Cronky

Got to agree. I've seen most of Villa's first two games, and Morgan Rogers was outstanding both times. Young, strong, technically adept and very difficult to stop. He's definitely one to watch.

Modern commentators. Their primary function was, and still should be, to tell you which player has the ball. The modern commentator feels that player recognition is far too mundane a job, and instead wants to dazzle you with a series of stats and details from past matches which are distracting and largely irrelevant. Stop it guys.

Let’s bear in mind that we played for over an hour with Krafth and Burn at centre back and two relative novices at full back, but the opposition still couldn’t score against 10 men. Ever since Eddie arrived, I’ve been mystified as to why we don’t concede more goals. It’s got to be something he’s doing. In general, our squad isn’t nearly as good as our results have suggested. We are still some way from being able to dominate games in the way that the best teams can do. But we are good at maximising what we have. Four of the starting eleven were here when we were in the drop zone and looking set to go down with about 20 points.

This could be fun. Bit of a bonkers selection by Ten Haag. Surprised to see Garnacho not starting.

I beg to differ. His athleticism covered up his poor touch a lot of the time. At 27, no medals, no caps, and on loan from a Saudi club to a Turkish club. That's happened for a reason.

Sanusi has a great change of pace and direction, and unlike St Maximim, quite a decent touch on the ball, it looks. All the raw ingredients are there. Very promising indeed.

Given current prices, I think it'll take a bid of £60m or thereabouts. He's young, highly rated, and with Premiership experience.

McFaul Nattrass Moncur Woodgate Kennedy Bruno Green Gascoigne Beardsley Shearer Bellamy Manager - Eddie Had to dig into the memory banks for the defence, and pass over many good attackers. Diamond formation in midfield, which probably wouldn't have worked. Would have liked room for Isak, McDermott, and Lee.

Winners: Man City Runners Up: Arsenal 3rd-6th: LIverpool, Newcastle, Chelsea, Villa Relegation: Southampton, Leicester, Notts Forest Overachievers: Newcastle Underperformers: Man Utd Top Goal Scorer: Haaland Break Out Year: Conor Bradley Season to Forget: Darwin Nunez PFA Player of the Year: Alexander Isak PFA Young Player of the Year: Conor Bradley Manager of the Year: Pep First manager to quit/be sacked: Espirito Santo Newcastle United Where will we finish?: 4th (I'm assuming we strengthen at RW and CB. Top Goalscorer: Isak Top Assister: Gordon Season to forget: Harvey Barnes Will Howe be manager at the end of the season?: Yes please.

Bruce Halliday, centre back in a 0-6 defeat at Chelsea in a Second Division match, 1980. It was his debut and he looked incredibly nervous, so maybe one should make an allowance. Losing a Second Division game 6-0 was truly a low point. Playing in only his second game that day at centre forward was one Christopher Waddle. My only memory of him is of a folorn figure struggling to get anywhere near the ball. The early 80s was the worst of times.

This is a worry. People are citing players from the last 10 years that I've forgotten, but I can remember everyone from the 70s and 80's. One day, this will happen to you guys too.

Sorry, but genuinely surprised at this. I thought he was terrible. Thinking about it, 95% of our games that I saw in that era were away from home. Maybe he was different at St James's.

I wanted to pick someone that hasn't been mentioned yet, but Kevin Brock is the one. Jeff Clarke and Clarence Acuna are good shouts too. For some reason Sir Bob didn't seem to rate Acuna that highly. PS - Just thought of a new one for the mix. Darren Jackson.

The refereeing could have been more objective, but we were well beaten. I'd not seen Sanusi before. A real talent, by the looks. Harrison also looked promising. I'd forgotten how bad Lewis is. Until half an hour into the second half, I'd forgotten he was on the pitch. He never seems to want the ball.

There's a problem because Hall has been given the licence to get more forward and more central, but Joelinton isn't covering the gap that he leaves. Perhaps he doesn't really have the mobility to do that, but their goal arose from that problem, and it wasn't the first time that the problem arose. Barnes has wasted a few opportunities due to poor technique. Yokahama look the better side, but they're already match fit and are more used to the conditions.

On a youtube scouting, he looks big and fast. Not the complete package, but that's a useful combination to have around.

I call your Declan Rice and raise you Roy Keane.

I saw these comments from the Mag from Eddie Howe on Sandro - “Sandro Tonali has come back really fit and focused. “You can see a change in his demeanour. “There is definitely a change in him, in terms of [how he is] feeling as he is closer to playing. “It is very difficult when you have that stretch ahead of you and you are not going to play competitively for such a length of time. “He now looks ready to play, ready to make a difference. “He does feel like an absolute new signing and somebody who we desperately missed last year. “He will feel like he has got points to prove, objectives to hit. “He came here with very clear motivations to be successful. “He is a deep thinker and someone who wants to do very well. “I have no doubt he will.” I always felt there was something missing from Sandro's performances last season (understandably in hindsight) and I've been one of his doubters. I find these comments very encouraging.

Chelsea had a lot of new, young players and I suspect that the atmosphere around the dressing room was a bit immature. If I remember right, he wasn't the only one fighting to get that ball. Madueke is not going to behave like that with the likes of Schar and Joelinton around. Overall, yes I think this lad probably does need a bit of straightening out, but Eddie has a good record of improving players.

I'm all in favour of Madueke - a talented player whose career hasn't quite taken off yet. We've made a success of that sort of signing (eg Isak, Gordon, Joelinton)

It’s somewhat premature, but interesting nonetheless. On paper, Chelsea and Man U look a level above the rest, but games aren’t won on paper. Villa have a better squad in depth than we had, so they should cope better with the Champions League. They will do well to make top 4 again though. The competition is tough. Spurs will need to recover from last season’s collapse, and I’m not sure they will. As for us, we have gaps in the squad that need filling. But we do have the best manager in the league (bar Pep) and he’s worth an extra 15 points to us.

I don't think this is anything to do with the England job. He likes a fair measure of control, of feeling secure, and one of his main strengths is his ability to work with and improve players. I don't think he is status-driven, so I can't see how it would suit him or why he would want it. I think Eales and Mitchell are out there with the team, so hopefully there's plenty of opportunity to straighten things out.

We gotta problem. And just when things were going so well. However you may dress it up, this is a public threat to resign. Eddie is normally very discreet when it comes to keeping things behind closed doors, so this is right out of character. Presumably he's already made the powers that be aware of his concerns privately - if not, they have a right to feel annoyed. It all seems a bit pointless. It's not going to encourage any prospective players to join us if they get the impression that the Head Coach is liable to change. It also means that Eales and Mitchell will be either walking on eggshells or keen to assert themselves, neither of which will help. Those two have come across as sound people with a genuine regard for Eddie's abilities, so I imagine they'll be a bit taken aback. I think Eddie is used to working within an intimate working environment where he has some considerable influence and access to the decision-makers above him. He joined a bigger club in us, but his close contact with Amanda and Mehrdad, who were running the club from somewhat ill-defined roles, allowed him to exercise the power that he felt he needed. Our structure is now more typical of a major club, and he's feeling very insecure. But it's difficult to know why he hasn't decided to keep quiet and just see how things pan out. Looking at his career, I think he likes to feel that he's on familiar ground, with familiar people. He was very anxious to keep his coaching team with him, when he came here. Excuse the amateur psychology, but there may be insecurities from his early years that have been exposed. People of exceptional ability can be vulnerable like this. It's what drives them. I'm worried, because going public like this is unfair on the people he's working for.

The stat I would like to see is how many times Alan Shearer said the word 'quality' during the game.

Rice is not international class in that anchor position. The trouble is, we don't seem to have anyone else at this precise moment. Spain deserved it of course, but when we equalised I could see us going on to snatch it. Kane's departure seemed to lift the team mentally as well as physically. It looked like one tournament too many for him. And I never seem to see him talking to his team-mates, which for a captain is a bit worrying. The wait goes on, but at least we have some good young players coming through.