KaKa

I'm not coming at you. You don't seem to have read those reports from what you've just said previously.

No ... it has since been reported that Ashworth was being marginalised before then. And Howe was working with Nickson, Amanda and Mehrdad mostly. This is why those reports came out about Eales saying that Amanda and Mehrdad were 'getting in the way'. I'm not sure you've been following things closely enough, as you don't seem to have all the information.

Based on problems with Ashworth and now with Mitchell. Who do we bring in next then? These are two of the more sought after names out there by the way. So who next?

Yes, we were already miles behind in infrastructure and now we have a manager that doesn't seem to be open to the setup, and so how does this help us now?

There's typically always this unhealthy attachment to individuals that are then considered to be capable of no wrong doing. Man City and Arsenal have set the standard with a strong structure where everyone is aligned and have left everyone behind. Liverpool this summer got their structure revamped putting some heavy hitters in place, and had a change of manager and hardly made any signings like ourselves, and it looks like they are making a very smooth transition having lost one of the best managers in the league in Klopp. Villa have had a strong structure in place for a little bit now and are looking like they will be going from strength to strength and are likely going to start edging away from us now. Chelsea have been an abomination of a club, just throwing any and everything at the wall, hoping something sticks, but unfortunately it's starting to look like they may have something, off the back of first revamping their whole structure. Even Man Utd are trying to get their house in order nowadays, and so will likely soon start pushing forward too. We've seen for years now how letting the manager dictate things at that club has led to a mish mash of players and no cohesion or continuity. And this with them hiring some big name managers even. Meanwhile ... people at Newcastle are pining for Amanda coming back with her husband, even though neither had a background in football as executives, and didn't seem to be managing things behind the scenes as well as they could have. And they just want Howe to be allowed to work as he pleases with no one questioning or challenging him, in the better interests of the club. If we're not careful we might be royally fucked. And this will start to become more evident. If Villa get back to back Champions League qualification and Chelsea get themselves back in there, we might be locked out for a while. As they will be in even greater position to build their squads up further. Meanwhile we are still using the likes of Burn, Murphy and Longstaff regularly, and none of these would even get into their 25 man squads.

Nothing he said brought much attention, until Howe's interview coming off of all of the England talk, which the media ran with and haven't relented on since.

Once they had let Amanda and Mehrdad go, he was never going to get the level of assurances he was after. I think it's clear someone higher up at the club wasn't happy with how things played out with the pair of them, Howe and Ashworth not being aligned, and the issues we ended up having with PSR.

Yup, this is being overlooked, but it was not fair on Mitchell, especially as they had not discussed things yet like Howe himself said at the time. Any subsequent issues likely arose from there, as I doubt Mitchell appreciated that.

That interview he did just after Mitchell came in and prior to them even sitting down to discuss things, was not a smart move. It invited all of the speculation that has come since then and probably also put Mitchell on the defensive right off the bat. It has all ultimately led to a bad vibe around the place. Not sure what on Earth it was meant to achieve, but it's going to make things difficult for him going forward.

Villa nick it at the end to ensure everyone that we are in the mix with has won today too. Man City next week. Absolutely fantastic ...

Bruno has taken risks with the ball in dangerous areas all season. Think he's been poor.

And so what was the problem last game then or the others that he started in?

Yeah, I know, but I'd rather play him there tbh. I'd trust him more defensively. So many gaps in the team still. The recruitment has been so confusing, and quite frankly, just not good enough.

Or actually start Tonali and play him there. This has been an issue for a while now, but still not addressed.

Our players are so well suited to pressing and a lot of our good play and chance creation came off the back of that approach. No idea why we've stopped doing so. Because of last season's injuries perhaps? Whatever the reason it is not working and it's a bad decision.

Even with this lineup we stink. We are in big big trouble.

Oh dear ...

Semenyo at it again. Offside!

Mbuemo at it again.

That thriller celebration from Jackson was hilarious

Think Potter would be a good fit for this West Ham team. If they do eventually get rid of Loepetegui though, think they'll go running back to Moyes again

Wow ... Now that is one heck of a lineup. Very very exciting.

Um ... that wasn't the question. Either of Kudus/Bowen for either of Gordon/Barnes.

You're in charge in January, having replaced Mitchell, who has been dismissed for slapping Howe during their latest bust up. West Ham call in January offering one of either of theirs for one of either of ours. What say you?