LCCFox96

0-2 Palace (A) in the 19/20 season - at the time Palace were a well drilled and tough to break down team under Hodgson with a great home record. We'd just come off the back of the 9-0 win at Southampton and could have easily seen a slip in standard. We controlled the game first whistle to last, and Vardy's goal was a brilliant move and team goal. 0-1 Arsenal (A) in the 20/21 season - different type of win but this was one of my favourite smash and grabs in recent years. We were disciplined and stuck to our task well. Piece of quality from Tielemans to open them up up and Vardy diving head late in the game. Beautiful.

The away end could be key today. As a poster said above it’ll be a relatively damp atmosphere there, and Southampton are the only side in the country to have had a more disappointing week than us losing at Leeds and against Grimsby. We’ll have a proper defence in today from the start which will help. Maddison is back (we think and hope). Iheanacho will start. There should, and likely will be a reaction to the performance on Tuesday. Hit our stride like we have done in the Villa and Spurs games and United first half and we should win. However we have a spectacular talent of being inconceivably shit a lot of the time this season, that’s what makes me nervous.

Gives whole new meaning to the ‘aye up me duck’ banner too

Having watched a lot of Ferguson through Dons family connections, I was surprised when he left Aberdeen for Bologna specifically but the £2.5mil - £3mil fee that was rumoured was good business and he’d outgrown them. Ferguson’s best qualities were his physical attributes. He’s powerful, quick, and combative. Breaking out for a top side in Scotland at the age he did you have to be robust and strong on the ball and in the tackle. He has that in bucket loads. He’s also a good dead ball specialist, particularly from the spot - excellent on penalties. He’s good as a 6 or an 8 and gets forward well for with an eye for the final pass and a very decent goal record for CM. I always felt that physical side of his game got him through a lot of the time. He’s a grafter and was simply too strong for a lot of midfielders in Scotland. Italy was an interesting move precisely because it allows him to play in a league where the midfielders have to be more technical. He’s done better than I expected so far and if he continues to do well over the next season or so he could be worth a punt. He doesn’t have the same ceiling as a player like Calvin Ramsay who came down to Liverpool, I’d say he’s closer to the likes of Scott McKenna (Forest) and Kenny McLean (Norwich) in ability and potential so could see him becoming a regular at a bottom end PL club. I’d welcome him as an option if he continues to do well after another season or so in Italy but for me it’s too soon for him to move again, and I’d be concerned if he was a main midfield target. The most exciting player at Aberdeen right now is Duk Lopes. Maverick wide forward and so out-of-character for an SPFL signing it’s brilliant.

The one thing I’m clutching at after tonight is that defensive showing shows how much we were limping along with players like Amartey and Thomas starting every week. You remove those two for Souttar and Kristiansen, take Soumare out, and bring in Maddison and Iheanacho from the start and the 11 is instantly significantly better. I want to see a response at Southampton, I want to see some fight and some desire, and I want to see us take the game to them from the first whistle.

5 more wins should do the trick. If we can pick up 2 or 3 of those sooner rather than later, that will help massively. I didn't necessarily expect to get anything at Old Trafford, but we're back to feeling pretty low again after a 3-0 defeat which in my opinion is compounded by a series of other results not going our way throughout the weekend. Important we don't let that detract from the positive steps made in the previous two games vs Villa and Spurs. We played an excellent half of football yesterday and things are undoubtedly more positive than they were. Unfortunately yesterday we had nothing to show for it and didn't get the rub of the green with some refereeing/VAR decisions, but play like that first half showing more often than not and we'll be over the hill and out of sight at HT against lots of teams. We need to get the Arsenal game out of the way to conclude a horrible run of fixtures in February - anything we get next weekend is a huge bonus - and then we can focus on a couple of winnable away trips and playing an out-of-sorts Chelsea at home.

We didn’t take our chances at Old Trafford when we were on top. We got punished. What might have been if we’d gone ahead.

Cracking news if true - hopefully the injury is just a blip as he looks like one of the most exciting talents to come through in years. Do you know much about the contract situations and plans for the older members of the development squad like Eppiah, Suengchittawon, and Leshabela who are all 23/24? They're surely close to release/move-on territory as they've not really had a sniff of first team action and/or have struggled on loan. I'd probably put Hirst in that bracket too but he's likely sellable with his Portsmouth form and, fingers crossed, some form at Ipswich.

Just can't see Man United resting key players like Rashford, Fernandes, and Varane. They'll - rightly - prioritise the title race over Europa League. They're not missing the Top 4 this season so they'll have CL football next year and they've got the first shot (albeit an outside one) at a title in years. Injuries and suspensions for the like of Eriksen, Antony, and Casemiro helps but they're still massive favourites. If we can deliver another strong, cohesive performance and knick a point here to keep the scoreboard ticking over I'd take that all day long. On the bus back to Leicester and regroup for the Arsenal and FA cup home double header.

You and me both bud with Football Index. Had the makings of a great concept but unfortunately the finances never stacked up. If you got in early enough, most will have got out with something. Yeah an anomaly is a good way to describe Savanier. He's an absolute maverick of a footballer on the pitch and a brilliant technician but because of his (I think) almost unique social circumstances he's stayed at a few lowly clubs in South-East France. Bizarre when you consider the clamour from most players to reach the top as soon as possible. Certainly had the ability to play higher up league in France at a minimum.

I'd say a minimum of 4x players if Tete and this current system remains a success for the remainder of the season. Barring a barrage of injuries to key players again, I think it probably will do. My thinking is if Tete continues to perform the club will surely make him the priority signing. If he stays permanently keeping the current system in place requires depth in the wide areas, which we are currently dangerously light on. We know from how close we were to Harrison that that additional attacking option was next on the list. If Tete comes in, I think that option becomes our second priority signing. Otherwise we're a few injuries away from a collapse in system even before you factor in Maddison potentially going. Then as you say, another CB to build on Souttar's addition and a technical CM to replace Tielemans are crucial. Be interesting to see how this works out for Ward - I think most fans would call for GK to be a priority addition in the summer but with some many moving pieces in the outfield positions, it could be that we need to prioritise funds elsewhere and he gets another season as number 1. Loads of water to go under the bridge yet with contracts expiring, negotiations with Maddison, and Tete's loan deal complications but it'll be a fascinating watch.

It makes us less dependant on having a like-for-like and ready-made replacement but that is assuming we keep up (i.e. sign Tete) and add to the level of quality we have in the wide positions (i.e. depth at RW and LW). And you also have to factor in Maddison's possible departure. Either way, Tielemans is still hands down our best technical deep-lying CM. The next closest in terms of technical ability is probably Mendy and he was excellent against Spurs. I'd be open to Mendy getting a new short-term deal (1-2years) for depth but would not be comfortable with the likes of KDH / Ndidi / Mendy / Soumare as our only deep-lying CMs. In my opinion we also need an alternative Tielemans-style option in there to ladder through the midfield and into the wide areas. The form of the fullbacks will also be key to this.

Maddison is probably in the same boat as Tielemans. They're comfortable with the club set-up, hit outstanding levels of form at times, played in Europe, and they've won a couple of trophies. But it's probably not enough to keep them longer term. I'm resigned to loosing Tielemans on a free now, but we've hopefully taken a step towards matching Maddison's ambitions with a great January window and a small peak in form. Maintaining that peak in form through to the summer, positioning Maddison as a future captain and leader of the rebuild, and continuing to positively evolve the team could be enough. We've just tanked Spurs 4-1, and if we can pick up more results against the big 6 and Newcastle in the run-in it shows we still have the capacity to challenge those sides on a game-by-game basis which will also help. Probably clutching at straws, but replacing Maddison and Tielemans in the same window is an utterly depressing thought.

My favourite part is that this guy has Thanawat Suengchittawon on more than double or almost double James Justin and Harvey Barnes

This could work out favourably for us longer term. Harrison is still a good back-up LW option but if the £20m fee and rumoured £100k p/w wage packet are true its a pretty expensive addition. If we survive and Leeds don't, or even if Leeds do avoid the drop and he swerves the new deal, he could be available for a cheaper fee. I reckon he was more keen on this than the Leeds media let on. There are better options out there but this could still be a good iron to have in the fire for the summer.

I used to hold Teji Savanier on Football Index before the platform went to the dogs. He was an absolute stat monster at Nimes and pretty good at Montpellier too, so raked in dividends. I research into it a lot at the time as I was hopeful that with the numbers he put up in some impressive areas he would be a target for bigger sides in France or abroad and his Football Index price would rise. I found out that he was of Romani gypsy heritage and is very family orientated. His Romani group do not leave certain territorial areas of the south-east of France and they all still live together. Hence the somewhat underwhelming move from Nimes to Montpellier at the time. His only other club has been Arles-Avignon who are also based in that pocket of South-east France. So yeah, a weird one in the era of modern football. Beyond that factor, he also has a fiery temperament and is rumoured to be quite unpleasant which I feel would also have held him back at a higher level too.

I agree with this for next season. Firstly because of JJ and Ricardo's recent injury record. Secondly because we know Castagne can play to a much higher level than he has this season. And thirdly because its very obvious Thomas desperately needs a loan move somewhere to get some minutes. Unless we absolutely need to sell him to raise the funds - some of which would then need to be reinvested anyway as no chance we run with two injury prone RBs and Amartey - then I'd keep Castagne. He has another year on his deal so is still sellable in Jan or summer 2024. I'd be open to moving him on only if it was for ~£20m and we could bring in another fullback with a JJ/Kristiansen style profile who could grow into the side. We'll also be releasing Bertrand which will massively lighten annual costs in the full back area by about £4.1m per year in wages which helps too.

Spurs are undoubtedly a better side than us at present. As shown earlier in the season, and at the backend of last season, they have the potential to play us off the pitch. However, for the first time in well over a year there is a bit of a buzz and excitement amongst the fans. The balance in the team and the attacking threat we carried at Villa was much better. The new defensive additions saw an improvement performance at the back against a good, in-form side. A couple of bigger names returning from injury. We got our first league win of 2023. And we have a Brazilian. We have to ride that wave of excitement and really take the game to Spurs. Unchanged 11, same again. Hoping they don't pour cold water on the excitement and flatten us. Fancy a bit of a ding-dong 2-2 here.

Think it was a cut price sale due to Burnley’s relegation but they only paid about £2mil for him from Charlton originally iirc. Yeah totally agree, an upgrade on Ward is a huge priority in the summer. It wasn’t quite so big a priority in the January window compared to the positions we did strengthen and we obviously didn’t have the funds to do it in the summer.

I agree with your point about using the free transfer market more than we have done, but Pope went for £10m not on a free. He was a top target for Newcastle and they went all in for him early. Buttons for a player of his quality but given we seemingly didn’t have a pot to piss in in the summer, Schmeichel didn’t actually move on until a month after Pope transferred, and we’d have struggled to match Newcastle’s offer at the time it wasn’t ever happening.

Tete calls himself ‘Hurricane Tete’ in his Instagram handle. Rate it. How about something simple like: His names Tete Rock you like a hurricane to the Scorpions - Rock you like a hurricane

Kind of, but not really. I agree in part re. quality wide players but Nacho's minutes this season have been criminally low regardless. We were using Barnes and Maddison on the wings for large chunks of the season, and I think Nacho would link up better with them than Daka has, particularly as we've spent most of the season struggling to build from midfield/wide areas into meaningful attacks that lead to clear cut chances. Nacho helps that far more than Daka, and arguably more than Vardy.

The main question is why the **** has Nacho been sat watching for most of the season?! Get quality wide players and attacking midfield options around him and he will find them and score goals himself

I liked a lot about Souttar’s game today. Mainly having the rocks to jump straight into a PL debut after a few days training and an injury and deliver a big warrior performance. Kind of character we need right now. He was physical, won his aerial duels, defended the penalty box well, and put his body on the line. A good start. My main concern isn’t that lack of pace, he recovered well a couple of times and Watkins and Bailey are very quick. My main concern is how easily beaten he was a few times when pulled out of position. That will keep happening whilst players get in behind our fullbacks but hopefully as the back 4 settles and steadies it will improve as it’s more a team problem than Souttar individually.