Papavasiliou

See you in court. Didn't the Atlanta fans start calling him "Miggy" in the first place so they could sing that?

Yeah I agree we don't give them as many chances, but I don't personally think there is a production line of talent waiting below the first team at PL clubs trying to get through. The loan system is fine and should be used all the time, these players wont learn a thing playing against their own age ranges. They need to be playing comp football against pros and grown men. It's completely ludcirous that Woodman is still here and not out on loan. Very detrimental The problem is the levels they end up loaned to. Longstaff doing from Blackpool to keeping Man City quiet is mental. Makes you wonder if it's worth giving more incentives to Champ clubs to start taking them. Not sure what form that would take though. Maybe a clause in the loan deal that gives them first refusal on the player if they go up? Maybe a set fee to make the deal permanent at the end of the season that reduces the more games they play? At the moment it just doesn't seem worth it for Championship teams. Why should Championship clubs take them when there are absolutely stacks of players in the Championship worthy of PL football that bigger clubs won't take a chance on? It's the same issue really, PL clubs prefer to shop abroad when the Championship is absolutely full of good young British players and usually the only way they ever get a go in the top flight is when their club gets promoted. The gap between the top flight and the Championship is much smaller than it was a few years ago. The prospect of getting in on the ground floor on a young, English player with proper potential. I think most Champ teams would have snapped your hand off if you'd offered them a Ryan Sassegnon or Will Hughes type player with the option of buying them at a cut price if they do well or shipping them back if not. I think the harder sell would be convincing Prem teams to agree to part with them if they do well. It's a daft idea though. We'll just have to make do with loaning the poor buggers to Motherwell and Carlisle and hoping they actually get on the pitch once or twice.

Err, well I for one would be expecting it to be disallowed if we scored that goal as it was a clear foul. I dare say the last player to score a goal like that for us was probably Shearer back in the 2000's. Also, I don't think "barely touched" is an apt description somehow. Did you notice none of our players ran to the ref to protest the awarding of the goal? Dubravkasy and Lascelles started shouting at each other, not the ref. It looks far worse in slow motion, but I still think he barely touched him Doesn't matter how much he touched him, he's waving his hands around in front of Dúbravka's face.

Yeah I agree we don't give them as many chances, but I don't personally think there is a production line of talent waiting below the first team at PL clubs trying to get through. The loan system is fine and should be used all the time, these players wont learn a thing playing against their own age ranges. They need to be playing comp football against pros and grown men. It's completely ludcirous that Woodman is still here and not out on loan. Very detrimental The problem is the levels they end up loaned to. Longstaff doing from Blackpool to keeping Man City quiet is mental. Makes you wonder if it's worth giving more incentives to Champ clubs to start taking them. Not sure what form that would take though. Maybe a clause in the loan deal that gives them first refusal on the player if they go up? Maybe a set fee to make the deal permanent at the end of the season that reduces the more games they play? At the moment it just doesn't seem worth it for Championship teams.

Aye, if a player gets to 21 without ever being anywhere near the first team you start to suspect the coaching staff just know they won't cut it. If we don't see a player lighting up before they're 18, they might as well not exist. Nice to see Longstaff bucking the trend.

7th there for the taking for anyone who wants it. It's been said before I'm sure, but I honestly reckon any team from 6th downwards are capable of getting relegated. Entirely possible that the likes of Leicester or Everton or Southampton or West Ham could start badly next season then just spiral. Entirely possible that Wolves could end up pissing off that agent and losing all their decent players or that Watford could be found out. Mid-table isn't safe these days.

It's just great to have a fast player in the team that seems to actually want to use that pace. Atsu, Kenedy and Murphy aren't exactly slouches but when was the last time you saw one of them just open up and go for it. I hope Rafa gives him free reign to run at players and I also hope Perez and Rondon can get on their bikes and keep up to support him.

I noticed that too. Wasn't sure if it was his positioning or if the players had just been told to concentrate on working the wings. Would be mad if that was the case though because he's one of the only players confident enough to play a decent forward pass that isn't a long ball. We need to be getting him on the ball as much as possible.

So do you think players should be allowed to put their hands on the keeper when they're about to catch the ball? Should that be part of the game? It's not even the arms on the shoulders I have an issue with, it's the big fucking hands waving right in front of his face as Dúbravka is trying to keep his eye on the ball. If that's all good and legal I have no idea why Steven Taylor stopped at jumping up and down in front of the opposition keepers, being a tit. He should have just gone all the way and chucked a potato sack over their heads.

We're coping well but not playing well

It does look like Atsu, Perez and Hayden are sat behind Rondon like a bank of three.

Hayden gets surprisingly far up the pitch sometimes. Shame he can't do anything but pass backwards when he gets there.

The ol' Danny Simpson

Why not put him in for Atsu further up the pitch where he can actually make those important crosses more often and play an actual LB at LB then?

Went to see Milan v Napoli the other week. San Siro is fucking huuuuuuge! Pictures definitely don't do it justice. I found it weird that there isn't really any concourse. You go through the security gates and straight to the stairs and ramps that are open onto the outside of the stadium then when you get to your level you're just through a doorway and you're right there in the seats. No real interior to the place (unless there is closer to the bottom floors that I missed). Great atmosphere in there too. The ultras sing pretty much constantly for the whole game and it sounds so different from St James. When we sing it's distinguishable as "A fuck load of people singing the same song" but when they do it it's in such unison that it just sounds like one big booming voice. Definitely need to start planning more trips around matches. Great night, despite the game ending 0-0.

My mate is adamant that shelvey is leaving this month. That’s what I’ve heard also. They’re all for sale for the right price but Shelvey hasn’t even been getting a sniff when he is fit. I wouldn’t miss him to be honest. Great passer but he doesn’t boss a midfield at all, except on a blue moon like he did against Man Utd last season. Never looks like scoring despite having all the tools to do so regularly. Just something missing from the lad (apart from brain cells) I'd agree if there was any chance of replacing him or had enough CMs to mitigate the loss.

Consistantly tries to tackle with his arms too. I can't understand how a profesional player with that many years in the game still thinks he can get away with grabbing players round the neck whenevery he goes near them.

Was nice to see him playing with a little bit of confidence last night. Surely the idea of swapping him and Ritchie was because crossing the ball for Joselu is absolutely pointless and they might was well have the option to cut in and shoot if required?

Love that the two main opinions on Cabaye for far are "He's finished" and "He'd be our best midfielder by far" whynotboth.jpg

All depends on the wage. Willing to bet even now he could still get an offer better than anything we would put on the table.

Nah, Rafa will buy him out this week.

He could be but for no more than 65-70mins. Wasn't there a load of stories about him running further than anyone in the league during his first season with us?

Confidence is key. He's gone all Obertan on us. We all know he has the pace and ability to get past the likes of Blackburn fullbacks but for some reason he seems scared shitless of actually trying anything. I'm not sure if it's a Raffa thing or if it's the fans getting on his back after the first one or two tries. Either way he's going to have to bag a goal or an assist every time he touches the ball to get out from under it.

I'm sure I heard it was a medical issue with the kid that was the cause when it was first said he wanted to be back down there with them but to be honest I can't remember if that was actually disclosed or just a rumour.