TRon

Absolutely. I get a bit tired of hearing the Wood talk. He served a purpose, but we kicked on big time once we had Isak as our main striker.

Doesn't matter what side we put out the chances of doing that are remote in the extreme. I just think the coming PL games are more important if we want to still have some chance of getting back in the UCL reckoning. Although I suppose you could argue that's more or less gone as well.

But we did just sign 5 or 6 players in the summer just gone so it's not that surprising we have decided that's enough for now.

No one is suggesting chucking the game though. I'm not saying we should play the kids, just that we have a squad so we should rotate some of the players in who haven't played as much. If they can't be trusted then they really shouldn't be here.

Hate to say I told you so but...

This for me. Pointless burning out our players for a lost cause. We have enough of a squad we should be able to change things up a bit without resorting to second string completely.

Sick of the sight of this cunt already, last thing I needed was a thread bump.

But we already know that the club targets players during summer windows and don't like making signings mid-season. Howe explained this just this week and gave his reasoning. I am sure if the opportunity was there to bring in players who were long term targets we would do it. On loan signings I think Wilson will defnitely consult with Howe first and see how they would fit in.

Ross Wilson doesn't strike me as the type to tell Howe how to manage his squad. It sounds like we might have moved for this Zabi kid if everything had fallen into place, but if Howe is against loan signings in this window, Ross is not going to push players into the squad when they might barely get a kick.

Similar vibes to the PSG game in that there's not really a lot to lose so you can imagine we might take a few chances with either formation or personnel. I always look forward to that, even if it doesn't pan out how I might wish.

I don't think anyone at the club has suggested we are, just the players we want weren't available in January. We probably were rushed into making signings in the summer due to Isak downing tools, but we don't like operating that way. Given the way the season's panned out you can understand why.

You are talking about loan signings then, not permanent. I would be fine with that, but Howe has been pretty specific that he doesn't want to go down that road for the sake of a few weeks. That's his decision and he seems happy with it. If you are going to back a coach, then you have to back his reasoning for squad harmony.

I thought Wissa was a logical choice to mitigate the loss of Isak. I know he was supposed to be the Wilson replacement but never really bought that line. That said I have never really watched him close up, and I've been very disappointed with his lack of close control so far. I'm hoping it's just a blip because I would not be happy paying £55m for a 29 yr old with a heavy touch.

You are in the other thread bemoaning that we haven't taken any chances by signing players in the January window, and here you are critcising Wissa as a panic buy. You can't have it both ways.

Their set up relies a lot on discipline and working their arses off closing down the opposition. Once the promotion bounce has worn off and we are into a second season of grind, that's when we'll find out how easy it is to repeat. I think they'll struggle unless they can add some real quality in one or two areas. Their manager does seem quite focused on what he wants though.

Might need 3 unless we are confident of keeping a clean sheet down there.

Summed up very nicely. Great servant to the club.

We need a *shrug* emoji.

We can go for it with the rest of the squad, or at least the ones who are fit and raring to go.

Would be daft to play him in what is essentially a dead rubber.

It was kind of obvious even before the window opened.

I would say Emery seems to be a bit more fluid with his tactical set ups in that his in-game management seems more flexible. Howe tends to swap like for like and usually around the hour mark when things aren't going well. Just going off the game against us, Emery seemed to be able to tweak things more effectively in that game anyway.

I assumed we leaked this information to soften the blow when some other club like Chelsea sign him in the summer.

Although you could argue that given they have gone more direct this season, a player like Tonali might fit their style better than previous seasons.