Gallowgate Toon

With our current wide options, he and Gordon should both be starting in a fluid front 3 with Isak.

3 games for a head lean in a contact sport. Ludicrous.

No way a loan should do. A sad end to his time here, I felt he would've retired here and moved into coaching with us. Feels like a case of things in his personal life could be driving this more than anything else.

Very much doubt it'll happen but I think a 3-5-2 here would be an interesting shout with Kelly slotting in LCB, Tino/Hall as wing backs, and Isak-Gordon up top.

I'm all for trying to get A1 players etc. but there's more than one way to build a squad if that route isn't available. If anything, PSR has introduced more chess playing that you should be doing to maximise the game, as shit as that is. If we don't get any additional competition for at least either CB or RW by the end of the window then it would be very poor - no other way to spin it.

The sample size from Saturday was so small, like. It's very rare that a team dominates proceedings for 90 minutes - even last year's awful promoted sides gave Arsenal/City some tough matches. An awkward pressing shape (which we'd have adjusted to not long after the sending off imo) and some rust seemed to be the main issue - between 5 & 15 minutes, we lost the ball a fair bit through taking extra touches - Schar, Burn, Hall, Bruno, and Gordon all being offenders in that period. Schar and Hall being in that mix wasn't good for us as they're our main distributors directly from defence. I thought the strategy once we went down was spot on. We knew we were carrying some ringrust and they didn't have much to really hurt us with so we sat narrow and waited for counters which is something we're very suited to, while still mixing in some pressing. It felt like we controlled the space very well bar one or two moments.

Mitchell's job is to build strategies to meet the club's goals. He's not going to implement the same exact blueprint at every club.

I love that he almost always tries to build play but he definitely did go a bit far trying a no-look backheel to Bruno on the edge of our box

If we don't sign a CB before next Sunday, I expect Kelly will start at LB as we'll need that height with Krafth being a lil shorty. Can't see Howe going to two lefties at CB if Krafu is available.

Southampton did have some very nice patterns passing out with their back 5 but I think we'd have adjusted the press and sorted them out had Fab not had the red mist.

His vocalness was a big surprise when he came on as the reports were that he's an excellent footballer and defender but more of a relaxed/introverted character. Really liked his cameo.

We're aiming high this season so I don't think banking on playing through mistakes quite cuts it. Part of his education should be learning about standards required too and working things out on the training pitch. I absolutely love his type of player for a FB and think he'll have a fantastic career here, but I expect he'll have a streaky campaign. He's only a baby. Kelly is excellent competition for him imo, if he stays fit consistently.

He's such a good squad player, man.

Stuck in a cruncher which was class.

I was a bit surprised he started, tbh. 49 minutes of football in 3 months isn't great. Aye, he's trained with England but I don't imagine that's anything like how we train/reflects a proper preseason.

First 5 minutes we were decent and looked to get right up but we sat off far too much for my liking after that and let them build momentum instead. It was odd. That, combined with risible refereeing, led to the sending off.

He's absolutely insane when we're up against it. Motm for me.

Tough one for him but it happens to even the best, at times.

The Brazilians are just so good at digging in. A bit worried by Gordon's showing. He looked miles off it mentally more than anything.

Saints fan at work thinks they're in for a battering as he reckons Martin will still try and play out from the back as a point of principle, even though their defenders aren't really great technically.

That is a very big risk for Palace considering their level of commercial income & potential ownership changes. While they are a stable PL team, they're hardly a stable outfit for player progression - bouncing between managers and styles over the last few years. Finished last season well, aye, but it's hardly a precedent of anything with them that they'll automatically do well this campaign. An average season and he could feasibly go for £20m, maybe even less, next summer if he doesn't extend.

It's all quite strange from Palace. They don't generate much meaningful commercial revenue outside of TV, iirc, and haven't sold many players for good cash other than Olise? This should be great money for them if they've got ambition to keep growing, if they have faith in their talent spotting.

He's bang on. I wish we'd worked faster this window but we shouldn't forget we have some absolutely class footballers, many of them hungry characters with their careers ahead of them rather than behind, led by an exciting & innovative coaching team. Even if we signed nobody else, there's still plenty to be excited about this season.

Fuck the transfer window, I cannot wait to watch Alex Isak, Bruno G, and our other BALLERS play the beautiful game tomorrow.

Chalobah feels like a great option for where we're at and would likely preserve some budget for RW.