oadby.fox

Always wanted him to come good but I’m less and less certain of his ability overall, even at championship level. Rarely gets into positions to really stretch teams as well and I imagine we will be pinning teams back in the championship, need someone better on the ball with the ability to finish and make good runs.

Daka just isn’t going to be good enough is he?

Think Hamza is seen as the Winks replacement as he’s better on the ball than Ndidi, which isn’t saying much! Doesn’t look a place for Wilf in this system

Good player who went backwards under Rodgers like so many others imo. Only preseason vs Northampton but already looking and feeling a lot more positive than this time last year.

It’s too early to drink pal

Old enough to know that Spurs are crap

Time to resurrect this methinks

I just hope that the add ons don’t involve Spurs winning anything or finishing in the top four. I’m pretty sure that neither will happen during Maddison’s time there, especially now that it looks certain that Kane will leave. I can see them threatening the top 8 but I honestly don’t expect much more than mid table obscurity from them. A bigger club, stadium, wages etc., but in many ways (like Tielemans) it’s a bit of a sideways move from where we were/could’ve been had we had a squad full of committed players with the right management.

But who do we replace them with and do you trust the club to get it right? Nacho is easily good for 20 goals in the championship. Is that such an easy thing to replace? Likewise with Barnes who would easily hit over 20 goal contributions. We’ve already lost so many on a free and if we can keep a few of the better performers this season then I think we will have a shot at bouncing back. Replacing almost everyone other than the ones which no one else wants is bad business imo. We will be left to build the team around Daka, Soumare, Vestergaard and Faes.

Yes, need to leave room for Paul Konchesky though

Neil Danns.

Neil Danns.

It’s Leicester’s Maresca! Gotta be a tune in there… either this goes wrong very quickly or works out quite well in the mid-long term. I’m going to be cautiously optimistic!

Been keeping an eye on this thread and wanted to chip in. Firstly, I think we all already know that Everton will not face any kind of punishment. It would set a precedent and harm other clubs (e.g., Man City), and tarnish the legitimacy of the league itself. Secondly, we all know that we were awful this past year and we should never have even been at risk of relegation. Despite that, I don't find the willingness to sweep these violations aside compelling at all. At the end of the day, football is a game and every game has rules. In fact, when you think about it, it's only because of particular rules, objectives etc., that we end up with a particular game. The rules which govern the league are ones which all the clubs consent to. If Man City don't want to be fettered by financial regulations, then they are free to leave the league and join the MLS. What makes the game procedurally fair is the fact that people abide by the rules, are treated impartially, and are punished proportionately whenever a rule is broken. It is fine to disagree with the rules and suggest that there should be no financial regulations but no one will sincerely make that argument because they don't truly believe it. So either you have some kind of financial constraint and appropriately enforce it (irrespective of who is breaking the rules) or you get rid of the constraints and take an entirely laissez faire approach. This odd middle ground of having rules, recording violations and knowingly letting those who commit them go unpunished is bizarre. These things do have a tangible effect on outcomes. Man City were awful before the oil money, look at them now. The idea that these things don't make any difference is dumbfounding. Regarding Everton, a similar case can be made if they are guilty of breaking the rules and they should either face a fine or a points deduction for the period of infringement. Personally, I prefer the latter because the motivation for going outside of the financial constraints is to gain some competitive edge and so points deductions remove that incentive whereas fines mean nothing to the Man City's of the world. I realise that nothing will happen but in that case why are we not petitioning to get the laws removed entirely? If, when it comes down to it, they won't be enforced then what is the point? It's like having a referee that will never blow his whistle no matter how bad the foul is.

I ultimately blame Brendan and the board for our downfall but this Youri transfer turns my stomach. When you have several first team players running down their contracts this surely effects morale and their commitment to the club. It’s hard to quantify the negative impact this has but I’m sure that it isn’t without consequence. The fact that he wouldn’t sign a contract when we were finishing fifth because it wasn’t enough but now finds his level with 7th placed Villa is ridiculous. He’s screwed us out of a fee by not signing an extension, his previous wage demands likely put off European teams who would sign him, and his hot and cold form has helped contribute to our relegation this season. Now he sails off into the sunset to a side that has been below us for the previous decade, one which hasn’t won anything for almost 30 years. I know a lot of the blame for this rests with others at the club and that Youri may prioritise keeping his family settled in the area, but I’m pretty sure he was expecting a champions league club to come knocking and that his poor form has put off any suitors. Given how everything turned out, there will always be a lingering “what if” regarding whether his ambivalence helped regelate us this season.

In my opinion, we should be going all out to keep Barnes, his contract still has two years on it meaning we could keep him for a promotion push and still get come something for him in the following Summer. I would bring Hamza back into the fold and/or resign Mendy if possible. Some of the free agent outgoings will already reduce the wage bill by quite a bit. I’d then look to sell those who haven’t been able to contribute in their time here e.g., get rid of Daka and Soumare irrespective of the price since they are vastly depreciating assets as it is. Promise Nacho the world and try and get him to sign a one/two year extension with a get out clause if we don’t immediately bounce back. Build the team around him and bring in another creative midfielder to balance us in the middle of the park following Maddison’s departure. A couple of shrewd loan signings, blood some players from the academy and we could have a competitive squad.

How is Mina still on the pitch

Doubt we will see any time added on for this Everton game, well not as much as there should be but let’s see

So close Nacho 😱

You say that but even in the prem this season, our record with KDH starting is far superior. He has some weaknesses but he’s probably one of the better central midfielders currently at the club. Certainly above Ndidi, Soumare and maybe even Tielemans on current form. In a team playing with confidence and with the guidance of a good manager, I’m sure he will look better. At least he also puts a shift in which is a lot less then many of these guys give. From this squad I’d keep Vardy (complete football by winning promotion again), Kelechi (unlikely), Souttar, KDH, Hamza, Thomas, JJ, Ricardo (if no decent offers are available), VK, Iverson, and Mendy (if possible). We should definitely ship out Soumare and Daka and just take what we can get for them. Faes and Ward likewise. Maddison I’d sell as I can see him performing like Tielemans has done this season. Barnes I would try to hang onto, especially if we only receive 20-30m for him. We would risk losing him for free but he’d be a huge asset in the championship. If an offer like 50m came in then I’d sell as well.

A frustrating game in many ways but not necessarily because of the park the bus approach. We rode our luck massively at times, though you could also say that they were fortunate with the red card decision. In spite of that, I find the performance frustrating because I question where this resilience was in the last few games. Play like that against Fulham, for instance, and we probably get something from the game. Likewise against Liverpool and perhaps we sh*thouse a win against Everton etc. What I saw yesterday was, in many ways, what I was expecting from Dean Smith to begin with. A ”back to basics” and “hard to beat” approach, stop conceding so many sloppy goals and get some assuredness back into the side. Perhaps it just took him longer to get that kind of performance out of them with the limited time he’s had but it felt like too much of a purposeful tactical switch. One that, sadly, will likely be too little too late.

Sudden exclusion and inclusion of Souttar is a bit odd. That midfield is horrendous. Mendy or KDH has to be in there for me, or perhaps both ideally with Tielemans taking the other spot. Also would’ve been tempted to start Kelechi if fit enough, perhaps in place of Maddison or move Maddison into a deeper role.

People bounce back!… Dennis Hopper, Rolf Harris… there are more.