Thiago

Ah give the lad a move come January or the summer. Not his fault, he's just done here. He might still turn out to be an ok lower half/Championship defender, but the constant turmoil means he's never actually been allowed to progress.

Honestly, give the bloke time. Anyone saying he's shite or brilliant has no real idea. He's had less than a half a dozen games and no transfer window. If we're feeling this way come April I'll start to agree.

He's Hatem Ben Arfa MK II - we all know this. He wants total creative freedom, this is why he loved Bruce. He cannot be given total creative freedom because then he gets lost. I can't believe I'm quoting Alan Pardew, but when he had Hatem at his best he said words to the effect of; "When Hatem has the ball its his world, when he doesn't it's my world." That's Saint-Maximin. He has one truly elite level skill and that's dribbling. The rest are a bit lower on the scale. That's enough to decide games if channelled correctly. I think it says so much about who he is that his biggest moments for us have often come when games are stretched. I wouldn't advocate making him an impact sub, but you have to keep him motivated until the 60th minute when things start to open up a bit. If you let him get into his own head then he's neither use nor ornament.

I'm fast thinking we can get away with 4-2-3-1 at home against sides near us because the pitch feels tighter and they panic a bit, but long term I think 3-4-3 is our only hope. I say that for the following reasons. - The CBs are a bad collection of weaknesses meaning that no pairing is really well suited. - The midfield has a similar issue whereby it's going to be Shelvey + 1 but that one is either Joe Willock who is so clearly an attacking midfielder in the mold of Nolan or Isaac Hayden who is clearly a defensive midfielder with very limited technical ability. - The attack has an abundance of speed and varying levels of skill, so we almost need to invite teams onto us to open the space in their half but not in a 4-4-2 4-2-3-1 because that leaves gaps on our end as the likes of ASM/Wilson can't be defending. The ultimate blessing is that January arrives soon. If that silver lining can't get you soundly to sleep, just remember we're in a better place ownership wise than we were six month ago.

It was a joke friend.

Is that right we don't do women's sizes/cuts for the home and away kits? Is this a consequence of our new Saudi overlords? I wanted to pick one up for my missus when home but don't see any options.

Honestly, this bloke is a total breathe of fresh air. I can already hear that cretinous Bruce saying 'Well, yuh nooo, it'll be a struggle to keep him, lots of clurbs want a midfielder like him.'

Ha! You're right. I was watching on my phone so wasn't really listening to the audio, but there's a few liberties taken with the translations. Funny.

It feels they've been more encouraged under the new era. Seeing Almiron talk about the sessions having proper edge to them is funny too.

Sneaking suspicion this may get called off.

The problem I have with both is this; Mings is a bit of a mess positionally and just tries to out battle his opponent. He's constantly made tot look good because he bails himself out of his own mistakes. Tarkowski is more reliable perhaps, but he's also playing in a Burnley side that makes defenders look better. It's why Michael Keane has never been the same player. Most decent defenders can head and kick anything 5 yards in front of their penalty box. Howe doesn't want that, he wants us closer to half way. At a push that makes Mings more possible, but they paid an obscene sum for him and will want that plus more.

It looks like Kalvin Phillips could be out for 2 month.

He absolutely is. He would be nowhere near England if he was right footed. He's always got a mistake in him and so often he gets out of jail because he's an impressive athlete.

No thanks. Titus Bramble with better PR.

To be fair, reading a lot of those posts I can believe some of the reasons. Decent away crowd is one thing, but the four games up until Christmas in an area like that is a big ask. Not judging anyone or anything for their financial situation, but data will tell you it's not an area flush with cash. You're looking at £100 easy just for tickets (I had a check on their website, loads for Plymouth @£32 a pop) and then you've got a bit of food and drink alongside any travel costs. I mean aye, if they were winning it would be packed, but it gets harder to justify when you've got a little fella in a Canada Goose giving you the Vs for another shit performance. If I was a fan of them I'd be worried. This owner is fast starting to look as dodgy as the other ones. He doesn't appear to have nearly as much money as was suggested and the upturn this should have produced simply hasn't happened. I feel like it won't be long until they're offered another chance to install seats and 'take the club back'.

I seem to remember a young lad at Coventry by the name of Calum being heavily linked under Graham Carr. I wonder whatever became of him.

Botman is undoubtedly better than Ciaran Clark, but if we assume we're likely to see at a max 4-5 come in, I'd be hesitant throwing it at him. I'm happy to be corrected by anyone that watches Ligue 1 regularly, but when I've seen him his biggest weakness is speed. If we're playing at a higher line I worry how he'd handle that.

All human mate. When I met him he was sound, signed my shirt I had for him, and even encouraged me to take a picture as I was shitting bricks. As for the signage. It's lovely to see it removed.

I don't think I have the same venom as you do, but I do agree, he's made some awful choices after leaving us. China I could sort of understand, but I remain confused why he wouldn't just sit out for another six months and see what happened with our court cases. This job was always going to be perfect for him. No conflicts from previous jobs, a fan base with the lowest of low expectations, and a club that once finished, would have a genuine legacy that could only be ascribed to him. I've never quite seen him as a messianic figure, but I believe he did a tremendous job here given the circumstances. Even if you think he 'bought the Championship', to keep us up with Gayle and Joselu as strikers was genius. I will also say; if I read that our DOF wanted Graham Potter and we ended up with Rafa instead I'd be horrified.

Still no idea why he took that job. He was asking for misery.

Yeah. Look it was a different time, but talk to folk from then and they'll say one of his best skills was the ability to bring a high ball down and play out. He was no clogger by the time he got to Man U.

Look at how Big Jo and Lewis have changed in the few games we've had. Aye, you can say Lewis should be adapted to English football blah blah, but Bruce sold them up the river. Joelinton has looked a different player because someone has come in and realised both where he operates best, and how he can impact the game. It's no different to Mo Diame dropping 10 yards and becoming the lanky Kante. It's easy for us to give him pelters, but when you've played for a team in Hoffenheim that knew exactly where to slot you in and then are thrown to the wolves playing as a 9 in a shit long ball team, I get why he was frustrated, and that's before trying to adapt to a new culture, at a team that dominates the city you're in. And do you think he got an ounce of personal coaching from Bruce and his goblins? They couldn't be arsed to do any team training let alone stuff outside of their 'remit'. I don't know or care if he'll ever be worth £40m, but cases like him are why people like Steve Bruce are finished in this game.

He does. Weird Scots-Anglo hybrid accent he's got. As for Maxi, he's massive asset. I do worry that he seems frustrated at things not coming off, but I think as we start to have those tougher away games he could be massive on the break.

The win today is allowing me to finally get this out my system, but allow me to point out one last time. This handsome bastard wasn't getting a kick for the first 8 games under a manager who made his fucking name as a ball playing defender. Outrageous.

Honestly, no point looking forward now as there was before today. We've won, that weight is off us, now let's just enjoy it again.