Colos Short and Curlies

Not the worst game to have to play Krafth in if Manquillo is out short term. If we'd lost against either Everton or Villa then we'd be looking at this game being one we really needed something from, however a loss now wouldn't be the end of the world. Bigger games coming fast after this one. Having said that it would be nice to give a top 4 team a bloody nose, and who better than the porn barons and Sugar's bitch. (For a bonus point there is bound to be a forced photo opportunity with Mandy and Brady in the press)

He’s one point behind Gerrard now in the battle of the new bosses

When you think about it our record with Man U has been completely nuts. we’ve been destroyed on multiple occasions, whacked 5 past them, numerous 5 goal plus games, times we’ve played them off the park. very little consistency to it

I think the amount of draws we have skews this slightly, typically teams at the bottom lose a lot but pick up 9 or so wins from somewhere (last year was a complete anomaly). Typically you'd expect that form the 9 games we have drawn so far that 2 would be losses and 1 or 2 would be wins. 6 wins with no draws is likely to be enough, or depending on the who they fall against 4 wins and 4 draws

I recall not so long ago when a match thread struggled to get to 3 pages, we now have a pre-match thread at 3 pages within one day and 4 days before kick off.

Even with the more than decent performance and excellent result,2 things remain true 1. John Ando Anderson is still the most miserable bugger on the planet (never change Ando) 2. There is little better than a home crowd berating an opposition player with a loud cheer following a slice

There were 3 worse sides than us under McLaren when we went down (on paper). They are in a terrific stink at the moment and probably need 4 wins / 12 points to be safe. Looking at their fixtures and they don't have many (on paper again) easy home games left so they need to pull their collective fingers out pretty damn quickly. Brentford are the ones to drop though, so Everton will be safe unless 2 of the current bottom three put a run together

And I got dogs abuse for suggesting we brought in him at the beginning of January.

yes! much prefer boxed nets to a triangle. don’t mind stripes, our black and white ones were great, but preference would be a full orange net. im sure the nets at Mexico 86 had the flag colours on them

Kevin Campbell always likes a goal up here as well

Shite corner mind

Wasn’t it a friendly where Juve wore the pink kit against us?

Once Wilson is back I'm sticking to my Double Brazilian pivot with wither Miggy or Willock playing as a not quite attacking midfielder/not quite number 10 and then ASM and Fraser/Murphy supporting Wilson. I don't think we have the right balance to play a true 4-3-3 and we need something that gives the 'no 10' license to break forward. This could also work with Wood but you are looking for the 2 wide forwards (plus Miggy/Willock) to be breaking past him a lot or playing wide and swinging balls in. Perhaps Murphy when Wilson is back, Fraser when Wood is playing

Looking at 10 points before we play Chelsea. 12 are doable if things click quickly

Announcements should be made by 11 for transfers to count. To much scope for skull duggery with the current system

We’ve given ourselves options, especially in the middle now, which should allow others to contribute more. Sum of the transfer window is greater than the parts! We can double pivot with Bruno and Joe to allow Willock or Miggy more of a 10 role or go flat three with Shelvey depending on the opposition. ASM has more stability behind him and down the right we have a different threat with Trippier and Fraser or Murphy throwing them into the middle. We’ve also brought in players who haven’t got 19 games of fear in them this season, as they are more on the defensive side then it will help to cut out the nerves at the back, we should see a bounce back from Dubs as well. Would have brought HBA in for 6 months or maybe tried for Perez back. not going to fault the Wood signing. A striker better than Wilson was going to be tough this time round and the relationship he has with Howe would have made it unlikely to get someone on par with him. So we’ve got an alternative type instead for cover and then plan b. yes there are disappointments in missing out on a few ambitious blunts but for who we could realistically go for I’m giving the window a 9 for the impact I think the signings will have on others as well as personal improvements

May help Willock or Almiron as well Joe Bruno Willock or Miggy in front ASM and Lingaard flanking Wilson up front (Wood as an interim)

Disgrace of a human being. unfortunately you know that he’ll serve 5 years max and then another club will give him a contract

Kane

is it not more that Gerrard played with Coutinho rather than he just knew of him? there may be a few fringe players at Chelsea who Lampard will be a pull factor for but he’s not some shining beacon that players will levitate to

That's a mis-spell of my name and I must admit to taking a double take there! For the record I've never been kicked up the arse by a Brazilian (The name is also the reason I started playing in goal for my sins and I'm not sure who is/was worse)

He's a massive fan of Cheryl and Perrie and has just discovered Byker Grove on Le You Tube

That would put you in the title race with a half decent manager

For me Everton are in the awkward position where they are not big enough to just spend there way through a changing landscape but are too big and established to quickly react to it, and are therefore finding themselves lost. The likes of Brighton have adopted a fresh approach to how to structure a club and are able to take a punt on players as their expectations have been low interms of final position (even a relegation and quick re promotion wouldn't hurt them). They are thriving compared to recent years performance. Wolves took on a structure with a major agent driving activity, its worked. Leicester, say no more. Then the likes of City and Chelsea just buy the best to keep ahead. Man Utd have fallen behind in structure but have/had enough in the bank to just about keep up. Palace, Arsenal, Spurs to varying degrees are treading water Everton, Us (although that was by design in many ways) have not adapted with the times. Ashley went for a minimalist approach, Everton have thrown money at a problem without addressing the real core of the club. The money has run out and they have no strategic direction. They are in real danger of going down, and even if they survive it will take a stroke of genius/ big balls or a series of lucky strikes to turn it around.

We’ll that invasion was worse than the time WCW invaded WWE