Gallowgate Toon

Had a quick gander at the Leverkusen forum and they seem to rate him but looks like his performances can be quite variable. Sometimes excellent, sometimes not so, but clear ability is there particularly when going forward.

Wood won 14 headers, according to the stats - a lot more than any other player on the pitch. I think there are good criticisms of him but competing for headers isn't one.

Good post match interview on nufctv. He says some very obvious but actually insightful things.

Like pretty much every midfielder on our books, he can't play in a 2. Grew into the game really well. Was worried after the first 25 mins as he looked baked again.

His scoring record in the division is highly comparable to Wilson. I think he'll end up being useful but he's got to learn his teammates and vice versa. Judging by his goals, off the ball movement is a big part of his game and he'll have to build up relationships to get the quantity of service needed. He won't be a world beater but will be very useful at certain points, imo.

Thought he was OK again, tbh. Won a few flicks which led to decent openings and some nice bits of one touch play too. Some not so good stuff as well. He's a backup striker who had additional benefit to being bought and it's obvious we're looking for another one still.

Half of two halves, imo. Had plenty of shots and opportunities. They've had some very leggy moments themselves.

Villa have lost more matches than us. They were very beatable under Smith.

Think we need to stick to 4-3-3 for this one to protect the centre and adopt the ol' tactics we had against Man U.

So you'd have wanted Keegan booted out after his first 10 games into his second spell then?

I don't agree with that statement either. I think we'll stay up, personally, but it'll be tight. I just find the 10 games thing a bit OTT to make big judgments, personally. It's not a long time in football and form/performances can be extremely variable for many reasons. Very good teams/managers go through rough spells (not saying we have either).

Leeds have been pretty tragic for a lot of the season though, according to my mate. It's only been the last few games where they've picked up some form and look properly like their old selves again.

The 13th last year thing isn't really a good yardstick, imo. We were in horrific form until supa sub came along, and the teams that were around us then have invested. I'd say our squad is probably about 17th best in the league now but not exactly by a strong margin.

Not too worried about Lingard's motivation in the short term because he'll be trying to get into the WC squad.

Trippier pulling strings. If we can get this done tomorrow (not in time for Leeds cut off) then that's a nice shot of positivity for the weekend, at least, rather than the current limbo.

Going to be a fascinating but probably mind-numbing 10 days. Feels like we've had a couple of really public pursuits which have very clearly broken down because of money; perhaps that was part of the intention... I guess we're really going to see what the consortium are made of over the next 10 days. This is the time where both buyers & sellers get jumpier and deals get done - I think we're going to end up spending but I'm not sure about the quality.

I think we'll grab another draw, tbh, if we play on the counter. Leeds ship almost as many goals as we do but have a more dynamic, athletic attack. Doesn't Wood have a good record against his former teams? He could be an interesting outball for us in a game where I expect us to be more pegged back.

I was going to say that based on me very bog standard Spanish that his quote isn't that damning, but the Tweet about the club considering pulling out doesn't sound very good at all.

They might as well make the January transfer window a week long, tbh. Would save everyone a load of annoying faff.

Lingard would replace Fraser or, dare I say it, ASM, surely? Even if we move to 3-4-3 he'll pick up one of the wing spots.

Hang on... You rate Potter but slate Howe? Potter's win %age in the league is less than Howe's I like Potter, btw, and would've had him here no problem.

If they pull this one off then it'll be pretty impressive, like. Really surprised he wants this although he seems a bit of a mentalist - maybe he's confident that he can do a good job for us and still get another move in the summer if we go down.

I would try him in the midfield 3, like, particularly if we're playing Wood who will occupy defenders in the box.

Kayembe has played one game and may turn out to be absolute shite. Playing well against us isn't really a high bar. Granted, point still stands that we don't need superstars right now. There are plenty of good players out there.

I doubt Vickery will watch him with any regularity. If Sevilla fans are saying he's class then that's the best opinion we can get, imo.