midds

Probably more to do with the fact he's absolutely fucking gash rather than anything else tbh

Injuries are part and parcel of the game and they're always going to happen. It's obviously shit for Stewart on a personal level but no club goes a season avoiding any injuries, it's about the squad and how it copes. They're not going to be asked to play with 10 men for the rest of the season

Aye, any PL club signing Fraser is taking a chance on a player who's barely kicked a ball for months. I'd even argue he'd struggle to get into another PL starting XI tbh. So the prospect of even a decent fee is out of the window. If Championship teams are looking at him then we're probably going to have to subsidise his wages quite a bit as there's not much money thrown around these days

Not going to pretend I'm delighted like. Don't think he's that good, think he's overpriced and certain we could have bought a better player who could have transformed the way we play. But I'm not going to bang on about it and hope he fits in and hits the ground running and improves us. He'll sign tomorrow and I genuinely hope he's class

Aye I know and he's been unbelievable. Pointing out that other clubs have done their homework isn't a criticism of Howe. I'm just saying he may need to mix things up a little to offer a different type of threat between now and the end of the season. I wasn't having a pop at him, he's done an incredible job

Said a couple of months ago that there's a good to fair chance that teams have studied us relentlessly over the WC break and found a way to nullify us and almost shut us down. Recent results have borne that out tbh, we still look rock solid but we've looked blunt and toothless at times since Boxing Day. It's not Howe's fault but it is a problem that needs to be solved and we need to become less predictable and that might mean changing personnel, formation or buying players to mix it up a little to present a different challenge. Isak easily skinning the defender on the touchline and squaring it on Tuesday night for a tap in will have been noted and teams we play in the next 3 months will shut that down. We need to mix it up a bit. It's not a criticism of Howe but the reality of the situation is that if you become predictable then you become much easier to shut down. We need to start rattling a few cages again and give opponents different things to think about.

Love the fact Ferguson has just quartered a sheet of A4 from the printer and pretended it's a pocket square. Bet the fingerless mitten hand-shake went down a like a shit sandwich with the big man too

Aye, I'll give that particular owner/manager relationship about a month. Big D will be throwing the fucker around his office before the daffodils have sprouted

Absolutely pot-less. Got the begging bowl out and pleading for a loan or 2 from the big clubs. Wonder why the owner doesn't actually put some decent cash in and buy some players, constantly looking for the cheapest possible option. Reeks of another chancer tbh

Clearly there to get the nod from big Yass before dropping a cool £100m on 2 stars this weekend

Thought they were making the lines thicker to give the benefit of the doubt in exact situations like that?

That's my exact point tbh

Nah, I'll not 'finish it there' I've justified my comment because when I've seen him he's offering nothing in his game that we need right now. That's why I don't want him. He's a £40m nuisance player who lacks quality in the final 25 yards of the pitch and that's based on what I've seen of him. We disagree, no bother.

Still not budged on this one, still don't want him here. The better parts of his game we already have, the things we need him to do are the poorest parts of his game. He'd also cost a hell of a lot of money and I think we could get better elsewhere. The only thing in his favour is that he's young and English so any fee could probably recouped in the future. The fact his own fans can't wait to see the back of him is also a bit of a red flag, much prefer if we look elsewhere at a different type of player who would give us what we're currently lacking.

Getting to the point where hard work just isn't enough any more. I appreciate the effort but his quality on the ball is substandard for the level we're aiming for. His passing and shooting have been dreadful recently and he's the first one who needs to be replaced this window.

Never ever thought he'd be as good as he has been, he's been incredible. Defence has been so solid that he only has a handful of moments to step up each game but he does so. No loss in concentration, always switched on and consistently fantastic.

One of the sloppiest and scrutty haha we've had for a long time. Result went out way but the passing and finishing was appalling from the first whistle. The subs and the change in cm changed the game but that game had some awful performances from some players. Thought Longstaff, Tripper, Willock and Almiron were all ordinary at best. Isak needs to start every game, we need another one like him this window and another 2 or 3 in the summer

Atwell is nowhere near good enough to spot that handball. He fucking guessed. Absolute pigshit

Ref guessed. He saw a pile up on the box, maybe an offside and blew his whistle and crossed his fingers. VAR flew in to rescue him but it's absolute bullshit, fucker didn't even know what he gave it just looked like soton were in a shit position, player down so he blew up. VAR is just not fit for purpose. If it's not going to be used to get the correct decision and only used to give the ref a get out of jail free card then just bin the cunt.

Passing has been shocking so far. So many simple 5-10 yard passes going astray, really really annoying

Amazing how bullish they all are since they won a very average game against a very average opponent at the weekend. Suddenly puffing their chests out, slapping themselves on the back about how fucking class they are continually. It's almost as if they need to hear it regularly so they don't wake up and suddenly realise just how ordinary they are to the rest of the football world. Quite a thing considering they've only spawned a single Cup since Hitler got a bit lairy.

I'll be honest I don't want him. He seems a chippy little cunt, nothing wrong with that necessarily, but i don't think he's good enough to back it up when it matters. He's got a load of nuisance value and I'm sure he'd buzz about a bit and get involved, sure he'd press well too. But we now need quality in the final third, a killer pass, a turn of pace or a dip of the shoulder to open defences up now and I simply don't think he's got that in his game. He's better than Murphy and Fraser but that's a pretty low bar. If he signs then I'll be crossing my fingers hoping I'm wrong but at this stage I think we could spend that £30m (or whatever) much, much better to strengthen the XI

Impossible to criticise/compliment any signing they make these days as I can honestly say I've not heard of the last dozen players they've signed. No idea if it's good or bad, no idea of how or where they play or any track record whatsoever. Might be class, more likely to be very underwhelming though. Happy to let them just crack on with it though, they seem to be absolutely delighted with how things are going so fair enough I suppose

Can't think of another keeper of swap him for tbh. He needs to work on his distribution and footwork but every other aspect of his game is absolutely tip top. £10m? He's the bargain of the century