timnufc22

His refusal to play the ball down the line to Tino on the overlap sums up his obsession with coming inside and playing square passes instead. He does it too much when on the left, even though I understand wanting to come onto your natural foot, but the fact he also refuses to go down the line on the right, on his natural side, is baffling.

He’s a no.10, ultimately.

He rarely tries to. He comes inside all the time, like it’s beneath him to take a player on using his pace, it’s weird.

He's a good player but, dare I say, he's not all that and I've been uncomfortable with this aura of an almost elite status that has surrounded him and he has a lot of good PR. It like we're trying to fit him in and afraid to keep him RW for any extended run as if we don't want to upset him, granted I know Howe would say he's trying to get him back to a higher level. But his strengths have always been his raw bursts of pace, his tenacity, his pressing and fearlessness. Trying to shoehorn him into this creative, silky, reliable finisher isn't going to work, which is why I've always insisted his strengths are better suited to RW in the long-run, despite playing well LW season.

Actions speak louder than words and the manager and staff can tell him whatever they want, but those words will be hollow from his point of view when he's never given a long run and subbed every game he plays. He should have been LW all season up til now, Gordon has not played well and came back late. Barnes was ready and sharp and still scored brilliant goals from the starts/sub appearances he did get. But Gordon is always quick to get his LW back, look at the Brighton game - low and behold Barnes is dropped and while Gordon was lively in the first 20 mins, his end product was once again was poor.

Those impacts will start to fade very quickly once he realises he's not trusted to be a first eleven player, I'm really surprised and disappointed at Eddie's handling of him. Barnes has scored a number of worldies this season yet he's almost being viewed as a write-off and while he needs to do more at times (like every other player so far), part of that perception stems from being subbed off every single time and never being given a long run in the side.

I think if Tonali was sitting deeper it wouldn't be much of an issue, Bruno himself doesn't necessarily have to fly forward, Isak can cover those areas between the lines defensively, I don't see him as a lazy player off the ball or anything. Like I say, I'd be tempted to play Willock as a 10 behind Isak for now until we signed another forward. I'd like to see Tonali & Bruno form that partnership, I can imagine they'd very much be on the same wavelength.

Wilson/Osula/New Striker Isak Barnes Bruno Tonali Gordon Tonali and Bruno have the quality and know-how to play together surely... and I can imagine Tonali enjoying playing with a skilful no10 in front of him while also having the option of playing longer passes in behind to a second forward. Isak needs a partner to work with in front of him and he's also perfect to link the midfield and attack. He naturally wants to drop deep and get on the ball, he needs to be closer to the likes of Bruno and other technical players. He'll get more space in the box arriving slightly deeper too and can also carry the ball from deep. We need more goal threats on the pitch, if Osula isn't ready to play many minutes I question those use of funds and either way I'd be looking to spend a decent amount on a quality striker to play with Isak. In the mean time I'd also be tempted to play Willock in the no10 role to link with Isak further ahead, which is his natural position anyway imo.

Perhaps let the lad have a long run in the side, without being the first one to be subbed all the time aswell, to find out? I can imagine any player finding it more difficult to get into a rhythm when you know you know you’re not trusted as much as others even though you’ve never had a proper run in the side. He scored a superb goal vs Spurs and did as good as anyone else in general play yet was dropped the next game. It’s frustrating because I see don’t necessarily see the the likes of Murphy & Gordon being judged on the same standards.

Why is Barnes judged differently to other players? How come others are allowed off days / up and down form, yet the moment Barnes doesn't score a worldly, he's questioned, subbed off or switched away from the LW...

Transformative stuff apparently... so I'm confused why they haven't walked the Championship the last 2 years? Also confused how Spurs finished 8th the season before last and scraped 5th last season when they have so many gigs on and such a clear advantage? I'm being slightly facetious of course, but you get the point.

Re the east stand... it depends on the leeway with right to light etc, but the roof currently slopes downwards - if it was straightened, which would add only a small amount of height, then I don't see why another tier couldn't be added to hang over the current seats, which would add around 2-3k. With a Gallowgate & corner expansion on top you're talking around 65k capacity. New boxes in the Gallowgate could operate that sort of stuff Spurs do in that video.

Keith Gillespie vs Barca is what Gordon could give us on the right.

It seems like mental gymnastics to try and pretend there are alarming signs of director coming in with a over inflated ego, thinking he’s going to ‘sort this out’… it’s not great stuff, I would have thought we as a fan base can clock this kind of stuff more than most considering what we’ve been through.

I think it’s naive to think that if Mitchell & Howe were on the same page and weren’t using the media to fire subtle shots, that Howe wouldn’t have came out with something like this instead - “I think you’re reading something else into that, I’m sure Paul was referring to PSR, the obstacle that it is and how we have to try and tailor our process around that as much as possible. Our record isn’t the transfer market when it comes to actual players signed has been very good, the players we have signed have all been brilliant and served different purposes. Everyone at the club loves them all that are here.”