Lord Duckhunter

Not playing him & freezing him out isn’t just about saving match squad bonus’ it’s also about forcing him out the door in the Jan window. Once he’s spent 4 months sat in the stands every match day, any offer in Jan will be better than another 4 more months of that. If he was number 2, involved match days, helping Peretz prepare, on the pitch, in the dressing room, there maybe moves/loans he considers a worse option than that, especially if he’s interested in coaching eventually. I imagine we told him to find another club otherwise he’ll be frozen out, so we need to stick to that. I’ve no doubt he’ll play if Peretz is out long term. But we’re forcing him out otherwise .

People are rewriting Archers value to the squad, he was fucking pony apart from a couple of games when he was ok. In fact, one game under Tonda (can’t remember which one) he turned in one of the most inept performances I’ve ever seen. For me, the window has been pretty decent. We re signed 3 important players, only lost 2 better players (for good money), & cleared out a load of deadwood like Baz. The only one that looks a bit weird to me is Dobbin, he looks as bad as Archer. 9mil!!! from what I’ve seen so far, we’ve well overpaid. The cynic in me can’t help wondering if over paying by £5mil is linked to the same side matching our valuation on THB. There’s certainly a few dodgy valuations doing the rounds at the moment. It will be interesting what Villa’s obligation to buy Garnacho is, from the club which spent shit loads on a villa player. Clearly our financial position is worse than last year, so it’s no surprise on paper the squad looks slightly worse. However, we’re judging Stewart & THB on the last 4 months, the 4 months before that they were injured or playing pretty pony. With clever use of the squad & more consistency across the whole season, there’s no reason this bunch can’t finish even higher than last year.

It’s not at all. Even if Maguire had smashed it straight into the net it would have been a goal for most of the past 100 years.

What’s he going to find easiest to sort out, the team or his barnet?

I think you’re underestimating the ego of players. How many times have we wondered why players sign for clubs when they clearly won’t get much game time. They don’t see it like that, any potential signing won’t be thinking “I’ll play second fiddle to Larin”, they think they are good enough to replace him. I've no idea whether they’ll look at another option up top. I imagine it’ll depend on Archer leaving and whether they’ll think the young City lad could potentially fit in wider on the odd occasion. Personally, I’d prefer another central striker, but it’s not a priority or the end of the world if we don’t get one. Whilst we may not need a Larin clone, our fingers will be crossed he doesn’t get injured anytime before dec window.

That’s more like it, but there’s still a couple of worries. The first goal was poor & after the Downes/Bragg fuck up they should have gone in 2-2 at HT. The penalty seemed to change everything as before that they had a decent spell of possession at the start of the second half. They seemed to fall apart a bit after that, and our confidence just grew & grew. Leo looked back to last seasons form, Larin on fire, & decent start for the centre half. Wood also seemed a bit more aggressive & Bree had his best game of the season. Perfect scenario for Prowse to slot into the Downes role and he kept us ticking over well. I’m still not convinced by Bragg, gave it away cheaply a couple of times, but I guess he’s not going to be first choice much this season.

Looking forward to his return in the home fixture , to say a proper goodbye. but have seen it’s 17th October so won’t be able to…. He’ll be dropped by then ☹️

What a window… 10/10

It is, I was expecting to pay them at least £6.5m to take him…

Not convinced. Liked the way he played for Jones, slightly further forward so wouldn’t be against him slipping into that role at the end of games (as Charles did few times). Could be useful if we’re chasing the game, particularly replacing Bree (again, as Charles did at Leicester). But I don’t think my blood pressure will be able to cope with him coming deep to bounce balls back to the centre halves or full backs.

I can’t help thinking we’ve dropped a bollock here (pun intended). Maybe they know something we don’t, Bolton’s Goalkeeping scout certainly looks pleased with himself today.

So that’s a no from the last 2 clubs he’s played for, who are in the same league as us. But a yes from us. If he hadn’t played for us, people would rightly be asking why West Ham don’t want him, & why Burnley appear to be showing no interest in a bloke, with more in his “locker” than Shea Charles. OR, Theo Walcott & Lallana were far better players than he ever was, and look how those worked out. You wouldn’t want him above Manning on free kicks, he wouldn’t add more energy & wouldn’t toughen up the centre of the pitch. Bill Shankley once said there’s a difference between old players and experienced players, I know which side of the line Prowse falls imo…

🤣🤣🤣🤣What a load of old pony.

What the fuck are ”goal involvements”.