Nine

Not long ago people were calling for him to start in the PL A cup start was likely for him but he needs more time, looked good in moments in the 70+ min sub chances hes had but nothing to suggest hes PL ready yet.

Lampard had built a pretty solid foundation for that team, they are currently the 3rd or 4th best defence in the league. Just no significant quality up top to speak of with Calvert Lewin consistently injured, I think they’ll be ok this season in the end which is a shame as I can’t stand that club.

There will be

I’ve said on here before that I don’t think any manager in world football could have turned this club around within a year quite like Howe has. Of course we have to give the ownership part of the credit but everything top to bottom feels different, considering the absolute state that they inherited it’s pretty impressive work. Idiots will point to the key factor being money spent while ignoring the standard of our squad before we spent money and also that money = success just doesn’t happen that easily in football, the key factor is the ownership/management. Obviously a good slice of luck has been involved also, as we could have had a different manager altogether. I had my doubts we would resume our last season post Jan form but we’ve actually gone and bettered it which bodes well for what happens post WC. I’d have taken a top 10 finish as I saw this as a transitional season but things have moved at mad pace, we are moving towards the point of anything below top 6 being a bit of a collapse. If we do hit the ground running again after the WC then the momentum should carry us through bar any injury crisis. With all that being said, this is a long road and it will have bumps in it. IF we do qualify for the Europa league or higher then next season will be a massive task, the way we play under Howe will have this squad massively stretched due to the extra schedule. I think we would honestly benefit from one more season outside of Europe, two more summer windows will be huge in transitioning this squad into one that has the depth in quality to handle a assault on all fronts (PL, Europe and the cups). What I’m saying is I hope we don’t progress TO quickly, we can only alter transfer plans to offset that so much within the limitations. Howe should have enough credit in the bank to get through any bad patch of form caused by whatever the circumstances may be, and when we do get into Europe it will probably be the biggest acid test so far for the new regime. All in all Howe is a beast but we are only just beginning.

We play another game on Saturday?

Not sure if I'd rest Miggy right now, while we need to get the balance right on maintaining peak fitness levels I also wouldnt want to interrupt his current momentum.

Agree entirely

Maddison, RB, prospect RW.

Yeah, wouldn’t drop Willock for anyone and Longstaff is doing well so back in for Murphy if ASM isn’t ready.

I actually disagree with this, I dont think the initial plan for January will have changed much if at all due to where we are in the league. I dont expect Howe will want to bring in extra numbers in the hope of staying where we are, so much of his philosophy seems to be heavily structured around squad harmony/man management and we've seen the evidence of how good he is at this (Miggy being the latest example). Imo its a risk to go out and sign 3/4 extra players and expect them to bed in the squad quickly in January more so when you consider our current league position, the team flying in the league might not make it any easier to get them gelling in decent time.. as we know more good players does not always equal a higher league finish. Getting the balance right will be very important on keeping up this momentum. What I think will change though is some of the targets we were looking at, we might be aiming a bit higher than we were during the summer now.. I do think we will go back for in Maddison though.

For anyone else that was born after the Keegan era and was to young to remember a lot of Bobbys time, the last 2 months is the best run of results we have ever seen. We are putting the fucking fear of god into any team we come up against, if we come back after the World Cup and carry on anything close to this type of form who knows where we could end up.

I think they are usually solid enough at the back, as you say though there are few goals in this side with their lack of forward quality and Calvert Lewin consistently injured.. Lampard has done an okay job at stabilizing them so far but im not convinced that he will have enough time (or even ability) to build and take them up the table before a bad run of form gets him the sack.

Yes he did last month

If we have learned anything from the windows so far it is to not listen to a word that ownership or management say about them

Lets not down play Haaland, hes absolutely ridiculous. As much as I want Miggy to win it I'd be suprised if he does.

Go on

Plans changed due to Wilsons injury indeed, just not sure the same will apply when we are doing as well as we are with the current squad as Howe is so big on squad harmony and I doubt will want to bring in more players than planned. But who knows, still expect us to sign 1/2 in Jan.

I dont think where we are in the table will change the transfer strategy, they seem very rigid on their plans going forward concerning transfers and wage structure etc.

The key signing we needed at the time couldnt have been anymore perfect than this guy, irreplaceable

Mentally snapped

Relegation scrap this season looks like it could get messy

Today was a good day

Not at his best today but hes usually so good, probably our most under appreciated player at the moment. Besides Bruno he’s probably our most press resistant midfielder, his runs and general movement when pressing is as good as anyones. He might not get the goals but he’s as important in this midfield as he was when he scored every week under the slob.

No chance