sushimonster85

Better be fast, probably only have till October...

I imagine his xA numbers spiking (in a small sample size) this season isn't a fluke. I think it's part of his game Howe & his team will be working on. He could have had a couple of assists on Saturday had things turned out differently.

Yep. We're going to start (or just about in Tonali's case) next season with Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton, Willock, Longstaff, Miley, & Anderson all (fingers crossed) fully fit and ready to go. From no one to an actual selection headache.

Have to bring this up everytime I see it. In the next couple seasons (at least) if we want to have a full squad for UEFA competitions Longstaff isn't going anywhere. We weren't able to register the maximum amount of players for CL this season as we didn't hit the home grown quota. We're not about to start selling the HG assets in the squad. He will be a squad/bench player next season, but he isn't going anywhere.

Forgive my ignorance, this puts them into the league below the women's super league, right?

Same. Always nice to see Eddie relaxed and having laugh. He generally seems so focussed and intense it's nice to see the other side of him every now and again.

Lads got thighs like Roberto Carlos.

Don't think anyone is saying it should just be a slap on the wrist. But the current punishment, which is multiple times worse than if you racially abuse another player, is clearly wrong. Think the logical thing would be banned until you complete your rehab program. Then second and third offences is when it starts to get to 8 months/1 year territory.

Playing in the new kit early only happens when there's no change a kit manufacturer. No chance Castore will let us play in an Adidas kit while they still have time left on their deal. Doubt Adidas will even be able to officially unveil the kit while the Castore deal is active.

Aye, in an ideal world where Tonali isn't banned, and Joelinton and Willock both remain largely fit I'm not sure how many minutes he would've gotten. Likely just cup games and appearances from the bench where we need energy to see a game out.

All this has gotten me thinking of a (semi) interesting tangent. Which (PL era) manager under-performed the most in relation to what they had in terms of squad and funds? Guess the easy/obvious answer in Gullit. Though I think McClaren gives him a pretty good run. I actually think in terms of PL finishes Bruce had us almost exactly where we deserved to be, not that he had much to do with it at all.

There's always been a kneejerk, whiny section of the fanbase that want the manager sacked as soon at the first sign of trouble. Was going to say it feels like they've gotten worse, but I remember Bobby was getting a much worse time from them towards the end of his reign than Howe is currently getting.

Hoping enough of this sort of stuff ultimately dissuades the FA from adding to Sandro's ban. Hopefully either a suspended ban, or they give him one but state that it has been backdated so it's run concurrently with the existing ban.

Howe will be here next season, which I am happy with. Granted we have been poor for large parts of the season, but there's been more than enough mitigating circumstances to offset that. He has earned another crack at it next season. Now, if we're in a similar spot midway through next season without the injuries & suspensions, and after another Summer of big spending, that's when he may be in trouble. But I honestly don't see it. Really think he will have learned plenty from this campaign, and with additions to the squad can see us back challenging for that 6th/5th spot next season.

Pretty sure no long term decision has been taken either way. Or if it has they haven't communicated it yet.