ExiledGeordie

Neville summed it up pretty perfectly when he said that the midfielder neither creates anything nor stops counter attacks. It's completely redundant at the moment.

Think he's going to have to sign Austin (or another proven striker) and another defender in Jan at the very least.

Yep a combination of past it, disinterested and not suited to the way we're playing. Awful

I agree, this will always be an issue while Ashley is here. We'll never see true progression until he goes, whenever that is.

Agree De Jong and Perez HAVE to come into the side and Aaron's can really offer something on the wing. My worry is that McClaren will just be too cautious, constantly persisting with Anita/Colback options. Needs to change it up for sat.

I know we are only 5 games in, but he really should have twigged far earlier that the midfield formation he favours wasn't working. Very worrying, especially as he was criticised as an England manager for insisting on pairing Lampard and Gerrard despite the criticism that they were two of a kind. He seems too scared to make decisions when it comes to dropping big reputation players even if they don't fit together. Bilic isn't even a particularly good manager, but he seems to enjoy making McClaren his bitch and the bitch doesn't seem to have too many objections. Spot on, the midfield and formation needs sorting as it's clearly not working.

Yeah you'd have to hope last night has made him realise that certain players need to be starting now. 50m spent in the summer was a start but even though the four signings have the potential to be good they're all unproven in the premier league. Given the ramifications of the next TV deal and the lack of spend in recent years 50m is a drop in the ocean and failing to bring in another striker given Cisse is nowhere shows they dropped a bollock really. I think we really needed to bring in some proven quality together with potential, eg players like Austin. We've been so bad in recent years that it was always going to take time but McClaren is going to have to start finding a winning formula soon otherwise we'll be in deep shit soon enough. Watford game is massive. Have a feeling that January is going to be crucial now to secure premier league status. Given the absurd money involved in the next TV deal they're going to have to buy proven quality to make sure they stay up. No haggling, just identify targets and buy them. If they don't I think we're in major trouble.

I lost interest in him a while ago to be fe fair. All piss and wind, goes missing far too often.

A key position that wasn't filled in the summer.

That awful Colback/Anita combination needs rid straight away and Perez needs to play. Was a stand out player last season.

Don't be so naive. Only way he ever gets sacked is if we get relegated. It's not naivety we're bottom of the league with 5 games gone. Of course he won't get sacked nor should he do anytime soon. He's still under major pressure to get some wins so though

Under some real pressure now.

If he can stay fit, as many others have said I'd like to see Wijnaldum dropped back and De Jong play as a number 10. Would offer assists and another genuine goal threat.

Surely soon to be gone

Good post. I'm in the same place. I want to enjoy supporting us for a while again. If it turns out that he's talking s**** there's plenty time to suffer later. Exactly how I feel. If they invest wisely in Jan and spend properly next summer I might start to think there has been some form of change in ethos. I'm still too sceptical however as there's just been too much bullshit already over the past years. I don't believe Ashley has suddenly decided he wants us to compete and win something, it's all about the £££££ for him. He clearly started to shit it when the fans started boycotting which didn't look great for his brand with swathes of empty seats live on camera.

He's a proper smug c***

Full on Michael Douglas meltdown like in Falling Down

Exactly, the problem is what we've done before under Ashley

Exactly the type of thing Ashley would do. Buy a few in, sell one out

that's just a half-empty, half-full way of looking at the same thing none of us really know what mclaren is really thinking at this stage, imo he's either come into the club and seen what an utter shambles it is from top to bottom and decided to build slowly starting by not conceding millions of goals and getting raped week in week out or his natural inclination is to be dour and defensive which some seem to think it is in fairness to mclaren 'building from the back' is a tried and tested strategy of both his generation of managers and the biggest influence on his career, fergie...worth remembering how fragile the confidence is/was of a lot of our senior players tbh, as much as anything that's probably not something you can just change overnight Well summed up

He's a young lad and the red card discussion aside McClaren and the coaches have some work to get him to channel his aggression and passion appropriately. I don't have any doubt that they'll be able to get the best out of him as he has so much to offer. It will just take a little bit of time for him to get used to the flow of the game here and realise what he can and can't do.

I think there are signs of green shoots and the new players look like they'll do a good job but I agree there's still a lot of question marks. Still not fully convinced about the defence and we need another striker really. Four signings isn't really enough and few key injuries will really show a lack of depth in the squad.

They'll have to bring in a striker if Cisse is sold. We know what they're like though.

Robbie Savage is unbearable to listen to

A red may have been harsh but it was a clumsy, silly challenge to make given his nonsensical bookings already this season. The studs were up and it was on his shin so you're immediately giving a card happy ref the chance to send you off in my book. The lad obviously has a lot to offer but will need to learn how to use passion and aggression better. Can't have him missing games all the time due to reds and yellows.