Lenny

Charnley clearly on Futbin filtering "Future Stars" players.

Remember that, in all likelihood, nobody outside of the handful of people directly involved in the deal knows absolutely anything at all, if anybody is even involved in anything at all to begin with... It'll either happen or it won't, but constantly refreshing on here, twitter and wherever else is always just going to be an exercise in frustration because literally everyone is clueless, attention seeking or agenda-driven Or a massive cunt. Mainly massive cunts when it comes to football fans on the internet. Believe that. Cheers Big Dog.

He was, but he appeared for us 4 times

Also, the fact that in 4 pages, the name Ameobi has only been uttered once says an awful lot about the amount of shit strikers we've had to endure over the years

As alluded to in the OP, I think it's fairer to judge a player that's had a good number of games, and failed, more so than a player that hasn't. Of course, you could argue that they didn't get the number of games they did because they were quickly found out, but when the number of games is so small it just skews any real comparison as a fan. I mean, they technically could have had their career worst performances all bundled into consecutive matches For that reason, I just don't consider people like Xisco (9 appearances), Robinson (11 appearances), Dalglish (11 appearances), Guivarch (4 appearances) etc. as a choice. Numbers are from Wiki, so may not be totally accurate but won't be too far out. Since I've been watching football, those that have had a fair number of games and stood out for me as the worst are Joselu, Smith, Andersson and Riviere. I'm inclined to just omit Smith from consideration since most of his time for us was spent in midfield. Wasn't he already a withdrawn midfielder for Man Utd following his serious injury, prior to signing for us? That leaves Joselu, Andersson and Riviere. In all honesty I can't really disagree with any one of them coming out on top, but my pick would be Joselu (very closely followed by Andersson). He's played the most games of the three of them, and over that number of games has looked consistently poor. He's had a few 6-7/10 performances, but it's an extreme exception rather than anything close to the norm. I also think that Rondon's performances this season all but cemented my opinion of Joselu, since the difference between the two is staggering, considering they are supposed to perform the same role. Finally, special mention to Tomasson; I personally don't consider him for this list since he wasn't signed to be a striker, and got thrown in at the deep end coming in from a weaker division as a young player. The fact he went on to have a pretty impressive career suggests he was simply played out of position.

Scored on his debut (in a loss), as well IIRC.

His technical ability was apparent from the start, but he came across as our weakest defender of our centre backs in my opinion. Certainly doesn't seem the case now, mind.

Schar didn't particularly cover himself in glory immediately prior to the foul, mind.

Brainless. When a single moment undoes a positive (albeit without a goal) performance.

Hasn't Rice been playing well all season?

Really poor half. No one seems to have any conviction about their play and seem to just be sleepwalking into a defeat. Rondon has had a very poor half, can't seem to hold the ball and when he gets the pass off it's too weak. Manquillo (too predictable and lacking quality offensively) and Hayden (having a poor game) need to come off.

Or even 3 or 4 weeks ago...

I figured he was just totally ill equipped for this division having watched him since promotion, but he's been very useful since pairing up with Longstaff.

He was as good as anyone on the pitch, particularly in the first half against Burnley.

I really think this whole "not passing to Almiron" thing is way out of proportion. He's mostly nothing but a model professional that wants to win (more than most), so I really can't see him choosing not to pass to a certain player for any sinister reason.

Lejeune hasn't even played 1 full season worth of appearances for us so I'm not sure how you can say that Exactly, it's been a season and a half with a couple of long term absences

Can't say I agree with that. Colo, at his best was about as classy a centre back as you're likely to see. Fantastic on the ball, smart at interceptions, great distribution and a leader by example. I'm a massive fan of Lejeune and I do think he has all of the above attributes but to say he's better in every department is a bit of an exaggeration. It's a shame Colo's latter seasons seem to have soured the perception of just how good he was for the two at his peak. Honestly, I feel comfortable in saying I've seen nearly every single one of our matches from the Champo season to prime peak Colo in the 5th season to his demise...I've seen every match Lejeune has played for us as well and while he was a cool character on the ball with a great reading of the game, he did not have that diagonal ball in his locker at all nor the intelligence to start attacks from the back. I mean we're splitting atoms here because both were class, I just think honestly believe Lejeune has it all. Either way it's refreshing to be discussing who was the better of two quality players (and one of them still active for us)!

Can't say I agree with that. Colo, at his best was about as classy a centre back as you're likely to see. Fantastic on the ball, smart at interceptions, great distribution and a leader by example. I'm a massive fan of Lejeune and I do think he has all of the above attributes but to say he's better in every department is a bit of an exaggeration. It's a shame Colo's latter seasons seem to have soured the perception of just how good he was for the two at his peak.

Ritchie probably has the best opportunity to show his best now, more than at any other stage during his time with us. Whilst he doesn’t have the most athletic attributes, he’s a player that, given space, can cause problems with his quality passing and crossing, and with Almiron we have a player that can create that space for him. People are picking up on him not passing to Almiron, but it’s likely that he’s enjoying having a bit of room for a change, rather than anything sinister. I really wouldn’t be surprised if Ritchie’s form and productivity took an upturn during the remainder of the season.

As a manager he's as close to a guarantee as you can get when it comes to maximising what you have. You've only got to look at the raft of high profile managers that come to big clubs and are gone within 6-18 months, so it's by no means something you can take for granted at any club regardless of their aspirations.

Burnley played the game like they hadn't paid any mind to our formation and defensive quality, and played totally into our hands. It was the same earlier in the season as well so you'd think they'd learn. 3 big, on form centre backs and they play the whole game long ball. When they wanted to change it up, they brought on Crouch ffs

Much the better side that half, really nice to watch. Hopefully we keep it up.

Seriously who the fuck does he think he is

Almiron's movement will help our less athletic players no end. Ritchie is getting so much more space (and not just due to the red card).

FFS as frustrating as it is entertaining.