80

Didn't see the first half, so no comment on that, but when I saw the lineup, with no Bruno or Willock, I thought Barnes especially would suffer - we were halfway toothless, in terms of experienced creativity. Our best two lock picks were in defence.

Saw something about him having to be dragged away from celebrating his goal? Not sure how much bollocks it was. From what I saw, which was only the second half, he looks like a puppy with big paws. Optimistic he can grow into them with our coaching and squad ethos. Agree with everyone saying he looks desperate to please, which it's hard not to find endearing, even if he does need to wise up.

Was thinking of saying earlier, this is one of the less surprising revelations

Of course, give a manager the job security of a sports director and perhaps they would be more willing to take long term views on buying and selling players.

Yay.

I keep thinking, we'd have to be fucking mad to sell him. I get there are totally perverse, deranged rules that mean it has to be thought about. But unique people like him and his family are what footballing dynasties are built on. Real, heartfelt allegiance to the club. They create the atmosphere that help the Tonalis and their families thrive and believe this is more than a career stopover.

That video has given me a flashback to his earlier days here when he seemed to chicken out of blocking shots in a couple of games. He's made that a VERY distant memory now, shies away from nothing.

Early days to say for certain, but looks like Bunce (and therefore Mitchell) get a lot of credit for that.

@Yorkie hoping that maybe, just maybe, a true successor to 'leaving the atmosphere' has been anointed

To be fair, a good goalie does more than jumping about to catch shots. Coordinating the defence, adopting patterns on who will cover each part of the net when under attack etc. So they can play a role in not facing so many (dangerous) shots in the first place.

It's been standard play for I don't know how long, from both defenders and attackers. Total nonsense to try and make a story out of it now.

I'd love to think so but I suspect not.

Agreed. We should be thinking about preemptively fighting this with statistics re: time wasting etc. as refs are weak enough to be easily prejudiced.

I get the impression there's a reason he's playing those limited minutes though. I don't think he's always been a 60 minute player. Happy if he doesn't, but I'm assuming the needs the time off too. Saying all that, I guess Bunce will have his own contribution on who does and doesn't need time at the minute, which might mean we do things differently to normal.

Inclined to agree, but realistically who else? We're very reluctant to throw kids in - probably with justification, to be fair.

Not hugely, but if we are in the vinegar strokes of a deal, whoever it is will want him available as much as possible. Plus the risk of an injury killing the deal, obviously. Which makes me question Miggy playing a bit, too, but there's not an obvious alternative there.

The beautiful thing is I think we're past caring Gordon's head - which definitely didn't look right a few months ago - looks fully on it now, and it's very good to have him back.

Occurred to me we might try and avoid using Longstaff for cup tieing reasons if we're serious about moving him on this January. Probably won't as I'm not sure we can afford to not use him, mind. I've said it before, but rest virtually everyone for this. Vlachodimos (Dubravka if he's really that bad) Trips Schar Kelly Targett Bruno/Longstaff Miley Willock Miggy Barnes Osula Bruno tends to do better for regular games anyhow, and can coach Miley and Osula through the game. I don't get too worried about him getting injured. Don't think I'm forgetting any other candidates.

Preferred not knowing this, tbph.

Sean Longstaff disproves this

Yep, found it interesting that they didn't caption any of those exchanges. Almost surprised they didn't scrub it out of the audio.

"Dan Burn was impressively dogged at the back, and likeable as ever, for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. He just moves in a likeable way, like a shy overgrown schoolboy." Wtf? Barney Ronay wins wrong'un of the day with this line.

I know Apparently, anyway. I love the idea of them having a guilt-free jig seeing as his son's not involved.

Good to see Saka's dad enjoying himself.

What a career he's had. An absolute rock.