Lallana's Left Peg

It can be subjective and I doubt anyone would agree on a universal criteria but in the metrics I consider I see Everton as a bigger club. Fanbase, stadium, revenues, standing in game, historical success etc. They are certainly more relevant as a club right now than us, but perhaps not by much.

I'm not jealous at all. They're a bigger club than us and have more revenue to play with. They have someone willing to invest (read: lose) money in the club. I think they've made a few good signings (Pickford, Ramirez) but the others I am not convinced about (at least, not yet). And to go from Lukaku to Giroud and Rooney (on loan) is not progress for me. I actually think they have some fantastic youngsters at the club and I thought a more sustainable / intelligent approach to building their team would be to spend big a few very good players and continue progressing the kids (Davies and Holgate look great) over a number of years. But if they are really going to bloat the squad then it'll be interesting to see how he manages all the players, even with the European games.

Here is a short video of Oludare Olufunwa: Looks like a ball playing centre half - some of those through balls are fantastic too.

Here is a short video of Oludare Olufunwa: Looks like a ball playing centre half - some of those through balls are fantastic too.

You can make your own mind up as to how solid 'Sky sources' are but potentially some good news:

That's a good deal for us. I still feel he has something to offer and I like him as a player but its hard to see where his games will come from in a season where we have no European football. I think he needs a fresh start and I am not against Gallagher replacing him in the squad and us using the funds elsewhere in the team.

Interesting that we don't scout outside of Europe.

Not sure where he fits in with everything. Is he Fonte's replacement? If so I doubt he is first team ready so does that mean it's VVD and Yoshida first choice and then Stephens and this chap as back-up?

You can ignore anything Aldridge says - he's gone full native when it comes to Liverpool. My personal highlight was during the Suarez / Evra episode when he said Suarez can't be racist because his grandfather was black

Barnsley have a great reputation for developing young players now. It'll be a really attractive move for him - the chance to move up yet another division and also play for a club that will trust him and give him opportunities. I'd be surprised if Saints don't have a sell-on clause. I liked McCarthy for his attitude and leadership, something which has been very clear in all the games I've seen him play right through from the U18's under Dodd. It's disappointing to lose players with that mentality but clearly the move is made with the current pecking order in mind - we have two senior full-backs ahead of him at right-back and Valery is highly rated as well. At centre-half we have the seniors (lets say there are four of them - VvD, Yoshida, Stephens and a new signing) and at youth level the club love Alfie Jones (who whilst playing many games in defensive midfield this season is a natural centre-half and he has been doing the same as Jack Stephens did while at Swindon in terms of a new position helping him become a better defender).

Browsing RAWK has been highly amusing. There have been some absolutely crazy suggestions on there, including that the club have played a blinder and done this very deliberately

I accept that discussions between players and interest clubs happen all the time. I accept VVD is still likely to leave this summer. But how delicious is it that a club exists in this world who is stupid enough to brief the media by their own doing and admit to acting against Premier League rules and then **** themselves so much they issue an apology like a 10 year old Liverpool Football Club

No idea if the source is sound or not, but:

So is this the well briefed story that the poster said last week was going to happen this week or do we think it is the real deal? I notice the BBC is now saying Liverpool is only his preferred destination "if" he leaves. Without a fee agreed between the clubs I suspect this will run for a little bit.

You also need the player to be happy to stay. Given we're a club who recruits players on the premise we won't stand in the way if a better offer comes along, and he can both play at a higher level and earn much more money, I'd question his sanity if he wants to stay. If he wanted to stay then I agree with all that you have said.

With Coleman injured long term, a Europa League campaign and Holgate the only right-back they have then I can see why it makes sense for them to sign Martina. He can fill in when needed and won't expect to play much, and the management team there know him. He 'did a job' for us and whilst he was a very limited footballer he seemed a good professional. Good luck to him.

A peculiar situation where if Puel keeps his job he could be considered lucky and if he loses his job it could be considered unlucky. There are a lot of mitigate circumstances this season that he could point to in order to be given another season. Some of them include recruitment, injuries and the fixture schedule. He didn't miss all those chances and penalties (not that if we had taken them we would have finished higher in the table!). He will say despite that he has delivered an 8th place finish and a cup final. And not hesitated to give chances to young players. On the other hand the charges against him seem considerable. Has he really got the most out of what he has had available? Has his rotation at the start of the season been justified with performances in the last third? Has he tactically evolved to address the issues we saw in the first month of the season? And, most importantly, are the players in the squad behind him? It's tough. And I do wonder what Les Reed is thinking. If Reed is privately expecting some high profile players to leave then would it make sense to keep Puel from a continuity perspective? Or would it better to get a new Manager in and appease certain individuals? So I think it comes down to this: 1. Could we get someone on paper who is better than Puel? 2. If we did how does this impact our prospects of keeping our better players? Therefore it's nothing to do with performances this season, it's all about the future and what sort of Manager we can get and what the players think. Anything else is just noise I think.

He's lost some players and he's lost the crowd now. No matter whether you think he deserves another season or not there isn't any circumstance or scenario in which he can stay is there?

Game over. Puel gone.

I can't work out if we are just really unlucky in the final third or if it happens so much there is something more to it. Like the way we play creates chances but never puts someone in the right position to finish them. Or we're just a bit rubbish. But we can't be rubbish to create so many chances. My head hurts.

It's quite a specific metric to measure, I'd quite like to see total minutes given to Academy graduates (regardless of age) still at the club and total minutes of Academy graduates even if they are no longer at your club.

If you are not allowed to boo how can you express your feelings to the Manager over what he is doing? You can't do it in silence or cheering.

He wouldn't have said that if we won - he's patronising us.

Good performance, terrible result. Only one team interested in that and we still couldn't score. Don't feel like the balance in the final third is right regardless of personnel. Not sure if it is tactics or the players themselves just not being compatible.

This touches on the salient points for me. In many respects there are a lot of mitigating circumstances this season which make it hard to know whether or not he's been good or bad. But there is the lingering thought in the back of the mind that makes you wonder whether he really would have done better without those mitigating circumstances, and that's what leads you to think he's not the right man. I think what it will come down to - rightly or wrongly - is what the players think. If senior players don't like him then that's that - he's gone.