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Still not sure what the venerable John Williams was smoking when he took leave of his senses to headhunt Paul Ince. He said he wasn't following a model of ex-United star turned manager, so in that case, what was his rationale? Even in his preliminary press conference Ince looked woefully out of his depth and was shitting bricks. It's compounded by the fact we turned down Michael Laudrup because he wanted a get-out clause.

We beat them but will have to beat them again to get the points. Coventry away next will be a mountain to climb for these lads.

Disappointed not to come away with a win after a decent last half hour or so. Prior to that it was dire. Good job Cantwell has a good head of hair as he must feel like pulling the lot out as he plays forward and his options are nonexistent, he’s clearly on a different level to those around him. Gudjohnsen has some way to go to not go down as a complete dud, missing an absolute sitter and doing little else all game. Kargbo looked to get a shot in the arm after his well taken goal although should have had at least 1 more. I admit I rolled my eyes when De Neve came on but he too played well, maybe partly as he was running at tired legs. Morishita a million miles from the apparent live wire he was against Watford, not sure what’s going on there. Defence did ok, Ribeiro the pick of the bunch and played some good balls in the attacking 3rd. Much like Swansea midweek, Stoke weren’t great either. Can only hope we’re still in a period of new players gelling because if we don’t improve we’re gonna be around the bottom 3 all season. There were at least a few positives from today, I struggled for any midweek apart from maybe Alebiosu.

That point papers over a few cracks. The biggest worry is that it took us ripping up Ismael’s “tactical plan” and throwing the kitchen sink at them for us to look remotely competent. 12 minutes in and I could see what Stoke’s game plan was. 9 games in and I’m still struggling to see what Ismael’s is. I don’t think we really contained them, they were pretty wasteful with their final ball. Alebiosu had his toughest test but also pulled off an unbelievable bit of defending. Miller a good shout for MOTM. Midfield bypassed too often, Gudjohnsen mostly anonymous then fluffed his lines. Impressed with De Neve and Kargbo responded to recent criticism in the best possible way. Also worth mentioning that Ash Phillips looks like he’s developing into an absolute monster of a centre back.

You look at some of the great names of the not so distant past and you ask how the hell did we get to this! Makes me want to weep.

The jury might still be out on Toth, but as long as he keeps Pears out of the sticks I'm not complaining.

I was bashing them mid game but actually after we conceded I thought we responded well and worthy of the point if not all 3. Still alarm bells with the quality we have. kargbo- applaud the balls to bounce back and be counted after his error midweek, he is still a bit of a headless chicken but can cause confusion clearly, nearly won it too. de neve looked good when he came on and I had all but wrote him off, but some nice crosses that Riberio was failing to do from that side. Still annoyed me when he wimped out a coming together with keeper and defender when ball was there to be won. gudjohnssen- yea not great but I’m willing to give him a bit more time, we have had plenty of strikers in the past that have looked terrible and then caught fire, brereton in recent memory. alabioso is the only summer signing that’s been ready made for championship, others are lightweight and look generally pretty poor. Sorry I will say mccloughlin is pretty solid, he is fine. But still that summer transfer window is looking pretty horrific. Gestede being a champ player and a big strong lad at that, you would think he would know the type of player that would excel , I do think we are small/weak and a genuine lack of quality will take the point but it’s still very worrying times ahead

If foreign owners are giving the Dingles a good go, then there would be no issue here.

Pleased for him today, no arrogance in the celebration, looked almost embarrassed.

Looks like only 20-30 or so went on but if they got the attention then maybe it’s job done

Completely disagree there. Properly run we're no less attractive a proposition than any other non parachute team trying to get into the PL They're all a licence to lose shitloads of money.

Yep, and that was us 12 months ago. You need the raw quality for, say, top 4 but an average team can bungle top 6 (like Blackpool and Huddersfield) We just happen to be one of the teams that is on for a poor season unless this squad gels and improves with time. 13th-15th at best. At the end of the day the club is in purgatory, relegation and collapse to League Two like Bolton might be the best thing for the club to shock it out of stasis and force Venkys to sell. I seriously doubt anyone would see a viable business model in the club and actively want to buy it though. Clubs in the South East like Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton are much better 'franchises' to invest in.

Hmmm pushed a few straight back into the box today - just that Stoke don’t really have a striker with instinct Agree, that I think he’s a decent keeper though, and clearly better than Calamity

He pushes the ball straight back out in front of him. Lucky he wasn't punished today.

I think he's poor. Coin toss between him and Pears. Not the major issue though. Cantwell and Alebiosu apart we lack any real quality anywhere over the pitch. That Emerald Isle Chap who thought Ohashi would get 15-20 goals this season has gone a bit quiet.

Oh god I remember going to those was a weird vibe

He just lacked real pace, apart from that he could have been a regular in thst team. He had a good football brain.

I rate Toth, he has a good knack of pushing the ball out of the danger zone when making saves which is a novel idea that Pears never grasped

"If my Aunty had balls......"

I don’t usually put the boot in on our players, but I’ve slated Kargbo and De Neve this week. Fair play to both. Nice finish from Kargbo today. Another solid performance from Cantwell. Kind of reminds me of when Sven made Beckham captain. No one expected it or really agreed with it, but bought the best out of him. Can see that in TC. Fighting hard for the team. Good to see after he had his critics last season.

Ipswich result stands, referee knows what a penalty is midweek and suddenly you're thinking "we'll be alright this season, but won't pull up any trees".

Toth is a good solid keeper. Hasn't done much wrong

I think Pickering has done really well at LCB when hes played there. Not seen so much of Riberio there.

Wish we had the Stoke keeper, it'd make a world of difference. One of the best I've seen, including the Prem.

Looks more of an overlap player to me.