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Iheanacho and Daka would be nowhere near that list, let's be sensible

I would be very interested to see evidence of this

Between their respective injuries we've only actually managed to start them together 11 times, of which we've won 10 - the sole defeat being the Hull home game which we didn't really have any business losing. Our points per match in games Doyle plays is 2.77 which is the best of anyone with any significant amount of minutes. Together they make a big difference.

We could play more positively and move the ball quicker because we had Ricardo and Doyle back, and also I suspect partly because dropping out of the automatic places gave the squad a big collective wake-up call. Having the most important role in the team performed by our best player rather than Hamza Choudhury changes things quite dramatically, as does replacing Justin with Doyle and his much more expansive passing range. Interestingly, as far as I can tell the last game Ricardo and Doyle both started was Stoke away when we won 5-0.

It wasn't a choice between building the training ground and buying players because investment into infrastructure doesn't count towards FFP

Said interview was published on 15th Feb, when we were 14 points clear of third after winning four on the spin and just before the home loss to Boro - so not really. Besides, it's either the case that Top wants the team to play possession football or he keeps accidentally/unwittingly appointing managers who do, a possibility which I suppose we can't totally discount given how clueless him and the rest of the gang are.

We're seeing the consequence of a January window we went into knowing we needed to add depth to midfield and came out of with less of it

It's in our hands, that's the beauty of it

Something happened but I'm not sure what. More to follow.

I thought we'd EASTER (ease to) a win but now I've got EGG on my face (as in an Easter egg)

We'll Be Fine™️

Being good in a counter-attacking team and good in a possession team are not mutually exclusive - nor are playing possession football and attacking on the counter. Everyone on that list, excepting Cannon who I've not seen enough of to judge, has done well and poorly in both styles. Personally my big question about the squad and its suitability would be how we ended up with a manager who plays one up front (we had three strikers and signed another just in case), relies on the 8s for penetration and creativity (Enzo must be the only man on Earth who saw Wilf as a potential attacking midfielder, and to be fair he did actually make it happen somehow) and has no use for orthodox full backs (Ricardo, Justin, Kristiansen and Thomas made this arguably the strongest area of the squad together with the strikers).

Mine still is personally

I think in a squad of 23 they should both go but Toney is the best alternative to Kane we have by a distance imo

Yeah exactly. The feeling of immense shame that washes over you after a KFC is a huge part of the appeal imo.

I think a lot of people are too emotionally invested in the owners and specifically Top (which I can understand to an extent) to countenance the idea that they don't really know what they're doing and are basically making it up as they go along. If you imagine that e.g. relegation was all part of a genius strategic plan to regroup and rebuild in the Championship rather than a totally avoidable disaster, or that we're in the financial shit because everyone in football hates us rather than because we've been continuously mismanaged and wasted loads of money on players we don't use and can't sell, then you can also imagine that this is all just a little bump in the road and we're in good hands.

If it was just the MTX people were complaining about I might agree but given the absence of really basic quality of life features (can you even call the ability to start a new game a quality of life feature?) and the performance apparently being pretty rank on everything from consoles to the highest of high-end PCs, it sounds like it deserves at least a bit of piss. I think it's reasonable to expect your full price single-player game not to run so badly that it's giving people motion sickness or to arrive riddled with microtransactions, however inessential they are. It is very funny however that a couple of months ago its director was saying that if your game needs fast travel then it's "boring", and now it's seemingly so vital to his game that Capcom expect people will want to pay for it.

Vini Jr. played on by Rice and then Endrick behind the ball for the rebound

Conor Gallagher's ability to single-handedly ruin any game he plays in warrants further investigation, the man is an absolute marvel

Rubbish. Watch and analyse the game properly and stop writing headlines like that which you know makes fans pile on with negativity. Play like that and we’ll be absolutely fine. Created numerous brilliant chances and win comfortably on another day.

I agree he needed bringing in for Faes a few weeks ago but more generally, I assume he was brought in to be first choice in the middle of the "three" in a similar way to how he was used at Wolves, which made sense. Unfortunately for him, he then picked up the first injury of his career and Vestergaard surprised everyone by turning out to be actually very good in that specific role. In an alternative universe where either he didn't get injured or Vestergaard had left/was shit, he'd probably have been playing all season. The Cannon signing I think continues to look a strange and unnecessary one but I can absolutely see the logic behind Coady coming in even if it hasn't gone how we'd expected.

Yeah they definitely were and I agree 100% with the sentiment that this back line as it is would struggle big time but I don't think that's a Vestergaard specific issue. Him, Coady, Faes and Doyle all have little to no pace and they are all going to be exposed by good opposition unless we get some around them. I don't think Vestergaard or Coady are brilliant players by any means but I think either of them flanked by a couple of defenders who can actually run would be perfectly adequate for a bottom half Premier League team.

Even accounting for blue-tinted glasses I am sort of amazed anyone could think it's anything other than a foul and a red card

Can I ask why today is the definitive proof and not e.g. the Bournemouth game?

Because if it was a penalty it couldn't have been a red card, those are the rules