Davvo

So sweet.

Maybe. Just resolved his unfair dismissal case however, so is presumably getting his name out there again touting for a job.

George Gillett certainly wouldn't have let an opportunity like that slip by. He's still raw. In my view he's developed really well in terms of awareness, works very hard, good pace, terrific close control and a hell of a left foot on him. It remains to be seen whether he's looking good because of the level he's playing at, or because he's being given the chance to play. At the worst, he'll be a good option to allow Sterling to be given a breather. One of those 2 on one side, and another proven quality player sharing time with Borini, should give Suarez the support he needs I think. Think we'll be lucky to get more than Ince + 1 in the forward department this window, but you never know.

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I could up until yesterday afternoon, I think fans, players, and manager alike were caught with their pants down yesterday. The sudden realisation that despite a s**** few months, we were a handful of winnable games from the top 4, seems to have resulted in widespread complacency.

Good post that. The management speak is largely to blame for the suspicions of spooferdom, and only results will alleviate that. However, implementing the ideals he has, with a squad of players that's lacking in key areas, is leading to some inconsistent performances. The key for me right now is how we improve the squad in January, with both FSG and BR very much under the microsope in that regard. The league is so s****, that a couple of good signings could make an enormous difference. Sign the wrong players, or don't invest sufficiently, and we could very well go the other way at this stage.

If only they were a tie-breaker in place of Goal Difference.

then perhaps that's where it should have remained

What's with the layout? Is it some kind of modern art meets football type thing ?

What is there to utilise ? The team almost picks itself, at least in about 8 or 9 spots. The other 2 or 3 could be selected from any of a dozen or more promising youngsters/aging pro's some distance from their best. Criticising BR for not utilising his squad more is extremely unfair. He might not pick who you would pick, but that's a different argument altogether.

We're too progressive for that malarkey

This is it. No pressure on the first choice players, and some of them should really be coming off the bench more than they start, and would possibly be making more of an impact doing so. The next 3 games are important, but win them and we're in as good a shape as anyone could possibly have hoped for given the in's and out's of the last window.

I think most of us were of the opinion we were in for a s**** 4 months, once the last window closed. That prediction has become a reality, and if anything I think I'm actually pleasantly surprised by how it's turned out, I was expecting worse than this. Anything above last season's final placing would have been a huge bonus (in terms of where we are when the window opens again), and we can still get to 6th or 7th by the end of this year. If the owners can provide funds for some first choice forwards in the next window, preferably two to complement Luis, so Sterling can be rested and Borini too has to force his way into the side, then 4th really isn't out of the question. Day's like today are not just down to poor finishing or lack of movement upfront however, we do seem far too susceptible to the counter, even now with Lucas back in the fold. No idea what the answer is there, but I suspect it's to do with players either not understanding their instructions, or a poor plan to begin with. I think the players concerned are good enough, but either way, it needs sorting.

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He was talking about the younger players, which he is not one of.

We finish top if it's a 3 way tie on 10. Us 7, Anji 6, YB 4, from the games excluding Udinese.

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Spending some of the circa $250m they saved in the Dodgers trade back in August, basically replacing players on $400k per week with players on $250k p/w. At least they are not just stocking the roster with young prospects, and instead replacing overpaid, superstar players, with very good ones they think could contribute as much or more for lower, but still high salaries, aswell as focussing on youth. Reports suggest they aren't finished spending yet either. Inspires cautious optimism for us in January I think.

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This is what's baffling about him taking the job for me. That's their strength, but it's not a trio that Rafa would likely want to pick as a whole for any match really, not enough workrate there I wouldn't have thought. So far he's used Moses and Bertrand to rest one of the trio in each of the 2 games he's had time to prepare for, both of whom are more workmanlike. You're right that the midfield options, and the striker, are not at all inspiring, in terms of giving them a solid base to work from, and a prolific, reliable, inform finisher. He must have felt there was enough talent there to work with, christ knows it certainly cost enough to assemble, but I don't see how that squad of players come close to being a fit to his coaching style.

Unless they lose, in which case we'd be out.

87 and a bit ;)/>

Nothing like that going on in Football :unsure:/>

The only explanation there surely, is that we must have had to pay some big fees as part of getting shut of people in the Summer ? No way that can just be from standard transfer related fees.

I just can't see how you blindly believe they will stop rich owners pumping cash in to their clubs. When they start kicking teams like PSG or City out of European competitions for not complying(not that City need such actions), I'll start to believe it, I just really don't see it happening. These rules will only stop spoofers from sending clubs to the wall, which of course is a good thing, but the real sugar daddy's who are happy to poor cash down the drain, will continue to do so.