Gallowgate Toon

Sean Dyche, the man that got relegated in his first PL stint after a promotion, came back up to get 16th, and is now pushing on? The bloke who's had years to build what he wants? I think folks would be wise to remember that Dyche has only had 1/3 of a really good Premier League season. I think he has promise, like, but people are massively jumping the gun with him.

The decisions he's being criticized on are pretty marginal, if we're being brutally honest. No alternatives we have are considerably better than others, no shape really fits the team because the plans he had were scuppered, nobody can see a genuine way out with the current playing squad. Our hope is to grind out a few points until Jan or someone wild cards some form until New Year. Guardiola said on TV the other day/week that the key to success as a manager is to have good players. We don't and, frankly, Rafa's decisions in this run are somewhat irrelevant until that isn't the case anymore. Unless he starts making wacky calls, at least. Ashley seems to be getting very little flak for our current plight when he's the main f***ing instigator of this shitshow. Instead, everyone is getting hung up on whether f***ing Mitro is our starting striker.

Do you ever just wind it in? It's proper weird, like.

He will get goals in the division as long as things are set up for him.

Diame is alright foil for Gayle. Certainly better than Perez as a partner. The summer, man We'd be so much better off with a half decent 10. Harsh on Murphy. Ritchie's been the poorer of the two.

A number 10 is absolutely critical. A striker is also massively important, but a really suitable 10 to work with Gayle would do wonders for us alone. Someone who can link play (especially on the break) without losing the ball 4 times out of 5, is athletic enough to support and can handle some defensive responsibility could transform us. We should go all out to get Batshuayi in, even if it's on loan. A 'keeper is also vital. Winger, CM and another full back would be good to have.

His worry up front will be about an outlet, which we need with the lack of quality we have and the way we need to play, that can relieve pressure and cause some damage. Gayle has pace but struggles on his own and needs a physical presence close around him - Merino might be able to fill that void as a 10, but it's always going to be whether he can provide the right support and speed. Joselu can't really do much on his own so isn't a lone forward, he also gets bullied. Mitrovic obviously isn't going to start. With 4-3-3, I'd feel comfortable in us for the defensive and middle of the pitch. Having Shelvey in there with a slightly more free role should allow us to get the ball to the forwards faster, it's just a case of whether we have enough up top for the ball to not come straight back... I'd be very worried about Gayle being isolated. Outside of that, 4-2-3-1 with Merino as a 10 and Gayle/Joselu depending on the style of game. Absolutely screwed over the by the summer shitshow. Some moderate investment would've seen us easily, easily comfortable. Shambles.

We bought him off the back of a very good season at Eibar, by many accounts, so he obviously has something. We've seen on countless occasions that it can take players some significant time to get used to the league.

He played as a 10 for Swansea on occasion. I'd sooner have him there and go back to one up top. Desperation

This is going to sound like 2013 all over again but what's it going to take to try 4-3-3? It's the only way I can see for us that balances us out enough to not be total shit at either end of the pitch. We absolutely can not handle having a 2-man midfield, and the defence needs more protection without Lascelles anyway. We're never going to be great going forward.

I can't believe the defending in the middle issue hasn't been rectified. We've been shit at it for weeks on end. We have to stop conceding goals, man.

No idea why he's not been packing our midfield for weeks. Ever since Burnley we've been atrociously open, largely playing 4-4-2. Why would you bother doing it against a very good counter-attacking side?

Why is our midfield consistently open every game? It's absolutely pathetic.

Bad news gets more clicks than good news, especially for snippet info.

He's set up a couple of decent chances, like. Mainly to Joselu His game would benefit with more players joining him up the pitch.

That's the sort of centre back he is - blocks, clearances, aerial battles, deep defending. It's not a backhanded compliment. Are we talking about the same defender here? He's an organiser, a leader, great in the air in both boxes. "Blocks, clearances and deep defending" is you trying to put him in a box. He's no Sergio Ramos but he mostly plays the ball on the ground. As we're in the Jamaal Lascelles thread, yes, I think we're talking about the same defender. Of course he can do other stuff, but that side of defending is his main game at the moment and really important. He's not a particularly great reader of the game, interceptor or tackler, IMO, not that he can't get better. He has obvious limitations on the ball which is absolutely fine for us, for both now and in the future, because he keeps it simple. I already mentioned he's a good organizer and leader. As if you're digging someone else out on football terminology, like. To my knowledge, stopper is a pretty old-fashioned term for a type of defender, my 63-year old Dad uses it Weren't you banging on about Matuidi being a 'shuttler' or some utter s**** last year?

That's the sort of centre back he is - blocks, clearances, aerial battles, deep defending. It's not a backhanded compliment.

It's important to have a proper stopper in this league, especially with how we play. We need someone willing to do the grunt work, organizing, and general cajoling to keep players going. I think Lejeuene has shown he has some very good defensive ability and can become that type of player for us, but he's having to adapt to a new style and tempo of defending. He's proven himself in Spain so I have no doubt he'll bed in here just fine, he absolutely needs someone to be the lead defender next to him though.

He shows some really intelligent movement along with some lovely skill, I think he could be a really decent player in a year. I think being on the left in our setup hampering him, though. I did read that he had some good games as a 10 last year...

Not having any lefties on the left has crippled us going forward. Lost count, before Aarons came on, of how many good crossing opportunities were passed up because the winger/full-back had no confidence to play it in. This is spot on, like. Murphy has had the beating of his man the last 2 games but because he's generally been quite deep when beating them and he's had little to aim for, it results in pretty pointless crosses. I think we should be switching wingers in-game a little depending on the situation.

If Rafa is best in a certain situation, it's being an underdog that can nick a surprise result. We'll probably lose but have a feeling we'll grab a point.

You can tell he has so much class - he made some great interceptions and tackles, and he still played some delicious passes despite not having his best game on the ball. He and Shelvey are our best 2, but I'd rather we try a 3 there.

West Brom also shit themselves, mind. Much easier to step up and play good stuff when that happens.

Well, at least the streak has ended. Need to take as much confidence as we can from that.

Come on!