Ex Lion Tamer

There absolutely nothing about Charley's conduct since he joined us that would suggest he'll force through a move to Juventus if we don't want it to happen. Quite the opposite in fact

He could so easily have laid it off to Smallbone but decided to run instead. And it was a great decision

Two questions having only seen the short highlights: 1) who made the driving run forward with the ball to create Mara's second goal? Was it Rothwell like the first goal? 2) were Watford actually pretty awful, and did they make changes to their usual side? The defending seemed non existent towards the end

Lawrence is ahead of Zach Awe then in the pecking order?

I don't think they could afford him

I'm still convinced full back is not the right position for him

I think you missed the joke but being serious, i assumed £5m/€7m

I'm not sure that's fair to the boy. He looked better for us when we were struggling in the Premier League than now we're a top team in the Championship. I think it's more that he's not suited to the passing game

Alcaraz's wages are probably a bit high for a bench player. Makes sense to let him out on loan and see how he does in a different environment

You're still against Russ' methods?

The Carrillo situation was a symptom of a deeper problem, which was that the board weren't facing up the fact that Pellegrino was out of his depth. They didn't want to own their bad manager choice so they threw money into backing him. In the same way that Carrilllo didn't have the data to justify his signing, neither did Pellegrino have the managerial record to justify his appointment. Board level decision making had gone completely awry

Che Adams is basically false nine. Great build up play, not so great in front of goal. If we get goals from the wings, then perhaps the latter part doesn't matter so much

I think you're on shaky ground here David. Not only was he brilliant for us but he did a phenomenal job with Spurs, getting them to second place finishes and a Champions League final. It hasn't worked for him at PSG and Chelsea - he needs a club to sign players that fit his system and I'm not sure he's been getting that

Is this the same poor temperament that Sulemana supposedly had but which Martin seemed genuinely shocked to hear mention of?

If he gets a half season of first team football then he could be a starting player for them next season. That's the incentive

Interesting signing. I wouldn't have thought that he would have any long term issues from the cancer now he's had the all clear. However he hasn't managed to regain his starting place for Bournemouth or Wales. Perhaps it's just the time out of the game and he needs first team football to get up to speed. Given how good he was, I wouldn't think there's be an option to buy on this one

Come now. Obafemi's goals against Chelsea and Scotland showed real skill

I see him levelling out at Obafemi's level. Not a world beater but decent to have around

"Eclipse the £5m fee paid for Calvin Ramsay" could mean anything over that amount, and a £5m fee seems cheap if he's going to be any good for us. I'd expect him to cost £8m or so.

Martin has us on an 18 game by picking the "gaffer's boys" rather than the best players. OR I think he wants Stephens' leadership qualities in the team but agree the it isn't working

To be honest I think Martin's comments were a bit disrespectful, but respect has to be earned. We need to be real about the fact that regardless of party leanings, Sunak has been degrading the role of PM and politics just like Johnson. The above is just the most obvious example. Here's some more: https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2023/12/19/sunak-may-have-undermined-trust-with-claims-to-have-reduced-debt--watchdog/ https://fullfact.org/news/claire-coutinho-labour-meat-tax/ https://news.sky.com/story/tories-urged-to-delete-social-media-labour-attack-post-featuring-swearing-bbc-newsreader-13025141

That goal saving challenge at the back was a fantastic moment. I thought Edwards defended pretty well against him at times though

Tasty: I do think those away games we have left against the big teams will be tricky. I'd back us to get draws in some of them though and hold our ground