Gallowgate Toon

McClaren isn't very good but the idea that this team should be comfortably mid-table is a very misguided one. Not enough goals and a poor defence.

Setup might be one thing, but it sounds like he's consistently having much less of the ball than his team mates when away from home. That'd suggest it's more an individual thing than a team issue.

There'll be plenty of twists and turns yet. The mackems put together a mini run a while back too and then sunk back again. That'll be the general pattern for most clubs around us until the end of the season.

Just look tat Derby, if you want to look at the credit he should get for us playing good stuff. They've got a fantastic squad for that league and their fans are openly saying the football isn't as good as it was under SMC. It's not as simple as saying, better footballers = automatically better football.

He's meant to be a massive pisshead, no? They've been dropping down a while but surely, if it was for footballing reasons, they'd have given him longer.

Gerrin.

I think the biggest thing is style. McClaren seems to want him to play risky passes and express himself, I got the impression at Swansea there was an expectation to be more considered in his approach.

Sissoko also doesn't tackle. He's better in more space on the flanks.

Whoever plays alongside Shelvey is going to have a big responsibility. It's fairer to let Saivet adapt first, by slowly integrating him into it. He looks a handy footballer, to me, good CM competition.

He did what a winger generally does. Some good, some frustrating but, overall, he created opportunities and was always positive. Very solid.

Last 2 home performances have been great and are traditionally the sort we fuck up. He's done well to make us more competent as a side that can break a team down. Just needs to get the formula right away from home.

I have a feeling we'll win and put in a similar performance to the West Ham game. I'd start Doumbia, like, with Sissoko, Wijnaldum and Perez behind - movement will win us this as West Brom will sit deep and counter (didn't we used to be good at that?). Townsend, Aarons and Mitro can come on against tired legs.

Decent. Should have been better.

Mitrovic was 1 in 2 previously and he's scored in the champions league and it's not happened for him here. Exactly why are people so blinkered honestly it just puzzles me. Aye, there's not guarantee at all, his record is impressive. But like you say he's failed at the only step up he's had. His record at the highest level of club football is pretty excellent, like. That gives me hope that he at least has the basics we need. Italy's a funny league. If he had come in the summer, pre season and had games to adapt I'd not the concerned particularly, but we don't have time for that now. His CL record is very good, but the majority of his goals are in the swiss and russian league. Remy came over and scored straight away, despite being injured and barely playing for the previous 6 months. We'll see. We're fucked if this lad gets injured, though.

Mitrovic was 1 in 2 previously and he's scored in the champions league and it's not happened for him here. Exactly why are people so blinkered honestly it just puzzles me. Aye, there's not guarantee at all, his record is impressive. But like you say he's failed at the only step up he's had. His record at the highest level of club football is pretty excellent, like. That gives me hope that he at least has the basics we need. Italy's a funny league. He's a gamble though and at this stage like Mitrovic it's not what's required. He is a gamble. But it's disingenuous to say he's failed at the only step up he's had - consistently scoring in the CL generally means you can play to a decent standard. Pelle came here despite being minging in Italy and has scored a solid amount, just what we need from our main forward.

Mitrovic was 1 in 2 previously and he's scored in the champions league and it's not happened for him here. Exactly why are people so blinkered honestly it just puzzles me. Aye, there's not guarantee at all, his record is impressive. But like you say he's failed at the only step up he's had. His record at the highest level of club football is pretty excellent, like. That gives me hope that he at least has the basics we need. Italy's a funny league.

He's definitely signed. He was at the stadium yesterday getting his photos taken etc. It'll be announced tonight, I bet, if things don't pan out this afternoon.

Didn't someone say he played no more than 500 minutes for them?

Doing some of that reliable Dennis Wise scouting, there's like a 15 minute video of his goals and there's some great finishes in there. He seems to pick up positions well which is desperately what we need right now.

I know Whoscored can be very ropey but his apparent strengths are finishing and dribbling. Sounds like he'd be a decent short-term option, to me.

Lower league opposition, aye, but Berahino's finishes yesterday were great. Just what we need.

Dembele is talented but not that great, imo. Total cock too, he actually 'shushes' players that try to tell him what to do on the pitch.

I don't think Ba had everything, either. Brilliant predator in the box, aye, but not a huge amount out of it. Inconsistent first touch, not particularly skillful, ran out of legs after an hour, not a great dribbler. He only scored one from distance too, iirc?

Ba might've been the better striker, although not IMO, but Remy is definitely the better forward. He'd get goals from any attacking position and is a very good footballer, in general.

Good post, Disco. Personally, I think the lad can be a decent squad option, in the long run, and he'll just about do as genuine first team competition for the rest of this season. He's always struck me as a talented footballer and decent athlete; just pretty dumb which hampers him. We can work with that