DJ Barry Hammond

Not a totally deceiving clickbait headline at all this 😠

No idea what he’s on at the moment (suggestions are £42,000 a week), but I’d imagine at 24, he’s probably looking for a decent contract salary and years wise. In terms of risk scale - because all transfers have an element of risk - I think it’s in an acceptable range given the potential upside.

I think that’s harsh. The big difference from this season to last is where Mavididi has been getting the ball and the options ahead / around him. Last season he gets it in high positions with KDH making runs around him - plus we dominated the ball / pitch tilt and had Fawatu on the other flank as a threat too, keeping defences honest. This season he’s having to do much more defensive work, is receiving the ball less often, in much deeper positions and with less attacking threat around him to help to create spaces to work in. We should also accept player form is never linear - especially with a confidence player like Mav - yet he’s still shown signs that he’s capable at this level and it could be one of those that once he has a Premier League season under his belt, he knows a bit more and continues to grow as a player. Even at 26, players are still learning, especially if they’re playing at a level higher than they have before.

This is the sort of risk a club like ours has to take though isn’t it - finding rough diamonds and trying to polish them into something better.

To me this view feels like setting a narrative to suit an underlying agenda - it’s very one sided, there’s no balance or credit given where due. It also makes me wonder what you actually want from a new board and/or owner. Take the high wage to turnover ratio you criticise - it’s something I’ve had a concern about for a long time, but there is a stark reality to this in that; • The clubs revenue streams are weak compared to the competition it’s trying to compete with. • One way to increase revenue streams long term would be through greater on pitch performance - but invariably that requires greater spending on transfer fees and player wages. • Average transfer fees and player wages across the Premier League have clearly continued to scale upwards at pace - making it harder for those at lower income levels to compete. • The PSR limit has not moved at all since its inception despite the clear is a club manager outlay - again, making it harder for a club like ours to compete at the top end. So, given you voice this as an area of concern - is it your view the board should be more prudent in the transfer market and pay less in transfer fees and wages to bring the wages to turnover % into a more comfortable range - at the potential cost of on pitch performance? Are you looking for a more prudent approach - which in turn might mean we can then only ever compete at a top end Championship level / bottom end Premier League level except for the odd season? What EXACTLY is it you are looking for from new ownership given all the criticisms you’ve voiced here? Finally, one thing I think you fail to provide credit towards this ownership group for is that the success achieved over their time spanned across two largely different player groups. Of course you had the title winners, where I’d say we lucked out on some unbelievable signings - the likes you get one in tens years - and we had 3 of them in one grouping (Mahrez, Vardy and Kante). But then if you look at the FA Cup winning team and squad - that was a much evolved and younger squad. There’s also signs that the club might be in the process of bringing together another formidable squad grouping - and that if the club sticks together and survives in the Premier League this season, with the right additions it could positive build on that next year. So again, it needs to be asked - if you want the board out and presumably that means them out ASAP. Are you willing to accept the potential negative consequences that a period of upheaval and uncertainty would bring with it, such as a hold on transfer spending and contract renewals until a takeover was formalised?

Everton’s apparent upturn in form might be a little deceiving. Brighton have been poor for a while (including against us) and of course the other win was against a hapless Spurs. Seems DCL might be out for them too, so I think there’s reason to be fairly confident we can get a positive result here. Who knows - we might even have a new signing in come match day too!

What has happened to football fans? There’s people actually moaning on social media that Tyrone Mings didn’t get booked for this!

Even that’s harsh. Yes he was marking Richarlson, but there’s only so much you can cover as a defender and he really didn’t have a chance to do anything to prevent the goal given the quality of the cross. If you look anywhere for faults with the goal, it would have to be the amount of time and space allowed to Pedro Porro - BUT - that was partly due to having players out of sink positionally briefly due to the previous passage of play (for example Soumare was sat at left back, with Kristensen tracking an inside midfield runner briefly before the goal) so I wouldn’t rush to call anyone out here - I think in this instance the goal was more about good play from Tottenham.

Ok, but this is where I think fans get things wrong on International football. Form should get you noticed, but shouldn’t mean you play - because ultimately you have to build a side of players that fit together. If you simply go for form players you can end up trying to force combinations that just don’t work - say trying to play Foden and Bellingham together as double 10’s for example? So it’s perhaps not about managers having favourites so to speak, but having players that specifically fit what they want to do style wise. Take Heskey for example - he got as many England caps as he did because he was effective in a role with Owen more than anyone else, despite there being plenty of more inform strikers around at the time. The other thing with form is, it can come and go - yet we all know from experience of football that the better sides tend to be the ones that are more settled, that have been given time to develop their relationships in training and on the pitch together. So chopping and changing players based on form at international level - where managers have even less time to build relationships off the pitch - is probably not the best idea and why there will be ‘mainstay’ players that will tend to form the backbone of an international side over a 2 year cycle regardless of form (i.e. Harry Kane, John Stones, Jordan Pickford). Finally - I think the other thing that is crucially missed about squad selection at international level are players qualities behind the scenes. I bet you Jordan Henderson was an absolute beast of player in terms of helping to create the right atmosphere and togetherness within a squad - a very important aspect if you consider international squads at tournaments will spend weeks living together - and that is why he was picked continuously over other players that might be deemed higher quality in ability terms of have been showing better form.

One crucial thing that certainly helped us today - being away from home. Can you imagine the sort of atmosphere there would have been at the halftime whistle / start of the second half had we been home? Instead, it was the Spurs fans heaping nervousness and sucking energy out of their own players. So it might be handy we’re also away to Everton next week too - and perhaps serves as a reminder that fans have such an important part to play in transmitting a winning energy that players can thrive from.

He’s clearly a confidence player, so you have to put him in situations where he’s on the ball higher up the pitch more often than not and not lumber him with a high level of defensive responsibility. Asking him to help defend in a low block meaning he’s got 70 / 80 yards to go before he’s an effective threat on goal isn’t going to do anything for him and his skill set. Under Enzo he was able to play high and wide and had defensive cover around him meaning he could cheat a little - which in turn gives him space to play in. But of course we were never going to dominate games and have 60/70% levels of possession this season - so you know, you have to pick and choose where and how you use him - and that’s probably not starting against Tottenham away from home. Now personally - I’d like to see him tried on the right wing. I think Justin is the more solid of our fullbacks (wait!) when asked to be more disciplined and sit and that he’d compliment Mav much more going forward by doing that than Kristiansen who seems better as an aggressive fullback that quite often goes past the winger. Add to this that having a wide threat that can challenge on the outside can create that gap between full back and centre half that Vardy thrives on and El Kid could utilise to good effect too - I just think it would be a better fit for us and Mav, who when playing as an inverted winger in a lower block, less possession heavy system tends to end up running into traffic a lot. Also - if you consider that when McAteer’s come on and played high right we’ve quite often looked better in an attacking sense down that flank but that maybe Kasey lacks a little in ultimate end product - that perhaps gives you a hint that this idea of Mav playing on the right is not a totally wild idea at all.

Anyone watching close enough will have seen positive changes in the way we’ve been playing - even in the run of 7 defeats - under Ruud. There’s been a growing better defensive structure to us - we certainly tried to defend higher up the pitch today - and have been conceding less shots against us. What’s been letting us down has been our attacking play - it hasn’t been incisive enough - and that could be said for our first half performance today too. But you could see a massive part of that was down to player confidence and second guessing passes / over trying; which made it very nice for Spurs to give us two guilt edged chances in quick succession early in the second half. Hopefully this win gives that shot of confidence that can mean we see improvements in our attacking play in the weeks that come.

Bloody typical - one performance from a player and he’s suddenly flavour of the week and let’s bin off the other guy. Not saying he didn’t have a good game today - but the extreme swing of comments that go from “why the **** has he picked him” 2-3 hours ago to “has to be starting every week” now is just nauseating. Can we not just settle at a soft middle ground like; “Bobby had a good game today, would like to see some more, but that Mavididi still has a part to play in our season and can hopefully find some confidence in himself if we start playing better as a team as well.”

I get it, no fan is going to get excited by the thought of BDCR and Ayew being the sides wide players. But these types of players will do things in training and matches that managers value much more than fans. Picking a side is about finding the right kind of balance and trade offs. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the more skillful players for one’s that allow you to keep defensive rigidity and win the ball back.

Which is maybe why you pick a starting 11 full of experience. Mav in particular has looked very low on confidence in recent weeks, which makes the BDCR selection make sense. And with Ayew - we do seem to be using him as an out ball from long kicks; which highlights one reason why he gets the nod over Facundo for example. I also think that having both El Khannouss and Buonanotte in our midfield at the same time makes us a bit light weight. So whilst skill wise, those two are clearly two of our better players, in terms of producing a balanced side, you may have to sacrifice one of them - and for me Bilal has been outperforming Facundo for a while now.

The thing with line ups - fans have a much narrower view in terms of only seeing match days AND have it easy because if they get it wrong there’s no real come back. We have no idea what Ruud would be seeing in training - the enthusiasm, the effort, the application from players - and he has much more pressure on his selections making conservative trade offs that lean towards creating defensive stability more likely. Fans tend to go for perceived attacking skill over any other factor - which is why you continually see suggested players and formations on here that have two number 10’s in Bilal and Facundo. Yet, we’re in a relegation battle, so I’ve never been sure having both of them on the pitch at the same time is a smart idea for a club in our situation. What I’d say is more important first and foremost is having players on the pitch with the right mindset - and that might be what some fans may have been missing from Ruud’s selection choices today.

Suppose we should send a small token of thanks to the national press for writing a lot of stuff about us this week. Always a great tool for focusing minds.

7 minutes is surely quite generous to us?!? I was expecting at least 10.

His race was run - and he was hardly seeing the ball. Changes make sense - Ruud has gone for experience today and continued in that vein with his substitutions.

There’s probably still 25 minutes left - the injury time board will definitely have a figure more than 10!

Stolz doesn’t need to overdo the time wasting yet - it can also ruin your own players rhythm AND it can get the referee a little against you so to speak.

Defending has been so much better - much more aggressive, even if it has resulted in giving away the odd foul.

Ruud also has to pick and time his substitutions wisely too.

This shouldn’t be a total suprise - there were signs in that first half we were defending better and more importantly, higher up the pitch - it hasn’t been a complete low block. The difference at the start of the second half has been a sleepy Spurs and us actually producing some quality in the final third.

Well played BDCR