Viana

I noticed we are already posting more branded content on our social media.

We can all name poor players that played in big games.

Three of those mentioned were from over 15 years ago, so let’s ease up on the “terrible argument” and keep it respectful. I’m talking about at least in the last 5-10 years, and even then, I’m preaching caution not avoidance. Sorry if you didn’t understand that. Because sure we got Wilson but we also took Fraser. Jamal Lewis has been poor. Also, we all laughed at getting 30m for Sissoko - he was aspiring to mediocrity at Spurs, so let’s not rewrite history.

I still think if they come up they’d struggle. I don’t think the owner has the access to funds, he’s not personally rich, and looking at Forest shows how hard it is to bridge that gap.

Got tickets for New Jersey. Debating the Philly one too.

A mate said tonight; how many of these relegated stars work out elsewhere? Pope is one, Wijnaldum another, but it’s rarer than we care to accept.

He sets an incredibly high standard for himself and I can only admire that.

He’s such a lad like. Just gives off massive shagger vibes.

Link?

Not used to this.

Saints Leeds and one of Forest or Everton.

Can’t argue with that, and it wouldn’t shock me if Ashworth is already setting up a base in South America to get the next Alvarez. I also agree; we’ll not be after either of those. I think that Bella-Kotchap will get a move too.

I need to see more of Lavia. He’s good at spinning out of pressure and would seem the ideal six for us, but need to see his distribution. Not convinced Alcaraz offers what we don’t already have.

That second half man. It was like we just held them down and kept punching. At least they mustered something in the first period. Credit to our lot, another show of character to come out and rectify things. Hope we’ve got that stinker out the system.

The optics of today are bad for him. He missed a one on one, at times looked easy to shut down, and we went in a goal down with him on the field. This is probably the first transfer where I’m thinking “trust Howe and Ashworth”. I’m certainly seeing glimmers of a player; he’s set up chances, made good runs, connected passes well, but glimmers is the bare minimum I’d expect. All that said, I think he’s in the same boat as Elliot Anderson and even Miggy when he joined. Both are trying hard to make an impact but they’re forcing it a bit. I think when that first goal comes - and it will - we will start to see a more relaxed and accurate representation of where they’re at. It’s not that he’s destined to succeed (the club will continue to sign duffers even with new owners) but at least we’ll have a better idea of judging once that burden is lifted.

Still figuring him out a bit. Quick, but not tricky, combines well, plays on the left but a much better finisher with his right. A few times that half his decision to go outside seemed naive give the space was inside.

Finishing has been shite, nothing else.

It's mad too because Forest have nothing to offer in central midfield. Their forward players should be the perfect compliment to his few skills, and yet, he can't be humble enough.

I still find it very telling he performs well for England but has these breakdowns at club level. He gets way too invested in things when in reality your goalkeeper needs to be level headed. That save from Willock shows he has good reflexes, but as long as he's trying to kick every ball against us he'll struggle.

Frankie Francis from the documentary. I think he was stadium PA previously. As commentators go he’s really poor. Heard better on Northern League highlights.

This actually a very good point re: Gordon. He's left a team mired in relegation trouble and joined one fit and firing. We saw the inverse of this last season when Bruno arrived from a better team and joined one that had struggled. I still Gordon gets a goal or assist before the season is out, but what we're also seeing is a change in club mentality. Under Ashley, you never knew when and to what extent investment would be made in the squad (bar when we were firmly in the shit, the cretin) and so that built an expectation that a new face had to hit the ground running. Now we're workin with a more long-term strategy in mind, especially when it comes to players 24 and under.

While not a statistical category; Richarlison is also an absolute whopper of a person. Give me ice cold Isak any day.

I had a very similar curiosity about where he fits for us. I think he’d excel during games we’ve struggled in this year at home (Leeds, Bournemouth, Palace) while potentially creating more space for Bruno - and supplying chances to those you mentioned. My only concern would be that diligence off the ball when we play elite teams. We’re not able to carry passengers.

Yeah. Thing is, they have some handy technical players (Roberts, Clark, Michut, Pritchard) so it’ll be interesting to see how they transition. Three of that four have tried and failed at that level, but it could be easily different this time around. I think they probably make the playoffs but fall short. No shame in that. They’ve not spent much money and they’ve been without a star striker for months. If anything another year at that level lets them get a bit more settled and build out the squad.

Could see this being a comfy 2-0. I was very worried about the Everton game due to the atmosphere. For that same reason I’m confident here. We have a certain intensity at SJP right now, and I think we saw that in the League Cup against them. The key will be not giving up a sloppy goal in the first half.