Dan

Strange team Wrexham. Most open team in the division so you would like to think this could be the game we actually attack a bit better. But unsurprisingly they have upturned since dropping Coady and Ward got injured. Bonkers we had these playing Premier League football. They can score goals though. We've been fairly tough to break down at home but they're getting a few. I'll say 2-1 win.

That really is bonkers.

We've played dirge, slow football for years now while the rest of football went the other way. We're completely stuck in the 2010s.

Literally either of those two are preferable to Ayew up front. Daka is bad but at least he'll actually get chances to miss. Ayew barely scores because he barely gets a chance.

How good are Palace? They've got a shot of Champions League football. Only three sides in this league I'd confidently say are better than them at the minute.

He's an idiot that Rowett. He hadn't possibly considered that we'd stick loyal to the old useless lot who've been largely crap for years. What an idiot!

Yeah back in April time I cynically said "it'll be 8 of this lot in the team next year" not realising that in fact it was going to be 10.

Not at all convinced by Reid but that's more his natural position is it not. He also does have a bit more of a tendency to pop up with a goal every now and then. What it will actually be: probably unchanged.

Stolarczyk Ricardo Nelson Okoli Thomas Winks James Fatawu Reid Monga Carranza Do something a bit different.

Yeah I'm a self confessed mardy arse nowadays but I'm really not buying it. The big one is "work in progress" that I keep seeing on here and that just isn't remotely what I'm seeing. Replicate this exact performance from us so far with Nelson, Page, Monga, James, Okoli, Aluko all playing regularly I would be genuinely more forgiving because I would at least give the credit that they are trying to change the direction. Cifuentes' old guard favouritism is making this all promotion or bust and so far, I'm really not seeing us as one of the best three teams. I mean if we're being that pedantic, we're 5th in the league, so obviously.

I'm gobsmacked by some of the positivity as much as anything. I'd accept this level of output if we had actually made some sort of progress, had tried to refresh the team, bring the average age down, add some value to the squad organically (for example, played Nelson and stuck with him). So far I think quite literally the only difference from last season is the level of opposition. This could quite easily be Van Nistelrooy's Leicester. It's largely the same side, which by the way is more on the board / usual suspects than the manager, but he's really not helping either.

On the performances so far? Was looking through the league and I'd say at least half of the league. We don't create chances and we're pretty inconsistent at the back as well to be honest. The entire basis for us doing well this season from virtually anyone who is saying this is that we have to pick up so they're accidentally agreeing. I'm talking about what's happened so far. People are calling out Coventry for example, who yes, were pretty bad last week, but they've obviously been better than us. Nobody has been that good but we've certainly not been one of the better sides. Average.

Basically **** all. The Carranza booking was astonishing as well. The referee was an absolute disgrace. They're unbelievably bad in this league.

I'd say on the whole we're very fortunate to have 12 points. Deserved it against Wednesday (although lucked out getting them when we did). Dreadful at Preston and fully deserved loss. Extremely fortunate to win at Charlton. Probably deserved it on the whole against Birmingham. Got away with it at Oxford, got away with it yesterday. Only one I think we were a bit unlucky was last week. If we're going up the route of the old guard (which we have so far) then I want a convincing promotion. We really do not look one of the best three teams at all, and I'm amazed anybody thinks we do.

Sunderland 1 point off Southampton's tally already These weren't even that good last year but they have recruited well, outside the box, taken the short-term pain for long-term gain in many instances (their squad average age was ridiculously young in the last couple of years). It's basically everything we should be doing now, but aren't.

Sunderland putting every single excuse in the bin where they belong. Went up against the odds (stopping Coventry in the process) and have gone up and started like this, with more fine service to the beautiful game today.

7 draws this weekend. It feels as if there is so little between a lot of the sides. 5th in the league but you take just a couple off us, which I think the performances probably warrant, we're in midtable.

Saw a few Man City fans saying last year their drop off on the pitch seemed to lead to a big upturn in their vocal away support.

Which would make not playing Nelson even more daft as his value has the highest ceiling of our CBs by a mile. If that was what they were doing Nelson would be playing. This is a manager taking a short term view (contrary to what he's said) and barely scraping the results. I gave him benefit of the doubt but each passing week this happens it's running out.

Aiyawatt probably doesn't know what our score was yet.

This league's on a plate for Cov unfortunately.

That's bleak reading, it's not like we've even had that horrid a run of fixtures either. There is no chance we're promoted with this level of performance, even in this league, which is possibly as weak as I remember it, we won't keep getting away with doing this.

He will.

It was the latest sign of our decline to be honest. The expectation levels have been absolutely pummelled.

I'm not trying to dig you specifically out but the amount of people who call those calling out this situation reactionary yet simultaneously agree with this.