DE.

From the reviews I've done this season he is generally very good, but definitely has mistakes in him too.

Not based on that performance, or quite a few of their recent ones. Robins was excellent at Coventry, time will tell if he can replicate that success at Stoke.

They aren't, they just had a good start. Their recent form shows that they'll be back in mid table pretty soon. My fear is that we have a lot of players who can play well in short bursts, but few players who can consistently perform for an entire match.

Have to take a point gratefully in the circumstances, but it would have been more acceptable if we hadn't lost to Swansea midweek. Tough run of fixtures coming up. Really needed to win one of this or the last match, a single point from both is pretty disappointing. At least we're temporarily out of the relegation spots, I suppose.

What a missed opportunity this is going to be for Stoke if they walk away without three points. Looking at their recent form they are reverting to normal after a good start, though.

Indeed, almost like getting rid of all of our Championship experience and replacing it with bargain bin nobodies was not the master plan certain friends of the recruitment team and the boardroom would have us believe.

Could do with a rainstorm right about now.

Ideally the owners.

When you're playing Football Manager you can download tactics to plug and play - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. It's more rewarding to develop your own tactic and style, but if you're struggling then downloaded tactics can at least give you some idea of how the game engine works. Managers like Ange and Amorim are essentially the real-life equivalent of an FM player who downloaded a tactic, it worked once and so they use it all of the time, unable to change it even if it doesn't work because they don't really understand the game itself particularly well. No modern manager should have one style & shape that they are anchored to come hell or high water. It should be an instant red flag to any managerial recruitment team.

In fairness it is quite funny when things get so bad even Chaddy starts to turn (eg. Ismael's first few games), everyone falls over themselves to praise and congratulate him, only to then react with shock and dismay when after a win he returns right back to his default position.

Lost all of their home games so far, which is a very quick way to get the fans to turn on you.

Into the relegation zone we go. Lost more games in 7 matches than Sheffield Wednesday have in 8 - a team whose fans are in open revolt against their rogue owner, who are regularly having to play u18s due to barely having an eligible squad to pick from, who have been under a transfer embargo all summer, whose players often aren't even being paid... we've lost more matches than they have so far, having played one game less. 5 defeats in 7 matches, absolutely pathetic when we haven't even been playing most of the better teams in the division yet. That's coming soon, though, and I expect things will look even more grim by then. Exciting summer indeed.

I like him. Decent defensively and likes to attack and put in dangerous crosses. Works hard, doesn't shirk tackles or commitments. No cover that comes remotely close to replacing his attributes if he's injured or suspended though.

If you can't be a good manager, you have to be a lucky one. Ismael appears to be neither.

Let's at least be thankful Ismael was supposedly focusing on the important things before the match - like flying home and having a birthday party.

I also no longer agree with myself. Not convinced our first 11 are up to it, let alone when injuries and suspensions hit.

8 draws out of 12 games at the weekend. 6 draws out of 8 games tonight. Teams at the very top of the wage table don't look to have spent well.

Because he'll do what he's told and toe the line, unlike our pesky last two managers who tried to uphold something resembling standards.

That letter to the fans when he joined though. A moment in time.

Yeah never mind. Put Ohashi back in.

Curious as to how Kargbo's recent FM stats look (still playing 18). 15 for pace/acceleration, sub-10 for everything else? Lad is a waste of a shirt at this level and a great example of why "pacy winger" is not an instant solution to anything.

Late Brum equaliser keeps us out of the relegation zone for now.

It's kind of difficult to feel that upset about the prospect of relegation. Venky's deserve it. Suhail, Gestede and Owen deserve it. The manager and players will likely deserve it. The fans who'd rather wave toy snakes and sing about EFL conspiracies deserve it. Not all of us obviously, but a fair few from what's left. A truly rotten club. It's going to be a long way back.

We're going to get relegated from a league where a team can lose 80% of their senior squad, be under a transfer embargo and still handily compete against pretty much everyone. Good job Venky's.

Looks like a pen to me. Shame we weren't winning against a bang average team at home, then it would have just been a small annoyance.