FairWooney

I've seen the narrative about the late manager change causing a lack of time for Dyche to get players wheeled out a few times and this really irks me. Whilst Dyche may have some different type of targets to what Lampard had, ultimately most of the players that we were linked with in the last few days of the window were players we'd either been linked with under Frank previously or would have easily fitted either way. The only couple that you could say were maybe more Dyche types were the 2 big strikers I heard mentioned. The fact is Lampard was pretty much saying ever since the previous window that he needed players and as we went into the World Cup break having seen the lack of quality particularly in attack he and Thelwell knew what was needed and had plenty of time to draw up a list of potentials, do due diligence on them and thus have a good idea of what they wanted at the start of the month. I know it can be tough for teams outside of the top teams to get players they really want early in the transfer window but there seemed to be a distinct lack of activity to me that suggested either we weren't willing to spend until we got some money in or they just weren't going to back Lampard. If it's the former then that's not a surprise and does explain the push for loans earlier on which would have been fine if they could have got something over the line. If it was the later then they weren't helping anyone. Keeping on a manger they expected to sack who expressed he needed new players and not giving him any whilst keeping him on and watching him struggle! I do think the clubs situation doesn't help us. League position, board doing shit negotiation, discontent with fans and board and dare i say it things like video's of players being blocked off and confronted in the street whilst trying to leave games don't help entice a player to a club espeically when you're also likely to not want to offer high wages as a sweetner! I do think the whole thing has put us in a very awkard position and we are now unfortunatley heavily reliant on Dyche to get a lot out of a group of players who have shown a major lack of confidence and in many cases a lack of real application and desire. I do think there are players in there but it will be a massive job to get them performing to their best. One thing a couple of transfers would have done if nothing else is a) lift the players to believe that they will see a bit of a new spark in the team and b) lift those players whose plays is subsenquently put at threat. A new manager along with a new winger would both give McNeil the chance of working to perform for a new manager whilst also realising that he's got to fight for his place which now with Gordon gone he really doesn't need to! Looing at potential in youth, it could be an opportunity for Stanley Mills to stake his place at getting some time on the wing

It's reasons like this that Welcome to Wrexham has subtitles when speaking to all the Welsh!

sounds exciting but could easily be a frustrating ball losing winger who attempts many dribbles and gets done by better quality defenders. He has about a 50% success rate for dribbles in Ligue1 attempting just over 8 per game. That's not too bad in the grand scheme of things if he converts into into something once he beats the player. if he also gets back and works hard then that's important to. His lack of goal-scoring is a bit disappointing, seems he likes to hit a shot from distance but never scores from them but has a few from inside. Plenty of potential at his age so if we can get him for a good price then he's worth a go.

Probably after they've posted training pics with him and his staff already working!

A good interview this. He's very straight talking, maybe a little bit of a bee in his bonnet about people having misconceptions about him but that's fair enough as we've seen it from media and now Everton fans. He will in the short term have similar constraints to at Burnley but would be interesting to see how he'd go with a bit of freedom to improve the squad. He seems pretty open to change in all areas but is pragmatic enough to know what's required to win a game when you're up against it. It might not be as exciting as Bielsa or the freshness of Davide but Dyche will get the players working, and will get the team working to their strengths (if he can find some!!).

if this was the start of the season I'd be pretty excited for seeing what Davide Ancelotti could bring. He's been highly talked of as assistant and coach to his dad and is supposed to be very smart tactically. Like Arteta, he didn't go into a high profile job with any managerial experience but had plenty working under one of the best. At this point in time it seems like a really risky move, his lack of experience in management really goes against him and i'm sure he's never seen the bottom of a league table anywhere he's been! Having worked at the club he does at least know what he's letting himself in for and unlike his dad would probably not quickly desert us. If we were relegated then he would have a chance to overhaul and change things to how he wants the team to work. He has an amazing CV for a 33 year old assistant! Bayern, Napoli, Real Madrid, PSG (fitness coach) and Everton! https://www.evertonfc.com/news/1645776/davide-ancelotti-qa-everton-has-everything-to-compete-at-the-top-level -- I'd be well up for seeing what he can do but I do think our best chance of survival is with Dyche.

know doubt when he asked about our transfer strategy and got a blank response he thought that this may not be the job for him.

I’d love to see Bielsa or someone getting a team playing with that kind of energy and attacking intent. I think it would be a crazy signing in our current situation though. We give away enough goals as it is without a manager coming in playing such open football. The players are in no way prepared for it or likely the right players to play it either. I wouldn’t take on Bielsa unless he had a full preseason to work the squad, work out who he can use and replace those he can’t.

Iwobi seemed to carry most of our threat in the second half and beat their full back a few times. My issue with him is just how one footed he is. Limits his play when on the wing to taking on the defender, making space for cross or turning back on himself. He didn't seem to take the cross option much. Mina did OK and got forward well second half but it showed towards the end as it lookes like he was running through treacle tracking back. Does Lampard realise we can make 5 changes?

Looks to be a winger. Gets into the box, quick takes players on and doesn't spend all game turning back towards his own goal.

done my bit of YouTube and stat research. So he looks like a welcome flair player who will take people on, look to get forward quickly, and has plenty of tricks. I thought he looked pretty big and strong but he's actually only 5ft8 and about 75kg so about the same as me! (i've never been called big or strong!) Looks like he wins quite a few fouls with his tricky play, will look to get into the box but is unlikely to be providing crosses for DCL or getting many assists. (only 3 in his time at Villareal though had 7 for Bournemouth in the Championship). It doesn't appear as though he provides much defensively though as he plays on the left and Mykolenko rarely gets forward I won't worry about that too much. He had 7 touches in the opposition box per game last season which is a damn site more than anyone in our team has had this season. Not sure if DCL has had 7 touches this season (yes I know he's not played a lot!). I imagine he will probably frustrate us every now and then, losing the ball a few times a game but he certainly seems like a player that provides something to get excited about and a good bit of pace and trickery in attack that we lack.

I think that is very much the reason we are primarily looking at loans with an option to buy. We'd be stupid (so this wouldn't actually surprise me!) to buy a player on potentially high wages, find they don't meet expectations and then we're stuck with them if we go down (or if we don't for that matter). I'd say loans to the end of the season are the best way forward for anyone we'd like to buy to avoid getting lumbered with more flops.

Not much to look forward to here. Both us and West Ham have manged just 1 point in our last 5 games. Their last league win came 8 games ago on 24th October and ours came in the same game week on the 22nd October with both sides taking just 2 points in that time. Defeat could easily see the end of either manager though thus far our owner seems to be sticking with Lampard. There has been rumour's of Benitez to West Ham, Moyes to us merry go round with Kenwright straight on the phone after he gets sacked would not surprise me! Goals wise we also look very similar to West Ham, both sides have scored just 15 goals and have 2 players top scoring on just 3 each. They do however have a better xG than us of 23.4 to our 19.9. Goals against we've concded one more than them with 26 to their 25 however their expected goals against is just 21.8 which is actually the 5th best in the league. This isn't great for us showing that the Hammers aren't giving away a lot of chances. Pickford Godfrey Mina Tarkowski Coleman Mykolenko Gueye Onana Iwobi DCL Gray I'd like to see Mina back into the side, Coady looked poor in the last game and having been fit for a few weeks I'd get Mina back into the side. I'd love to see Gordon up for the fight like he was last season but at the moment he doesn't seem to be while Gray looks the player most likely to make the difference in attack. If Gordon was looking more like he was last season I'd be tempted to start him ahead of Iwobi but not at the moment. We need fast counter attacks with Onana, Iwobi, DCL and Gray looking to break forward quickly in transition. When on the ball we need to be seeing Mykolenko and Coleman get forward and look to get crosses in for DCL. Mykolenko attempted 0 crosses v Southampton. It should also be noted that Gray did attempt 11 but only 1 was considered accurate! Seamus attempted 3 with 1 being accurate. Prediction: 0-0 Two teams that are terrible at scoring fighting for their lives. Either that or they'll knick it 1-0.

There are coaching issues with a lot of the goals but actually if we look deeper it's clear that those individual errors leading to specific goals are always likely to happen. We concede more shot per game than any other team as well as the second most shots and crosses blocked clearly showing that we are constantly battling to avoid conceeding. In fact despite being a respectable 9th on the goals conceded column our xGA (expected goals against) (31.3) is the 19th worst with only a Fulham below us, who have also conceded less than their xGA (34.5). With this kind of goal expectancy against we always going to be in trouble. Add to that our lack of attacking threat and were in even bigger trouble. Fulham are poor in defence but they have Mitrovic on 11 goals and actually have the 6th best xG. We have the 16th worst xG at just 19.9 (we've actually only scored 15 and our top scorers are 2 wingers with 3 each. -- For those reasons I think dissecting individual goals and mistakes is futile. We need to be doing better at stopping the opposition getting those shooting chances in the first place. -- Attack wise, we need to be quick on the counter attack and attack in numbers and at pace. We scored some good goals under Lampard, Benitez and Ancelotti doing this. Sure Richarlison's pace, desire and ability running at people helped but Gray and Gordon are capable enough, Iwobi is fast enough to get forward and involved as is DCL. Too often I saw us start a counter attack against Southampton only to run out of pace and options and end up having to turn around to look for a pass. This is very much something that can be trained

Pickford Coleman Godfrey Coady Tarks Mykolenko Gana Onana Gordon DCL Gray I had a think about this one and how to tackle the loss of Iwobi. My first thought is I'd like to see Gordon play just in behind DCL as a 10 but actually I'd go with the 3 front but I want to see Gordon or Gray keeping a lot closer to DCL than they normally do. If one is out wide the other should be supporting DCL, I'd favour this to be Gordon more often. This should provide a more central link up with the midfield. Whilst this is a 5 at the back I want to see plenty of support from the full backs, looking to get forward and get crosses in. They have lower possession stats than us so we will have to try to break them down with some quick attacking and getting the ball into the box. Make the most of any opportunity to turn over possession and break quickly. Bottom of the league, lost their last 6 league games, only 1 goal scored more than us and lost 12 of 18 games. If we can't win this one then we're doomed

Agree with @Palfy actually that Onana was excellent and Doucoure had a good cameo also. We may need to reject incoming offers for him if Iwobi is out a long time, unless we actually have any incomings!

2 stand outs for me, Gray and Coleman. Gray's confidence seems to have really risen since scoring that goal v City and he's been our key attacker looking to make things happen. Ran at them well, looked to make chances and worked tirelessly back and forth as well. Only frustrating is his final ball/decision in attack is often a bit lacking. A couple of great opportunities fell away due to a poor pass or decision as he got towards the box. I saw an opinion after the City goal berating his lack of assists and that his decision was wrong to shoot! I disagree with that but can see some failings in that final ball that lead him to few assists where as when he decides to have a blast he can get away with a few misses if he bags a beauty every now and then! Seamus came back into the side after not playing for a good while and put in a brilliant performance both defensively and with no right winger most of the time he seemed to be given a bit more freedom to push forward. A great run for the disallowed equaliser. Only blemish for me was getting a bit caught out during their second goal coming across a bit too late but to be honest he was beaten by some quality attacking play and given Patterson's recent defensive issues I doubt he would have done better.

depressing that our main competitor for transfers has now dropped to Southampton! know nothing about him but good goal scoring record in France so far. Just watched the obligatory You Tube video. Looks to have good strength pace with a good dose of flair and trickery. A good finish and seems to have scored a few beating keepers (perhaps playing in counter attacking teams to get that run on goal). Can't take too much from a You Tube video but sure why not. Assume Iwobi will know him from Nigerian squad.

it'll be like a new signing! We've been desperate for a goal scoring midfielder!

The talk of Martinez is suicidal to me. He always refused to drop the passing game at all costs and in the position we are in we can't afford to start trying to get that right. His style of play also requires the kind of quality creative players that we don't have. He's enjoyed a few years of KDB in his side, he'd be going back to McNeil, Gordon, Gray and Iwobi! (highest XGA for our players is 0.15 per game, KDB has 0.5 in premier league!). -- Lampard has shown both last season and in games like the Man City one that he can get the team up for the fight and well organised enough to keep a side out. If you are going to play counter attack you are a lot less reliant on real quality creative players, you need players well drilled in making a quick break and making sure they look up for quick passes to pick out other runners. Richarlison was well suited to the counter as he had pace, could run at people and well having to play hold up was good at winning a foul. DCL isn't quite so good but is decent on hold up. Iwobi, Gordon and Gray should all be very capable in this and both did ok last season when needing to play that way. As you've said @RuffRob this is a way we can play if we have to and if we don't have the resources to invest in improvements to the squad it is probably the best way forwards at the moment. Obviously, in some games you can be more expansive than others, pressing further up the field but as we've consistently found that we can't open teams up when they have players behind the ball we need to look at going with this approach for the most part

Why would he want to go to a team where he'll have nothing to spend, have a poor squad, are low in the table and have become accustomed to ditching a new manager every 18 months (I know this final one is also the same as Chelsea!).

Well I bet no one can wait for this one. I'm glad it's away from home now as it at least takes away from the pressure and anger of the crowd for a week. I'm going to suggest plenty of changes, partly because we probably won't get a result and it's not our priority, partly because the current lot aren't performing and partly because the others might as well get a chance. Pickford Coleman Godfrey Mina Coady Vinagre Onana Iwobi Price Simms Maupay This team looks pretty terrible to be honest and I struggled to find players to fill certain positions. Coleman - Not sure if Patterson will be fit but best to leave him out for a rest, he's also made quite a few naive defensive errors and a game off may be best for him. Plus keep Coleman sharp jut in case he's required. Centre backs - Godfrey definitely comes in, the others I'm pretty open to but I'd got with 3 of them. Vinagre - Mykolenko has struggled a bit of late and isn't the best going forward. In a 5 at the back lets give Vinagre a go for this game and see if he's any use. Centre mids - Not much choice here but Onana comes back and though I didn't make much of Price whilst he was on last night it was a lost cause when he came in and I'd give him a run out and a chance to impress here. I don't see any option but leaving Iwobi in otherwise I'd leave him out! Davies and Doucoure would be the only other options and I'm struggling to find any positive reason to suggest they should be in the team! Forwards - I'd like to see Simms get a start to have a chance to show what he can do, I think he needs some support along side him (DCL would benefit from this also) so for this game lets give Maupay a game. Predicting a decent defensive effort similar to City but ultimately a 3-0 defeat

If nothing else he put over a nice pass to Iwobi to set up the penalty. I'd start him against Man Utd just to give him a run out and a chance to impress. 3 games in a week is too much for DCL to start at this point and I'd rather we look after him

I'm quite conflicted on the manager front. I really feel we need to stop changing manager every 2 years or less as it's really not doing us any favours. It disrupts the team, sees lots of coaching staff changes and loses us money in pay outs. The biggest issue for me is Moshiri but sadly he won't be selling up any time soon and I'm not sure he's going to change how he works. -- On Lampard, whilst I don't think our squad is great, it doesn't have a lot of depth and there are players in certain positions that just aren't good enough I do think that tactically Lampard struggles to get things right more often than not. I also think with the quality of the coaching staff he's brought in that we should be getting more out of these players, if nothing else but getting certain basics right. I'd like to see him kept on but in reality if we don't beat Southampton I think his time will be up. Man Utd doesn't really matter, I'd make plenty of changes, give Price and Simms a start, give Vinagre a game. The fact that it's away from home takes a little pressure off of it as it escapes the major anger of the fans. The atmosphere at the Southampton game will no doubt be ugly and it's up to Lampard and the just as importantly the players to get the fans on their side and give them something to cheer for. We've seen it with every manager in recent years that once they lose the fans their days are numbered, it can drag on for a few games or they can get the boot quickly but it very rarely turns around. I'd say Southampton will be Frank's last chance (if he gets it) to get enough backing to keep going.

Moshiri is the one person that really matters in the "get the board out" protests. None of the others have made key decisions that have got us where we are today financially and made the mistakes he's made with the running of the club. I really don't think Kenwright holds a great deal of power within the club anymore and I'm not actually sure why there is so much anger with Baxendale. Unfortunately Moshiri will have no interest in selling a struggling club with a new stadium on the horizon so he either needs to realise that just changing the manager every season and repeating the same problems isn't working for him and there must be more to the problem or he can find himself owning a Championship club with best stadium the league has ever seen!