kitch

I actually came on to give Diallo a shout out as for me was our best player overall. First half he was the only one who seemed to know what he was doing (other than Che's wonder-goal), and basically suffered through being massively outnumbered trying to protect a 5-man defence. He think he did well. You wouldn't use him to get an attacking move going, but he breaks up play well and working alongside a Lavia (or similar) he's a useful asset IMO. Steady player; great at some things, poor at others. Lavia changed things when he came on, partly because it meant Diallo had help, but also because he's just a different level. Going to be some player, him. Enjoy him while he's here.

First half he looked like a fish up a tree. Second half he looked alright. Bit of an unfair game to throw him in at, to be fair. Should have been KWP on the right, Perraud on the left.

Rennes' top scorer this season is a winger, maybe their board and ours share 'ideas' 😄

That'd be sound, St Mirren are 'my' Scottish team. I can actually watched him and see if he's any good. I haven't rated him so far, but my FIL is a bluenose, and he was raving about him when we got him in.

Rennes have good recruitment, they go under the radar a lot. Lovro Majer is another they pulled in a while ago, absolute baller in midfield. I'd have quite liked Santamaria to be honest, decent holding midfielder, but with Alcaraz I reckon we've probably covered that now. Alcaraz certainly as good if not better. Their academy is class, too. Camavinga came through it recently, and he's going to be one of the best midfielders in the world soon IMO. Yep, if Rennes identified them as a good wide player, they probably are. They tend to buy lightning-fast wingers with tricky feet. Like us, however, they struggle with strikers!

Yeah but we were already up 1-0 on aggregate too!

Into the crowd, you mean?

Sulemana pretty much replaced Raphina (you could argue Doku did, but really it was a combo of both) who himself replaced Sarr at Rennes. Same pathway.

Wins pretty much every header, most 50/50s and looks to go forward much more quickly than the other defenders.

TL;DR

Got a horrible feeling we'll drop the ball against these lot. The first 20mins are key - get in their faces like we did against City and their fans will start to quieten down. Until that point, they really will be the 12th man. There's a toxic feeling around there at the moment, but remember last season how the fans turned that into energy. Just have a feeling that what'll happen is Lampard will eek out a point or three, and stay on until Potter's sacked, at which point Everton will take him. Until then, their fans will continue to go through the myre and our little burst of form will die off. 2-1 Everton, DCL getting them both and ending up the talking point on MotD. But, I hope I'm totally wrong. Play like we did on Wednesday, and we'll finally break that Goodison curse.

Stalling on a new deal, according to TalkShite just now. Can't same I blame him, tbh. He could aim higher.

Aaron & Darryl grew up in Thornhill (Byron Rd). Aaron's grave is in Quob Lane cemetary.

Sounds like my in-laws place.

Ralph started that shit at the beginning of this season, in fairness. Not as bad as it is now, granted, but we looked a very long ball-based team as soon as Bazunu went in the sticks.

Nothing really. It's a bit embarrassing for the club, but it's his business (unless he starts preeching in interviews). Lots of players are in the god squad these days, they think they're only footballers because of the man in the sky.

Harsh on AMN, thought he was part of the changes that improved things second half.

Forgot about that! Yeah, that too.

We need someone to come in and give us what Ralph gave us when he first came in.

A great read as always, thanks!

FFS, it's a grown man changing jobs...so why am I so emotional?! Best of luck, sir. Always a legend in my books.

Ismaila Sarr, then? Got to be worth a look!

But more importantly....who's getting the shirt?

And the hypocrisy of Sky keeping Carragher after he spat at a kid, when they apparently care about their 'brand'.

Our no.7 (Edwards?) He's a right box of tricks! Some really tidy feet under pressure.