Stottie

I expect another tight game that we'll be in but which could go any way. Believe it or not, but we're third in the league in average shots per away game and average shots on target. For all that though, we've only scored one goal, the Lascelles header at Swansea. Southampton sound a bit leaky at the back, so its a good chance for our forwards to get off the mark away from SJP. Many bad memories of this fixture of course, but that was before Rafa.

Aye 100% for Merino and 25% for stud rights.

The Totally Football podcast by AC Jimbo had a football takeover expert on this week and he said that we are the most obviously attractive club for any potential billionaire buyer. The conversation is about 45 minutes into the podcast. He continues to say that the change in Chinese government rules away from investment in sports is the main factor at the moment. Not wanting to jump the gun or anything, but I don't think he would have said that if we are massively overpriced.

Great news! Without wanting to piss on it or certainly not wish Merino away, does anyone know if BD got a sell-on clause in there?

He strikes me as having the skills of an old-school box-to-box midfielder, but since that is not a role that exists in our current tactical setup, we'll get to see some of those skills more than others. There are things you can try in the final third that shouldn't be attempted on the halfway line. His outstanding ball-winning ability means he's best where he is in our 4-2-3-1. It is tempting to think what he could do in a system that places more attacking responsibility on CMs, but such system is not the Rafa way and would probably be way beyond our other players.

Worrying to see him not even get a shot off in that situation. Still, he did score and it's early days, so we'll see what happens. We managed nothing down the wings against Liverpool, which will negate one of Joselu's strengths. Going forward, if our CM is coming together and Shelvey is on it, Gayle playing off the shoulder might be a greater threat.

I heard bits of the game and then only saw the highlights. It looks like we didn't give them very much, but enough for them to have won the game. With a bit more luck we would have got something at Huddersfield or Brighton, so perhaps it was our turn this week. A shame we couldn't test them more on set pieces, where our delivery's been great this season and they are known to be weak. Only that one corner, which did fall nicely to Diame, and no free kicks anywhere near their goal. A hard game to start for the Merino-Shelvey dream team, but it sounds like it went okay.

Kane is undoubtedly world class, but the linked article almost reads like a pisstake of a PFM. As Hans observes, here is 365 last week ripping it into Jamie Redknapp for pigeonholing the top Premier League strikers. Aguero = finisher, Lukaku = big man etc. Owt for a simple narrative to spoon feed the plebs.

In Merson's mind, it must be possible to win "10-1" with six shots on target. Not wanting to jinx it, but we've only conceded five goals, joint fourth fewest. We are yet to concede in the first half of a game. That is some admirable "coping".

Unlike Rooney, which I strongly suspect wasn't a genuine interest from us anyway, there was no-one else offering big bucks for Owen. I seem to recall Liverpool offering only half of what we paid.

Good idea, especially if the offence went unpunished during the game.

I reckon we'll give them a game. They've got better players than us in many positions, but I think their team is less than the sum of its parts. Ours is the opposite, a well-drilled and well-organized group of limited individuals. If this is another way of saying we have the better manager, then so be it. If I were Rafa, I'd be telling our strikers to concentrate on hitting the target, because our finishing has been poor and their keepers let in plenty of shots that aren't in the corners. For a team with their aspirations, Mignolet and Karius are shocking.

A big part of the good times. The fake sheikh incident showed what him and Dougie thought of us though, so no forgiveness for that. His time also coincided with the internationalisation of the Premier League and I would seriously question whether he had the acumen to handle it without constantly calling Willie McKay to see who would come without (alleged) back handers. Ashley was left to pick up things with Fat Sam after all. But when it was good, it was very good, so RIP.

Second half miss against Stoke was the most concerning. The rest didn't bother me so much. I'd have to see more examples before writing off his finishing. Perez has also hit a couple over from close in where you'd expect your #10 to work the keeper.

If a game situation allows, it might be interesting to see him tried at #10. He offers the presence of Diame, but is technically much better. We've not seen him hit many shots, but his Spain U21 goal came from him in an advanced position and was very composed. His heading would also be a weapon for runs into the box.

Great photo that. What a leap!

Palace don't a bottom three squad. Their keepers are poor, but so are ours. Big striker, pace/skill on the wings means they can probably get away without much in the way of tactics. I know they've not scored yet, but they've come pretty close a number of times. Enough times to justify de Boer not being sacked.

Good on them for getting players in and having a go, but I think they are favourites for the drop. The media have been hyping them for the underdog angle and because Wagner is Klopp's mate and automatically assumed to be a genius, but they've been riding their luck since last season. Promoted with a negative goal difference and getting through the playoffs without winning a single game was Greece in the Euros level of flukey.

Joselu should be up for it. Let's hope the former player curse comes out to bite them. Were Stoke the last PL team to have a player send off at SJP? Whoever it is, it's going back years, and I think it might be that game where they went down to 9. Hughes was spewing that day. It was well funny.

Russian hackers must have bypassed the awesome security on the Garth Crooks family computer.

Nadacampista? A word to remember! Merino's ability to maneuver in tight spaces is well beyond the basics. His ability to just step in or just ease someone off it also looks uncanny. It's early days and maybe there is a countermeasure coming, like when teams started to hard press Tiote and his influence quickly faded, but Merino looks strong and technically very good, so I can't see a blatant weakness there to be exploited.

I didn't see the Swansea - Palace game but it sounds like they were unlucky to lose that one as well. The expression "sacked four games into the season" has echoes of SBR. That was after two draws and two defeats. One of the draws would have been a win but for JFH blatantly punching the ball into the net with minutes remaining. It's into "what if" territory, but if that goal gets disallowed, we don't get Souness, the SBR team doesn't get dismantled, and maybe we get a more peaceful transition at better timing to a manager who is not a hot-heated fuckwit. If we are playing full speculation, I doubt we end up with Ashley either. Hopefully de Boer gets a big cheque and a chance to rebuilt his rep somewhere less looney, though I guess it might be back in Holland.

They pished all over Burnley yesterday and it was just one of those games when it wouldn't go in.

Yeah, I thought there was some kind of coming together of arms, so the "OMG worst dive evar" punditry sounded like the usual biases. Making the most of any contact is standard practice, remember.

From what I've seen so far, I suspect we may only get to see two seasons' of him in black and white, so let's sit back and enjoy them. There is a "it was only Swansea" caveat, but he was so dominant yesterday that the dream pairing with Shelvey could actually be a goer.