Gallowgate Toon

I actually wouldn't mind Shelvey in a midfield 3 as long as he isn't the primary protector of the defence. He's not a long-term solution at all but I think he's good enough to compete with Willock & Longstaff for that 3rd midfield position for the rest of the season. This is assuming we don't get the defensive reinforcements that would enable us to change the overall shape of the team. Bruno Willock Big Joe Above feels like the most balanced out of the squad, for me - ahtleticism but with the ability to beat players, play passes forward, and get in the box.

Feels like there's a chance he replaces both Cabaye and a bit of Tiote in one go. Cabaye was a fantastic passer and very willing runner but he definitely was held back a bit by his physicality as a true CM over here. It felt like he flourished the most once he moved up the pitch. Amazing stuff.

Wasn't there a report around a couple of years ago that the Bundesliga is the highest scoring league in Europe? Vaguely remember reading that, on average, there are 4 goals a game or something.

Have any attackers come from the Bundesliga over the last 5 years and been successful? Werner's record there was ridiculous.

Interesting. I feel like recent attacker numbers from Bundesliga aren't a great barometer of success over here. His international and European records don't look particularly great.

Fuck. This feels far too good to be true

He feels like Botman-lite? Got a feeling we're still in for a pacey CB.

Don't think it's much of a problem, tbh. There are lots and lots of good players whereby coming here would be an increase in salary and not disrupt structure while we're in a dogfight. We don't need superstars right now, we just need good players.

I was watching some of Alli's highlights back last night and I didn't realise how absolutely class he was, tbh. Not just his goals but some of his skill & athleticism too - I'd always thought of him as a bit of a poaching no.10 but he was skinning players and all sorts. Bit of a dirty bastard too which is always handy to have on your side. Feels very fanciful that he'll get back to anywhere near that level though, as it's now years since he was that player. Seems like a mixture of injuries, mentality, and change in style/system have seen him decline.

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.