clintdempsey

Well, any manager in the league would get criticism for taking a 1-0 lead, 11 vs. 10 and dropping all three points. Howe is and has been fantastic for us and will continue to be so IMO. That doesn’t mean that this is not a shit result and performance. I thought we looked sluggish from the start tbh, low tempo and bad passes all over the place. Didn’t get any better after the subs and to top it off Botman is injured. A really, really bad day at the office.

I can live with a point at home to Liverpool. But this performance has been lacking in tempo, aggression, ball progression and oomph. We really should have put this to bed ages ago but we’ve shot ourselves in the foot big time. Eddie will be fuming (as will us fans) and rightly so if we can’t find a magic moment these last few minutes.

We can only blame ourselves unfortunately. Haven’t really taken the game to them in the second half. Still time though.

We feel a bit timid tbh. Need to go for the jugular here.

Feels like Pope could’ve done better there tbh. We’ve been far too sloppy and passive so far. Maybe this will wake us up.

Found the second episode good as well. Contrary to a few others I find the executive team really endearing too. There seems to be an awesome harmony to the whole setup. Loved it when Staveley snuck up on Eddie - “Eddie, my favorite man ?”. Even Yasser seems like he loves it and talks like it as well. The Burn segment had me rubbing my eyes for a bit as well. Impossible not to love him.

Thought it was OK tbh. Few scenes gave me goosebumps but I’m a softy. Amanda, Mehrdad and Yasir comes across really well I think.

No sound on the Swedish stream for me (Aftonbladet+). Any of you other Swedes have sound? ?

Gutted when I understood he’d be moved on. Even more gutted after that tweet (and that joke of a transfer sum). ASM is the kind of player that made me fall in love with football and it feels awful that he won’t be here for the good times. He seemed a genuine bloke who understood us as a club and supporters. A gem. Fucking FFP.

It is possible to love ASM as a throwback ‘artist’, a memory of how football was played when we all were little. I didn’t give a fuck about the kids kicking the ball the hardest or making all the right decisions when I was playing as a kid. I loved being on the same team as the skillful little fuckers though. There’s something to be said for dribbling 8 people before jinking the ball over the line (1 out of 10 tries). It’s the romantic part of the sport that absolutely anything is possible and that can create magical moments even in dark times. ASM represented that for me during the Bruce years - he gave me something to cling on to however small or little. I will miss him hugely and would have loved for him to stay. I do think that Barnes will be good for us as well and will contribute solid numbers. But he probably won’t ignite that feeling that ASM did when picking up the ball and going full pelt towards the opposition. In a way ASM is the football equivalent of the lover of years gone - it wasn’t reliable, it wasn’t always great but when she was on it hot damn you were in for a treat. Barnes would be more of of the kind of girl you settled down with - steady, missionary sex twice a week and a satisfying but somewhat predictable and ultimately plain experience. Give me the best of both worlds however…

This is something that irks me a lot. In hindsight EVERYONE loved Ginola, Asprilla, Robert and HBA. Maybe it’s me getting old and senile but I seem to remember a hell of a lot of posters on here (and earlier iterations of the forum) that lambasted the latest two something rotten.

Same here. If it’s just Barnes though…it’ll feel a bit meh.

They also played alongside far superior players that actually converted the chances they created. If I’m not mistaken Maxi ranks really high for chances created during his years here? EDIT: Last season not included since he was unavailable for large parts of it. Fully fit he’d probably have had double digits assists last year with Wilson, Miggy and Isak firing them in.

This feels a bit shit tbh. Love Maxi warts and all.

If Krafth is back for the start of the season he’ll do a good job I think. More than OK for resting Tripps 10-15 games against certain teams.

Tbh it feels like everyone misses Longstaff when he’s not playing and at the same time he gets a shitload of criticism when he plays. For me he’s super important but still lacking in composure and technical ability. The good far outweighs the “bad” though.

Still have a soft spot for Bramble after his thunderbastard against Chelsea back in 2006. ?

New Head Coach of Swedish 2nd Division strugglers AFC Eskilstuna. Wow.

If we get our money back in 3 years we’ll have made profit FFP wise of 18 million (60%) on a 30 million deal.

Transfermarkt has this as 100% probability which seems a bit premature. ?

I don’t think Howe sees it that way. He’s now fully integrated into the senior squad - not a chance that he’s sent out again IMO. There’ll be plenty of chances and games to impress next season.

I think we're looking at a RW/RF at the moment. We're probably pretty well stocked in the middle with Bruno, Joe, Willock, Tonali, Longstaff and Anderson. Maybe get another young one in later in the window. My guess though would be a winger and a LB/RB as the first priorities.

100% this.

He’s been linked before as well. Sure I remember talk about him last summer as one for this window.

Sounds like a really low price for Lacroix. Would think it’d take around 35 million?