Chelmofox

Lets win a game first.

I think if we lose he's in serious trouble, and he likely knows it. Because lose against the worst and the rot sets in, and we have a pummelling coming up from Arsenal.

He deserves the time to get it right for sure. But i think its fair game to be critical of him and the appointment. We have looked competitive, so its all within his power to kick things up a gear now. Saturday is huge. Lose and we are likely in very big trouble. Draw will fee very Meh (unless Everton step up a gear). We need to see a result.

Coops will have to play him at some point. JJ can’t play every game and is probably only a few games away from a 3 month layoff. His hand will be forced soon.

Going to do the Harborough parkrun next Saturday. Been a long time since i've done anything like this and been doing some gentle treadmill and outdoor running. Want to go under 30 minutes if i can. I've managed to lose 7kg in the process of getting ready. Success! Like SecretPro its been about managing the niggles over the last few years. Knee gives me pain if i go too hard.

Whos going to do all the defending

To think that if the Queen hadn't passed away, we would have had the Rodgers vs Gerrard 'el sackio' game. Sadly, Villa had a plan and pulled the trigger and appointed a great manager, whilst we plodded aimlessly into the Championship.

Alves needs to start. Not come on in the 75th minute.

Beyond playing Johnson at Forest, I'm not sure that Cooper had any great credentials to call upon regarding this and it was something I remember raising at the time of his appointment. Granted, he managed at academy level but that is still not proof of him excelling at migrating academy players into the first team. Currently, we can see it's a myth for sure. Alves must be wondering wtf is going on.

Surely he is going to have to play him at some point? It's a bit like the reverse of last season where JJ didn't get a look in at all under Enzo and then gradually he worked his way back and for a while was 1st choice over Doyke. JJ and Riccy both have fitness concerns, and JJ and Vik can't play every game. Ideally, we would see the rotation in motion right now in an attempt to prevent injury, but Cooper currently seems hell bent on playing JJ all the time. I fear, any game now, we are going to see that image of JJ sitting on the turf holding his leg in agony. Then we will be in the position where Riccy will have to play every game. I do find the situation weird and can't help thinking something else is going on. I am prepared to accept the Riccy isn't the player he was, but the same is the case with JJ and both need their minutes managed.

Because it didn’t happen to Liverpool.

Does cooper think JJ can play every game?

Everton game will be really telling. We've looked competative so far, but we need to take that game and own it and get a win. If we don't beat Everton, i'm not sure where i see the bigger results coming from.

This is a tough one for me. I actually don't want to get too carried away by the Palace performance, as i think they gave us a lot of space and played into Ndidi's hands. If Everton play more of a low block, i think we need a different setup. Even though i thought Okoli and Ndidi had good games, I wouldn't start them because of how i think Everton will setup. Think we will need Vesty's passing. I think we will need more creativity to break Everton down. I would also think Riccy should be a shout for this as he is more technical than JJ and we simply cant be playing him every game. Mads Riccy (no chance!), Faes, Vesty, Vic Winksy, Skippy, Buonanotte Fats, Eduoard, Mavadidi Gives lots of options from the bench as well.

imho Cooper isn't a manager that is going to drag a club like us 12+ in the PL. He's simply not good enough. I think he had 2 plus points which were- He was available, and he kept Forest up in difficult circumstances. If he keeps us up, he will always be a few results away from the sack. Survival at all costs is our priority this season and if (that a big if) he delivers that the i will be grateful for his time here. But he's not the manager that is going to kick us on after that. If we want to progress we will have to be looking elsewhere. But its all about the 'now' and we've got to start picking some results up.

Huge amounts of people moaned about him at the time.....

Completely disagree with that. It was more like we gave someone the keys to our house and then complain when they let themselves in and drank all our beer. Cooper setup to absorb pressure, rather than setup to mitigate it. In doing so he gave them all the tools they needed to attack, attack and attack. In that situation you are one mistake away from conceding, which happened to Coady who has barely any game time. It's not a case of it not going our way - we invited all the pressure. Cooper needs to be smarter. Palace pretty much played with one defender at the end of the game.

If that’s the only angle used to make the call then it’s an absolute scandalous decision. Lines don’t look right on the attacker at all but we know angles can be deceptive but surely there is another view that helps confirm the decision? I thought we had the new technology this season? Why are we still at the stage where middle aged men are drawing bloody lines on a monitor after them guessing the frame the ball was struck. This tech has never worked consistently enough. Just bin it.

Cooper’s selection getting a bit silly now. The strategy seems to be to hold out for a draw and then play for 25 minutes. There are 90 mins to win a game. If you create a mentality of not playing for 2/3rds of the game, then you deserve everything you get.

Cole Palmer i suppose. But for a long while its not been a great move for many, which is why it astonishes me so many push for it.

Players themselves should know better and take responsibility. Fofana for all his 'I dreamed a dream about Chelsea' hasn't had it accelerate his career. It's a very similar story for all of the others who did the same. There are better options out there, and all they have to do is earn slightly less obscene money. I have very little sympathy for anyone whos career has been damaged by signing for Chelsea.

Assuming Riccy still doesn’t get a look in, that team picks itself. I agree that Ayew should take Fatawus spot. It’s a decent line up with brilliant options on the bench. There is nothing like bringing a fresh and hungry Abdul on. Sad thing is, I would put £50 on him playing Ndidi and benching Mavadidi / Buonanotte.

Hmm. I don’t think the club wanted Sensei once Milan started to play silly buggers. Not sure they really wanted him before that. Very much an Enzo ego trip.

The fees can be amortised over the contract length. Money recieved will go straight into the account period the deal took place.

He probably cost 1 months worth of Soumare's wages.