SpartyBlue

Worth noting he’s still years younger than Digne was when he came over. Hopefully he can continue to improve.

Yea I mean I think most people have been fair with Jordan. He was indeed error prone and inconsistent two seasons ago. Rightly a lot of people were thinking we might need to make a change. To his credit, he’s matured and been a steady leader the last two years. This won’t tell all but it is worth noting in 2020 he was credited as making 5 errors that lead to goals. The last two seasons he’s made 3 (1 this year). In a funny coincidence he’s improved ever since he’s gone to an adult haircut.

He’s been quality all season though it’s likely to be forgotten by our position in the table. Those punches are what he lacked earlier in his career. So decisive

For sure. 0 for 11 games or whatever it is would be unacceptable if I was our striker. That flick for the Iwobi goal was the best thing he’s done this year.

I think we all know Dom needs service. He’s a poacher and a guy who gets on the end of things. There are some attributes to his game but he’s not ever dangerous with the ball and that’s always been the case. I don’t ever remember a time where he gets the ball 20 or 30 yards from goal and I thought he was gonna create a good chance for himself. Even a guy like Rondon is more dangerous that way. We all root for him but he’s limited in what he can provide.

Deserves some comment after today’s effort. Really helped us control the game and used his physicality much better than is typical. Frank basically said he had no choice but to play him after how he’s done in training. He’s often been cited as a player who looks great in training so it was nice to see it translate. Hopefully the new manager has lit a fire.

Great to see Iwobi using his physicality for once. Went with him.

It has been mentioned by our players in interviews that he’s incredibly skilled in training. It just doesn’t seem to translate to games very often. We will see. New manager=fresh start.

Yeah I mean it’s that and it’s just management. You run Ali or DVB out to start today not having played recently and they won’t be there for the weekend most likely. Plus Richie, Gordon and Gray is still good firepower up top. I expect on the weekend we will see Richie, DCL, Gray and one of the new boys.

Godfrey was it I’m sure. Wasn’t in the plans to let Digne go when the season began of course. Can’t run the new kid into the ground and our other LB is on loan. Bit dissapointing nobody in the academy is ready to even make the bench at the position.

Game on Tuesday so obviously that’ll be a factor

I mean…he has rainbow hair. I hope he goes the Pickford route. His play improved significantly as he transitioned into an adult haircut.

No. As has been pointed out we spent practically nothing today and the previous transfers will have been largely paid for tbt the Digne sale. As has also been mention FFP may be done annually so the fresh year may have allowed us more room to spend a little.

Yeah, this. We are not in a position where we get the finished article very much. We get them young like with Godfrey, old like with Allan or with lots of uncertainty like Gray or now Ali. Even Richarlison was not a sure thing when he came as his form had dipped after playing a ton of games. The most sure thing we’ve signed lately is probably Doucoure.

There is some benefit to a clean slate and a fresh start. See: Demarai Gray. Hopefully he takes that route as the ability is there.

If the ground staff is coaching our players that would be concerning indeed.

Well nobody guarantees safety (even Fat Sam). I don’t personally think we were actually in a serious relegation fight that season and we played incredibly uninspired football under him. My point was which manager would come to us mid- season and not be a “roll of the dice”?Nobody on your list qualifies. I get having some trepidation with Lampard, I do as well, I’m just saying that anyone we got would have been similar or worse in that way.

Ha. I think that gets to my point. Anyone we would have been able to get, walking into these circumstances, would be viewed as a gamble.

If he’s poor, particularly if it’s an inability to holding up to the physical English game, I don’t think we will be signing a Dutch player for awhile.

Out of curiosity, which hire would not have been a roll of the dice?

Apologies. My point, of course, is he had plenty of incentive even if success wasn’t its own reward.

Money, legacy, caring about your profession, managing in the city you live? He had plenty of reasons to succeed. Fair point on Lampard being hungry but that is a double edged sword. That energy and desire is great but it comes without a real resume of accomplishments. I hope he gets the chance Rafa’s baggage’s wouldn’t allow. Every manager needs to be given a chance.

This would be true of any manager we could realistically get though, including Dunc or Rooney. Can’t make all the people happy no matter what you do. For me, Rafa wasn’t really given a chance (no budget injuries etc..). Whoever is next I hope gets an opportunity to put his stamp on the club before he’s judged. The carousel must stop.

Not really an alternative though.

Getting healthier and the addition of new players. Here is the thing. If you bring in Rafa and give him no money to work with you have to know how it’s gonna go if we perform poorly early on. I can’t believe that those doing the hiring could be that naive that they wouldn’t know what the reaction from the supporters would be. So logically you do 1 of 2 things. A. Don’t hire him and bring in someone with less baggage who will be given a chance by the supporters if we start badly or B. Stick with Rafa, knowing the heat that might generate until he’s given an opportunity to have a real window, clear out those who don’t want to be here or shouldn’t be here etc… The club chose option C. Hire a controversial manager and then abandon ship as soon as the scenario that anyone could see coming from a mile off came to be. Regardless of what you think of Rafa, the club handled this terribly. Again, I refuse to believe they couldn’t see a situation like this as a real possibility so I’m going to guess they just lost their nerve and caved.