Manuel

Great assist but he seemed much more hurried in the last game and I'm not sure it suited him, almost chaotic. A player, perhaps more than most, that would benefit from a good run of games, to settle him and find his feet and composure.

I thought I was the only one to do this.

He's useful to us. Another £75m or he stays.

Fantastic.

Exceeded my expectations. Djenepo mostly worries me and for a few moments looks outstanding. Very hard to read him. Adams excellent. Stephens looks out of place, unsurprisingly. JWP gets better every game.

I heard 3 at the back on a Friday has been banned...

I name that tune in......less than 1 minute !

Out of favour I know but I would have preferred Redmond for this one. Hoping Moussa will make me eat those words...

Surprised at him being such a sore loser. I thought he'd take the defeat with his usual grace and humility.

Queen’s Gambit. Netflix drama about a chess prodigy. Only one episode in but good so far... edit - watched the whole thing now. Really clever to make such a simple story so entertaining. One of the best things I've seen this year. The lead girl reminds me of Amelie which I don't think is an accident.

And what a test. One comfort is the increasing number of our players that seem to be keen to get on the scoresheet lately, although arguably because half the opposing defence is worried about where the hell Ings is or it's Ings himself that's carving out the opportunity for them. Not easy shoes to step into. Walcott certainly doesn't appear have anywhere near the engine that Ings does. With respect to him, I hope we don't end up seeing more of Long in the coming weeks. He's last choice for me...

Diallo worsened us. Lost count of the fouls he gave away, plus the pen. Hopefully just needs to get up to speed.

I was there. I also watched the Tranmere game on the telly.

When Theo was a kid he used to come on as sub play on the left.

Walcott starts. With Armstrong

Gives the lads a target to aim for.

Honestly, a few results go against them and they want to change the rules. Some people need to learn how to lose gracefully.

Surprised the press haven't been all over Barnes' rantings. Thought that was the norm these days when celebs post something daft on Twitter. Perhaps we're entering a new era of sensible media.

Mmmm, not sure I buy it. Generally speaking employers hire from the surrounding area. If the surrounding area is mixed race then it figures that your workforce is likely to be so. There may be some remote parts of the UK that remain very white but then if you are living there, you'd know this and would expect the local industries to reflect this. There is no benefit to the individual, society or business to have untapped talent. If it's out there, business will want it.

It's an interesting point. And if it's important as a child to see both men and women as competent teachers and role models in the classroom, then it's not much of a stretch to see that a mixture of ethnicities within the school would also be of benefit for the same reason. Perhaps the fact that the balance tips in favour of men at interview might encourage more men to consider infant teaching as a career. So maybe in teaching quotas make some sense. Not in business though. I can't see them as being necessary there.

Couldn't agree more. One of the long list of so called Prem superstars that "I wouldn't have in my team".

Just my twopenneth but in my experience of working within various businesses is that typically the employer wants someone who convinces them they are capable of fulfilling the role well and preferably at a competitive wage. Appearance or background is not an issue on the floor or at interview. Business really isn't interested. I have witnessed circumstances that could be described as discriminatory in my time though: Firstly a banking software company (London) who, at the time, made no secret of the fact they were wary of giving serious, long term projects to women of child bearing age for fear that they would suddenly drop the project to have kids at short notice. Secondly a large commercial landlord and property developer (London) who employed staff at interview as I laid it out above, but once employed, tended to look to nurture and promote those who fitted a certain cultural/religious background. Didn't bother me much though, I was getting paid a fair wage and was treated well.

Perhaps a partnership with Under Arm-our ?

50% ? How should the football world go about correcting that over-representation? Answers on a postcard. The result in personnel in whatever field you choose is never going to be an exact mirror representation of society and I don't think we should attempt to manufacture it so that it is.

I would steer away from these kind of quotas if I were the club. Focus on getting the right person for whatever the position is, and the rest should follow. If there IS found to be some prejudice somewhere within the club, stamp it out. Otherwise let the people whose job it is to employ the very best get on with their job. Ask yourself this. If we had similar quotas on the starting 11, would you be happy that Walcott had to be chosen ahead of Amstrong for Sunday's game even though he's arguably second choice? If it's not appropriate on the pitch, why should it be so in any other department of the club?