Odear

Great start. We're first to everything. Difficult conditions out there too.

Thouroughly decent lad. I'm really rooting for him to do well here, along with most of the players we have right now. He'll be motivated tomorrow for sure! Seems slightly hard done by at Stoke, or it could just be a case of a player finding the right fit in terms of team mates, playing style etc. Shelvey and then Mitro getting sent off could really be blessings in disguise this season when you look at who's nailed down places now.

At any club, is it unusual for an owner/chairman to directly call a player? I thought agents and the manager to a lesser degree is supposed to be the buffer there? Mike must be terrified of calling Rafa

Sam Clucas is Swanseas Jack Colback. Very glad we weren't in for him.. totally inept. Merino the class on the pitch again. He's so good breaking from deep. Loses the ball sometimes because he takes risks, but he makes things happen. Just runs the show. Shelvey can't go back in there.. i think if he's to come back into the team it's to replace Ayoze. The thought of Merino playing Shelvey into clear opportunities to shoot......

Atsu has had more playing time in the top league and trained with better players too. Jacob did well I think, if he takes his own physical development seriously he could achieve a lot here. He has way more potential than Atsu, that's what we bought. And by physical development I mean working harder in the gym, building upper body strength and working on conditioning. An extreme example of what I'm talking about is Ronaldo or Gareth Bale.. both skinny skilful pacey twats when they were first in the PL but both worked out like freaks to become supreme athletes. A massive part of both of their games now. Just to be clear, I'm not comparing Murphy to the players mentioned above. Just highlighting the ethos of getting the most of your physical capabilities..

He's looking leaner and more motivated. If he can get a run of games in the team he could well end looking like the player we thought we'd signed. Plus some good press would go a long way in terms of how refs and pundits treat him, banging in goals will do that. Where was Richard fucking Keys after that Harry Kane tackle??

Not quite sure what you're getting at? Perhaps they trade in dollars now.. the pound is hardly stable

Time to retire this thread..

It exists under Mike Ashley to give Sports Direct visibility. It exists because the fans are far too loyal. It has no objectives. I suspect Mike has figured out how to offset the odd relegation now, so it's not that scary to him. It's just something factored into some spreadsheet. It exists to exist. Like a tumour

Yup. Difference between Rafa and the shower of simpletons we've had over the years is that he doesn't need the job or money.. he could have taken this club anywhere if the owner had shared even a bit of his vision. But no. He's gambling again. Thinks what we have is just about good enough to stay up. That win at the weekend was a curse really.. it was all Mike needed to justify not spending a bean. It's true.. Rafa could keep us up.. but what's the point from his perspective? He's better than that.. he's not a manager like Pardew or whoever that would be happy to tread water indefinitely. Mike you lying sack of shit. Fool us once shame on you.. fool us how many times at this point? Shame on us too. I hope Rafa walks. He deserves better. We deserve a better club. What did we do to deserve Mike Ashley?

What absolute twoddle.

New manager speculation = high September click bait profits Not this time I reckon.. if Rafa walks because of all this fucking about, a lot of people will be done with the club (as it is under Mike Ashley). In a way it would be lovely to just get on with life and in a decade or so hear about the club being run correctly under new owners. It would be even nicer if the club would fucking back the best manager we've had since Keegan and SBR, but that's not gonna happen is it.

Apart from get injured what has he done to upset so many people? Always played ok for us. He's been treated quite harshly by the club and supporters. Has he even had a chance to show his worth?

His card was marked from the off thanks to Steve McClaren's comments before he'd even kicked a ball for us. He does look like a total thug but that shouldn't influence referees. If Harry Kane was doing that the pundits would be saying how great he is at putting himself about, etc.. Whether this particular incident warrants a ban is neither here nor there.. he never started on a level playing field.

4.2 million

Rafa quotes today about how Gayle wasn't really injured but just left out. If it's a mental thing as is being suggested it's hard to see how he's going to be brought back in. These things don't get solved over night

Looks like he's just sniffed someone else's fart

I still hope we keep him. Can see him scoring 20+ goals if he gets the playing time. He looks fitter than he has done in the previous seasons

Gayle has been crocked since middle of last season. I don't think he's able to sustain a run of games without breaking down. If we could afford to (which we can't) he could probably do a good job by playing every second game, unfortunately we need tougher players in our position. If we got an offer, i'd sell.. reluctantly..

He'll be back to the mackems on a loan.

He never got started here really. Good luck to the lad, decent bit of business getting that back for a crock.

Got rinsed a few times by Antonio but adjusted with the team and had a great game. He's given Rafa a problem now when LeJeune is back. Who gets dropped? Lascelles was also good today.

Very astute piece of business. Can Dortmund change their mind? Or if he plays x amount of games is he essentially our player in the same way Atsu was?

Merino reminds me a bit of Michael Ballack

Hayden is having a much better game today too, we might be poor but West Ham look terrible. There's points here today