The College Dropout

We do. But there’s limitations and weaknesses if you watch us week in week out. We are usually good at getting back in numbers.

Every single one of our defenders is slow and we play a high line. If a team can transition quickly we are in trouble.

I’ll be honest. I’ve never been a massive fan of Dan Burn. He’s been awful today.

Howe limited by the window. I don’t blame him.

Fuckin hell lad it’s your time.

What a shame. This is a nightmare and it looks like our season has imploded. Nick Pope has been huge. We’ve had straight forward momentum for 13 months straight. Crowd, players, managers all together. Now we’re fractured. Tough times. We need to stick together and BE tough.

Does Pope miss the Carabao final?

I meant their managerial careers as a whole.

Nah - as good a career as Warnock has had. Pardew has had a career at a higher level for considerably longer. Pardew is more similar to Bruce.

We got a good fee, great but I'll be honest. I didn't care much for being an NUFC accountant under Ashley, and I don't care much for it now.

Going down with a team that included Perez, Mitrovic, Sissoko & Wijnaldum is a crime. Never once played Sissoko and Wijnaldum in CM, instead we had Colback & Anita. Jesus wept.

Aye. Genuinely the game has moved on from him at the highest level. But he could do a Hodgson at Fulham or even Palace type job for.. well those kind of teams. He's also a nightmare from a Leadership level. Someone like Ranieri was easy to get along with as an Owner.

Steve Bruce was a PL manager for a long time. He's not a complete idiot. He took a job as a shill and he knew it. It was the best job he was ever going to get again and he would have the media behind him while picking up good money. He's selfish as owt and will never come out with the complete truth piblicly but he knows it all deep down.

I think he did know how he did it. It's just not that different to what he does when things go wrong. He wasn't much of a coach or a tactician. But he could get some lads working for each other and foster tremendous team spirit. That breeds results and confidence which feed into each other. Setup a basic framework and give the more talented players freedom to do their thing. That's why he was such a streaky manager. He was BS'er... coo'oing when things went well and i'm sure the squad loved it. Him being a terrible person is probably why he's hated above so many other worse managers. McClaren must be a better coach. But he was never able to galvanise the group. Sustain any confidence. Get performances from the group for more than 2 games. So he was relegated with the best squad we had for 3 years.

Barca's record against top teams isn't great this year is it? Flat-track bullies.

I reckon he sticks with 4-3-3 to have equal numbers in midfield with Liverpool

I see a player with lots of ability and talent - if a bit green/innocent.

Pep-effect too though. Although that might mean playing left back. His left foot isn't as good as Mahrez but at this point he's a better player overall. I think Saka will leave. He could run the contract down completely. Then there's the likes of Real Madrid that could come in for him.

Where?

Oh and this idea that we had this magnificent squad should have died a long time ago. Yanga-Mbiwa ffs. Definitely his biggest crimes was his degradation of the club. And it was a turning point in our history. Rafa's exit was the final nail but Pardew was the coffin.

We'll need a squad though especially if we're in Europe. Could probably grab them for £15m-£35m at 19-22, they could be back-up.

For what? Unless there's great deals to be had on the market (Trippier, Pope for example), it looks like they'll try and stick to budgets and valuations. I expect a CM and attacker in the summer. The rest is heavily dependent on availability of top targets and good deals. I think Southampton and Leeds have good young players to nab should they go down.

How many of these went on to have better seasons? Colo (on his day), Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Ba genuinely class players. Krul, Tiote & Cisse very good players at that point too but with massive limitations. But that team also had Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor, Santon, Ryan Taylor, Shola, Guthrie etc. A lot of genuine bottom half / Championship players. Santon retired at 31 and didn't add to his Italian caps after us. He may have had a better career doing the inverted fullback thing but he was awful for us largely. Pardew did well to get a talented team with limitations so far for that one season. Pardew was genuinely good at maintaining vibes (be they good or bad). A lot of that I assume is cultivating team spirit and empowering more talented players. Couple FA Cup finals and some good seasons as a PL manager. Bruce, McClaren & Souness all worse managers for us.

I like a lot of the young boys at Southampton. I would sign them to fill out the squad for a European push. I think a few of them will go onto become really top players. Edozie off the bench instead of Murphy for example.

When comparing us to Liverpool you’re comparing Burn, Botman, Joelinton and Zachary attacking set plays compared to chances in open play falling to Salah, Nunez and co. I personally back Salah and Nunez and Jota etc. to find a scoring touch at some point. If we’re relying on the likes of Dan Burn to convert set pieces to score goals, I think we’ll struggle. I also think teams chasing top 4 need to offer real threat from open play like we did earlier in the season. And generally open play goals count for 65-75% of non-penalty goals so a better indication of attacking fret.