andyc35i

I know what you mean, it’s even more amazing when you think that they waited the best part of two years as well. But it fills me with confidence that they’re here for the long term and know they have to deal with all this shit left behind right now to see progress in the future

Almiron still makes the starting 11 based on the current level of the squad no matter what any stats say

All those penalty misses still bring back horrible memories

We need to be taking between 12-15 points between now and the new year otherwise we are screwed. I think that’s achievable given the next next three home games should be ones we have a chance in. But we will really need to win all three because if we don’t, then I can’t see where the wins will come from

Yes and I still blame him and Hasselbaink for the demise of the club

Our problem is that we are always set up to play in a negative way and have no idea how to play effective front foot football. All we do is try to defend with everyone behind the ball and still leave gaps everywhere

Agree and disagree - we just don’t have a way of playing other than putting everyone behind the ball. We need a fresh start with a new way of playing and a new manager will bring that. We will still be shite though without a whole load of new signings

Brighton playing very well today against Liverpool - another defeat next week for sure

But that last bit of play showed you how you can get at them here today if you can be brave - a new manager will help with that mentality

If we can stop panicking in possession and just try and pass the ball under pressure, it’s easy to get space against these guys

Amazing how any pressure from the opposition when we have the ball and we panic

I can’t understand why Lewis doesn’t come close to getting a game in this side. Granted he needs to improve defensively, but Ritchie’s poor defensive awareness and positioning has cost us many goals since he started playing at left back / wing back. He has an engine to get up and down the pitch as well as adding some pace to the team would be something a new coach would see as something to work with

I find it rather strange that all the PL clubs have voted to enforce rules that mean the top clubs can never be caught. To grow commercially, you need to buy top players to help market the brand around the world and also to get better on the pitch to further increase your global brand appeal. Nobody has a chance to catch the top four commercially if they can’t be allowed to spend money to get a higher profile. I don’t want us to be like Chelsea and Man City, but I don’t think it’s fair that the league is now a closed shop. There needs to be a happy medium and this proposal is not the way forward

Fair point. Although these new rules coming in are going screw our commercial plans just as hard. Although I look forward to seeing how we get around this. How fun will it be when we sell the naming rights in advance of building the new training ground and then once it’s built renegotiate the deal.

Yeah I watched that. He was trying to wind up the Everton fan, but I think he does genuinely believe that Rafa would come back if seriously offered the job. The Everton fan did make some good points about how the FFP rules have pretty much screwed them over even though their owners are loaded. They have money, but can’t spend it - this is the scenario we will face ourselves soon I’m sure

We never do well at Brighton so I’m already writing that one off. We just need the new guy for the full two week international break so that we can essentially reset the season and start to think about winning some games

I don’t see why Rafa would want to come into the club again mid season with so much pressure straightaway on stopping us spiralling down. I know there’s a bigger picture here and he would be able to see that, but I just don’t see him wanting the job right now

Just goes to show you that nobody knew when the takeover was going to happen the way it did because Mourinho and Rafa would have just waited the two months to take on the job

I would look to sign both Kessie and Kamara, but it’s a tricky one because they could both be had on pre-contracts. We don’t pay the stupid fees for players that are free in the summer, but we need quality straightaway

Agree, but the bigger picture is that we will need 11 wins from 29 games and that seems a tough task given the start. Plus you can pretty much write off 7-10 as losses which makes the task even harder

This FFP stuff is just ridiculous. You have a team that can’t spend money even though they have it because their commercial revenues aren’t sky high. So all it does is keep the top teams at the top because they have the most revenue and can spend the most. You can’t grow commercially without getting better players and spending money, the whole things is anti-competitive and needs a major rethink

None. We conceded possession and so many clear cut chances. There was no attacking intent and we were simply set up to play the counter attack which didn’t work from minute one. The positive is that at least Jones has identified that we are so bad on the ball and wants to work on that

Guys, we were still abysmal today. Beneke had a bucket full of easy chances, I mean he hit the post from inside the six yard box (it was easier to score), had an easier one-on-one and also hit the bar from another free header. They also had some other clear chances too and we were just rotten again. I sound negative because the performance was just that, but we took an undeserved point and that could prove vital later on in the season

The only team worse than us are Norwich, but I’d still back them to beat us if we played tomorrow

Mandy crying there, she sees the job she has on her hands