Raconteur

It would be terrible if they went down after agreeing their takeover #shutthegatebehindus

Just posted - some interesting ideas, but clearly the narrator is not a fan.

The Jonas comparison was interesting. I loved Jonas even though he wasn't very effective, but with Almiron, it's more of a hope that he comes good as an attacker while appreciating he does good work defensively (like Jonas). I'm also happy to acknowledge Almiron was great under Rafa, but the drop off under Bruce is astonishing.

Further digging reveals Dummett and Schar are off contract in the summer, so yeah, on balance...

Don't know about adding Mee (32) to Dummett (30), Schar (30 next week), Fernandez (32) and Clark (32)...

I've heard ex-referees talk about instructions to keep bookings to a minimum because the product needs the best players available. Referees have ceded a lot of their powers ever since they let Keane, Schmeichel et al crowd the ref without consequence.

Don't know that anyone with that complexion/hair combo can be described as "a fit lad"

He's never been more than average on the right, it's just not his position. His only hope of being really effective is some shuffling of ASM and Joelinton, and then the question becomes "Is what Almiron brings more important than moving either/both of those two to accommodate it?"

I watched a vid comparing the Everton and Arsenal squads (before the match) - the slant of which was Everton have a better XI and Rafa was doing a shite job. (Some real stretches included, like Coleman over Tomyasu…) Next day I’m reading someone compare the same XI to our relegation teams…

Was there any gnashing of teeth over our 23s beating theirs tonight?

Whipped the glasses off while the final whistle was still blowing. Class result for Rafa.

I can't think of the last manager Villa had who Liverpool might want. Except for Steve Bruce, of course...

Dangerous to see Maddison coming back into form, but I'm quite confident we can get a result here.

Current poll results: People who think we are staying up (voted 0-5) - 24 (11.9%) People who think we are mathematically certain to go down (voted 10) - 40 (19.8%) Howay, lads

Pretty sure he once scored 20 goals in a season from centre half. Bruce the manager loved his centre halves to be lumps

I was impressed by the way he linked up with Joelinton - finally looking like two blokes who'd been working together for two an a half years. I feel the criticism is a bit harsh and have no doubt Howe will get a lot more out of him.

Dafuq?

Would that be with two centre mids and three up front? 3-4-3 (or 5-2-3)?

Perhaps. Money talks, we’ll find out how loudly…

Just come into a new club - he knows what Ritchie can do (or could do, in the old days) and trusts his character. He is also the only thing resembling a set piece taker (Shelvey does not count). I thought Lewis did reasonably well and probably deserves to retain his place, but I can understand Howe’s thinking. If he has to play, I’d rather in place of Fraser than Lewis, but that’s a whole other can of worms

I had no fucking idea what that whole Siuuu thing was about, so, much obliged for this

I don’t buy that - they proved with van Dijk that they will sell for the right price. The player himself could be sold the vision of anchoring our midfield as we become a superclub…?

Didn't he have a loan spell somewhere, where he was absolute pony? Something like 1 goal in 20 games?

A lot of people going with Schar over Lascelles, and I'm not sure why. Schar is magnificent on the ball, but he's got at least a rick per game in him. Lascelles, with Dubravka and Fernandez, give us a solid organisational base.

If I was smart enough, I'd drag one of @HTT II's JWP posts across from the General NUFC thread. There was some debate over whether he is attainable. For me, he'd be the first player I tried to sign for January 1. Solid CM with a wicked set piece - two massive gaps in our squad for the price of one. He's one player I think we should really be gunning hard for.