Thiago

Speaks to the man's quality that Boro haven't looked great here and have still been comfortably the better side. His team's don't create much nor do they look hard to break down. I feel sorry for any fan that thought it would go differently.

It's never wise to draw a conclusion and then look for the evidence. That's how conspiracy theories thrive.

What channel is it on?

In my head I've got the players basically ranked on importance and Manquillo is above the line in terms of stay or go. He's been solid, he's versatile, he has no issues just defending but he can offer something going forward. Whether he'd be happy to sit behind Trippier who knows.

I mean - it's Maldini and they're top of the league right now. You'd be on for another go at that, Champions League football. I'd pick Newcastle, but I'm bias ha. We're offering promise, they're offering genuine opportunity.

It wasn't Tomasson's fault, but I think the notion he 'proved us wrong' is a bit misleading. After us he went back to Holland, scored goals just as he had prior to joining us, and then used that form to move to Milan on a fee transfer. He only really had one good season there in front of goal there and that coincided with a league title. If you look at the totality of his career he never proved himself to be anything more than a 1 in 3 man at best in a top European league. There's nothing wrong with that, but he wasn't quite as pedigreed as some would believe.

He's absolutely the lad flogging monorails on the Simpsons.

People forget that when he came in he suggested the 4-4-2 diamond for Everton away - nee chance Bruce did - and that snapped the awful streak under Bruce and got us a win against Southampton. I think he's a shite manager but a good coach. If Howe sees value and he can contribute to the staff then it's fine.

Going from Keegan to Dalglish was always going to feel more defensive, but the football was shite.

Fair fucks. He seemed keen to join us when we looked like the only team able to do a deal in January. If waiting to the summer throws Milan into the mix I think it gets harder for us to convince him especially with Maldini on a charm offensive. Our only advantage is more money but I'd not want to go down that route as our sole motivator towards players.

Funnily enough they've same number of points even though Arsenal have played a game more. That's why I said domestically Barca are a top team still. They've fallen far, but even now they're in the top four, their players are better. The competition in the Premier League is higher than La Liga.

But surely me calling you that implies you're the bigger team? Rovers it is then.

It's lovely to hear of a young lad doing well. This was a big test for Shola and his loan development work. I honestly think if he's happy and Bristol Rovers have a decent plan to stop up after promotion we just send him back.

How much of that is because a demand for equality of contribution? I must admit, the whole 'sign da ting' stuff made me queasy. It was clearly Ozil 2.0 and the fawning over him was like watching a toxic couple get back together again. I also think he'll be rife for revisionism now he looks like starting well with Barcelona. The reality is he's far more suited - like Ozil - to being a compliment in a top team (Barca are still a top team domestically) than a game changer like De Bruyne or Yaya Toure.

Amazing. Proof if ever needed we were consistently outplayed under Bruce.

They sold White for £50m. The goalkeeper is earning rave reviews and would probably go for £25-30m. If that's what he can turn out from a minimal spend then imagine what he could do with us.

I'd be happy to sign him if only because he looks perfect for our situation. By all accounts his best football for Villa came behind Grealish and that's basically what we find ourselves in with Maxi.

I watched them against Blackburn and they were awful.

I think Shelvey gets hate because he's never been what we've needed him to be. When your formative years are spent watching Rob Lee, Gary Speed, and players that are leaders in midfield he's not going to compare well. He's a very gifted technical player. If you can get the ball to run through him then chances are you'll see some quality, but in the Premier League, with our squad, there's a battling element that he's never been great at. Where I cut him some slack is that when he's played in a highly organised or structured set-up he's done fairly well. It's only under McClaren and Bruce that he's looked his worst because those aforementioned flaws were even more exposed by poor tacticians. That said, he's had some dire moments where the flaws in his character come to the surface and I think a lot of folk see him as a personification of the Ashley era - only motivated when it suited him, happy to bank his big money, lacking in ambition. I've been pleased with some of the noises coming out of him lately in regards to wanting to help start this new era on the front foot even if he won't be here for the big moments. I'm not keen to see him get a new deal, I'd rather wait until the summer for this stuff to be sorted, but if Howe believes this slow build project could benefit from him I'm happy to trust in that. I would be surprised if we stayed up and he started the first game of the season.

I don't think his intelligence on the ball will always show itself in through balls and obvious chance creation. I think he'll switch the point of attack and essentially give us more control of games. Shelvey is good at those searching passes or putting it into dangerous spaces but that is also quite a speculative approach.

No argument that Weghorst has looked a much greater threat for Burnley than Wood has for us. That said, the transition for him to Burnley is a lot kinder than Burnley to Newcastle. We aren't throwing crosses in, we aren't going long, we're playing with a single striker not a pair. That alone has given him more chance to be influential. I'd be inclined to compare him to Roque Santa Cruz when he joined Man City. It was a decent punt on a player that had scored goals and would - in theory - do well in any side. He still has time to 'come good' in terms of goalscoring but as I've said before if we stop up he's done his job.

He really is. He always wishes the opposition teams well for the season and ends his videos with 'God bless, may God go with you.' I'd happily go for a pint with him. He was good watch during COVID as well. Give me him over some of the 'celebrities' that put on fake characters any day.

I'm not against a rest for the bloke. He looked razor sharp against Everton after a break. I wouldn't want him doing one on one off, but if this is what he needs then give it him.

I don't disagree @Hovagod - we should be very self aware of our role in all this and make sure we aren't coopted into something as a fan base. If support the team, not the regime, was acceptable under Ashley then the same should be true now. We should be pushing our governments and genuine decision makers to enact change. I also think those Sunderland fans have shown how hollow their supposed principles are. Had they stayed consistent - criticising fans that wore Saudi dress and waved flags - they'd have my respect. They didn't. They tarred everyone that didn't abandon the club with the same brush. Now there's a sniff that Abu Dhabi could invest in them and suddenly its 'oh well I wouldn't be ecstatic about it' or ' I wouldn't go round in the garb'. It's mental gymnastics to justify things. They're desperate to be in our shoes from a sporting and financial perspective just as I imagine many fans where when Man City were bought out.

He is to us what Heskey was to England. Also, if he's genuinely gone around chasing Zouma saying Meow I couldn't give a fuck what he does while we pick up points