. P.S Yes, I would prefer if Long wasn't leading the line Interesting about Redmond....I wonder if it's an attitude problem....?

Which front four would you play, out of curiousity?

I love the irony of the club trying to force feed us that they don't like to take credit within the context of that article F*cking delusional.

I don't understand why people think this matters in either eventuality. The fact is, we'll be receiving ~£60m-£65m (because I'm not buying the claim made above that we're shelling out £21m to Van Dijk ). Be that in one installment (which it isn't), or protracted over a number of years, the end result is that we can budget for that amount (in fees and wages) over the appropriate timeframe. If you want to use £20m of that to fund additional salaries over the next four years, fine, then you have ~£45m to spend on transfers this window and protract it similarly (selling clubs permitting).

Positive stuff (thanks for the info) I'd rather they just paid the agents the going rate (i.e. excessive rate) this year (rather than engaging in the admirable task of trying to position ourselves near the bottom of the total agent fees list), since we don't exactly have the luxury to play such a game at present. At least that would remove one of the obstacles, allowing us to focus on convincing players of our Prem status (which shouldn't be hard give how Ralph is predicting a single digit finishing position - write a bunch of relegation release clauses in then, Kreuger )

You don't want him because he was rubbish in *one* game of football? Or you think he's rubbish generally?

Contrary to prevailing opinion, I thought we played well enough. The last 10 minutes doesn't make a game, and up until that point we were *far* more likelier to be the next scorers. A 2/3 nil performance if ever I saw one. And unlike most others, I can get on board with the substitutions. Nothing wrong with injecting fresh legs. I'm in the Out camp with virtually everyone else, but I can guarantee that if he hooked Davis for Lemina, plenty would be lambasting it as too defensive (so I see much of the criticism as a state of mind, foremost). Anyway, today was a good result. Happy Negativity Day, everyone P.S Agree about Sims. Would've been a good situation to play him. P.P.S Shout out to Bednarek for putting in a competent shift in an unfamiliar position against a tricky player.

Most of this thread is

It really hasn't been.

Exactly, what's he banging on about

The f*CK was Redmond barking about there?! That was his guy. Didn't even jump. Detestable guy/character.

Not a fan of booing substitutions unless the change is *insane*, and freshening legs in midfield doesn't qualify.

Serious wtf territory/pass.

Yeah Under Live Events (rather than EPL)

Because he's not on the bench? Or because he isn't ahead of Bertrand? Genuine Q. Is it not a straight battle between Targett and himself?

So, should the club's default position be 'we're reinvesting the VVD money over two windows' (which is what it is, as per media rumblings), or 'we'll spend it all if X players are available'. I'm not a spend for spend sake kinda person, and long term management/thinking is obviously preferable, and a scattergun approach gets you no where fast, *and* January is an overpriced market, but our current position seems like a good enough reason to buy big (in terms of quality, thus higher cost) this year. Surely situations sometimes necessitate a short-term approach. P.S I wonder if they are any 'bargains' (in January terms) to be had with players entering the last six months of their contract...? Probably not, because decent players tend to be offered contracts, but you never know. P.P.S and no, I'm not advocating panic buying, merely being more aggressive with our long term targets, i.e. summer targets being brought forward six months.