MaVilla

60m on Phillips? You gotta be havin a laugh, i pity anyone who spends 60m on him, yeah he's a good player. but 60m?, no frickin way.

Davis could have been put through twice, if the Forest players had a little more vision.

It's because most of our players aren't gifted, we just think they are.....but they aren't.

Yeah, we were quite a bit worse last season for about the last 20 games. We averaged 1.2 ppg for the last 20 games of last season, 0.9 ppg for the first 11 games of this season. To be fair to Gerrard we are averaging 1.5 ppg under him. I think the problem is we over estimate a lot of our players. I think we have 4 or 6 players capable of top 8, the rest are bang mid table or lower half PL quality.

i wasnt just comparing this season mate, for the last 20 games of last season we averaged 1.2 PPG, 0.9 for the first 11 this season, then 1.5 PPG since Gerrard took over. I agree the "whole" squad isnt poor, but i do think only 5-6 of our players are top 8 quality, i think if we really want to challenge top 8 next season, we need 4-5 quality players.

I'm not sure what some ppl expect of Gerrard. When Gerrard took over we were 16th, averaging 0.9 PPG (game weeks 1 to 11), and in the previous season, games 18 to 38, we averaged 1.2 PPG, so basically we were fairly poor for the last half of last season, and really, really terrible for the first 11 of this season. Since Gerrard took over we have gone from 16th to 9th, with an average PPG of 1.5. Now...i agree we are doing "amazing", but i think there is a limit to what any manager could get out of the current team, and that limit imo is probably somewhere between 9th and 12th. We need a massive push in terms of squad improvement in the summer, if we really want to push for top 8, the current squad simply isnt good enough. I know Gerrard isnt perfect, and there are some issues possibly in terms of formation and the picking of certain players, but......to say him taking us from 16th to 9th, averaging 1.5 PPG while doing it, isnt doing pretty decent.....what did u expect!?, top 6?!

yikes, Gerrard is spiky as f*** at the end of this interview, lol.

no Sanson again? Has he banged Gerrard's missus or summat?

they were very soft, they might still be a little, but i do think Partey and Xhaka as the holding 2 have given them a slightly tougher balance now.

i would play Buendia in the midfield 3 tbh, but to do that we need probably at least one really powerful player in there to compensate, but we dont. Also, Watkins, he's really not that good.

0 shots on goal in 45 minutes, our midfield rolled over again and are having their bellies tickled. If i had a pound for every time it was clear our midfield wasnt good enough, and we did nothing about it in successive windows, i would be retired in the Algarve by now.

watching the Wolves/Leeds highlights, my lord, absolute comedy defending from Wolves, up there with some of our worst calamity defending that.....

Selected in England u20 squad.

Archer selected in England u20 squad

Bailey yes, the kids yes, for me Traore gets moved on in the summer.

For me, what it says is: 1) Some of our players are probably top 8 capable players. 2) Some of our players are mid table players, and probably overrated by the fans (ie: if we think they are more than mid table players) 3) Some of our players are probably bottom half PL players, and are probably overrated by the fans (ie: if we think they are more than lower half players) Personally, i think maybe 5 or 6 of our players are definitely top 8 capable, the rest are either mid table or lower half in terms of ability.

You didnt ask me...but!! Considering the following: 1) The very poor start to the season, where after 11 games we were on less points at that point (10 points after 11 games), than during our relegation scrap first year back in the PL (13 points after 11 games). 2) We had lost our talisman in Grealish. 3) The early injuries to our new signings (Buendia/Bailey etc). On balance, i think 10th would be a good finish, and what happened at the start of it, i think i would argue it is better in terms of season recovery and consolidation. Is 10th what a lot "hoped for"?, no probably not, but realistically, taking the season holistically, 10th would be a very good finish imo.

just watching it now, my lord....whats with the camera?, constantly shaking and vibrating noisily.....

is this gonna be recorded/replayed anywhere?

A bit like Sanson though, that both need minutes to show they belong at this level.

when i have seen him play for the u23s, i have always thought his touch is sublime, his vision top notch, he seems really composed on the ball, very silky player who seems to have that air of "always seems to have time on the ball" (ie: his technical ability allows him to look like he has time on the ball - where others might panic and look rushed etc). He is a little on the small side, but he is only 18, so plenty of time to bulk up (kind of similar to Grealish when he broke through, in terms of both looking rather skinny/lightweight), get on those weights Tommi boy! I think he has the technical ability to succeed for sure.

tbh, i think Ramsey is the only one of our current midfield 3 (Luiz, McGinn, Ramsey), who either is good enough, or has the potential to be good enough, for a midfield 3 of a team that wants to push for top 8. Just my opinion.

i would like to see a front 3 of Coutinho, Buendia and Bailey. Not sure if it would work, but would like to see it at least once, regardless.

As i have said numerous times, works hard, but if you ever want a team to control the ball and play an intelligent/intricate passing style, Watkins simply cant do that. I dont dislike him, but i really dont think he can play the way we supposedly want to play going forward.

my own opinion, which could ofc be wrong!, is that what Spam tend to have over us in recent years is their midfield. In rice and Soucek they have two very good, very powerful, and very aggressive central midfield players marshalling the team, maybe not so much right now, but certainly our kryptonite since we have been back in the Prem, is our inability to deal with, or compete with very aggressive and powerful midfields of other teams etc. If there is a difference in class between the two teams, i really think its in the Soucek/Rice vs our midfield mirror, i reckon if you put Soucek & Rice in our midfield, it would transform us (obviously completely unrealistic!). Hopefully we will sort this in the summer, as we all know we need something similar in our midfield.