Gallowgate Toon

He'll rightly get shit for that shite header but he put in good off the ball work today and had some tidy hold up on a couple of occasions. Kinda wish ASM had squared it at the end for Wood to (hopefully) smash in. He needs some confidence and we need him to have it.

So chuffed for him. He's instilling great fundamentals in the side.

He is absolutely fucking outrageous. I love him. Proper rolls royce.

I don't agree with the decision not to start him at all, but the logic must be about squad morale. The team won its last game and played pretty well etc. He's missed a trick, imo.

Very disappointing.

Meh. Leeds had their tails up before they played us and we did well there. Everton will give us chances and that suits us better. Chance creation against deeper sitting teams is where we're really weak. I'd normally be worried about their threats from out wide but I'm pretty confident in Trippier & Targett will handle their forwards. Digne & Coleman are much bigger worries if we don't cover their runs but I don't think Everton have anyone to consistently aim crosses at while DCL is out. If we can pack the box and minimise getting caught on the turn then I reckon we can shut them out to decent effect. If it's Allan & Gomes starting in midfield then I really feel we can get the better of them. They have some quality but I fancy Big Joe & Bruno to be able to make it physical & come out on top.

Wouldn't read too much into Howe's comments, tbh. He made it sound like Dummett wouldn't start vs. Watford but he did. Hopefully, it's just a ploy to keep Everton guessing as we have the advantage of unpredictability.

Midfield really need to step up on the scoring front. Wood will bag a few, I'm sure, but we've got players capable of finding the back of the net a couple/few times each between now & the end of the season.

Fuck it, let's get Costa in.

Exciting. Spoke to an ex-player about Ashworth. Says he has a proper ruthless streak in him/can be a twat, but he's really, really good at what he does.

Have they been playing a back 3 all season? I look at the side they had out on the weekend and I feel a bit more confident. I don't think he'll start Alli or VdB due to lack of gametime but they'll make an appearance, I'm sure. I'd like to think that we can win the midfield battle, tbh.

What a finish.

Forest's right hand side looking very handy.

I only occasionally watch L1 games but it seems much more tactical. You get more time on the ball to make decisions but teams are more disciplined, on the whole, so the space to pass into is less.

You'd like to think in a league that's a bit more open than Ligue 1 that he'll have more space to play those through passes into.

Aren't Brentford in terrible defensive form? Everton will give us opportunities, like. Them coming to attack will suit us better. Fancy a close win.

Pretty sure it's going to be a Shelvey, Bruno, Joelinton combo to start with. Have a feeling Howe will want Bruno's ball winning ability further up the pitch, as well as his ability to pick passes. Willock to reprise role as super sub.

Generally, I like him, but his comments about the transfer window were pretty odd. Anyway, he's not a very good footballer. Hopefully, he's played his last game for us but goes on to have a solid career.

He'll start on Tuesday, probably taking Willock's place (personally, I'd take Shelvey out for Bruno).

I think we can put a competent back 4 together now; they'll still need good protection, but there's a good foundation there for a counter attacking side. Survival is all about the midfield 3 balance, for me. I think we'll need to protect Guimaraes a bit, initially, by not putting him in a 2 and letting him be run ragged. Play Willock and Big Joe just ahead of him and you have 2 players who can get forward to support Wood but also do some of the dirty work (to differing degrees).

We should be winning the midfield battle here. Dubs Trippier Schar Burn Targett Bruno Willock Big Joe Fraser Wood ASM Expecting Lascelles will play in place of Schar, Shelvey in place of Willock.

I think the role he played at Leeds is good foil for him. Part of a flat-ish 3 but with license to get forward & support.

I think he sticks with the 4-3-3 now but has genuine options to go 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3 if he wants to change it up.

I'm not convinced it's quite a 4-team mini league anymore, tbh. Some very catchable teams.

I was disappointed last night after we didn't get Lingard in but I'm feeling pretty good about the business this morning. We've not been far from turning draws into wins as it was, so to bring in 4 players that do improve us should see us through, but it's still riskier than I'd like. I think the full back acquisitions are going to be the most important for us for the rest of the season. We've gone from Krafth/Murphy/Manquillo (I like him but he has deficiencies) & Ritchie/Lewis/Dummett to Trippier & Targett. While the latter isn't a statement signing by any stretch, he's seemingly great defensively and has more assists than Dummett and Lewis combined While Wood is the main man with Wilson out, full backs who can provide some form of quality into the box should nab us some goals. As we've now got defenders who are actually decent defenders but also comfortable on the ball, you'd like to think we can get a foothold in games better than before which should give attackers more of a platform to get some rhythm going. I get the impression a lot of the work on the training ground so far has been shape and defence-based, as that's been the immediate need to see us through to January. We're not going to be prolific by any stretch but there are some goals in our team and we've got to coax them out. ASM is converting at a decent rate, but Willock, Wood, Fraser and Joelinton all have tools to get a few goals each between now and the end of the season. Gut feeling is that we're going to be quite a handy away side for the rest of the campaign. Also, we should be an interesting set piece proposition now with a bit of work. Some big distracting targets in Burn & Wood.