David Kelly

Is it not just that he always looks like a miserable whinging cunt? You just expect to hear bad things about him but I can't actually remember ever hearing anything bad.

6 months ago most of us would have took £2-£5m. I don't think anyone would have dreamed of getting over £10m for him at that point.

Oh aye he’s been a massive difference. The question is just is that just because he’s an actual leftback compared to Ritchie playing there, or is he really good. I’m undecided still but I certainly think he’s playing well at the moment.

Woman's cricket has smaller boundaries than mens because quite clearly the majority of women cricketers can’t hit the ball as far as their male counterparts. It’s not suggesting they are any less skilled rather it puts them at a disadvantage to be compared on exactly the same basis. Personally I find womens tennis just as entertaining as mens and in the grand slams they play shorter matches than the men. It makes it a better quality, more entertaining spectacle to recognise the differences between men and women in sport and there’s no reason not to follow this in football too.

Not convinced Nketiah is better than Wilson like. Yes Wilson is problematic on the fitness front but he’s a quality player other than that. If we’re replacing Wilson I want it to be with better not just fitter.

Targett has impressed me more than I thought him capable of, but him being miles better than playing Ritchie at leftback doesn’t mKe him player of the season and doesn’t mean we maybe should be looking for better next season. I’m certainly conflicted that I might be being harsh on him especially when I thought he was excellent the last two games.

Aye I’ve got a mate who’s a lot younger than me who’s being saying for years that’s Hayden is our best player and the best midfielder he’s seen here. Poor fucker had only ever witnessed Ashley’s Newcastle so I suppose it’s difficult for him to understand how a midfielder is supposed to play.

I’ve been crying out for a midfielder like Bruno for years. Having to suffer immobile plodders like Hayden has driven me close tears. Bruno is already quite clearly our best player and along with Trippier the most important for moving us forward. But his time for player of the season I’m sure will come. But I just can’t look past Joe because his turnaround and his contribution since that Norwich game have been immense.

He’s not our best player and he still needs to improve aspects of his game further, but for the transformation from punchline to one of the first names on the team sheet it can only be BUJ.

Including Hayden will drop the value to about £250k

That's exactly what I'm saying. If he can play well with what should be better players in front of him he may still be useful for another season.

He's never relied on it but it's been the thing, imo, that's held him back from being a much better player. It's also been the thing that, again imo, more than anything else that has resulted in the amount of cards he has picked up over the years. If he starts getting any slower he's going to be a liability.

Totally agree with Andrew. His lack of mobility, which is only going to get worse at his age, means we need to be looking to replace him in the summer. Giving contract extentions to players who aren't good enough has caused us problems for years so I don't see any desire in renewing his unless he can improve quite a bit next season with better players around him. If he can then a short term extension may be worthwhile but I suspect it will be at that stage that ties are cut. ASM is a totally different proposition. He is certainly frustrating but he's still young enough to improve, particularly with better players around him. And we shouldn't be forgetting that for most of this season he's been our only player who produced anything going forward. He's still our second top scorer and has the most assists and chances created. In a team with more attacking ability, like we should be next season, he will get more space and could well prove even more dangerous.

After reading that thread on their forum, I came up with two conclusions. There is a low level of literacy amongst their fanbase and there are still a lot of them who can't see what a complete fraud Bruce is. In the same vein as Edwards, there is still a fair few of them saying the players just aren't good enough and there's nothing Bruce can do with them. I don't imagine I've watched a West Brom game since we last played them but I'm willing to bet that given they were second earlier in the season and certainly had a very realistic chance of a playoff place when Mrs Doubtfire was appointed, they have players who, properly coached and motivated, could achieve more than the point a game he's managed with them so far.

I stopped reading that love supreme article when it suggested that their mecano stadium, that from what I’ve witnessed is no different to that of Wigan or Middlesbrough (two teams they’ll only be dreaming of playing next term), is one of the best stadiums in the country. I’d be more proud of that shithole Roker Park if I was them. At least it had some history.