Memphis

Subs were a massive difference especially given the conditions. All we can expect from our subs is to help hang on to a lead or to possibly stifle the opponents. We have zero ability to change the match from the bench. Brighton, meanwhile, brought on impactful subs with fresh legs and it gave them a huge lift. We can finish 8-10 with the squad we have but nothing more. We could threaten 6-7 with a couple of big signings. Let's see what the owners want to do.

Expected a tough match and got one. Brighton are a very good side and are very well-coached. We had a number of understandable things contributing to a below par performance but we managed to get a point from the match. Very clearly we need better attacking options but we are a tough-minded team and we are mentally strong. I give Howe a lot of credit for turning us into a side with character. We would have lost that match under almost any other manager. And Nick Pope deserves huge plaudits, too. He earned us that point.

This is where the semantics come in - like is the “best” player the one who scored or assisted the most, the one who has he highest skill level, or the one who embodied the spirit of the club most notably? People have different definitions of the same word, so you’re going to struggle to find total agreement on that. In terms of impact, Shearer, Beardsley, Lee, all were “better” than Bruno, of course. At least so far. But in terms of overall talent? I don’t think we have ever had a more talented overall player in our club’s esteemed history than Bruno. I don’t say that lightly. There is nothing on the pitch he cannot do at an elite level. We have never had a player who was this good at this many things. We have had flawed geniuses and we have had dogged performers but never a player with the lot. If he stays with us for long enough and leads us back into the top reaches of the table, he will be forever remembered among the icons of the club.

It all depends on what the owners/Ashworth think and what they want the timeline to be - and what players like Bruno and Botman have been told to expect. Howe is clearly committed to squad unity and team culture. He won't want to sign just anyone - even Bruno/Botman have had to work their way into the starting XI - and so if Ashworth et al think that we can achieve 7th/8th with the existing group, Howe's not going to push too hard for upgrades at this point. It seems to me they have a plan in place consisting of step by step growth and they don't seem too keen on skipping steps, even if those of us on the outside think it would be a good idea. I appreciate their patience though I admit it is frustrating at times to seemingly be missing out on realistic targets. It is no coincidence that we are getting fantastic performances from the likes of Burn, Shelvey (pre injury), Joelinton, Almiron, players who have been doubted or underwhelming. Even ASM seems to be more committed to putting the work in to go along with his incredible skill. Getting the overall squad performance to the levels we are seeing now has involved a culture of buy-in and commitment. The wrong buy might jeopardize that - and for what? Is 5th/6th realistic right now? Probably not unless everything falls into place. Meanwhile we found a Bruno, who is absolutely perfect for the profile and seems committed to the long-term growth of the club. He is the perfect example of the kind of player we need to target, but someone of his talent and cultural fit is exceptionally rare. I have to accept that we're going to be patient in the build but so far, I have little to complain about. It's a process. Hopefully we'll find one or two to add to the process before the window shuts. But even if not, the club trajectory is indicative of a wonderful future.

Those weighted through balls to Almiron were a dream. Bruno is such a glorious player to watch. Does everything and does it incredibly well. Would walk into any almost any side in the world.

When was the last time we cruised to a win like that? Dominated every facet of the match and deserved to win by 4 or 5. I love the way we dominated possession and were still able to create a bunch of chances. We've not been asked to play that way much and in the past we struggled when we weren't allowed to play on the counter. This was a real show of force. We've been on the other side of these against Manchester City or Liverpool, it's nice to hand them out. Almiron was full of running as usual but his lack of end product continues to be a problem. Upgrade him and we are a legitimate European threat.

Completely dominant. Bruno is just a joy to watch. His passing is erotic. But it's so clear the club's dilemma - Almiron is making great runs and has a good understanding with Bruno but he's just not good enough at this level to make the final ball count. We will be fine playing him but we would improve massively with a better option there. How ambitious are we this season? If we get that first goal, we'll score 2 more. Just have to find a way to get the first one.

Been an excellent preseason. Good work for everyone. Seems well-thought-out and well-planned. Fully expect everyone to be fit and ready for Saturday.

We just look so much fitter than I’ve ever seen us at this point in a preseason. Like a professional outfit. We will have ups and downs as we continue to grow from the withered husk of a club we were to the monster we will eventually become, but it’s nice to know that we are professionally handled from top to bottom. Our failings will be from individual mistakes, perhaps not having enough quality to deal with truly top teams, but they won’t be because we can’t keep up physically with any decent side that challenges us. And as we add more quality to the squad, the overall level will rise, it’s a virtuous circle that will serve us well. Very optimistic even with the late concession, that was a quality match and we were never with our best XI on the pitch, still played solidly.

Brilliant half of football that. Best friendly I can remember.

Fuck me what a finish by Miggy, wow, who is this guy??

This is a real gift for Howe and the coaching staff. I don't remember too many friendlies of this quality and atmosphere. What a great chance to see who is up to it and who isn't. It's pretty clear who isn't so far...

Once Bruno & Joe came.on, it was a completely different match. They look excellent. Botman looked good although there wasn't much for him to do. Shelvey looked noticeably more active and more fit, good to see. Just a generally very competent performance, never had to push very hard, but we look very fit as a squad. We are desperate for help on the right side, though.

Have a feeling we'll end up signing him. The Botman negotiation shows that we're perfectly willing to wait patiently for things to fall our way. I wouldn't blame Ekitike here, he's a young man who seemingly is badly advised. We wouldn't have been involved in these talks for this long if he didn't want to come; it seems quite clear his representatives are the issue here. So either they change their tune, he gets rid of them, or we simply move on. We're in a terrific position and, unless he is persuaded to stay in Reims for another season and miss out on a huge pay rise, Ekitike and his people are not. At some point soon, there will be one final offer and I suspect he's going to end up taking it. If not, we'll move on. We've got no reason to worry here.

It’s all conjecture as to how much he does or doesn’t want to sign and with whom. It’s silly to speculate about how much he loves this club or that. My assumption is that he is going to eventually sign with a club he wants to play for. There are plenty of reasons for delay and I wouldn’t assume any have to do with not wanting to sign. And I have confidence that if we identified Botman as worth 40+ mil, he’s going to be very very good. Our player identification has been pretty spot on.

“I mean, FROM AFAR it certainly looks as though the club are doing well, I mean, how could an outsider like me, who would have had no involvement obviously, I couldn’t tell you anything at all about even the slightest inside information, as an outside person, a layman, if you will, certainly someone not at all in the loop, why I didn’t even know Eddie Howe was the manager until you asked me about him.”

Camilla Cabello "Señorita", just put "Ekitike" in place of señorita and you're golden

There is no reason for the club to put out any information to the media at this point. Anything concrete purported to be coming from them is a lie. Agents certainly have motivations for leaking, as do other clubs. Neither of those parties will leak anything beneficial to us. You can assume most of the paper talk is stuff like this. For once, I'm quite confident the club has an excellent , well-conceived plan and I'm satisfied to watch it play out.

Going to have to ignore a lot of smokescreens from the club being pushed to various media outlets. Similarly to January, it's in the club's best interest to publicly play down the size of our transfer budget and the ambition of our targets. We accomplish nothing through having that publicly discussed. But I would assume that, behind the scenes, we have been working our channels for quite some time and I'd be surprised if we don't do significant business quickly. Feels like we've got a pretty shrewd group working now.

Cannot be overstated what a wonderful job Eddie Howe has done - and done it with a demeanor as even-keeled and professional as I have ever seen. Clearly gets what it means to lead a club like ours but has never seemed overwhelmed or anything other than calm and controlled. I think he can grow with the club but that's for another day. For now, it's enough to applaud the job he's done. Perfect manager for us right now.

Wayne Rooney certainly wasn't a terrible footballer but against us he turned into a big goofy Messi

Genuinely torn on him. Undoubtedly a player of extraordinary skill but he doesn't seem to match the character of the squad as a whole. Very much seems to be served as a big fish in a smaller pond. I don't know whether or not Howe rates him as a long-term purple but I also don't think we can carry him forward without an improvement in his overall mentality. Seems a good person, so I don't think it's a character issue or anything of the sort, I just don't know if he's truly willing to sacrifice his own game a little for the greater good. I also have no idea of what his value would be in the market. You could tell me 20m or 50m and I think it's conceivable. One of the trickier decisions for Howe this summer imo.

He’s still got the magic.

These were his comments after the match: I really appreciate the honesty and self-awareness in those comments. He knows they weren't good enough but he's also still confident in improving. Class attitude.

Just listen to this. Incredible man management. Here's a player who could be upset about not playing but he's not only satisfied, he's understanding of his role and he's appreciative of the improvement in development.