Gallowgate Toon

He's a solid defender who can cover multiple positions but, perhaps most importantly, is someone who knows the club, tries 100% even in training, and is popular among the squad. Howe seems to understand the importance of a club's culture & identity; I wouldn't be surprised to see him keep some unfashionable players around the place over the next few years who serve a utility purpose. The big caveat is his fitness, of course, but he's likely not going to be playing much anyway, as has already been said.

City will likely turn us over but it's as good a chance as any to get a result. This has happened so much to them now that some genuine despondency might creep in for a bit.

Very stupid thing to say when you're out of form and have struggled to string 2 good performances together for months. Perhaps a defence mechanism, as I imagine the question was a loaded one as he's referencing Mane, but it doesn't make the answer any better.

Abysmal extra time from City. They're a frustrating team to watch - overly coached, imo, as they rarely seem willing to take a risk when they really need to. Far, far too predictable on the ball and too many one pacers.

Next season, I want to establish ourselves as a top 10 team with a progressive playing style for the future and make a serious go of the cups.

It's OK to sign the odd player who is out form etc. It becomes more of a problem when you start stockpiling your squad full of footballers on a downward trajectory. Would absolutely take Rashford!

James Alcott nicely summarised Wood's importance to the current team a little while back, imo. One of the best things he's done is win flick-ons because it's allowed us to relieve some pressure & start to press up as a team on many occasions (pressing is our most effective open play tactic, imo). Obviously, you'd prefer they actually landed in the stride of a player but we're not exactly risk takers in terms of off the ball runs so it's pretty hard to achieve that. The alternative is the ball coming straight back into dangerous areas which is what would happen with Gayle starting (he definitely doesn't have the legs to play as a lone striker for the majority of matches anymore either) while we're unable to consistently build possession from the back. But he's evidently not the answer. In fact, even if Wilson were fit, I don't think even he's a good option if we're going to continue to play the same shape. He loses the ball a fair bit but is obviously an excellent finisher. Different story if the plan is to go 4-4-2 though... Wood's best moment was that weird turn he did to set up a break to set up against Brighton. Weirdly class and deserved an assist

What's wrong with Zaha? I like him as a footballer but he seems incredibly fragile as a person.

Not sure what happened after the hour mark. Going for the counter felt more planned this time - looked like Howe was motioning for players to hold shape a lot. He's usually shouting to push up. We were dealing well with their press in the first. Thought we could've managed the second a lot better & carried on attacking. Still, another 3 points, man. Amazing.

I just want to watch him play football. It's so fun.

That was like MLS Miggy. Direct, athletic, and with some ability too! There's definitely some great chemistry there with Bruno. They feel on eachother's wavelength in terms of when to play and when to keep it simple. See how he does the next few games.

I really like Ando he's so fucking dour sometimes but that's part of his charm. Makes it all the sweeter when he gets genuinely excited in the moment.

Toney would be an excellent striker for the squad but I'd want us to aim higher for a starter.

Fancy this to be a decent game. Palace are a good team who will give us problems but will also likely leave enough space for us to have a go too. Can't wait to watch Bruno play again. 2-1.

Would start him tomorrow instead of Big Joe.

He's been really fucking good for pretty much his entire time here. Been very handy going forward as well considering his rep at other clubs for being a defensive full back.

My voice is gone after the celebrations. Pint in town after the match and it was bouncing. Fucking perfect, man.

Leicester were weird. They did a really good job of opening up our midfield with these little movements inside but just couldn't seem to get the final phase right at all. Their changes made them worse.

He's going to be majestic for us. Can tell he's still learning and picking his moments but he has some outrageous quality going backwards and forwards.

Made a fucking great call at half time to shore us up and play on the break. Had a bit of a Spurs second half feel in the first (without the final third quality) but adjusted us really well. He's class.

Bruno's like 6ft, isn't he? Definitely has more athletic potential than Cabaye, once he's adjusted and had a preseason. He feels like a Cabaye-Gini hybrid, style-wise.

Phillips feels like a good style of partner for him, if he's still the same player after his injuries. When we initially signed Bruno, I saw him taking the Shelvey role, but I think that's a waste of his talents. His style of game feels very well suited to the league as a midfielder with license to roam. I can see why he might have been frustrated by the style of French football.

You can get wingers who track back while also contributing well going forward. They're not the rarity they once were.

He's just a class act, tbh.

I've looked at him differently since Trippier (and now Bruno) came in. It sort of reminded me what a truly quality player looks like and ASM isn't that, imo. I actually think he lacks some real fundamentals to his game. He's not brilliant at anything other than dribbling. Touch can go from sublime to ridiculous, his striking technique is very inconsistent, not exactly a stellar passer of the ball, very patchy decision-making. We're by no means a fantastic attacking unit but he's part of that problem, imo. Maybe he's holding some injuries and needs a proper break. He was a really useful talisman for us for a while when things were bad but I think he's been a bit shown up since we started to look like a functioning team. Give him another year but if it's more of the same then I'd look to get rid.