ALC Fox

Fulham's second goal was as atrocious a goal I've ever seen us concede. For a split second we actually look like we're in a pretty decent shape with the back four but some extremely simple passing and they're all doing their own thing, they're not alive to anything and the backline is being pulled around by actually nothing particularly special. And then Traore is free at the back post. Woeful. There's absolutely no doubt that these make up the worst defence I've ever seen from us in the Premier League.

The weird thing about Okoli is that Cooper seemed to like him and started him in several games, rotating him in and out - and he's been called up for Italy. It seems van Nistelrooy either doesn't like him or doesn't think he's ready to play Premier League football and prefers Coady, Vestergaard and Faes over him. But, the kicker is that - as a unit - we've been incredibly poor defensively whoever has been in the team. I think there's potential there, but I guess the smart play may well be to sell now while we can recoup a decent fee for him as his stock hasn't fallen much since he's been here. If we wait until we're relegated, then we could be stuck with a Soumare situation where we have to send him out on loan because his wages are too high and teams will try to lowball us on a fee knowing that we have to sell. I do like him, though. Not fitting RVN's blueprint might be a bit shortsighted as he could be a beast under a different manager, but if we're relegated and need to sell him anyway then I guess it makes sense to get rid now since having him in the side never really improved us in the first place. Tough call either way really.

King and Onanaye were notable absences. They injured or potentially could we see them in the squad today? Any others missing that anybody has noticed?

I don't like them. But coming so soon after our title win, it's good to see any team outside of the traditional elite challenging the established order. Their owner is a right whopper but fair play to them. They're upsetting the apple cart and hopefully more clubs like Brighton and Bournemouth can do the same (and us again one day!). The exception, for me, would be Newcastle. They can get in the bin.

People who don't clear their cars of snow before they head out on the road. Saw one car with snow covering the entire rear windscreen and another just dump a big pile of snow on the road from its roof, creating an unexpected hazard on an otherwise clear and ice-free road.

Duran, Rogers and Torres all out for Villa. Obviously they're still heavy favourites but those absences could knock them out of their stride a bit.

It's taken him a while to really hit his straps in his career but he's clearly found a home in English football. He didn't have the best start to this season after a stellar campaign last year, but he's got back to business and when Middlesbrough do well so does he, it seems. We're not fishing in the market of finished products. There's going to be an element of risk with every signing. We need a proper back-up to Vardy now. Daka and Edouard aren't it, so I'm happy to take the risk on someone who's currently in good form. I'm confident he's better than Cannon right now. The two of them will be decent options next season if we go down, but if we stay up we may need to strengthen again in that area.

It's very short-sighted of the club not to consider that loads of kids have siblings. It seems the club are actively trying to lose fans rather than gain or retain them.

Our saving grace here could be that the conventional opinion is that Tonali and Guimaraes are finding it difficult to play in the same side. Difficult for Skipp and Choudhury to come in but if they can strike up a partnership and ping the ball up to the four more attack-minded players, we could find a bit of joy.

He's saying so many of the right things. He doesn't even need to after the first two games, either. Having a good crop of young players is really exciting, so seeing them potentially get opportunities is brilliant. Pragmatically speaking, it also puts them in the shop window. If they do OK, there will be interest in them, either to go on loan to help them develop or for a permanent transfer that boosts our ability to recruit. In a perfect world, there might be a few PL quality players in there who will stay and give us great options as we challenge again.

Still feel someone like Jacob Murphy should be a massive inspiration for him. Not an extraordinarily flair player, doesn't show off, but has worked his way up to being a very useful player for a side who can be really good on their day. Consistency is key for him because McAteer does have a knack of getting into good positions and often doing the basics well.

Seeing him celebrating the equaliser with pure fire in his belly completes the redemption arc for me. G'wan Bouba!

Ruud has a track record of improving players, including youngsters. If RVN actually gives Alves a chance and he does well, AND we stay up this season, van Nistelrooy will be a very popular man here.

Glad he's back home. Hope he progresses well as a coach.

"So it's one hand on your hip, good, then your other arm out like this. I'm a little teapot, short and... Bobby, why on earth are you using your leg?!"

I for one CANNOT WAIT to see every bugger in Wetherspoons in their new roll necks that they got for Christmas

He's got charisma. That should hopefully give the players a lift in the short term. I'm expecting a ding-dong battle against Brentford. He won the Dutch cup and finished second with PSV. Some might say that's about par for the course. But we've seen other teams besides them, Feyenoord and Ajax do well in that league before so it's still an achievement. What's unknown about him is if he can translate the limited success he's had into the medium or long term. Do we actually need to worry about that? Probably not right now. If vibes keep us up and he gets poached then job done.

That was Roger Schmidt

Oh my imagine if we pump Brentford at the weekend, it'll be absolute lift-off!

Based on absolutely nothing at all I think it's going to be Igor Tudor.

RIP Nev. Such fond memories of listening to his commentary. He really brought the game to life for those of us who couldn't get to the games every week.

Step forward, Sir William of Alves

That article reads as though the company as a whole is being declared bankrupt but the sums involved aren't huge for a company that has supposedly given the club it's most lucrative sponsorship deal. Of course, it looked dodgy from the outset and there is a theory that this was just a way for the owners to pour their own money in via a third party. But if that isn't the case, and the company is bigger than the article suggests, is it actually the company as a whole or just a subsidiary of it that is being made bankrupt? I know companies register themselves in foreign countries for all sorts of purposes so seeing them being made bankrupt by a court in Curaçao isn't particularly surprising, but it's the relatively small amounts of money being quoted that feels off to me.

Interesting one re KDH. Him leaving to satisfy PSR and then barely play for Chelsea, coupled with us resetting the number of games in which we have named academy graduates in the matchday squad, really does stick in the craw. Add those things to Chelsea pinching our manager, who was supposed to represent a major reset in how the club plays football, which was to affect both recruitment of new players and how the academy trains it's up-and-coming stars. At the moment, it feels like last season was a blip and we're acting like any other club scrapping around desperate to stay in the Promised Land. Contrast that to the description of the club during the 2015/16 season. How revolutionary we were at recruiting not just players of the right ability but also the right personality. And how players with drastically different personalities complemented one another, protected each other on and off the pitch, and loved training and playing games together. Then you consider the events that the club used to hold where knowledge was shared between clubs (e.g. on groundskeeping). If you've read Soccernomics, you may be aware of the theory that clubs on the continent are historically more successful because it was just easier, geographically, for ideas to be shared and proliferated widely. With hindsight, these attitudes that were previously prevalent at the club were clearly spearheaded by Pearson, Shakespeare and Walsh. The opportunity to lay down the foundations for success beyond that period has been missed by the club. Puel did an admirable job in reducing the average age of the squad and lifting us away from a position where we'd be consistently fighting relegation. Then Rodgers was the right guy at the right time to take us to the next level - but the wrong guy at trying to sustain that (keeping our better players instead of selling and reinvesting, leading to money not being brought in at a time when purse strings had been tightening because of COVID, and then identifying substandard squad fillers). I think, maybe, that the owners are perhaps too invested in whatever management team they appoint. When it goes right, it looks great. But forward planning in order to mitigate the appointment of a bad coach or one who just doesn't work out is non-existent. Brighton is an example of where that forward planning is going very, very right.

A loan with an option to buy should we stay up would be absolutely sensational for this kid.