Charlie Wayman

Awful game, two awful teams heading for the relegation scrap.Clueless tonight. Draw a line under this and move on

........ or perhaps not!

ITSWM. VFATCAIHTLIUOTOS

When we do well we always seem to do well against Villa and if Ralph can sort himself out on team selection, there is no reason why we cannot do well once more. Our defence has improved but is by no means perfect, that elusive clean sheet is more often than not denied by silly errors or lapses of concentration. Even in a system using full backs as wingers surely defending must take priority because if you don't concede you can't lose. I expect those messages are being learned slowly but doubt that all the leaks have been fixed yet. The loss of Romeu has been a bigger blow than we have realised, even more so with the now untimely loss of Lavia. Oriol had a brilliant partnership with JWP at times and they could dominate midfield but the skipper has so far not linked up well with either Lavia or Diallo. We don't know yet if Larios is ready for a run out in the first team but his inclusion or more likely that of AMN or Ćaleta-Car will further upset the dynamic and need time to gel. We will struggle for control. Aribo and Elyonoussi are enigmas when it comes to creativity and do not inspire confidence (in me) but seem to be the automatic picks for AMF positions. Armstrong and Djenepo are options off the bench but arguably no better while Edozie surely cannot be ready to take up such an important role. Up front our less than dynamic duo persist in using lots of brawn with little brain but in fairness do find the back of the net from time to time and not always sitter's. Mara we are told is extravagantly gifted but so far judged not good enough to start (Boufal?) and then there is Theo... All in all this is likely to be a classic bore draw 0-0 or 1-1. Our improving defence will keep us in the game but midfield mayhem and continuing up front woes will limit our scoring opportunities.

Hasenhüttl?

Not very good or funny.

Obviously a lot or republicans on here and true to form putting their own self interest above the interest of the nation as a whole. Thank goodness there are people at the top of football who understand that some things are far more important to the nation than twenty two blokes / women chasing a ball around aimlessly.

That could soon turn into a Lynch mob if things go badly. Suddenly I feel quite concerned about Nathan Redmond.

Another lay-about off our books. About time too.

Mick Channon

Hell's Bells, everyone piling in on our players after a narrow defeat. Nothing ever changes. Any chance they get the Boo boys are in with their vile effing and blinding about how useless all our players are. It is so depressingly predictable and so nauseating that these people claim to be fans. For heaven's sake, we have have had a huge number of changes of personnel and it will take a while for the whole set-up to gel, expecting miracles overnight is dumb and to expect us instantly to have a team of world beaters is even dumber. Be patient, and wait to see what happens after the WC break.

Judged by his demeanour and remarks at the Wolves press conference, I formed the impression that Ralph has had very little to do with the deadline day arrivals to SFC. Wonder what his role was in all this?. Maybe he provided a wish list of positions that needed strengthening and the rest was up to our recruitment team. Certainly no sign of him at the deadline day meet and greet. Asked whether the new arrivals get automatic selection for match day squads he was emphatic in saying 'no', a clear sign that he feels it necessary to exert some element of control over the direction of travel. Add to that his more studied and evasive approach to his press conference it seems his situation at Staplewood is not quite so comfortable for him anymore. I like the man from a personal perspective and wish him luck with his new style team. Things have certainly started well and a good result today at Molyneux will go a long way to restoring belief in we doubters that his failings of the past three years were exacerbated by the limitations of the squad of players at his disposal even though he had a significant input to their recruitment. His aside remark that young players need to be assessed for their potential dozens of times over a few years rather than a few indicates very strongly that the recruitment mantle has passed from the manager's hands in the new management structure.

We need a bright young manager to take over form Ralph when he hangs up his boots soon.

Mine too. Sad day. Still has a couple of years in him at PL level.

😭😭😭😭😭

You may have missed the earlier discussion. The pitch has a fungal infection that the ground staff are doing their best to eradicate.

Oh ye of little faith!

Not "Stu", he really hasn't got up to speed yet this season. He's not ready to start and won't. JWP had a poor match on Saturday so owes us a performance tonight. He'll stick with Adams over Mara.

Gakpo having legs is an essential part of any deal.

We have some player concerns going in to this one. Neither Stuart Armstrong or Mo Elyonoussi are showing much form or creating a great deal. Let's go with Perraud at LB and move Djenepo forward. Maybe time to give Oriol Romeu a run out alongside Roméo Lavia and move JWP forward on the right. We can win this provided the back four repeat their consistency of yesterday. Keep a clean sheet and it's a win for us, no doubt about that 1-0 or 2-0 to Saints. We can't keep missing from five yards out. Tuchel in for a shock! Bazunu KWP Bella Kotchap Salisu Perraud Lavia Romeu Aribo JWP Djenepo Adams

An entertaining game that was won by an out of the blue strike from a world class player. Having those sort of players on the payroll is the difference between a good side and a top side. Otherwise the two teams were very evenly matched and I would argue that we edged it and deserved to win. Certainly we were more cohesive and together than United which bodes well for the season and the automatism is beginning to emerge. Let's face it this was a free hit against one of the big teams and few would have expected us to get anything from the match. Our obvious disappointment with the outcome should be tempered by the fact that we ran a big team so close. As for the penalty dispute, it really shouldn't be necessary for us to rely on free kicks for our points, we had plenty of chances from open play but we still don't know how to convert them into goals. That's what we should be grumbling about, the lack of quality in the final third.. Top marks to all the lads today, to a man they played their hearts out and deserved a better outcome. Play like this on Tuesday and we could be in for a big upset.

It's not likely at all. Apart from the fall-out with RH he wasn't very good at scoring goals.

Two clubs at roughly the same stage of development this season with many new players and coaches. Home advantage to Saints, quality advantage to United. The newly minted Adams will be hard to stop so there will be goals in it for us but our defenders are still accident prone so goals in it for them as well. Looks for all the world like a 2-2.

Every now and then the Academy has produced a huge talent, it's time for the next one and Dom Ballard could be it. Well done Dom.

Yes they do!