Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd

Bednarek was definitely the issue in the dressing room. Just look at his reaction when substituted in the Leeds game. Not going to reveal my source but can 100% confirm that there were big issues between him and Ralph.

Ask Danny Ings how that worked out for him. What a knobhead!

Walcott to WBA on loan apparently?

Broja rumours just won't go away.

According to the press, these are the players we're in for, today. Ainsley Maitland-Niles Sam Edozie Juan Larios Duje Caleta-Car Maxence Lacroix Ross Barkley Josh Brownhill Cody Gakpo Obviously, we won't be signing all 8 of them, so who will we see arrive? I'd say the top 3 look like done deals. Not sure about Caleta-Car or Lacroix? Don't think we'll go for any of the last 3. What do others think?

I hope Ralph learned something from today but doubt it as he's clearly very stubborn. Any manager who can lose a game 9-0 and then do it again the following season can't have much about them when it comes to learning from mistakes. His persistence with a back 3 also shows how stubborn he is. Didn't work in Pre-season. Only game won was when we played 4-2-2-2. Didn't work last week or today, but when the formation changed we got back into the game.

Can't help but feel that Ralph got lucky with those substitutions and the change of formation. The pundits who were commentating on the game noticed how uncomfortable our players were playing with a back 3. They often talked about the players clearly not being happy with it and the amount of space it leaves. Lavia impressed me again. We should just play a back 4 with him sat in front of it. Works hard. Gets stuck in. Covers a lot of ground. Breaks up play really well. Bottle O'Ketchup had a decent game. I think he'll prove to be a decent signing. I just hope he doesn't do a Salisu. He looks to have lost a bit of confidence. Still prone to a still mistake and will definitely see a red card or two before the season is over. Bednarek worries me. Piss poor attitude. Throwing his cup on the floor when substituted and sitting with his head in his hands. I actually thing he may be a bit of a disruptive influence in the dressing room. KWP - Class act. Don't think he'll be here next month, sadly. Djenepo is not a defender. Got some decent balls in but not the answer. Need Perraud or KWP in that role. Aribo changed the game when he came on. Why oh why he didn't start is a complete mystery. As baffling as Valery starting at CB last week. Mo Ely... Why? Che worked hard but no end product. Nothing new there. Adam Armstrong did ok. Still think he can do a job for us if playing off a target man. Mara's ball for KWP was class. Unlucky not to get a goal from his snapshot. Like the look of him, just hope he can do that week in, week out. For me, this team is starting to pick itself. However, I'm not sure Ralph sees that. To be honest, I'm not sure what he sees.

My preseason predictions were... Hammered on the opening day. Ralph gone after 8-10 games. Relegation. First one correct. Glad I backed Spurs to score 4 or more as I'm now £50 better off. I hope to God he's gone by Monday morning. Nothing has changed since last season. He looks totally lost and devoid of ideas. The only reason he plays 5 at the back is because we don't have two decent centre backs capable of playing in a back 4. He's increased the numbers at the back and they still concede 4. He left our best striker on the bench so can only assume Che is leaving. He then took off a striker and left us without a recognized striker on the pitch. His post match interviews are atrocious. Same old excuses and he then admits we can't compete with the likes of Spurs. Talk about negative. Meanwhile, Fulham are holding the Champions League finalists. Any manager who loses a game 9-0 needs to take a good look at themselves and make sure it doesn't happen again. Not Ralph, he goes out and repeats the feat the following season. Once again proving that he never learns from his mistakes. How many times in pre-eason did he play Valery, Bednarek and Salisu in a back 3? So why did he start them today? Ralph is a clueless prick. I really wish he'd just fuck off. Who next? In all honestly, I'm beyond caring and it's only the first day of the season. We had our chance to get Eddie Howe and missed it. Right now I'd take anyone with a bit of Premiership experience. Chris Hughton would be better than this muppet.

I'm inclined to agree although I'd like to see Bazunu in goal. Lavia in place of Romeu and Che upfront with AA coming on as a sub.

He can clearly hold a ball up and seems to know where the back of the net is. Ralph has played SA as a striker so why not Aribo? Particularly when you consider that he played in that position for Rangers. Again, Ralph leaves me scratching my head and wondering what he sees that we don't?

Delap going to Stoke is a huge disappointment. Ok, we failed to get him on a permanent deal but surely we could have pushed for a 12 month loan? Seems crazy that we've missed out on him to bloody Stoke.

They'll batter us. Going for at least 3-0. Wouldn't surprise me to see them get 4 or 5.

CB. Had we bought quality then would wouldn't be relying on quantity at the back. Playing 3CB's at the expense of more attacking players means we'll now not create as many chances. Looking at what we have we'll still concede plenty. 😩

Have you seen him being anything other than mediocre and inexperienced? He looks no better than what we already have.

Yep. 4 at the back with Lavia playing a defensive role in front of the back 4. Apparently he was amazing in that role for City's U-23's. Stick Aribo up front. He can clearly score goals and did a great job for Rangers when called upon to play as a striker.

Have we addressed our problems? I don't think so. We needed quality at CB and have just bought another inexperienced mediocre player in Tommy Ketchup. By playing 3 CB's it gives us less options going forward, which is where we have actually strengthened. Our inability to buy quality CB's will really restrict us. We're having to play in numbers to compensate for our inability to buy quality defenders who can lead.

Dear Ralph, Has it dawned on you that Aribo can play as a striker? You seem to like experimenting with things so I'm just wondering why you've not given him a go up front, particularly when he played so well in that position for Rangers? Maybe you have plans to experiment with him as a centre back or a goalkeeper? I don't have a clue what you're doing but I get the impression that you don't either. Enjoy the season.... if you last for than 10 games. Regards. Sidney. 😉

Just play Aribo up front. He proved he could do it at Rangers. Would solve a huge problem for us.

This seems like a huge gamble. I hope he's an instant success but the Premiership is very different to playing for bottom of the table, Bordeaux. Surely, he's of a similar level / standard as 23 year old, Dan N'Lundulu, so if we're buying Mara, why are we not giving a Dan chance in the first team?

Didn't think he looked anywhere near the level required.

Alex '3 Goals' McCarthy living up to his name. And still that useless prick will probably start on the opening day of the season. I know it's only a preseason friendly but nothing seems to have changed at all. Style of play is the same. Defensively poor. Nothing up front. Some of our players looked like they were really struggling. Probably the heat.

That's the worst kit we've ever had. Utter shite.

I got a text from a mate in Manchester last night. He reckons Lavia isn't coming. Hopefully he's just trying to wind me up as he knows I was looking forward to him signing.

He had an incredible work rate and I still dont understand why he was overlooked on the right hand side of midfield whilst Ralph persisted with some bizarre team selections. This is the best outcome for both parties as he wouldn't have done anything for us next seaason.

I hope so. The longer this goes on the more nervous I am about it actually happening.