Sleeping Dave

So we are approaching the end of the season and the summers ins and outs. Would be fun to see what everyone predicts will happen so here’s my take on it; Goalkeepers: Petrovic, Sanchez, Bettinelli Realistically we won’t do anything here. We just bought two young promising keepers and I’d let Petrovic and Sanchez battle it out next season. Slonina out on another loan at a higher level and Arrizabalaga sold for a nominal fee. Defenders: James, Gusto, Badiashile, Chalobah, Colwill, Disasi, Fofana, Chilwell, Cucurella, Gilchrist Fofana, James and Chilwell are all massive doubts in terms of fitness long-term. Ideally I’d want to keep Maatsen but that is not going to happen. Gilchrist can hang around as a utility option at RB and CB. Midfield: Fernandez, Gallagher, Caicedo, Lavia, Ugochukwu I don’t think we need to do anything here to be honest. A goal scoring midfielder would be nice, but it won’t happen this summer. Attacking midfield: Palmer, Nkunku, Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke, Chukwuemeka If we can find takers for Sterling I’d be tempted, but we need experience and with our injury troubles I’m hesitant to go into a new season with too few attacking players. We have bodies and potential - Palmer needs another super season and we need more from Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke and Nkunku. Maybe also a loan for Chuk… Strikers: Osimhen, Jackson Only reinforcement is Osimhen - we need more goals and he can help us with that. He fits the bill and perhaps we can work out some part exchange deal with the lump of lard currently residing in Rome? 26 players including Fofana and who knows what will be of him (25 if we also loan out Chuk). We can’t go into a season with 32 players, we just need to pray for a more reasonable season when it comes to injuries. In: Osimhen Out: Lukaku (part exchange with Osimhen) Arrizabalaga (small fee) Broja (£20-30m) Maatsen (£10-15m) Silva (free) Ziyech (free) Cumming (free) Anjorin (free) Rankin (free) Sarr (free) Morerira (loan) Santos (loan) Angelo (loan) Casadei (loan) Slonina (loan) Bergström (loan) Beach (loan) Humphreys (loan) Hutchinson (loan) Vale (loan) Webster (loan) Matos (loan) Burstow (loan) Washington (loan) Datri Fofana (loan)

Chalobah has been ace since returning and should, under no circumstances be sold. I don’t feel very confident that the clowns upstairs see it the same way though. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they sold both Gallagher and Chalobah this summer.

He’s missed 155 days and 38 games this season through injury. Plus 2 games missed for suspension. He’s started 6 games for us all season and hasn’t played 90 minutes once. I’d say that’s pretty darn close to being a liability. It’s definitely not a player you can count on. It is nonsense. But James has to learn, it was so unnecessary.

That was some finish from Palmer. Incredible finish. Take a bow!

I’m telling you it’s a trick!

Incredible. Must be the shortest injury list since pre-season.

Whenever I play a board game with my kids I refuse to play if they ask me to be red. I’m not kidding.

An interesting fact I wasn’t aware of. Apparently, since the turn of the year, only three teams has performed better than us. Arsenal, Man C and Liverpool. I can’t see how any person wants to get rid of Poch for footballing reasons. Sure, we are quite som distance away from the top three. But still. With a better injury record who knows where we would have ended up? Top five would definitely not have been an outrageous prediction. 2024: Arsenal 17 15 1 1 +44 46 Man C 17 14 3 0 +34 45 Liverpool 18 11 4 3 +20 37 Chelsea 16 8 5 3 +9 29 5. Newcastle (28) 6. Villa (26) 7. Palace (25) 8. Tottenham (24) 9. Man U (23) 10. Bournemouth (23) We have a pro-data full season of 69pts. Still some way to go before we are a solid 75pts team. But we’ve made great progress this year, no doubt about that.

IMO a manager like Tuchel, Conte or Mourinho would be disastrous at this point in time. What we need know is someone who isn't scared of giving the youngsters a fair shot and who doesn't cripple them with structures, formations, boundaries and a proper scolding as soon as they step outside said boundaries.

Oh, ok. Apologies if I misunderstood you. I always care more about winning than playing pretty football. But again, being in the stand would go a long way to cancel out the boring football out on the pitch vs. having to endure it on the telly.

Sorry mate but this is rubbish. I used to go to every single game whereas these days, with family life and a career, I’m not able to. If anything, I find it easier to go through a rough patch being in the stands than sitting at home. Would I feel differently about Poch if I were a regular today? No. It’s about being realistic of where we as a club are. We are not a top side. We are in a serious rebuilding phase and for this I think Poch is the best man for the job (that we realistically can get).

He certainly hasn’t done much at Bayern. In a one team league he is 15 points off the title with a small risk of finishing third. Not pretty. Tuchel is a decent manager, but he ain’t elite. He ain’t the type to build a young squad over time and he doesn’t play very attractive football. I’d rather keep Pochettino to be perfectly honest with you (for the situation we are in).

Well said - I find myself firmly in this camp. Our squad isn’t a top PL squad. Perhaps these names would be in a few years, but the squad is too young and inexperienced to challenge now. We are likely to end the season with 60+ points, a vast improvement from last year’s 44. It’s been clear progress and it’s been made in his first season under difficult circumstances. Give him more time, it’ll take time to rebuild this club to solid top four challenger year after year. Perhaps he isn’t the man to make us title challengers, but such concerns are way premature. First we need to stabilise in the top four and then we can start worrying whether he can win titles for us.

Is not a good look for them. All those players bought for all that money and there’s only a few that look worthwhile.

This season has panned out exactly as expected - volatile in terms of results and some issues that have popped up throughout the season. With such a young side it was inevitable. I’m predicting that to continue next season as well, especially now that Silva is leaving us. We lack experience and the experience we have haven’t had the best seasons either (James, Chilwell, Sterling). I don’t see any sense in sacking Poch. Let him continue to build for another year.