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Thread | Jack Clarke
at 09:00 3 Apr 2025
He's far from the finished article at Premier League level, but I've been enjoying Jack Clarke's appearances for us over the last couple of months, & really hope we hold on to him for a few years. He is defnitely a strong contender in the most improved player, over the course of the season, category.
To be fair to him, he had to come into a new side, in the PL, & play an unfamilar role, so he looked a bit lost early on & gave away possesson cheaply in poor areas too often, without ever really looking a threat for us.
But, he has matured very well I think, is far more competitive in challenges now, & even when he's not tackling, he is getting back to cover breaks, runs & passes with awareness & urgency.
Of course his main role is as a ball carrier, creating chances & taking his own opportunity to shoot; I think he has improved in all these areas too. He doesn't overplay the ball so much anymore, his decision making is better - that head in his hands moment after a loose pass across the back must have haunted him - plus his strength & shielding of the ball when challenged has all improved significantly too.
I'm waiting for him to crack in a top corner worldly against Wolves on Saturday. [Post edited 3 Apr 9:03]
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Thread | Calmer with Palmer
at 21:13 3 Mar 2025
Makes such a difference to have him in goal, when we're playing it around at the back under pressure. |
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Thread | Had we been able to play our full backs from the Villa game ...
at 09:04 23 Feb 2025
... we might have beaten Spurs yesterday!
The wrongly given yellow card that Tuanzebe got v Villa, not only affected us in that game, when he got a second & was unfairly sent off, but had a real impact on us for this match.
Tuanzebe has shown how good of a defender he is at PL level, particularly when up against tricky, speedy, winger/attackers, and I do believe he would have coped with Son a lot better yesterday. He would not have allowed him the space & time to play those assists for Johnson's 2 goals IMO.
Similarly, having watched, & been impressed by, Conor Townsend's defending, I feel that he would not have lost him in the box the way Leif did. Without those 2 moments, Spurs did not pose too many problems for us at all in the first half. Also, we would not have lost anything going forward as Tuanzebe & Townsend would have provided as much support in countering as Godfrey & Davis did.
These are the margins I guess, and obviously the Tuanzebe decision was out of our hands, but when we look back at this season come May, we will have a lot of moments to reflect on what might have been, pointswise. |
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Thread | Predicting points total needed to stay up is ... pointless.
at 07:25 22 Feb 2025
We have to assume that Southampton are gone & that Leicester won't finish above us, given their form, manager & morale around the club currently. But equally, we have to accept that Everton, Crystal Palace & West Ham (& Man Utd & Spurs) are too far ahead now for us to catch, so it's not worth tormenting ourselves over any what ifs.
The only 2 clubs we therefore need to concern ourselves with, when contemplating us beating the drop, are Wolverhampton Wanderers & Manchester City, and in both cases, trying to predict the points total, or number of wins, that'll be needed is somewhat futile.
We're only 2 points & a poor goal difference behind Wolves, so 1 win while they lose, and matching the rest of their results, will be enough. Given that we have to play them at home in the run in, it gives us a really good chance of achieving that 3 point swing; and arguably, if we are not capable of beating them at home, when it really matters, we won't deserve to stay up instead of them.
They are a decent side however, & have improved through a solid January transfer window, so it won't be easy, but we have improved too, & are usually strong at this stage of a season, so it's certainly far from the impossible task that it is made out to be elsewhere, and does not necessarily require the 5+ wins or up to 20 points predicted by many.
As for Man City, we can't do anything about that, however, if they were to get a hefty points reduction which left them, conveniently, just outside the relegation places, it would be absolutely farcical, & leave the Premier League open to all sorts of accusations. If the 'powers that be' come down heavy on them, they will surely have to have enough points deducted that will relegate them, to make the punishment have real consequences, and in that scenario, we would be the side most likely to benefit, whether we beat Wolves or not, & regardless of our wins/final points total. |
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Thread | Team line up for Spurs
at 14:51 19 Feb 2025
Palmer.
Godfrey, O'Shea, Greaves, Townsend.
Phillips, Cajuste.
Johnson, Hutchinson, Broadhead.
Delap.
Muric, Woolfenden, Burgess, Morsy, Taylor, Clarke, Szmodics, Philogene, Hirst.
Woolfie might get the nod, with O'Shea moving to RB, but presumably we brought Godfrey in to directly replace Tuanzebe if/when needed, and therefore less reorganising with others.
Johnson is a puzzle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside a sometimes poor footballer, but with Son back playing on the left for Spurs, and Ogbene & Burns out, we probably need him to offer defensive cover, doubling up, & help block those penetrative runs. |
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Thread | Enciso
at 12:30 17 Feb 2025
I really like him. Sure, he's a bit selfish & wants to score a screamer, even with better place teammates in front of him, but you need a certain level of arrogance to be a top class forward.
What he really has in abundance is drive, determination & fight in him; these are qualities that we have been lacking in the forward area, apart from Delap, all season. As I have said in a few other threads over the last few weeks, we don't have many players that you'd expect to go into a 50:50 challenge, and come away with the ball; but Enciso is one of those players we used to say would kick his own granny in order to win the ball. We need that kind of player.
That's why seeing him limp off in tears on Saturday was such a sad sight. You could see him testing his leg for a couple of minutes before he went down; he knew it wasn't right, but hoped he could walk it off. He was out for most of last season with a torn meniscus to his left knee, & one would suspect from his distraught reaction that he fears a reoccurrence.
I really hope it's not that bad & that he'll be back fit fairly quickly, as he can have a really positive influence on the rest of our season. His Brighton contract is up in the summer of next year & it seems he has refused to consider an extension; I'd love if we tried to sign him permanently if we stay up, given the usual caveats on longterm medicals. |
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