stevegrant

To be fair, that "average position of opponent" thing is ridiculous - if you played a whole season, the average position of your opposition would be 10.5 The one immediately above it is the crucial one. For all that we've got results in the cups, in the league we've simply not created enough chances in open play.

The players have underperformed under two managers with very contrasting career records, so yes, absolutely, the players do need some home truths being told. However, it is also a group of players who, barely a year ago, went unbeaten in a month against the two Manchester clubs, Tottenham, West Ham, plus three games we were favourites for in Everton, Norwich and Coventry, so everyone knows they are capable. But it was as soon as that run ended with that horrendous 4-0 at Villa that it's all unravelled - Broja didn't contribute at all for the rest of the season, sure, but it can't all be on one kid. I've no issue with senior players - who know their own games and are experienced enough to know when to speak up if something clearly isn't working - giving their opinions to the manager and coaching staff. It's when there's sniping and briefing off the record and under the radar when it's unhealthy.

Frank was supposedly someone we were interested in before we pulled the trigger on Ralph, and yet weirdly never followed up the interest. There was supposedly a not-unreasonable release clause in his contract at the time. He has since signed a new contract with no such clause. I know Everton have been even more of a basket case than us in recent times, but his recent stint there - and the fact he's not even been linked with other jobs since - would suggest to me his methods are perhaps not quite up to the modern game anymore (which happens, almost every manager has a shelf life), and realistically he'd have got a good payoff from Everton and perhaps he's quite happy not being involved in it all anymore.

Steady, this feels kind of like how we got here in the first place...

She's a bit before my time, but the only clip I can remember with Britt Ekland in is when she went on Fantasy Football League with Baddiel and Skinner and was absolutely shitfaced

Absolutely no doubt that Ankersen deserves a whole heap of the blame for recommending and then making the appointment, and of course Jones was always going to take it when offered, it was a massive step up in his career both in terms of status and salary. However, that doesn't mean to say that the way he has conducted himself is what anyone would have reasonably expected (although his time at Stoke may have offered a few pointers in the right direction if it didn't start well), and the results and performances have been largely pathetic. At least Ralph had a track record in the Bundesliga and, while there are certainly arguments that it had gone stale at the end of last season, also a history of arresting really poor runs of form with really good runs of form. It was baffling how we could flip-flop from so good to so bad, often in the same week. I'd absolutely bite your fucking arm off for that level of inconsistency right now.

DCC watching that game today wondering how Jones is going to blame the defeat on him.

A battery has a positive side.

Believe it or not, there is actually a Premier League rule that insists that at least one block of the away supporters' section of the stadium must be pitch-side. I don't know how Newcastle (and Sunderland previously, as the rule was in place when they were still in the PL) get away with it.

One of many. Even those of us who don't think he's remotely up to the job would have more (the greatest, perhaps) respect for him if he fronted up. But no, he has hidden, or the club has hidden him, away from any potential scrutiny.

Must admit I just assumed that it was in conjunction with Solent, because all previous ones have been. Absolute waste of time if there's not somebody from outside the club hosting/moderating the event.

It would also be interesting to know who is doing the vetting - is it Adam Blackmore at the BBC or is it someone at the club? Or perhaps a bit of both. From Radio Solent's perspective, they've got to ensure that it's vaguely interesting for people to listen to (and to clip up and broadcast afterwards too), so they'll want some interesting questions that pose a range of queries to each of the panel. The club would probably prefer all the questions are as "underarm" as possible right now...

I think there's a big difference between fans getting annoyed because the manager isn't picking who they want to be picked, and fans getting annoyed because the manager doesn't seem to have any discernible selection criteria. Ultimately we don't have the benefit of seeing what goes on at Staplewood during the week, so it might be that the XI that gets picked every week is the group of players who have performed best in training, but there doesn't appear to be any meritocracy in terms of rewarding good performances with retained places in the starting lineup. Much harder to drop everyone who has a bad game considering results this season, obviously

Yeah, just an out-and-out lie FACT CHECK: All of our games and goals since Nathan Jones' appointment Liverpool (A) - Adams. WITH A BACK 5 But Jones claims that this game doesn't count towards his win ratio, so do we credit him with a goal while we're playing a back 5? 🤔 Lincoln (H) - Adams x2. ONE GOAL WITH A BACK 5. Substitutions made at half-time to switch to a back 4. Brighton (H) - JWP. Back 4. Which surprised me looking back, as I could have sworn we'd gone with 5 in that one. Fulham (A) - JWP. Back 4. Started with a back 5, changed to a 4 at half-time. Nottingham Forest (H) - no goals. Back 5. Palace (A) - JWP, A Armstrong. Back 4 Man City (H) - Mara, Djenepo. Back 4 Everton (A) - JWP x2. Back 4. Switched to a back 5 very late on to hang on. Aston Villa (H) - no goals. Back 4. Newcastle (H) - no goals. Back 4. Blackpool (H) - Perraud x2. Back 4. Newcastle (A) - Adams. Back 4. Started with a 5 with dreadful consequences, switched to a back 4 during a prolonged injury break to Joelinton, goal came a minute later. So we've scored 14 goals in 12 games, of which two have been scored while we have had a back 5 in operation.

I think there are occasions where you want the desire to be proactive like Lyanco does, he's largely pretty good at stepping out and intercepting those balls in the channels that cause us so many problems. However, he has absolutely no "chill" mode at all, which must rub off on people around him and make everyone a bit skittish. DCC hasn't been perfect by any means since he's come into the team, but I think he looks like the guy who's got the most balanced defensive attributes. He's decent in the air, he's fairly calm under pressure (Lyanco absolutely would have - justifiably, obviously - lumped Jacob Murphy after the red card last week) and isn't completely terrifying when the ball is at his feet. He is also the most experienced and has the greatest pedigree, so feels like the most natural fit as the defensive leader we've lacked for ages.

I'd have thought he'd have been delighted that DCC sacrificed himself for the good of the team by taking that booking. It was either "foul Saint-Maximin and take a second booking" or "Saint-Maximin is clean through on goal to make it 2-0 and effectively kill the tie". An absolute no-brainer of a decision.

Highly rated as a coach, certainly, but failed miserably in his one actual managerial gig. That would probably imply that he's good at the technical side of things, perhaps less so at the collective tactical angle and/or man-management.

If you want to see how far you can push your "just asking questions" garbage, you won't last long.

Feel free

4-3-3 is probably the most flexible of all the "base" formations. You've got the flat 4-3-3, or a 4-1-4-1 where the two wide attackers are wide midfielders and have one sitting behind two 8/10 hybrids, or a 4-2-3-1 where there's two sitting and one 10, or 4-2-1-3 where the wide men are more wide forwards than midfielders. You can even then go for something wild like 2-2-3-3 where the full backs are pushed up so high that they're basically wide midfielders, but you still have wide attackers in front of them.

I think you'll find it isn't. It should neither be Fan's, i.e. belonging to one Fan, nor Fans', i.e. Fanses.