Exiled_Rover

Mainoo shouldn't see the pitch this tournament - neither should Bowen either. For some reason they were both brought on ahead of far better players. Blue and white glasses on or off, this team is crying out for a playmaker next to Rice (who's a fantastic destroyer, but doesn't dictate the play). Either bite the bullet and play A. Wharton there (and I think he'd absolutely thrive), or play Bellingham there and tell Rice to properly sit in front of the back 4 to accommodate him. Alexander-Arnold is not a CM - he was awful tonight. Gallagher is a fine CM, but he's not a creative one - he's another Phillips (albeit significantly better). Mainoo simply isn't ready.

And considering we have about 5 players that want to play #10. Either Kane plays as a #9 or he doesn't play imo. Same with Alexander-Arnold - play him at RB or not at all. Bellingham getting a free role actually massively disrupts the side, no matter how good he is.

He's comically bad in CM.

We have a brilliant young CM coming through, or even the bloody Chelsea captain. Nah, let's put a middling RB in CM. Genius.

It's Bellingham or Wharton for mine. Alexander-Arnold is a RB.

Spain look worryingly good.

The club is accessing it - but it's simply being used to keep the lights on.

We're going to L1. We've just sacked a far more qualified and ambitious man because he upset the establishment. In January we forced out a talented and ambitious manager for similar reasons. Those in the board room will be delighted with survival this year because they know no money is going to be spent.

Angus Gunn is a baddun.

Well he's certainly far less qualified for the role.

If I won £123m I'd definitely buy my usual season ticket in the Jack Walker. I can't promise I'll be there every home game though. £123m disappears quickly if you actually own the club.

Are we planning to build our attack around throw ins?

Speak for yourself.

Going into the season with Pears as your #1 is suicide.

We couldn't win a header in our box for months around Christmas. It was baffling.

I've no doubt his agent has put his feelers out to get him away from this basket case club. It might be a pay cut, but he's currently rotting away on the bench here behind a clown. This is an opportunity to rekindle his career.

It's why Newcastle are looking to move on from Pope. He's a tremendous GK, but only so-so with his feet. Modern conventional thinking is that a GK has to be a reliable pivot at the back - even if they're much worse at the GK basics. The game is mad.

Newcastle are buying Trafford for £15m....

The Barnsley fans are hardly enamoured with him.

Didn't we turn down bids for him last year?

Nah, it keeps the club alive too. Without Lenihan, Nyambe, A. Wharton, S. Wharton, Travis, Buckley, Leonard, Garrett, Raya et al we'd have been sunk long ago. We've been badly mismanaged for over a decade, but the staff down at Brockhall keep on churning out Championship calibre players.

9 goals in League One? Be still my beating heart.

Talk about a player not kicking on for 5 years. He's got a bit physically stronger, but he still dallies on the ball and makes the wrong choice with it. He's a very talented player, but he's not going to make it at this level now.

We'd have been paying absolute peanuts to the three loanees - they were all on their second chance that season and we took them on because we were desperate for warm bodies.

The only problem being they'll hang on for dear life and sell everything that's not nailed down first - including the training ground.