Definitely, good tacklers don’t rely on strength, it’s a skill in it’s own right. It’s the size of what’s beating under the badge that counts most. How big was Nobby Stiles ? A pal of mine played against him as a schoolboy and he said being tackled by Nobby was like having an electric shock up your leg ! Wharton looks like he likes a tackle, that matters most.

Simon played a bit further forward for us. He had less of a defensive role.

He knows where the ball is going next before he even receives it. Not many players have that ability in this league as teenagers. He looks a very confident player. When he carried that ball to the edge of their box he had a simple left foot pass out to a player running on the right hand side. He had the confidence to use his weaker right foot to slip a very nice pass out to the left. Barker was a good penalty taker also.

WBA will have to find a manager first.

I only ever saw Fred have one game that would put him up there with Friedal. Away at the dingledome when we lost 1-0 to a disputed penalty. It would have been about 6-0 but for Fred, another game were the rest of them just didn’t turn up !

You can do that when the opposition only has one real playmaker.

As I said - more or less picks itself.

Seeing him sat on the bench last spring kept the three lads out there playing on their toes.

Nobody came up with the not unreasonable asking price and the lad didn’t make any waves about leaving. Do you like my new font ? My iPad obviously does.

It’s still “ or Not “ for me.

It’s a bit too early to say that. It’s a long and hard season in this league. The pitches towards the end of the season aren’t always conducive to passing football.

I wouldn’t either. It sends out the wrong message. Play well and you get to sit on the bench. You should only get left out if you play poorly. Everybody understands that.

Only our bank manager.

It’s a shame they can’t field two teams, double your chances that way.

I’m not talking down our prospects. That’s my realistic expectation. As things stands now we are a mid table team . If the group of young players we have make significant progress we’ll be in with a shout of the play offs. There’s a hell of a lot of talent there but they’re young. Lots of things can happen with kids. If they don’t progress we’ll be building for next season again.

He got 4 under 21 caps. I suspect his lack of real pace held him back. When I first heard Lowe was also an England under 21 player I was expecting to see a sort of Barker style player. Barker would have been better than Lowe playing in a blindfold.

I watched the video that was on here when we signed him at first. There were loads of things he couldn’t do on that video but one thing stood out for me - he could pick the ball up in the old inside left position and run with it. He couldn’t play right up front and he wasn’t as effective on the right but he was a destructive runner coming from that area of the pitch with the ball. Why did it take so long for the management to figure out that’s where we should be playing him ?

Do you remember Simon Barker ? He was great at that. He could always turn away from trouble instead of in to it.

Like Wayne Rooney - a scouser and a life long Everton fan but money and fame were too hard to resist.

Picks itself really, as you say the three injured players are unlikely to be in the frame from what we hear. If Wharton is fit enough to be on the bench that would be a big plus. I’d have him in the squad instead of Phillips. Give the lad a rest.

What would the add ons be at Everton ? If he kept them in the Premier League ? Got the them promoted if they get relegated ?

Look at the Pompey goals. He can head it alright.

I’m thinking more of Gerson who played in the brilliant 1970 Brazil team. I never saw him run more than about 5 yards or use his right foot but the whole game revolved around him. I think Georgi Hagi was all left foot as well but what a player.

Well, Keith left for a record fee for a British fullback, Mike went for a British record for any defender and Fred went for the highest fee between two British clubs at that time. As for Dougie - Spurs offered to break the British record transfer fee for him after he master minded the 7-2 demolition of them. That’s just four players, three from one youth team. I was never a big fan of Fred Else, I’d rather have Kaminski. Too many times I was left thinking “ How did that get in ? “ John Bray was a bit rough and ready. Mick McGrath was a steady Eddie, very unsung but very consistent. Ronnie was Ronnie, Mr Blackburn Rovers, one time captain of England. Andy Mac would be one to go for big bucks today, a goal scoring machine. The two Mikes, a great pair of real wingers. One fast and very direct with a tremendous shot, the other a tricky playmaker who was a match winner in his own right. I’ll die happy that I saw them all in their prime.

It’s 2022. We can’t sell a player if 1) the player doesn’t want to leave. 2) no other club was prepared to meet our valuation. It’s as simple as that in my book.