christ

The only thing more tedious than a window where we don’t sign anyone is wading through the dozens of posts of people saying “I can’t believe we’re not signing anyone!” despite the reasons for us not signing anyone being repeatedly explained. It’s a level of tedium that will only then be beaten by the same people’s furious posts when we’re having to flog our players in June to comply with the PSR regulations we breached by signing someone in January.

If we can pick up an experienced PL striker on a free to fill the Callum Wilson shaped hole on our bench then that’s great.

If we ‘go’ the East Stand will not be part of any rebuild/extension anyway.

The more the usual suspects in the media talk about it the more convinced I am it’ll never happen.

They’ll be the first people to complain about squad depth if someone gets injured.

A limited player who through a combination of decent man management and outrageous luck managed a grand total of three months of genuinely good form during his entire time here. No personal animosity towards the lad, but £10m is daylight robbery.

Felt like we were in second gear for 90 mins, but the result was inevitable the minute we scored.

Nah, it was some bald British bloke.

Who was the dildo Spanish football ‘expert’? Properly showed his hole

The club took a calculated gamble on PSR and it paid off. We’ve dramatically improved the playing squad within the financial headroom available to us. If you’re churlish and/or a complete spod you can nitpick about this deal here or that deal there, but realistically the club couldn’t have done much better.

I’m sure the city can survive without Strictly, Lee Evans Live and War of the Worlds for a few years.

I think Gordon loves it.

The thing that surprised me yesterday was how often he was caught on his heels and really stretching to get the ball whenever it was played into him. It did look like a player who is a half step behind those around him and wasn’t expecting it. I think he’s generally better than people give him credit for. He does a very unflashy job and carries a lot of water for those around him. However, he’s going to get fewer and fewer opportunities. If he’s happy to hang around on the fringes of the squad I’m sure Howe will cling onto him as he clearly rates him.

I think they’re superglued into the CD player

It’s insane anyone is offering us any money for Almiron tbh

‘Almiron in centre midfield’ is the sort of sentence that gives me nightmares.

Rarely give a shit about their results nowadays. However, I hate the possibility we may get drawn against them in the cup so I am very pleased with this outcome.

Let us dream Decky

The club need to move heaven and earth to try and make the arena site a possibility. Not only would it look outstanding perched right on the river, but that corner of the city centre could do with some investment. You’d imagine a new ground would have some sort of impact.

To be honest I’m still not sure if Dubs is just benefiting from the fact we’re defending a lot better than we did when he was last asked to deputise. He might still be a liability but we haven’t put him in as many positions where he can prove beyond all doubt he’s shot.

I don’t think we’ll sign anyone. I don’t think it will be a complete disaster if we don’t. If/when Dubs goes that changes the equation slightly, but apart from the obvious problem of backup to Isak (which we’re never solving in this window anyway) there’s not an urgent need for bodies. Areas like right wing and right centre back we’ve found solutions - however temporary they may be - within the existing squad that are working. The club aren’t going to play Russian roulette with PSR again just because people still aren’t comfortable with Jacob Murphy starting every match.

The difference between what Bruno does and what the Arsenal players were doing is that Bruno’s not managed by someone who whinges about the dark arts.

One calendar month ago we were picking the bones out of that Brentford defeat, and it felt like we were sliding towards midtable. If you’d have told me then that we’d be unbeaten come early January I’d have laughed in your face. That we’d have won every single match I’d have had you sectioned. It’s a phenomenal run and all credit to Howe for it. It wasn’t working and he reacted. I had genuine reservations about his ability to get Tonali and Bruno working together in his system, but he’s done it. His management of the squad - particularly when a lot of coaches would’ve rushed Botman back - and his in-game management has been virtually faultless. I absolutely loved his demeanour at full time last night too. No time to get carried away. There’s a long way to go. Well in Eddie.

Eloquent. Doesn’t waffle. Talks sense. Adds insight. He’s going to go from a player I hated to a pundit I quite like.

Theo Walcott is a really, really good pundit.