Dr Gloom

If Howe is to be believed we don’t have the money to get a CB and RW this window. He also said he wants to sign players that will improve the first team. This I agree with but given the financial constraints, RW is surely in greater need of upgrading. I would be happy if we signed a good prospect at CB to challenge Schar and potentially succeed him in a season or two - a bit like the Trafford deal with him seen as someone who can eventually replace Pope. We don’t need to spunk £70m on a CB to walk into the side now. We have Schar, Botman, Burn, Kelly, Lascelles, Krafth and A Murphy. J Murphy and a Miggy contributed three goals each from that RW last season. That’s not enough output if we want to challenge for top 4. All the top wingers in the modern game score closer to 10 goals a season than 5. That’s where the silly money should be invested.

He’s not worth £70m, and thankfully it doesn’t look like we’re prepared to stump up the asking price and have moved on to other targets (at least I hope that’s what’s happened). Can’t blame palace for playing someone they don’t want to sell unless someone comes in with an offer that is so beyond the player’s value that they can’t turn it down. We need to move on and forget about this lad

That’s a some dirty protest

gordon should start at RW if we don’t bring a new one in then one of Barnes or Joelinton down the left

howe loves an inverted winger, doesn't he? recycle the ball, work it around the box for the high-value opportunity to open up instead of getting to the byline and whipping it in - it's the modern way

If he doesn’t see Gordon as a natural RW it raises questions about the wisdom of Barnes signing. It’s great having depth down the left with Gordon, Barnes, Joelinton and Willock all providing good cover there but the right flank was in greater need of upgrading. Why blow £45m on Barnes if Gordon was seen as first choice in that position? Murphy and Miggy are fine as rotation options but they’re not at the same technical level and they lack consistency. I’m surprised if he thinks they’re good enough for where we want to be. From Gordon’s pov, he plays his best football down the left and he was brilliant for us in that position last season so it makes sense to continue to use him there. I think something has gone wrong if we see another season of Murphy and Miggy competing for starting spot down the right.

one of his greatest performances

That’s just speculation. As long as he’s contributing when called upon, who cares about his body language or what may be going on his personal life? He’s not to blame for our below par performances so far. He helped rescue a point when he came on and played a big role in how much better we looked second half

played well when he come on though

How many keepers is that now? 🤣

Austerity fry up

Glad to see you’ve packed in that keto nonsense. Life without sourdough isn’t worth living

phwoar

yeah, maybe take this one to DM 🤣

Really sorry to hear of this. Life can be very cruel

do you really need to ask? He’s an accountant

My mother-in-law lost her protracted battle with cancer a couple of weeks back and it upended our summer. It’s my first experience seeing this fucking devastating and intolerable disease up close. It’s every but as brutal and cruel as you imagine. Solidarity to anyone who has been through this. I expect most of you have lost a loved one to it given it kills one in two of us these days. Grief is a weird thing. I didn’t expect it to hit me so hard. I’ve lost all my grandparents but this hurts more because they were all old and she was just 69. A good mate of mine who lost both parents young put it quite well - the pain never goes away. The world just eventually begins to grow around it and life moves forwards. It has to.

he’ll get a great reception whenever he comes back. He was a transformative signing and helped pave the way for Bruno and Isak. A model pro. Shame he couldn’t keep his snake in its cage or he might have seen out his career for us. Good luck to him, indeed

the stats seem to confirm the eye test. Does he start ahead of Botman and Schar when everyone’s fit? I’m not sure he does. Though his extra pace will definitely be an asset in some games

The other good thing about him is he can cover CF too. Did a good job there last season for Brentford when Toney was out - bagged me loads of points in fantasy football

you don’t like goals, assists and pressing ability from your wide forwards?

we haven’t been linked with him anywhere that I’ve seen. Just think he’d be a good fit and is a realistic target

Having said all that, I do understand why they want Guehi - they’re planning for the future and Schar won’t be at this level forever. I just don’t think it’s as big a priority as RW, where we still have two players who played for Bruce fighting for the starting spot. Both honest players but neither really good enough three years into the takeover. It’s time to upgrade that spot as it’s the only area which hasn’t been improved since the saudis came in

Pope and the midfield were the main issues. We defended 20 yards deeper than we did the previous season because dubs can’t sweep, leaving a massive hole between our back line and midfield for opponents to easily exploit and the midfield were all goosed and couldn’t play with the same intensity. Big Jam and Krafth both did well as reserve CBs when called upon.