Nordic Saint

He scored again, against Cardiff, at the weekend. I can see him at least making it to Championship level. That Cardiff team will be little changed next season when they are in the Championship. It's not hard to envisage Ballard being a more prolific scorer than Archer at Championship level. Orient fans already think that he's destined for a bigger club: Jan 10, 2026 at 5:20pm buffalobill said: Ballard is potentially the most valuable player we have on our books. Only a matter of time until the vultures start circling https://lofcforum.boards.net/t

Ayoub El Kaabi

I've been dreaming for years that one day we'd get rid of McCarthy. Obviously no other club will take him, but he keeps getting his contract renewed here. Players may come and players may go, but McCarthy's here forever.

So, little Pompey's wait continues into another year. 68 years now since they last beat Arsenal.

Pompey use up their energy in the first half, like they did against us at St Mary's. I'd expect them to run out of steam in the 2nd half, and for Arsenal to score more goals in the final 20 minutes. When we play them, we just need to weather that early storm.

Who on earth scouts our goalkeepers? Stevie Wonder? Before, we had the worst 3 in the Championship; now, we've got the worst 4.

We've had 7 different managers under Sport Republic already. Meanwhile, the squad continues to get weaker. Before, we used to think we only needed a new goalkeeper, centre half and centre forward; now, we need 2 new full-backs as well. What Sport Republic have done to our team reminds me of that song, Three Wheels on my Wagon. Who will be the manager in charge when all the wheels have fallen off?

Good idea. "Material ideas! Material ideas!" will definitely get them thinking.

You've hit the nail on the head there. We've recruited so many midfielders, a couple of whom are quite talented at this level, but the all important spine of the team is the weakest it's been for a long time and one of the weakest in the Championship this season.

Pity it can't be sooner.

So, does that mean we can expect the transfer kitty to be blown on Damion Downs Mk II in January? Last summer's transfer window was terrible. Above all, we badly needed to strengthen the spine of the team; we got George Long, Quarshie and Downs, not one of whom is even good enough to be a regular starter, in spite of the poor quality of the players we already had in those positions. Spors is a big part of the problem.

How long will he last next time? 20 minutes? 120? Will next time be the last? Is it even fair on him? So many ex-footballers struggle to even walk after they retire. I recently read David Armstrong's autobiography and he's very bitter about how his football injuries affected his mobility for the rest of his life.

All US players who play in Europe get looked at. Damion Downs got looked at in a few sub appearances. He never started a game for the USA and probably never will.

He scored against Villarreal in the Champions League last night. He's scored 6 goals in his last 16 Champions League matches, including 2 against Man City, which isn't a bad scoring rate for a winger.

His save percentage this season is better than Alex McCarthy's: Championship Goalkeeper Stats | FBref.com