Gallowgate Toon

To be fair to Gouffran, there was a time when he looked a useful player for us.

He might just be starting players based on their fitness and performance in training?

Moussa Would prefer to keep Sissoko tbh. Fo sho. We massively lack athleticism, getting shot of our quickest player (who's incredibly useful on the counter and actually chips in with a few goals, at the very least) would be lunacy.

Banega's a cracking player when on form, but I'd be pretty worried if we're going to be playing him as our deepest midfielder alongside Wijnaldum. Not that I think he's coming

Whenever I've seen Lens, he's been good. I reckon he'll do well there.

I watched a lot of it and felt there were some positives to take. Trying to start out from the back (but not exclusively) is a good start, we had some nice one-touch passing moves/patterns that led to genuine chances and we got plenty of bodies forward when on the attack. Encouraging to hear McClaren's assessment too, that we were poor off the ball in the first half etc. Of course, we need some quality in ASAP. A centre half, another winger and striker are an absolute must, as well as another full back. On a side note, did anyone else think the ball seemed absolutely shit? Moved like a PS2 PES floater.

Cabella will be fine if there's some legit structure around him. If we plan on playing him like we did last season, in the hope he's a maverick winger that's going to dribble past 2 or 3 players at a time, then we might as well boot him out now. Probably the biggest 'system' player we've got, along with Anita.

I think McClaren will put Sissoko wide, for some reason. Wijnaldum and Colback/Tiote in the middle, with de Jong ahead. Leaving Cabella, Aarons & Perez to fight it out for left wing. If we sign Mitrovic, I'd still be starting Cisse ahead of him.

We've got a couple of players in the squad now that have actually led their team to some silverware. It's time to get serious with this and give it to someone who's got the right experience. de Jong might've been out a lot last season, but you can just tell he's the sort of guy that you want to have as a leading example to other players.

I like Janmaat a lot, but he doesn't strike me as a true captain. He's more of a right-hand-man, IMO.

I think we'll see a quicker brand of football, this season, and that'll be a big help. Too often over the last couple of years, our wide men have (slowly) received the ball in positions where our attackers are outnumbered in the box and midfielders generally don't want to get in the mix to create more space.

I do think we'll get a few in, but it's disgraceful that we have to move so slowly. Must admit, bar the odd soundbite, I like how McClaren comes across.

In shock news, Luke Edwards suggests he's a bad egg.

Didn't we have a really successful offside trap, a few years ago? Might be trying to replicate that. I saw a tweet saying Cathro had been working on getting our attackers to press defenders

They're a quick side but are they clever off the ball? I don't watch them much but when I do, the likes of Zaha and Bolasie seem to prefer to stick out wide, isolate their man and get the ball to feet, rather than make runs for passes into space.

Punch is one of their best players too. Surely a midfield of: Jedinek Cabaye Bolasie Puncheon Zaha Is far too attacking for Pardew? I think it'd be classic Pards, tbh. He'll be in full-on ego mode after his Palace run and will be looking to tinker, as he usually did here (see his '500 passes a game' idea after we finished 5th, for example). Isn't this usually his downfall at clubs? Sets up decent teams that grind out wins (Palace are a smashing counter-attacking outfit, to be fair), gets ideas above his station to be more attacking and the teams look leaky as owt. The players then lose the confidence they had in him and he gets sacked (well, apart from here).

It's a pretty sad move, really, but I understand why he's going to make it. His eyes are firmly on the International scene and he knows he's Pardew's wet dream. It'll be interesting to see where he gets played - his best form for us was undoubtedly as an AM but they already have 'Punch the baller' there.

I'm assuming they'll use Wijnaldum in a more box-to-box role, which makes me think Sissoko's off (unless they've realised we need a squad?!). McClaren prefers 4-3-3, doesn't he? Might be going for a mega attacking Sissoko-Wijnaldum-de Jong midfield 3

Papiss Cisse walking about Ponteland with, who I assume to be, his new wife

Lee Ryder is writing his tweet out, as we speak.

She likes Pardew. WNB.

I'm pretty sure Sissoko was played deeper when we beat Spurs 2-1, wasn't he? He was absolutely imperious that game.

Heard from a really good source that Stones is about to sign for Chelsea for at least 20m. Has he even played that much for Everton?

Paris is a mint city, man. An especially amazing place when you venture off the beaten track.

YES!