melmacian_saint

Ahh the Hammersmith Deflection Aldgate East

Because of injury, but Wanyama was always the first option ahead of Cork.

Except that he never replaced any of them, he was just injured, thus making only 28 games rather than 34/35. As for offering a new contract, I think that happened way before we think, but Jack Cork had a problem called Victor Wanyama. And if we only consider the characteristics of a DM, Wanyama was and is miles ahead of what Cork could offer. I would also have loved to see us play with two pure DMs at the same time- if people complain about hoofing it to Pelle now, we would've just had to wait and see!

Cork was not a replacement for Morgan, he was a replacement for an-ever improving Wanyama. Had he stayed at Saints, he would still be a sub. Anyway he's made a good move for him and the club and he's going to have a solid PL career, he's also the kind of player I can see being useful for many teams at a good level until very late, a bit of a Scott Parker in my eyes.

Forgot my groceries, I'm at Borough now! (Yes I know London Bridge is a bit closer bla bla)

The difference between Gazzaniga and Butland is that while one had a lot of game time in the lower leagues, INCLUDING loan periods at Stoke, the other one was thrown into the deep end time and time again in our many GK crisis with a season in League Two under his belt, playing the "dome" world of U-21 games in between. One's evolution before January 2013 was handled properly, the other's wasn't, and since January 2013 has been managed properly by its new club, while again the other's (who had the benefit of not moving teams) hasn't.

Just another 6 games in Europe would've helped the atmosphere at the weekend I believe, even if we didn't bother picking strong sides or tactics. In any case, our away support in the PL has always been quiet, and up to 2005, embarrassingly small north of Watford.

No. Although I would argue that as with Koeman we seem to go for players from a league he knows well, this usually also reflects on the contact network you have in that league's environment, including directors and agents. The temptation therefore is to always go for signings in leagues/countries where you believe you can get a swift and easy negotiation from. Something natural on one hand, but not necessarily positive when overused. We've had a few examples in the Prem recently, not catastrophic but certainly nothing to write home about. Look at Laudrup's Spanish Swansea, French Newcastle or Lawrie Sanchez's Fulham (of which Davis and Baird were part of).

One thing is for sure: both Cortese and Koeman will have very good friends when they move back to their home countries. Our net spend in Holland and Italy in their respective tenures is interesting.

Off we go again. Too many infractions so we ought to go religious- St.Paul's.

This, or to another slow-paced league like Greece, Italy or Portugal. Poor mans Bryan Ruiz.

Stockwell. Easy one to get out of.

They are, but much more would trigger both social and political conflict and the start of a number of Civil War for most of them, and given their size/power it could leave the world in a terrible place. None of the Arab nations with a Sunni Muslim majority in their population will be picking sides on this or ISIS. The problem is too ingrained in society, separated in panislamist ultra-conservatives and more moderate wings, aside from the well-documented sectarian divides at national level. In most cases, demography does not favour the powers that be. Remember Lebanon's Civil War in 1975, which started with the eviction of (not necessarily powerless) Palestinian refugees from Jordan, and led to the bursting of a fragile yet successful society. Europe (and the UK) must provide the humanitarian aid, however lest we think that the conflict goes away with the distance from the battle ground. It won't, just like it didn't then. These people, destitute or paying thousands to reach Kos, will keep in touch with the reality back home, and they will live the struggle of their side just as much here as there. To keep it short, anything that doest not involve intervention in Syria is folklore. It does seem like it could be coming though.

And breathe. Hoping we can cruise in the 2nd half and get the confidence levels back up!

Why did you delete JWP? You really are an idiot. The biggest troll I've ever read.

This. The freedom the manager has been given here to sign the players he deems appropriate is unusual in modern football. I wouldn't be surprised if Reed is not totally satisfied with Koeman. The loan signings of last year, some of the signings this year...so much investment in the Academy for us to go and sign players whose ability and squad role matches that of our youth and block their progression?!

See the problem is the fact they are our top choices already reflects our regression. Davis was signed as a rotation CM and is now expected to be our midfield magician. JWP is being forced to become the new Beckham. This is outrageous, we really should've tried to get rid of Ramirez and spent some money on someone who can do Lallana's role...but we got Djuricic on loan. Go figure why. As for Tadic, I don't expect him to improve us in any way.

In insist: on what evidence does he deserve anything better than what we've given him?

If someone can tell me how the EL damaged Swansea's, Fulham's, Stoke's or Middlesborugh's usual mid-table nothingness routine it would be lovely. Dumping competitions is not a sign of pragmatism, it's a sign of the mediocrity that has taken over English football: A strong league where 75% of the clubs don't mean much to anyone and effectively work as cash cow franchises. And I insist, Hull were knocked out by some Belgian minnows- how did that improve their season?

Cedric is not and will never be an improvement on Clyne. Tadic, Pelle and Mane will never be an improvement on Lallana, Lambert and Rodriguez (ok, maybe Mané can be an improvement on post-injury Jay). Having Long as our 3rd striker would've been clever, having him as our main alternative is wrong. I fear Juanmi is a younger Ramirez. Brilliant feet but unable to take on the wind. Caulker will never be an improvement on Lovren or Alderweireld. Clasie is no Schneiderlin. Romeu is frankly no improvement on Cork (contrary to forum mythology that really doesn't say much). Stekelenburg is as good as Forster who is better than Boruc. Bertrand is as good as Shaw, or as close to his performances as we need him to be. Martina is waste of space, and Elia and Djuricic were a waste of time and resources considering what we needed in January. If this is the "black box" then swing it from the Itchen bridge ASAP!

Davis is more of an attacking CM, but his game is only effective if he can carry the ball and pick an opening, either out wide or through the defensive line. That's what he was with Pochettino, fast mover of the ball, supporting the DM (Cork/Wanyama) and linking up with our number 10 and box-to-box CM (Lallana and Schneiderlin, respectively). He also did wonderfully at supporting the FBs. I remember quite a few goals starting with lovely 1-2s between him and Clyne/Shaw. Last season at first our FBs were pumping forward with a lot of freedom so we had a lot of numbers attacking, and so his game was its best. But then they became more conservative for some reason, and we started playing with two set wingers and a lonely striker in an off-form (or found out if we want to be honest) Pelle. Not seldomly, Davis had the ball, burst forward but then only had three, very distant options to play it too, which significantly hindered his game, and forced him to try things he is not able to do (namely speculative passes and long-balls), and is certainly not going to learn at 30! In the same way, the more the gamble, the bigger the damage to his best asset: reliability. And truth has to be said, he is more than any other player the team's barometer: if we're good he is playing well, if we're bad he ain't going to turn us around. He was the guardian of our starting 11 of the decade, not the magician. Now he's forced to be many things at a time and that will always make him look twice as bad as he actually is.

People complained that with Cortese all our targets came from Italy or were Pochettino's buddies. But our massive contribution to the profitability of Eredivisie clubs is shocking. It is by all means a poor league (e.g. Vitesse), and yet we've been more than happy to sign their Team of the Year. I'm sure that'll give Koeman a lot of good press back home as he ends up failing to get the national team job anyway. A frustrated Van Gaal he is turning out to be, last year's reaction the Man United home defeat started to raise my eyebrow, but the judge is well and truly out now.

If only Everton, Tottenham and Liverpool had had a crap start to the season in 2013/2014, we would've made it to the Europa and probably the momentum would've pushed us through Dutch, Danes and whoever else This is officially the first year of the "We March On" motto. Last year the know-how and dynamics were still there, now it's up to those who picked up an enviable set-up to show their worth. Prospects are bleak though...

All I wanted was a EL campaign like Swansea's, hell like Wigan's or Birmingham's I wouldn't mind if we weren't good enough to make it through the group stage. Not reaching the competition proper after such a generous draw in both rounds is just extremely disappointing.

Is it though? Our back 4 has changed completely, there is no evidence his former partners are doing any better without him, our signings have been poor (our defenders, Bertrand aside, even more so) and even though he hasn't been amazing he had a good game at Watford. There are so many more players in that starting 11 that are a concern, that I think Fonte is at the bottom of most people's list. In fact I worry much more about our manager than him. For some reason however, he is just one of those players who doesn't become a complete myth in the eyes of this forum like Hooiveld, Tadic, Ramirez or Cork.