mrfahaji

Like that goal would ever be disallowed at Anfield or the Etihad.

In fairness I think he has looked more up for it even before the goal today.

At least Austin should get to half time without being out on his feet...

That was Hoedt all over - does something good then makes a mistake, recovers well to make up for mistake and then makes another one!

STOP PRESS!

Yes, but credit to Ings who was on the case as soon as the ball bobbled back into the danger area. Showed good tenacity to win it back and nice calm finish from Gabbiadini. But yeah, if Hoedt had controlled the ball like that for us, just imagine...

I think that is close to the team a lot of people want to see. I know Hoedt is unpopular but I think the choice is between him & Vestergaard, and the latter is yet to show anything. Hoedt often shows himself up because he is making an effort, compared to Stephens for example, who doesn't make as many glaring mistakes because he is nowhere to be seen. Interesting that as soon as Reed leaves Hughes picks the team that everyone has been clamouring for. In particular including Yoshida and Gabbiadini who had seemingly been excluded from the plans. Wonder if it's just a coincidence.

As per my message in the 'where do we go from here?' thread, why is Ralph "slinging his hook" so important to how we perform on the field? I don't see how he is involved in recruitment, academy or coaching issues.

Interested to know why people are so anti-Krueger. I get that his statements are full of irritating waffle and perhaps he is guilty by association with the current (now ex-!) regime. But, in terms of our on-field woes, I'm not sure he has anything to do with this. I seem to recall that during the Pellegrino saga there were rumours that Krueger wanted to pull the trigger earlier but Reed wanted to give him more time. In terms of his commercial responsibilities, is he doing a bad job raising our profile? (Tbh I don't give a monkeys about our profile abroad, but accept that it is necessary in this day and age). Do the customer surveys about 'matchday experience' come from his department? I don't have anything particularly for or against him, I just find it odd that he is often identified as someone who "has to go". Perhaps he is behind the decision to oust Reed (& Wilson if it happens) and actually is more insightful about the state of affairs than we give him credit for?

First thing you'd do would be give Hughes a vote of confidence, right?

You surprise me That being said, I think there is an argument to make wholesale changes in one go in a bid to change the mentality and feeling at the club.

I'd go along with this (apart from wondering if Kruger is culpable for anything that happens on the field), but isn't that what we did last season? And instead of an entire refit once we stayed up, they all saw it as a job well done and reason to stay.

Yep, we're now starting to see pieces saying how bad it would be and what we need to do to stop it happening. That's not what I want! I want it to happen, spectacularly fail and never hear of those sickening clubs ever again.

Except Tadic looked better under Hughes than he had done for a long time (and is a big miss). And also at the end of last season the players looked like they DID respect him and were playing for him.

Precisely. I don't know why people get so wound up by it. I do think that there have been instances where McClean has gone a bit OTT with his show of disapproval. For example, no on is asking you to sing the national anthem, but you don't have to turn your back on it. But I can totally understand why he wouldn't wear a poppy. No-one should HAVE to wear it.

Same. Oliver Kay has been speaking about it lately though - in response to one of his pieces I tweeted him a summary of those stats you put on here previously!

Who won player of the season in Puel’s campaign.

I think this super league could be great for English football but they’d have to get their heads together and put some rules in place if/when it happens. Unfortunately I can see the likes of Spurs, Everton and West Ham seeing it as their chance to take on the mantle of the big clubs and fill that void. Obviously you always have big & small clubs, no one is wanting that to change, but there would need to be some commitment to a structure/regulations that helped a more competitive environment. A salary cap being the most obvious example.

Agreed with everything you said until the last line.

It didn't include Austin, did it?

I think it's more that Fabregas could do it because he is a brilliant passer, has fantastic vision and an eye for goal. In the same way that Michael Carrick might not have been the most robust defensive midfielder but his ability in possession meant he was often a key player. Ward-Prowse has not demonstrated anywhere near that level of ability. Yes, that will be partly due to being in a team that isn't constantly in possession or on the attack, but it's more to do with him being poor at some things and only 'decent' at others.

That's irrelevant because we never get into the opposition box

Cesc Fabregas is also one of the best 'playmakers' around - certainly at his peak he was. Several other players have superb vision and passing range and can get away without being brilliant in other respects. Even someone like Jonjo Shelvey is an example of this. Ward-Prowse has not demonstrated being excellent in this area either though. I'd like to see him given more opportunity to show it, but for someone capable of striking such an good dead ball, I have often been disappointed with how that translates to his passing range and technique in open play. I would, however, question why he isn't given a go on the right in a 4-4-2. Because Elyounoussi isn't currently showing much, and JWP's 'all round' game might give the side some balance. Some of his best performances were playing right side under Puel (admittedly in a 4-3-3).

Yep, searched for him yesterday to find out how he is doing for Celta, have you seen his goal against Sevilla? Sublime...

Lol. Sounds like you are sure.