JRC is better defensively than Brittain who is really poor at preventing crosses. The defensive aspect of being a full back seems often to be dismissed when judging them nowadays. I disagree that Cantwell is best wide left. He is a technical player who can take the ball in tight spaces. He is also not the best defensively. It feels like he is being put left as to not move Dolan who is nowhere near as good. You mention playing to those players strengths. If Gueye's strengths are feeding off crosses, he seems a strange signing as we dont have good crossers or any real width in the squad. Ohashi came on at a time when we were playing on the counter and he wasted a number of potential opportunites to counter due to regularly messing up fairly simple passes. Hes not fast either so im not sure that he is suited on the counter. I still think there are huge question marks over both, especially Gueye. I suppose we got them both for very cheap due to the owners not giving a shit and not making a decent budget available, and in the main you get what you pay for.

Really boring game and not one many/any will have enjoyed but its all about the result and our perfect home form continues. I think defensively we defended our box well against a poor side, especially as we became deep and couldnt get the ball to stick. Beck is standout and I also thought that JRC did well, by far our best RB despite rubbish theories about him not being someone who can play there for Eustace. The defence has a better balance to it and I thought the often derided Hyam stood out with some really good interventions. Tronstad is such a reliable player in front of them too. We do have issues going forward though and whilst I feel confidence in knowing that Eustace can have us organised, I dont have that much in him creating a platform for a good attack so there will be lots of bore fests. Cantwell stood out and playing him wide to accomodate Dolan (who goal aside, if he indeed gets the goal from a mishit and deflected shot wasnt otherwise very effective and seems to be getting slower) seems a strange choice to me when he is clearly our stand out player. Hedges again did nothing of note either and we lack pace on the counter which puts more pressure on our defence. The striking position becomes more of a worry as the novelty of the 2 new strikers wears off. Gueye must be so difficult to play with because hes so unpredictable and unorthodox, and is unfortunately looking like a bit more of a donkey with each passing game, does the odd chest/knock down but has a tendency to break down attacks. Ohashi's sub appearance was just a consistent stream of poor passes which led to us handing possession straight back, unless he scores his general game is lacking.

Its a flawed statement.

Centre backs are not top class by any means and there is a big issue in finding someone to play next to Rice, players with potential but nothing more. And all of the best attackers want to play in the same areas. Undoubtedly have some very good players but equally I think some of those perhaps hide how imbalanced our pool of players is. Left back you mention, we dont even have any decent left backs, just a total absence hence calls for Newcastle squad players and players who have predominantly played in the Championship.

Tuchel would be a surprise appointment in that I expected the FA to go for a clean cut Englishman and would be reluctant to go down this route. But unfortunately the standard of English coaches is poor (hence why the joke suggestion of Lampard was even made) and Tuchel has proven himself at the top level, including in knockout competition. I still think the squad is overrated as a whole in that we have had such good luck with draws in previous tournaments and although we have some brilliant players, in the main the attacking ones all want to operate in the same areas and there are some big weaknesses around that. But I would feel more confident in having someone with Tuchel's CV.

I think the 4 slot rule has been in for well over a year. There has been lots of discussion going back to when we signed the likes of Sigurdsson, Wahlstedt and Telalovic. Seems like Japan are playing tomorrow, regardless of whether he features, I wonder if he is likely to be in contention to start at the weekend. Obviously it is good for him as a player, and good to see our players recognised in one way, but any trips across the world may cause a knock on effect in games after international breaks.

Frank Lampard 😂 at least it caused a laugh in an otherwise boring international break as it surely cant be a serious suggestion. On what grounds (being English and/or a good player in his day dont count) should a managerial failure like him even be considered for the England job? Unfortunately the coaches in this country are not of the required standard at this point in time. Look at the people suggested, Potter failed at Chelsea (and did ok at Brighton and Swansea but nothing groundbreaking), O'Neil is on the verge of the sack at Wolves and people like Lampard are joke suggestions. Howe is the only decent suggestion and he himself has question marks notably over whether he would be interested. Ive never been comfortable with the idea of boxing managers off based on nationality. Capello didnt fail just because he wasnt English, he is an individual in his own right who failed, he isnt foreign manager A. Equally, this idea of copying Spain because an internal appointment worked for them implies that its just down to a formula of coming through the age groups = success. De La Fuentes is again an individual manager, he isnt just an example of the success youll get going down that path. Weve tried to copy off other countries before and its not as simple as that. Hopefully Carsley rules himself out of consideration because he seems out of his depth in such a pressured, senior job.

Obviously that was an oversimplification, but he admitted to leaving our better attackers on the bench until later on as part of what was a failed gameplan. But obviously there is a reliance on keeping the excellent home form up especially as we have yet to win away and have so few points there.

Tuchel would seem a decent appointment if true.

A team build around Dolan with Cantwell stuck out wide. No thanks. Toth JRC Carter Hyam Beck Tronstad Travis ACD Cantwell Sigurdsson Ohashi Sigurdsson was the hardest to pick but we dont have a natural option there so its his turn. I think the likes of Dolan, Hedges and Pears will still play, and players like ACD and JRC will stay on the bench. Hopefully we can keep winning at home to maintain our perfect record especially with the negative tactics away leaving us unable to win.

Obviously he shouldnt be "axed" (can you be axed as interim manager?) based on one game but it might make it slightly more difficult to justify giving him the full time role, of which most would agree would be too big a risk.

It might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. A meaningless glorified friendly nearly 2 years before a tournament but makes it more difficult to justify employing a naive novice like Carsley. He made a rookie mistake of just trying to cram in talented players leaving us imbalanced, then he went the opposite way and stuck 2 up front which again is not something they are used to. I do think though looking at the players we have, people have been perhaps blinded by a few select individuals but its not quite the golden generation. @roverandout may disagree but its not close to the 2004-06 level of squad. Yes, we have sne stand out top level players but most want to do the same thing, Bellingham, Palmer and Foden all want to be number 10s and putting them elsewhere really hinders them and the team, and Kane when fit also wants to drop deep. We have the odd player in other positions (Saka, maybe Trent and if played probably maybe Rice) who are also quality. But we have not one single left back who is even reasonably good, keepers dodgy, centre backs average, big issues in midfield where Rice is good but not sitting and nothing else of the required standard, and as mentioned some quality attackers but mainly ones that want to do the same thing. Bring back club football.

People always say how brilliant our side is on paper but tonight is the perfect example of what happens when you try and stick our best players in together. In 1 or 2 positions there is an embarassment of riches but across the team there are big weaknesses hence why we get beat when we play anyone good.

I acknowledge that maybe their fans feel he should be playing more. But I dont think that they are taking the piss by not playing him more. Hopefully he will break into their side soon. IMO he isnt anywhere near of a sufficient quality at the moment to be playing Championship football. It was the correct choice to loan him out but unfortunately he doesnt seem to have done enough to earn regular League 1 football at the moment. If Travis/Tronstad missed out, would you play Garrett over Baker, Buckley and JRC?

He cant be recalled outside a transfer window, so before January. But he isnt ready to play Championship football, we saw that last season. Even when our main 2 are out, we have better alternatives than Garrett. It also seems over the top to say its taking the piss without watching them to decide that he should be playing. We obviously want him to play every game but just like when we sign loanees, there should never be any additional motivation to play him just because it suits the parent club.

Why do you find yourself unable to criticise Eustace for the defeats? You touch on his tactics frustrating you, which is in itself suggests a criticism. And its a fair one. I think his approach of leaving our better attackers on the bench and just trying to cling on until they come on has been a big factor, as well as his team selections.

I dont think anyone has said that we havent had a good start.

Work and family commitments are indirect factors that the club cannot control, but are also surely not factors that will massively dent sales in any one season. Im sure each season there are some people that could have gone previously that wont be able to anymore, but on the flip side some who couldnt previously go who now can. That sort of thing youd imagine would level itself out. The main 2 factors are success and in particular, cost. The thing with the cost is its not only the original price which was still too much, but its the very small window before the prices then rocket to ridiculous prices. Waggott will be able to say that prices went down but sales didnt follow. That will be purposeful manipulation of a campaign that saw a tiny decrease for a very short period of time. We hadnt even signed any players before the first leap in price came into play. 4k adult season ticket holders is embarassing.

I dont even think we need to go really attacking by any means. But yeah, to try and tactically leave your better attackers on the bench for an hour as a ploy is just totally bizarre and doesnt reflect well on the manager. You need to try and impose yourself on the opposition, to admit that your intention was purely to cling on for an hour before having a go made no sense. The thing is, we werent even defensively solid by any means. Probably partly because we didnt offer a threat at the other end, Plymouth should have been further ahead such was their dominance. Eustace needs to prove that he can get the best out of our flair players like Cantwell and Cozier Duberry.

I answered that before, but yes. My reflection on the season so far is that we have made a good start. Perfect home start, 12 from 12, well done Eustace. Crap away start, only 3 from 15, big question marks on Eustace's approach away from home. I think thats balanced and fair.

I dont think anyone has suggested that we have not had a good start overall. But it seems some get a kick out of making out as if everyone is going well over the top. Mercer is an exception but he is purely on here for the wind up.

Even if it has been consistently at that level, its just as bad.

Preston was a disappointing result but again, we seem to have the same mindset of trying to sit in and struggled to create chances even against a man less for half a game. The Burnley game was obviously a good result of course but obviously that was solely from a defensive perspective especially when Gueye was sent off.

Hes not "dug out" unfairly or disproportionately. There are a number of players who regularly get criticism, he is only one of a few. Him, Hedges, Pears, Hyam, Pickering.

Our overall away record so far this season is clearly crap though, I dont think there is panic but equally I dont think its just a case of a couple of away losses, it can happen. Our overall points tally is good and if we kept accumulating points at the rate we are doing so now, then everyone would be happy. But the difference between a perfect home record and a rubbish away one is stark. We arent going to win all 23 home games even if the approach to those games has been more than justified, but there needs to be a change of approach and a rethink ahead of away games. Eustace admitting that he left our better players all on the bench as part of a gameplan that clearly didnt work is a worry. We need to try to exert ourselves and get out better players causing problems for the opposition. I get wanting to build on a solid base but I think a mindset of trying to cling on for two thirds of the game has also led to our defence being under more pressure than it needed to be, with them often appearing all at see.