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It left us with 3 windows where we couldn't purchase anyone in the richest and most competitive league in the world. The fact it paid of is down to Howe and a lot of people recognise that. Had Howe not dragged us through that period, the narrative on that earlier spending and it's repercussions would be very very different.

I'd add the 3-2 loss to Liverpool this season in there as well. Awful result in difficult circumstances for us, but for pure entertainment value, it's hard to pick many better adverts for PL football.

If I was trying to be objective as possible, I'd say Howe is the greatest manager we've had. I think in those days, moving the needle with teams performances had a far bigger impact on results than it does nowadays. The league is now so much stronger and far more competitive than it was back then, so you have to be able do far far more than just be a good team to achieve what Howe has. Getting into the CL twice, for was harder than what Keegan achieved although the symbolic value in what Keegan achieved is priceless and rightly puts him at the top of other people's list. But for me, when you add a trophy to the mix and it's hard to put anyone above Howe. I think that whilst the leagues far stronger as a whole, we sometimes forget just how closed it was at the top.

Think his positioning is very static and central too meaning passing outlets to him are blocked more often than not. Sometimes with Woltemade, its the runs he doesnt make that you dont notice until your watching him that make a massive difference. Theres been a few examples where a players recived the ball with space behind the full back and where with others strikers theyd see the run in the channel, Woltemade is often static and taking a central postion so the player has to recycle possession elsewhere. It's those little things which stop us turning defense into attack as dynamically as we did in the past. It makes a massive difference to our overall game.

We've struggled against teams who overload and crowd the midfield. Both Palace and Leeds have played with 7 in that midfieled area vs our 6. It took Brunos ability to evade the press and break the lines in order for us to get more control in both games. We either need to change formatio a little, or get in more players of higher technical quality who aren't as susceptible to the press.

Howe used to do this by creating competition for places and making the players earn their starting position.

It's good man management providing he's producing the results to justify the treatment. He's not.

He's not a lone striker and we can't create space in pur current set up by having width and have players around him unless we have a second striker who's running creates more space for him to lose his man and turn. I liked how Palace set up. Their wingers dropped centrally into the space between midfield and defence, so something like that might help Wolte with Tino/Miley and Hall providing the width.

Neither did we.

Some Busquet quality play in his game.

Need to change formation and get an extra man in the centre. We're getting overrun in midfield with their constant overloads and their wide men are finding so much space in between the lines of midfield and defence in Central positions. They're also boxing Tonali up and out of the game making it impossible to play out the back.

Not that it matters but am I missing something here? Clear as day the ball has been played before the contact with the hand. Substituting a hand for a foot and I'd feel hard done by if I fairly nicking the ball ended up standing on someone's foot on the follow thorugh only for it to be called a foul.

Then let's wait for it to become a long term issue before we even begin to discuss the repercussions of it being so?

Have to say, I thought he wouldnt cut it in the first team due to the competiton he had ahead of him but he's absolutely showing what a top quality, and tactically astute player he is - a side if his game I hadn't recognised until now

The only times I think a manager's time should circle the drain is when they're unable to implement any notion of a style or identity on a team, or when the team have put down tools. Talk off sacking a legendary manager for the sole reason of poor away form is quite frankly just plain idiotic.

For perspective, we are 4 points off 5th place. Doesn't excuse some of the performances and results but to say this has been an insanely disjointed season, thats an extremely healthy position to be in.

Our 2 best wingers are the ones we'd earmarked for the bench.

My favourite type of football fan is the 'born winner' types.

Ambition isn't measured by success, it's measured by the steps you take on the path to success. Entitlement is when you think that path should be smooth sailing and without discourse which seems fit the feelings of a lot of unhappy fans at the moment. Yes, we're having some difficulties this season, but which ultimately successful club hasnt? I'd be far more worried if we werent turning up at all at this stage of the season, than I am with the inconsistent performances we're experiencing.

I still believe Wissa will change our fortunes. If you watched him yesterday, he didnt look like he did much, but his movement and direction of runs opened up bits of space for others to exploit and I dont think it was a coincidence that we looked better when he came on. With Woltemade, I like him as a player and he's done well to score the goals he has, but he's extremely static and his naturally positioning condenses the pitch in key areas, and because we have to get closer to him we end up leaving spaces that the opposition exploit if/when he loses the ball.

Needs to show more torso deception imo

Bit conflicted by this transfer windows. Think injuries have shifted our focus to defence, and yes we definitely need full backs, but with Woltemade not being an out and out striker I can't help but feel we need wingers who are more clinical in the final 3rd.

No issue with that game today. I've just been waiting for that game where we go back to our roots and that seemed as close to it as I've seen in a long while. That 1st half smothers 75% of the teams in the league for the remainder of the game, it just so happens that we were up against a team with excellent technical and mental quality who are still able to create pressure when the breif moment strikes. It was a set peice and a goal from a mistake, outside of that, they didnt create many clear cut chances whilst we created plenty.

Eddie has some challenge getting the team to adapt to 2 completely different type of strikers and I don't know how he does it without having them both on at the same time.

Wissa is the player that turns our season around.