The College Dropout

They didn’t score a lot of goals iirc. RDZ took them to another level. My idea of Potter ball is rather slow and controlled build up.

West Ham want to be Spursey. Went down an AVB rabbit hole. He's a rally car driver now.

West Ham fans will hate that boring ball.

Getting two fees for Miggy and Almiron would be great stuff from the new DOF.

They need Darwin to "click" or Jota to stay fit and they'll replace the goals. The assists are easier to replace. It's Klopp that's most difficult to replace.

Agreed. But they always find a way. It's not a straight line but it's like Fowler, Owen.... Torres, Suarez, Salah.

Bloom is probably the best owner in the PL. But he's not running that club at a loss (it seems - I haven't checked). They've made a net £140m in the transfer market over the last 2 years. I don't expect him to try and max out their FFP "budget" to try and break into the top 6/4 permanently. Kudus rejected them in the summer and I can only assume it's because of money. Bloom's not going to chase it. So I get the frustration if there is some from RDZ. Lad they brought in to replace Caicedo hasn't done too well either.

He took Brighton from 10th to 6th. Sold their 2 best players and still having a solid season. The biggest issue with him is the occasional defensive collapse. A bit unfair to compare him to Howe or Emery at their latest clubs. Newcastle and Villa have invested heavily into improving their squads. It's borne out in the numbers. Both teams should finish in the top 8 based on wages and the cost of the squads. Brighton are down in like 13th/14th for both. Villa finishing 3 places above their wage bill is 4th. Brighton finishing 3 places above their wage bill is something like 10th (haven't checked). You won't get the same plaudits for what is the same accomplishment.

The assumption is yes.

Those passing stats will limit him to being an impact sub atm which is fine. If we qualify for Europa or Conference - keeping him is a no-brainer. He'll get minutes.

But they are so consistent with the jamminess. I don't expect it to end. Their overperformance of Expected Points is inevitable.

Chelsea are very random. You can't predict what they will do. They've got results against City, Liverpool, Man U, Spurs etc. and drawn and lost to some dross. Us, Man U... similar teams really. Can score goals but also loose at the back.,

I think he's improved as a footballer since he joined. His passing and creativity now is much better than it was. Agree he's lost some pace and ability to beat a man. But he wasn't great at that in the first place IMO. He used to give the ball away loads. He's still a top player IMO.

i thought he was the Salah replacement on the RW - but more creative. i don't think the Liverpool side is great. They've just got tremendous firepower and find a way to win in big moments. The midfield balance is still off. When Thiago played and Fabinho was at his best they had a level of control in the highest quality of games.

This isn't reflected in goals and assists.

I would agree. At this point last season - i as confident 4th would be ours. I wouldn't have taken 5th. Also it might be a little small time but finishing above Man U would be delicious and I believe a first in the PL era. The only team in the football pyramid we've not finished above in the PL era. Man U will end up on 59-61 points. I don't know how or where but they will. We can match them on that. The worst thing about a top 6-7th race is that none of the teams are that good. I don't think any of us are about to win 5 in a row. A 4-game win streak would land it for any of the teams in the running... and that also doesn't seem likely. The type of teams to beat Arsenal at home and lose to Forest at home. Hard to predict game to game.

Let's play 60 minutes with a weaker team so we can have a better team for the final 30 minutes.

Can we just enjoy the lad please?

If we keep him and buy a new RW, i'd only sell one of Murphy or Almiron.

This line of thinking doesn't make any sense. I do agree that fundamentally Howe see's Barnes & Gordon as LW's. So if both are fit and we have a striker - one will sit on the bench. I agree that having Gordon RW is a suboptimal use of his skills but he's better there than what we have so it's for the best. That's the whole issue with the Barnes transfer. He's brought in to rotate with someone we thought could be a star player for us. Meanwhile, we have 2 players at RW who are incredibly short of quality and consistency required to be mainstays of a top 6 team.

The numbers are entirely made-up mate. Every other team is widely incorrect too.

His numbers are wrong. All clubs eventually report accounts to Companies House and it will include a wage bill for staff.

You've replied to an old quote. Kieran Maguire has the most accurate wage bill list. They are old (based on last years accounts) but they are accurate. He's shared this from The Times so I assume they are using the same methodology. Villa & Chelsea are reliant on academy sales to keep them FFP compliant. Chelsea still hasn't released their accounts for last FY. Full list - some of these don't include up to date numbers from Spurs and Fulham and maybe a few others.

Ah yes the old - let's have a stronger bench than starting XI strategy.

RIP Joe Kinnear. It’s just football.