Teale's 'tache

Seems his contract ran out and after a bust up with Purslow it's only going to end one way. In the Villa post it states he helped to restructure the academy, so his job was wider ranging than just transfers, if that job is now done maybe we need a different kind of sporting director? Maybe one more focused on the scouting side of things? Maybe more focused on the sports science side of things? Who knows, will be interesting to see who they bring in and what the job title will be though!

I don't know what their expectations were, but the faith they showed in not firing Smith when it was looking very ominous tells me they were at least understanding of the unique situation we were in. Anyway, it seems Suso's contract simply ran out, and after a run in with Purslow it probably is best to look elsewhere, lets hope we have someone in mind already, could be a busy window.

Maybe so, I think we'd of had to spend a whole lot more to expect much more than 17th myself, especially considering the turnover of players, it was a unique situation. I don't feel like anyone should take the blame for our season, I don't think there's one sole person responsible, in my mind staying up means if anything the season has been successful. I guess it depends on your expectations. Did the owners expect to be crashing the top 10? I would say that was always very unrealistic.

Is it? I think Smith made it clear he was one short when the window closed, he wanted someone who could play up top and on the wing, if somebody else decides we've got enough on the wings and won't meet someone's asking price for that last player is that down to Suso? I honestly don't know, it depends on who is making the decisions. I think his work in January is probably a big factor in him leaving, but we may never know

Quite surprised to hear of his departure, don't think he's done a great job, nor a particularly poor one. He was sent out to find a large number of players last summer that had to fit within a particular profile and he did that, how much say he had in the overall strategy I don't know. Is he the one that decided how much experience we needed? Is he the one who decides when the fee is too high? Is he the one deciding the attributes required? It's incredibly harsh to blame him for all of the issues with last summers transfers when we don't really know who decides what. I don't think any of our signings have particularly dropped that much in value, but I don't think many have increased in value much either, that situation is fluid, next summer most of those signings could well of increased in value greatly, and then you'd have to say he did a decent job no? By the same token we could be relegated and all of the values drop considerably. Or maybe we just have someone better lined up?

Absolutely, a balance has to be found, and you could level at him that he changed the midfield too much at times, he was searching for a balance there which we never really found until after the lock down when Luiz came back a different player.

I think the most impressive thing about Smith this season for me is that he was big enough to change things, every manager is stubborn, Smith was wedded to his formation and philosophy but it wasn't working, it took a lot for him to accept that and go back to the drawing board, and he didn't just do it once, a few times he's had to change things around and did. I think he'll be more willing to do so in the future as well. He will have learnt a whole lot this season, I think we've been naive and at times maybe didn't respect the opposition enough, you can see from our defensive stats post lock down that lessons have been learned. I think the team that finished the season would of picked up a whole lot more points than we did earlier on in the season, and I think the Arsenal result will do us a world of good going in to next season, it just gives those players the belief that they can beat that kind of team, it gives Smith that belief that he belongs in that company. I don't think the questions about him being good enough will go away any time soon, people will always want more, but he's a top bloke and he's done wonders for this club.

This guy deserves a lot of credit, he's worked hard, had to bide his time, took some stick, but he showed real character and ended up playing a really important role in our survival. I'd be happy to see him stay and hopefully continue to improve next season.

Going to be a very interesting window, we'll need the whole Grealish situation sorted sooner than later, love him to stay but wouldn't begrudge him if he went. That will dictate our main needs and budget I'd imagine. We can't have that dragging on all window. I think we need to be more ambitious this time around, pay some big money be it in fee or wages, we have a bit more protection financially with regards to the parachute payments if we did go down next season, also the whole Covid situation seems to have rendered FFP a bit redundant. I think it's hard to predict how the market is going to be effected by the current situation, in theory prices should really level off or even possibly go down a little, but the big clubs just keep driving them up so who knows?! Some talented players have been relegated this year, Liverpool picked up Wijnaldum and Robertson from relegated teams so they shouldn't be sniffed at, some may have relegation clauses as well, so there's value to be had. I don't think we need lots of bodies in, though if Jack goes it does drive the numbers up a bit. Certainly we need some wingers with pace, the lack of pace and experience being the main flaws of last summers window. The squad as a whole now has a whole season of Premier League experience and it makes a huge difference, as does Smith, he had to adapt and change system/tactics, so I don't think we'll be buying for one system anymore, we've learnt that we have to be more flexible then that.

No signings yet?...

I think we are going to need a point. Watford are all over the place at the moment, no form, no real manager, no confidence, no momentum, it will take a huge turnaround for them to suddenly rock up at the Emirates and win. It's not beyond the realms of possibility but it's unlikely. Arsenal need to get themselves back on track before the cup final so will be looking for a decent performance which would hopefully be enough. Bournemouth worry me more at the moment, I think they can get a win at Goodison but a lot depends on what kind of Everton show up, seems like there might be big changes there this summer so some players will be playing for their futures, I have every faith in Ancelotti sending out a competitive motivated team, but Bournemouth's need is so much greater and they have some quality going forward. The only downside to heading in to the last day outside the relegation zone is the temptation to just do enough, taking the foot off the pedal because a draw is enough is dangerous, Bournemouth know they have to win, Watford have to assume only a win will do, win lose or draw we could stay up and that's why it's so important we get our mentality right, assume we need a win and nothing else. West Ham are beatable, but also dangerous on current form. We are in decent form as well though, and we've found a nice balance to our play and a defensive solidity that wasn't there before, we just have to perform as we have been and I think we can get the win we need.

Figured I may as well add an away and third strips...

Only caught the second half, so pleased with the performance and obviously pleased we got the result we deserved which hasn't always been the case this season. Tactically we look so much more switched on compared to earlier in the season, we've found the balance in the midfield we've been searching for, we have an organised press now, make good decisions during transition, we even make tactical fouls and waste time! That Lansbury sub was perfection, took up a full minute of extra time at least. We've been so naive this season tactically and it's cost us time and again, so to see us playing smart is really pleasing. Thought maybe we'd scored too early, there was so much time left in the game, but I must say it was about as comfortable as we could of hoped for in the end, no shots on target from Arsenal says it all. Luiz has improved immeasurably, having a genuinely good defensive midfielder has been a complete game changer for us, along with a few of the other some summer signings beginning to look more comfortable and the return of McGinn we really have some momentum going now. One more big performance, UTV!

Knocked this together pretty quick, just don't have the time to do as many of these as I'd like... Anyway, thought I'd try something a bit out there for a change...

Arsenal are not quite as beatable under Arteta as they used to be, seems like he's going to be a good manager, he even acknowledged the lack of crowd being a big disadvantage to us. However they do have other things on their minds at the moment, so will likely be resting a few and you've always got a chance if Luiz and Mustafi are playing. I can see this being very cagey and boring, our need is greater but we lack the cutting edge, they'll not want it to be an end to end affair as I imagine they are keeping their eye on fitness after two tough games recently and a cup final on the horizon. I'm thinking probably a draw, praying for a win though!

Is that home wins? Or did I miss a late late winner at Goodison?! Edit: whoops should of continued reading the thread, sorry old bean.

After such a long break it kind of feels like organisation and preparation will be more important factors than any ordinary game, with that in mind we couldn't be facing a much tougher opponent. However, we can only of benefited from the break, we were looking pretty ragged before it, the extra time to work on system/shape, integration of players and the fitness of McGinn can only of helped us. We had no real momentum to lose (other than Jacks form), whereas I'm sure Wilder would of preferred no break given the momentum behind their campaign. Form is out of the window now, we've no idea what levels the two teams are at, and that gives us more of a chance than we had before the break. TLDR: I have no idea!

I think we are done, and I'm okay with it. Some people seem to think any signing is better than none but that is not true, bringing in the wrong signing can detrimental both financially and to team moral. There are so many factors involved in a transfer that panic buying is not a position you want to be in. We've bought what we desperately needed in Reina and Samatta, and had a look around to see if we can find quality/value that fits within our plans elsewhere and it looks like we haven't found it in this market, much the same as many other teams. We might not have the 'two players for each position' that many seem to crave, the truth is most teams don't have two Premier League quality players for every position, because unless you are in the top 4 it's impossible to keep them all happy. Wolves have played most of the last 2 months with 2 midfielders playing as center backs! You have to make do with what you've got, throwing money at everything doesn't always work. I expect us to improve this second half of the season as the new players are now bedded in and you can really see the team spirit growing between them, I have faith the players we have right now can get it done.

Back to your cell!... ... I'll get my coat

He wants to play and prove his fitness to Wales to potentially get in to their Euro Championship squad. I'm not saying we are right for letting him leave, just pointing out the reasons he has for leaving now.

So an ITK 'made something up' to call out other ITK's, apparently in no way concerned that it may make them appear like they just ...you know ...make stuff up for fun?