Dokko

Not at all. Won around 600 combined on the 6 in a row, lost about 400 on the draw....was happier with the draw, and the draw was actual stake not returns. I'll be over the moon with the win, or even a draw as we'll beat them at SJP, which would make us unbeaten in 3 against them and something I could handle. ?

Fiver bet on Chelsea game when we're were 0-1. Then put the winning on this... I decided to put my money where my mouth is after being told on here so many times this run wasn't a test and nothing to worry about. Couldn't get Liverpool game or I'd have had that as well, just wasn't an option at the time.

£700 richer if we lose to these. Decent safety bet, still won't cover the pain, again. Big fuck off lego millennium falcon will be mine though. Every brick built with tears.?

Spot fucking on.

There is a load of factors, but it's the Howe thread and what he's been able to control or change is where I'm discussing. It's very hard to bring all into it in one (especially on a phone, after a defeat when the thread is moving at fast pace) but to counter your statement it's more than just injuries to blame. There's the root cause, the mitigation and recovery and response which for me has all been off. This month (Jan) is more on the club than Howe. They've seen him and his squad struggle, it's time to match their ambition and talk of being the best with some serious season saving action in the market. You'll be pleased to know my focus will be on them pulling their weight as they are the only ones who can help him out and believe me, I really hope they do and this just a big blip we talk about for years and not actually the end of Howe.

I'm not comparing him to pardew, but the way people will dig in and not have anything bad said was the comparison. Any other, put words in the mouth of someone to discredit their opinion.

Yes, I'm glad he's still here but he is the reason we are where we are, both now and last season. He ran a small team of overachieving players into the ground and it worked as we were lucky with injuries. This season we've had more games, but only 6. It hasn't merited the talk of not being able to train for 4 months. Do other CL teams not train anymore? You could argue villas schedule is worse playing on a Thursday night, but their manager has European experience and knows the need to rotate. We've been very unlucky this season with injuries, but his demands of players, lack of rotation and late subs cannot work with added games and injuries, but he's decided to not change a thing. Just keep going in hope he gets a break. You can't plan for injuries, but when they happen you need to rotate your way out of it. This is when new or young players are thrown into the deep end and it's sink or swim. Hall should have had 5 or 10 starts now and he on his was to being a squad player. He costs us points by playing? Well what are we protecting with all these losses? It's not good enough at this level and I expected more from him and sad to see it come to this. I had no doubt he'd adapt to all that was this season, but it's continue on and compound the issues to a point were now saying it'll get worse before it gets better shite and that a loss to the mackems should just be accepted. What the actual fuck? I saw all this defend the manager at all costs under pardew, as he landed 5th and had credit in the bank, I didn't buy it then and don't now.

It's taken to get to 7 losses out of 8 for some to accept Howe can be criticised. It's too late now. Signs were there and we're now fully in the soup. That's what some have issue with. They've been fully dismissed and are still being called mental for being right to have had concerns. I couldn't even say going into the Xmas period this was a 'test' without being jumped on. A fucking test. Turned into a lot more than that, didnt it? I've never changed my tune. A loss to sunderland is unacceptable. Everything else before and after I couldn't care less. Happy to write this season off and learn lessons across the board. He needs to be willing to learn though, and nothing I've seen in the last month screams flexibility, tactical knowledge, squad management or innovation. It's like another manager is inside of him. All of what we've loved about him has gone on vacation. He's even digging out players. Wtf? This is not him. I don't know what else to say really. Unfortunately you can't rest a manager.

Villa have managed it fine. Might not be CL but if they get it next season they'll do a better job managing their season.

He's acting like a novice manager. Has done for most of the last 2 to 3 months. He's more out of form than his players. I think he knows he can't change it and just sits and watches the car crash. Completely out of ideas on how to stop this. He could start by mixing up his starting xi and using subs earlier...but refuses to divert from his plan a and plan a cleary hasn't worked for 10 games or so now. Enough players are back to not be performing like this. He has his 1st choice defence but it cant stsy focused for more than 5mins at a time. Said before this game stick the most defensive unit out as possible and frustrate. Get Hall I front of the lb and keep salah quiet. Right now he's got that looks when Bruce was beating him and his team was going down....Just dead behind the eyes and broken. The club need to back him with players ASAP. Fuck ffp. Go out and correct this season or he'll not last it. Deals should have been done already, not sitting on it waiting for players to come back. It's not fair on those whove been run into the ground, and if they don't act now, they've done them a disservice as well as Howe.

3-4

Narrow defeat with no injuries and possibly a few mins for a few players returning is about the best result we can hope for.

What about recalling this lad? Got to be better than seeing Almiron do the same stupid stuff week in, week out. Maybe some raw unpredictability might be what is needed.

No. Got some talent but several levels below Miley, so no idea why we'd look there.

Sancho doesn't want to be a footballer anymore. Wouldn't surprise me if he just sits his manu contract out and retire mid 20s. I believe his wants to be a model and do his own clothing range. Roy Keane will be fizzing, but also on point.

Fyp.

If we're skint then he needs to stay. Out of all of them he's the best by some distance. 1st 10months of this year and he was lauded as one of the best we've had in that position. Maybe he has offers already from elsewhere, player/backroom role, we know he's doing quals for director positions.

Really hoped the club would have backed Howe as quickly as possible and had a couple of bodies through the door on the 1st.

Extended period of paternity leave. Hope all is well there.

Unless we're getting 2 premium CB's then we need to sign on Schar at least. Even then, 4 quality CB's should be min and if Schar was seen as our weakest option, we'd be on the right track.

Maybe Raphinha loan for that slot? At some point Barca are going to come knocking for players, so they'll need to start building good relations, otherwise Bruno will be a Madrid player.

Certainly would at Madrid.

I'd say Bruno's performances in the league and CL eclipse anything Paqueta has done in his time at West Ham. Paqueta isn't worth £80m, more like £50-60m, but Bruno is certainly worth more than him.

Bruno - Biggest fee, pretty much isn't going to improve, can lack athleticism. Isak - Inconsistent, picks up an injury every few games. Botman - Apart from this recent injury, been rock solid. For me, keep Botman at all costs. Bruno will go if one of Barca or Madrid want him and have £100m+. Isak, might be more difficult to sell, and don't think we'd get more than what we paid, certainly not significantly more.

Dubs Tripps Schar Botman Burn Bruno Longstaff Miley Livra Hall Joelinton everyone behind the ball, frustrate them, and save legs for the 6th. Proper San Marino Vs England vibes.