Fantastic result and the continuation of a brilliant start. The key today was the defence and it is satisfying to get a clean sheet. Beck was unfortunate not to get man of the match as going both ways he was absolutely outstanding. Carter did very well adapting as a right back and Batth slotted in very well alongside Hyam who both did well. Fair play to Pears too who didnt have that much to do but provided a great save at a crucial moment, got some deserved luck after the ball was then blocked, and also did well to smother Armstrong later on. One swallow doesnt make a summer but he deserves credit for his performance today and also earnt a clean sheet. Tronstad and Travis are a really good pairing in midfield too. Ohashi is obviously the star of the show, his overall game is quite poor in that hes slow, the ball often bounces off him and he gave the ball away a few times. But in front of goal all of his goals have been brilliant, both of his finishes were outstanding and considering the nominal fee, what a find to unearth someone who possesses such a goal threat. The overall balance of the attack was not right and that is a concern that can hopefully be remedied by a change in personnel. Baker on the left wing was very (understandably) poor playing a role he isnt used to. Dolan and Hedges both frustrated and are probably no more than squad players. I can understand not starting Cantwell who doesnt look close to being fit (and did a stupid rabona that ruined an attack) and Cozier Duberry was only on briefly (but looked very sharp) but I hope that those 2 can really transform the balance of the side. In regards to Eustace, there was a genuine and valid concern in regards to his inability to win a home game last season as we came into this season. We have had 3 favourable home games in which we were favourites to win, to win all 3 is really impressive and he deserves plenty of credit for that.

As time goes on obviously last season will become less and less relevant to any judgement. If I wrote off last season entirely, I would be judging Eustace off 4 games and thinking that he is incredible. Once we are 20 or 30 games into the season, at that point I would obviously be judging on this season seeing as the league table would have taken shape. As it stands, he has still to prove himself either way, but the first 4 games gives me some emerging hope and optimism.

I think the standard of the league is poorer this season. We clearly cant expect to make the play offs or anything like that, but I think we should be in that middle group of teams who should be aiming up towards perhaps that top half, in which case I would at least think its reasonable to have an eye on sneaking into the top 6, although 6th certainly isnt the minimum expectation. So top half perhaps, or at the very least mid table miles away from relegation concerns.

You are so keen to go down your regular route of casting people as negative, which isnt a constructive argument. Your analysis beyond your desire to call me negative is pretty similar to what I said. People seem to have interpreted what I said as me criticising the manager or suggesting that I am not a fan. My stance is that its still quite early and thus of course there are still doubts either way, but then I acknowledged that a good start to the season which gives hope that he can go on to do really well. Last season his points tally wasnt great, he failed to win a number of winnable home games and he will need to improve on winning 5 in 20. And I think he likely will. The stuff on interviews I take with a huge pinch of salt. Its about results, players are not going to slag off the current manager. Gueye I like the look of, but again he has to prove that he can score a decent amount of league goals.

Ok. Not really relevant, and Gueye has scored 0 goals and has 1 red card in his 4 league games for all the promise. He might have good man management, my point was that we need to see an upturn in results compared to his first 20 games. The final 4 of those 20 hopefully will be indicative of what is to come.

I dont know exactly where we should be finishing. With the 5 losses, I would also argue that 5 wins in 20 is not great and that 25 points from 20 is very average. But there are enough signs from the limited sample of 4 games that hopefully he can improve on that. The point that he has still to fully prove himself was not necessarily a criticism. Just a point that he as manager is one of a number or variables that at this stage we cant be sure which way it will go.

My point is merely that he is yet to prove either way. His record overall of 5 wins, 10 draws, 5 losses (that stat may not be accurate so worth double checking) does not at this stage prove without any doubt that he definitely IS the man for the job. But as I said, so far so good this season. If he carries on, then he potentially will prove that.

How you have got that conclusion from me saying that I still dont know for sure whether he is up to the task of taking us forward, but the signs this season have been positive, is beyond me.

Youve typically taken my points out of context and manipulated conclusions based on things I havent said. Ive acknowledged the good start of 4 games. Last season obviously the primary and minimum objective was survival which we just about achieved. We ended closer to the drop zone than when he came in, it was hardly the miracle he portrayed and there were concerning aspects last season. There is enough emerging evidence to suggest that Eustace is capable, but not enough evidence yet factoring in his overall record to be totally sure either way.

Perhaps, but it doesnt alter the opinion I hold that he has still to prove his competence in terms of how I mentioned. His record thus far overall is unremarkable. Thats not a dig and from a very small start of only 4 games, there are clear positive signs. But I am not wholly sure either way so far.

Football is obviously very much a squad game these days and as I said, the squad is stronger now. But the discussion started with discussions on how the starting 11 AND the squad are potentially stronger, and at the moment, I wouldnt necessarily agree with the former. Its not as if a strongest 11 is totally wrong, if everyone was match fit and we had a cup final tomorrow, I suspect there would be a side that Eustace would know almost 1 to 11 that he would pick. Id guess at something like Pears / Brittain Carter Hyam Pickering / Travis Tronstad / Hedges Cantwell Dolan / Gueye. That could change and it could develop into a situation where our best 11 is stronger too. Mainly in goal where I think Pears will unfortunately be number 1 for the forseeable, but if Toth became number 1 and was a big improvement, and/or if say Cozier-Duberry hits the ground running and becomes a regular, then maybe our first could also become stronger.

I was just wondering if Carsley called up a number of that under 21 squad in an attempt to get players he already knows as he looks to settle into the role. Im not convinced that the likes of Gibbs White and Madueke have that much chance of being in the World Cup squad. England are at a point now where much of the team is settled and off the back of a period of playing together and many at the highest level. It needs trimming, players (Maguire, Walker and one or two others) and I feel like we are limiting ourselves if we rule out foreigners. Spain needed more of a revamp and I am guessing that winning the Euros was not necessarily expected. A Guardiola is the dream but even someone like Tuchel with a track record in top level knockout football.

Which is why I said that it is important that our overall squad has been made deeper in the window. But specific to the first 11, I am not sure if it has necessarily been improved, unless some of the signings who may not initially be in the first 11 break into it. Toth is a big one, Cozier-Duberry and Beck are also potential candidates. Cantwell has had a reputation as a player who can cause problems. Hence why we got an undoubtedly talented player for so cheap. If we can get him settled then he could be a very good signing. Im not sure that Gueye can or will get 10-12 goals. No doubting other parts of his game are strong but his finishing and technical ability from a very small sample size seem (in line with comments from an expert of the Belgian League) is quite poor. Not that he isnt an asset in other ways. So yes, as it stands. I see a stronger squad, not necessarily the first 11 but that hopefully will change especially if Toth gets into the team and solves a problem position.

I agree on the squad, which I acknowledged the importance of. But in terms of the starting 11, I have assumed for the time being that Gueye and Cantwell are the only 2 likely to be at least initially in our best 11. I think the key to changing that is if any of the others break into the side which they may well and hopefully will do. Toth is the key one, if he does become our number 1 and surely improves that position then the discussion potentially changes. Cozier-Duberry is totally untested but again with his pace if he can settle as a regular at this level then again, thats a game changer. Beck impressed on debut but I dont think it is "clear" that he is an upgrade on Pickering just yet, I personally rate Pickering and he himself started this season well, but even if Pickering is first choice we look good in that position. Baker, Batth and Weimann will likely be squad players and ones with experience, so undoubtedly a big help. I am not downplaying the Cantwell signing, he is an exciting signing and if we can get him focused then he undoubtedly has loads of ability. I also think Gueye is going to be an obvious upgrade on Gallagher even if I am unsure of how many goals he is capable of scoring. But its impossible to ignore how big a hole Szmodics will leave, he is irreplacable as no way could we sign a player in his position to score 27 league goals. Cantwell and Gueye may prove to be an exciting duo but they wont get 30 league goals between them.

The common support for him will be comparisons to Spain appointing their under 21 manager but to me that is a lazy one. If that was the reasoning, then just copying that as if the individuals and situation are the same. I found it a bit strange that Carsley called up a big chunk of his former under 21 squad, giving debuts to the likes of Gomes, Gibbs White and Madueke, giving 2 games to Colwill in from the cold and starting Gordon twice. Had there not been those links, then it may have been seen as thinking outside the box, but I wonder if there was an element of getting people he knows in to help him get his feet under the table. Unfortunately, English coaches are sub par compared to other countries for whatever reason. It seems archaic to not feel able to look further afield.

I suppose it is only important to an extent how strong the first 11 are in that over the course of a season, you will make so many changes both in games and from game to game. We definitely appear to have more options and more experience. There are obviously a lot of question marks. With Eustace, he still has some proving to show that he can push us on IMO. His record im sure I read was 5 wins, 10 draws and 5 losses so its not great, but results this season have shown improvement. Reaction to the window has been very positive, I think it is certainly better than we expected but perhaps thats partly down to low expectations. We also dont truly know how good some of them are, we assume as understandably we will that they will all live up to expectations. The 2 strikers have captured the imagination but how many goals will they get between them to help make up the Szmodics hole? Is Toth going to play and be good as otherwise we are already accepting with Pears that he is going to cost us points? And can Cantwell and Cozier-Duberry give us an upgrade on Dolan and in particular Hedges who have proven not really to be more than solid squad options. With the others, I think they should help to provide some further depth, having a bench filled with players like Telalovic, Garrett, Markanday etc last season caused a real unhealthy dependance on the first 11. Its obviously not as straightforward as looking on paper as you touch on. Travis for example had fallen well out of favour under Tomasson, now with the foil of Tronstad he looks like a real asset. On the flip side, JRC has gone from being a brilliant Championship right back to an out of form utility man who Eustace cannot really justify a place for anymore.

Of course it is, and always was. The lazy, easy option of an FA man trying to be justified by 2 drab glorified friendlies wins v crap sides.

Im not actually sure we have improved our starting 11 this summer in that I only would say/guess at this point that Cantwell and Gueye are probably going to be first 11 players in the near future. The rest will mainly be the usual suspects, a lot of average to decent Championship players, and those 2 would technically be replacing Szmodics and Gallagher. And even though Cantwell is as good as we could expect in that position and Gueye seems an upgrade on Gallagher, simply because of Szmodics being so good and scoring so many, they wont match the 30 goals those 2 had "between" them. Travis being back is key but we did have Wharton until the end of January. The 3 most important signings are perhaps the foreign ones, we need Gueye and Ohashi to score plenty to somewhat offset the Szmodics loss. Amidst the excitement of signing 2 foreign strikers who already are becoming cult heroes, and there are clear positive signs with both, they both do have question marks in certain areas and its hard to tell especially with Gueye how many goals we will get. Toth is the crucial one, if hes no good and/or just a back up, one of our big 2 issues (on the field) last season was in net, both keepers were shocking and cost us so many points. If Toth comes in and proves to be up to the job however, then different story. The second big issue from last season was the lack of depth, no side in the league was as thin as ours. The first 11 (well outfield 10) was competitive but it was beyond that when the problems started. Experienced squad players like Baker, Batth and Weimann might start less than half of the games but they reduce the strain on the first 11. Hopefully the loans such as Cozier-Duberry and Beck can also ensure that the overall squad is much deeper and more well rounded. That will be important because using your subs is so important when you get 5 and we rarely did last year because there was no real options. But moreso as the games go by, injuries and suspensions crop up and we are not having to regularly use players like Garrett, Markanday and Telalovic.

It was standard fare for a game like this. Nothing riding on it, flat atmosphere, very slow football and England just having far more individual quality than a very poor Finland side. Didnt see anything noticeably different to home games under Southgate. Not that I expect such a sudden difference, but that is what you tend to get in these games. Thank god the internationals are over.

I dont think certainly that Cantwell will start nor do I see Cozier Duberry starting. The difference with attacking players is that you can initially bring them off the bench, whereas with Toth he either starts or he almost certainly doesnt feature. Our shit performance v Blackpool robs us of a very useful potential opportunity to give the likes of Cantwell, Cozier-Duberry, Baker, JRC, Sigurdsson etc some much needed game time. Sigurdsson and Cozier-Duberry wont even have been able to play in any bounce games during this break, with Sigurdsson only warming yhe bench for Iceland and I am not sure if Cozier-Duberry featured tonight for England under 20s, but he didnt start.

Im not sure what anyone is getting out of that to be honest. A slow, dull game played at testimonial pace where the players somewhat went through the motions in front of an eery Wembley but could rely on the fact that they obviously are considerably better individually than a very poor Finland side. With so many absentees, the questions regarding how the balance of the team will look once the likes of Bellingham, Foden and Palmer are available again remain. Gordon gives us something totally different but his pull backs are often blocked and he is not close the same quality as those 3 mentioned. Will Carsley/ideally a proper manager be willing to stick with him/someone similar and not try to stick too many of our best players in the same team?

He started the first game for Newcastle and then was sub for the following 2, even though Dan Burn who is often played at left back for Newcastle was needed at centre back due to them not signing a centre back and with Schar out. Not sure we can read much into a game v Austria under 21s. He may well be a talent and he may in time alleviate concerns in that positions, who knows. But specifically with the next World Cup in mind, left back seems to be a definite problem position in the near future. A right back will likely play there tonight and a centre back played there v Ireland.

Of course it doesnt. Combined with the one at home to Ipswich, one away to Ipswich, one away at Preston, 2 away at Plymouth, the first goal at Swansea, Sunderland's second at Ewood, Hull's second at Ewood, if ive not missed any out, its quite a catalogue in 26 games of goals he was directly responsible for. You mention that save against Leciester, he also saved a penalty at home to Stoke too. He is a professional keeper, he isnt totally devoid of any basic ability. But he has proven that he isnt up to this standard and he will and does cost us far more points than he saves. I know I have taken the argument away slightly. And may he improve, of course, but it would have to be significantly. And this season, we have yet to keep a clean sheet and he has already made a few big mistakes when thankfully it didnt lead to a goal. But equally, he hasnt changed into a competent goalkeeper at this level over pre season.

I imagine that it would be rather boring watching training anyday. But ultimately my point was that even after a long time training with those defenders, they cant possibly trust him due to the mistakes he makes. The main way that Toth can build an understanding with them is in game, and if he isnt making a mistake every other game then they will automatically feel more confident in him than they evee have with Pears.

He just made errors as he had been doing all season, albeit more high profile ones. He certainly cant put it down to criticism aimed at him at the ground, so unless he is a regular on here or more likely on social media reading tweets, he likely will be oblivious.