Happinesstan

Yep. If we have an attacking WB [who can also defend] on that side, it will make the opposition think twice about ripping the arse out of that side. As we saw against Watford, ASM was enough to keep them quiet for 88 mins, then we pulled the blanket down and we were fucked. Doesn't help that our blanket is the size of a belly button.

I'd switch out Shelvey before Longstaff.

There is no single signing that is going to save us. We're missing quite a few pieces of that jigsaw. Not even sure we've got the box with the picture on it.

It's never been about what we knew on Jan 1st. It's always been what we will know, come Feb 1st.

Currently getting beaten by Villa, at home.

There is no predicting this game. Anything could happen. Anything but a bore-draw, I'd say.

But tinged with a sense of humour, at least.

Looking at Bruce I'm guessing he's never heard of agility training.

This is a valid argument, I've made it myself. But it does appear as though Howe, like Rafa before him, is playing the system in order to familiarise the players that will still play a part once we have our transfer targets secured.

3 months of midseason is nowt like 6 weeks of preseason. What @Jackie Broonsaid.

452 is a novel formation, never seen it tried before.

Yeah. I'd rather get a loan off Wonga.

[former owner] still a cunt.

Yep, nor do we need metrics to tell us Bruce was never improving. Though there are plenty available.

They are also different teams to the ones that finished top 6 last year. The only objective fact is that this debate has no objective facts.

It's the easiest thing to say that anybody will be an improvement on a like for like basis, but we are so far behind we need massive wholesale improvement. A balance between reliable, oven ready PL plodders and a little bit of quality might be the recipe.

Hopefully we'll see a better team performance involving Wood, now that they've trained all week.

West Ham was 1st game so all twenty teams were tied. On zero points. No telling where WHam were. Villa were on zero points similar to ourselves but a tighter goal difference would lead me to believe they are in a similar position, now to what they were at the time. Southampton had 1 point and were probably worse than they are now. Man U is Man U. Leeds were probably about the same Watford may have been a bit better Wolvs are 8th and came with 6 points so probably 10-12th Spurs are currently 5th but we believed they were beatable at the time. Can't work it out without relevant data but at a guess I'd say that brings the average positions down [or should that be up?] a little. My main point is that it's not really a reliable metric by which to make such judgements, which I thought you yourself were alluding to.

Is it not more relevant where those teams were at the time we played them? A lot of those teams have climbed the table after playing us [obviously the three points we gifted them helped]

We are possibly the worst team in the division so any start would be tricky.

A week away from our shite facilities will do them some good. Maybe inspire one or two of them.

This is his 4th season, he probably signed all those youth players.

Bruce didn't get a tune out of the squad, he just dropped a set of drums down the stairs and got lucky.

The media were reporting that Trippier was going to cost £30 million and people were "JUST PAY IT" then it turns out we got him for 12.5.

I won't be delighted by relegation, but at the beginning of the season we were destined to relegation, who lnows if the consortium would have still bought us, but assuming the best and they did We'd be in the same position that we now face. Only we have Trippier and Wood. Plus a chance to sty up.