Dan Gleebals

Good question, and you are right - assuming a top 6 finish and strong cup runs year in, year out, would be equal success. Next level for me, is being more tactically and technically adept and adaptable, something I do not think we have really seen over the last few months. It has all got a bit one dimensional and predictable. There are many contributing factors, and I think he should be given time to figure that out - especially after the summer we had, and as it stands, new players who are way off the mark.

I am not sure anyone doubts he is giving it everything, I certainly don't. He needs to find aswers though, and pretty quickly - and I hope he does. Just starting to get some doubts if he has it in him, to trully take us to the next level or not. Time will tell.

10/10 - expected nothing anyway. So it was perfect.

Fuck them. Let's repeat the cup final performance, on their home soil. If Forest and others can go there and smash them, we can to. Time to change history against this lot. 0-4.

Very encouraging performance after the initial 15-20 mins. What has really stood out for me, is that we really need a player in the Vitinha mould.. Someone who can ping them from distance, as we have lacked that for a while now.

Would our atmosphere be better, if away fans were closer to the pitch?

We also need to figure out a formation that works for him, because he is not a no.9 and has proven that. Seems Howe is currently no closer to working that out either, but with Wissa back, I think we will stay as we are. Howe will have to look at it over the summer, however, we cannot have a £70M asset who is not working for us, given our financial position. We are not getting that money back either, IMO, so Howe has to work something out - change formation, or develop him as a player.

The away end is beyond a joke

Any doubt and I really think he should have a rest. Now Tripps is back, Miley / Ramsey are more than fine for cover. I would give the latter a go against his old club.

We really dont want him injured, I certaintly don't - he would be a massive miss. However, I think as you say, it gives others a platform to step up - including Miley (and I think Ramsey as well), if he does miss a few games. The guy needs a break, an incredible amount of football over the last few seasons.

Only just 21, with much more to come I reckon, and he is already fucking class. Such a good player to watch. Would not mind him on the left of a middle 3 either. But he is so effective still from LB maybe it won't happen.

Agree - seems an age ago we were pinging shots in from distance.

Decent bit of business for the pub as well!

I've not really studied the intricacies of it all, but by the sounds of it, rules are there to benefit the big boys, as usual. Although I like the fact that a higher league position means it's easier (!?) on paper, in the next round.

One of the biggest issues for me is our summer business, overall it has not had the impact anyone would have hoped for (surely Howe included). I'm not labeling specific players, but overall, it was a bad summer and if anything, relatively speaking, we stood still at best. Even if he wanted to, he has not been able to develop our style of play as the players he bought are not up to it. The Isak situation completely fucked our planning, and system for me. We have not adapted since. Add in the CL and cup runs, we are a squad running on a tight rope, with not enough quality on the bench (or form) in the squad to address it. Yes there are many frustrations you can add in (reliance on out of form players, poor subs etc) but with limited time between games, he does not seem to have the capacity or time (and perhaps the desire) to work on new ideas. I don't see us addressing this in January due to PSR. On the plus side we could still finish in a decent position, CL still in play and in till in both cups. He has the season for me but he would need a very big think about what we look like next season, and have get the right players to make that happen. Should that fail, then perhaps its time to look at a new manager, and more experienced one when it comes to Europe etc.