Cronky

Shit happens. Just as we raided Brighton, so we in turn get raided by a bigger club. It looks like moving forward from the position that we're in now will be a slow process due to FFP. He's decided to take this opportunity whilst it's there. You only have one life. How it'll work out there is another matter. It's an unusual structure with the Glazers as majority shareholders, but Ratcliffe running the football side, albeit with one of the Glazers on his panel. And then there's Brailsford and his input. Could get messy.

I'd say he's still young in terms of his ambition, energy and desire to improve. It's interesting that he says he looks for a desire for self-improvement in assessing players, because that's very much part of his own make-up. Age isn't just a matter of years - it's the freshness that you bring to your job, and that's still very much there. It's striking that he spent 10 years in his first job - if you discount that brief spell at Burnley. He also looks committed to a long stay here. I sense that even if the likes of Chelsea or Man U came knocking, he'd be reluctant to leave. Family is important to him, and perhaps he doesn't want to be carting them round the country, or being absent from them during the week, as some managers end up doing. He's the antithesis of the 'large than life' football manager, but beneath the exterior there's that passion to succeed. I think what I'm driving at is you can't assess this man by the usual criteria. It's like he's self-made.

The main areas of debate seem to be whether players have been unwisely rushed back from injury, and whether Eddie should have used his subs bench more. The first issue isn't a matter of science - there's always an element of risk, and we're really not in a position to say whether Eddie and/or the medical staff have gone too far. Personally, I think Eddie tends to err on the side of caution, compared to other managers. His own playing career was ruined by a return from injury that turned out to be premature. Our subs bench has looked very weak over the last few weeks, there's no question of that. There's a case for saying he should have used Tino or Hall more, but they're both inexperienced and it's not as though we have a first team full of stars that can compensate. Eddie relies a lot on team-work, and he has a way of holding players back until they're fully integrated into his systems. Bruno and Gordon struggled to get starts at first, and now look at them. The main voices questioning Eddie seem to emanate from the Metropolitan media. Because we're owned by the Saudis and have reached the Champions League, the journos are expecting our owners to react as though we were Man City. The expectations that should exist with our current squad are entirely different. Eddie has brains and balls in abundance and we could not be in better hands IMO.

The reality is that we're not that good and Luton aren't that bad.

Ever since the Howe revolution started, I've been wondering why we don't concede more goals. The back four lacks pace, neither of our first choice full backs are great defensively, and no-one in the midfield is a strong tackler. I've put it down to good organisation, the finer points of which are not within my grasp. Our current midfield of Miley-Longstaff-Bruno looks vulnerable, and with all the changes we've had to make with injuries, our general organisation looks more shaky. Last season, we were fortunate in having a lot of stability, but luck has turned against us this time round. We look very exposed on the break. Luton are a strong, athletic side who have now got their act together and produced some good results. Yesterday's result can't be a complete surprise. I think this season is a write-off as far as the league is concerned. We can still hope for a good cup run.

It's clear from the sudden drop in transfer activity this window that clubs are now taking FFP seriously. They do believe that the Premiership will act and that any punishment will stick. It may still crumple under challenge but the important thing is that clubs are acting as if it won't. I think that Everton were operating under the assumption that if they only went a little bit over the limit, or could plead that some of their decisions were justified by other criteria, that they would get away with it. The message is no, because otherwise it would be unfair on the clubs who made the sacrifices entailed by sticking to the letter of the laws. Notts Forest seem to be trying to do a similar thing by saying that they delayed selling someone so they could get more money. Well tough. Why should they gain an advantage over a club that felt they had to sell at an inopportune time in order to stick to the regs?

There are signs that, with the big inflation of transfer fees for players of average ability, that the spending limits need to be adjusted a bit. Most clubs need to be struggling. It doesn't have to be a big increase.

Apparently we've enquired about signing the Spurs left back. We texted Levy the message - 'How much is Udogie in the window?' (Those that don't get it, ask your parents)

Hopefully Isak will be back soon, but one of the bonuses of that game was that the front three of Miggy, Gordon and Murphy actually looked dangerous. That's something I never expected to be typing this time yesterday. I thought Miley did well in the first half, but struggles defensively - naturally enough, given his age. But there's much more to come from him going forward, and I think we'll see it fairly soon. A big win for Eddie, who has had to weather a bit of a storm this last few weeks. Beneath the surface, I thought he was quite emotional at the end. Tactically, he won the battle with Emery hands down. It feels like we're back. I'm getting a bit emotional now (sniff)

The spirit and the confidence was there from the get go. Not to mention the tactics. We're back!

Best half of football I've seen in ages from us. We're taking good advantage of Villa's high back line.

I think that young Mainoo is a cracking player. A great future beckons.

Clearly, Eddie has more faith in Livramento than Hall, even when it comes to the left back position. Livramento makes mistakes with his positioning but is a good athlete and often recovers. That may be the difference, at the moment, between the two players. But I also wonder whether Hall would do better if played further forward into the midfield. I think he himself has said that he ultimately sees himself as a midfielder. His chief assets seem to be his touch on the ball and his passing, so it does make some kind of sense. I have the nagging feeling that this lad is going to come good at some stage in his career, but it may not be with us.

I must admit, listening to the commentary did make me feel that we had few friends out there, in reality. That's particularly in relation to the way the alleged handball was dealt with, but what persistently riles me is the way these guys are often vague about the rules. They are paid to inform us, and it's not asking too much to expect them to be accurate with the laws and their current interpretation. Instead, way too often, they flounder.

Looking forward to Silva's calmly considered views on the first goal.

That was a tough watch. The most worrying thing is how slow and unconfident the midfield looked. We got harried off the ball in so many situations. I'm not looking forward to the Villa match.

Because they don't know the rules.

Well we really needed that goal. Up till then, we were completely dominated in the midfield and struggled to put two passes together. At least mentally we seem to have woken up now. But the Bruno - Longstaff - Miley midfield is seriously lacking in pace.

I didn't particularly see this coming. I thought the theatrical shows of bad temper were a sign that he was enjoying himself. They've got some good young players coming through. I think the set up is very encouraging for an incoming manager. They'll be taking over a winning and improving team rather than one that's struggling.

I'd say never assume that because someone has been successful in one line of business, that they're necessarily going to make equally wise decisions when it comes to football. Particularly if they're a fan. PS - it may be partly an emotional gesture towards City (ie 'we're bigger than you') And if I were City, seeing someone with a lot of inside knowledge going to my main rival, I might just be getting nervous.

Nobody can be particularly sure of how the City enquiry is going to turn out. We're in uncharted territory. I don't have much doubt that the tribunal will find them guilty. City signed up to a certain set of rules in taking their part in the Premier League, and the evidence seems clear that they broke the rules of that particular organisation. Where things might get tricky is when City try to invoke the law of the land in various ways, as I think they will. I can see them attacking the process as unfair, and the Premiership rules as being contrary to other rights in law. I think it'll depend on the enforceability of the rules, in which case the whole edifice of FFP will be at stake. I'm not sure on this, but the balance of proof that the tribunal will apply in judging City as a club might well be different from the balance of proof required for a conviction for fraud on the part of an individual to succeed in a law court?

Rice in his best role is good at what he does, but he seems reluctant to stray out of his comfort zone. From what I see, he spends most of his time in that anchor position, in plenty of space, re-distributing the ball around the midfield players ahead of him. When he has the opportunity to move forward in possession into space, he can be a difficult player to tackle, so he does have good qualities. He's very strong, and wins lots of challenges. What I don't feel I see enough of, is him moving forward into tighter, advanced spaces to receive the ball. And yes, I know his basic role is that anchor position, but a world class player should have the ability and confidence to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves, and rely on someone else to cover. He often seems to spurn those opportunities. I suspect his first touch isn't that great and he's a bit worried about losing the ball in those tighter spaces. I also think that whilst his passing is decent for that anchor role, I don't see much passing ability beyond that. To re-iterate, I think he's a good player. Just not a great one.

Declan Rice. I'm with Souness and Keane on this - he's a decent player but doesn't do enough to warrant his superstar status.

Recent results have not led me to doubt Eddie's ability one iota. The explanation is clear - we have not been able to rest players, either between games or by using subs - and we have generally been playing in mid-week every week. Given the pace of the modern game and the standards that are expected, rotation is an important weapon in the manager's armoury, and Eddie has been deprived of it. The scale of the over-achievement last year is being under-estimated. We didn't have, and still don't have, a Champions League level squad. In addition to the injury situation and the fixture congestion, that factor also has to be borne in mind.

We do need a third striker. If he's the best we can get at the moment , then so be it.