dmayne7

Monga not starting, no Nelson/Page

Tell me you've not really seen him play, without telling me

Does he? Pretty sure Baresi was excellent at defending and didn't cause his team to sit super deep. Not for a second saying Vestergaard isn't a very good defender at this level but people get too swept up in his ability to pass under no pressure. His presence in the team causes a lot of issues, unless you have an ultra structured setup (as was under Maresca), and that only works when you are much better than your opposition which we aren't always going to be this year. Unfortunately for Nelson, like all things in life, he's a massive victim of bad timing. That injury prior to the last pre season game probably took him out of the team and then he followed it up with a stinker of a first half in the league cup. Couple that with the fact that CB relies on experience more than any other position and it's easy for a manager to look last him. Just hope he gets a chance this season as he has so much class and potential. He's a guy who's been linked with the big boys since he was 16/17 and obviously the Chelsea rumours this summer, so would be utterly criminal if we let him slip through our fingers (and hamper his career in the process)

Hope everything else is ok? If football is ruining your life at 60 maybe you need somebody to speak to?

Let's be clear, still a very good player at this level but he's extremely one dimensional. You know he's just going to try and stand you up as a defender and do a few stepovers or body shimmys. If you're patient as a defender, he's so much easier to play against

Actually one that I don't find too hard. Just bloody long and old man fingers on my phone means it could come out as anything

He doesn't deserve the respect of me typing out his full name!

They definitely did. There was one bit in the second half where Faes gave the ball away really sloppily which put us under pressure, and then he immediately did it again in his recovery attempt. JV is certainly more stable but he creates huge problems for us as a team. He can slow the pace massively when we're on the ball but it's more than he forces us to sit much deeper and invite pressure (and issue compounded with Ayew dropping in so much)

Yep he was. And unfortunately that 1 bad game and an untimely injury has undone a good pre season and an excellent stint in a struggling team at this level.

Special shout out to the chuckle brothers at the back. Faes did some great things then a few shocking moments as per. Vestergaard, lovely in possession at times then hopeless other times. Need to actually have a bit of forward thinking in that area of the pitch as neither will serve us if we got promoted or will be here in a few years time. Nelson being overlooked is so depressing.

He's 16 and barley had many minutes this season, yet he continues to impress. His end product can get better and will, but it's already very good. Created plenty of chances so far. Decision making is normally the key tell of a special young player and his is already fantastic. He'll be a bit inconsistent at his age but he's already better than just a good player. He impresses basically every time he's on the pitch.

Will be above average wage in the championship, but probably less than he was on before and a more reasonable salary for where we're at. Last time we were relegated, we were in a position where if things were done right, we could have settled back into being a mid table PL team. But obviously they weren't. This time round, even if we go up and recruit really well on and off the field, we could still be straight back down. So having a lad who's good enough for this level and probably an ok back up at the level above, is reasonably sensible business.

Don't get this reply? You've literally just answered why it's disingenuous to suggest he was completely lucky as he did some good things. Which is also what I said? Like it or not, luck is the biggest factor in being successful in life. It's the preparation/approach to situations that increases your odds of making the most of good situations or getting the opportunity again. We've done that terribly for the past few years hence we blew an amazing position and haven't been able to put in place the things needed to give us a good chance at capitalising on those opportunities should we get them.

Every club knows what to do to comply with it, it's just taken these owners far too long. A PSR that is 100% at their door. Ipswich's net spend last year basically outstripped our 3 highest transfer windows combined so let that sink in. We had a model of selling big players every summer to operate on a fairly modest net spend, and despite not signing many, if any decent players on free transfers or going after big names that forced us to overspend on wages, or even signing players to expensive contract extensions, we somehow ended up with a massive wage bill. We should never have been closed to failing PSR (as broken a system as it is). Add to it that we were by far the most marketable club outside the Top 6, had pretty sustained success yet were languishing behind most clubs in terms of sponsorship and other commercial income. The sporting element has a large chunk of chance attached to it (though the dismantling of what was good to cede power to the likes of Rodgers was madness) but the commercial failings on and off the pitch are an utter embarrassment. I think it's disingenuous when people claim they Vichai got totally lucky as he clearly did some very good things but you of course need a massive slice of luck. But for the past 5+ years, the failings off the pitch have been cataclysmic. That's not because of bad luck, it's poor management. Not sure how we credit the ownership for acting out of necessity in a situation of their own making?

Today was an example of good management. Made some bold calls out half time, with some unconventional changes (Abdul going up top) and we were much the better side in that second half. If it wasn't for a poor refereeing decision, we'd probably be coming away with 2 more points.

Bad decision by the ref. Even worse from Ramsey. Creates a bit of an uphill struggle in terms of how he's viewed here. Especially with how patient our fans are with players.

Standard knee jerk reaction on here. Not great with the ball at his feet but he's got plenty of excellent attributes. Yes, he should have done better with the first but when you watch the replay, you can see that he (ironically) can't really see the ball. Defenders were shocking for that goal. He's plenty good enough for us right now. Will make mistakes but he's overall been pretty good.

What a goal

Stupid boy. But not a red card.

Vestergaard is embarrassing at times. People get fooled by him because we will be the more dominant side in most games so he barely gets exposed. But when he does, it's a mixture of anger and amusement.

Everyone at fault for that. Actually a bit less critical of JS watching the replay as he was a bit blindsided (still should do better)

He really isn't. It's just the safer bet to go for the guy who is a full international.

Got a feeling this could be the first proper convincing win of the season. Not a thrashing, but a 2-0 win that is very assertive

And I'd like to win the lottery. History and probabilities tell me that it's not happening, just as they do with Top. Do people actually believe there is a realistic chance of him doing that when he hasn't done after the worst relegation in PL history, and then arguably the most pathetic season in the club's history? Even if he did by some miracle decide to shake things up, it would almost certainly be blind luck that we end up with anyone good. Exactly the same with new owners. KP have already started the asset stripping with minimal investment Vs the money coming into the club over the past few years.

Yeah, those entitled fans do my head in. They should just accept that we're not very good anymore and we probably don't deserve any accountability from the owners.