King Kante

I have stuck up for Jackson this season and will continue to do until next season as I have seen enough out of him this season to think he has shown enough to get support. However, he needs to come off in this one. In addition, this is the kind of performance I was afraid we would put in today when people were discussing how much of a corner we've turned with Poch. Very lethargic. I personally would take Jackson off for Nkuku and possibly replace Noni with Sterling if he doesn't get into the game after 5-10 mins.

Is anyone else concerned we're going to pull out a Burnley/Sheffield Utd performance?

Well, the Maatsen situation was more broadly to do with his insistence not to revert back to a 343 even though the squad make up at times made this the most obvious fit. Instead we wasted a year of Colwills development playing him at LB, Maatsen never got a chance, Caicedo and Enzo got played into the ground/exposed as Gallagher should've never left the pivot to help them out, while he could then play to his strengths and arrive later to the attacking phases rather than instigate them. The there was is refusal to drop Disaster, Sanchez, Sterling and Caicedo at times - even for there own sakes. Then there are his: A) substitutions, which to this day are still purely reactive rather than proactive B) his tactics if the game gets tight where he decides to play the game out for a draw even if we aren't set up for it and he insteads tells the teams to drop 10 yards and get tighter together whilst leaving positional clowns like Disaster and Caicedo (particularly up until two months ago) on the pitch. For me, beating up Everton, West Ham and Tottenham- whilst in poor form - isn't enough for me after what I have witnessed all season. That isn't to say he should be sacked, it is just that I am still seriously unconvinced and will need to see more evidence/see who is a actual possible replacement.

Not really a surprise with the players/squads we've had in that time.

I cannot say I don't think Amorim is a massive risk, however like @Strike I need a lot more evidence in the next few games that Poch has 'turned a corner' and hasn't just been fortunate with playing out of form teams. Whilst, I am happy to say Poch has had a lot of issues to deal with, he has also done/not seen a lot of concerning things throughout the season. For me, keeping him on and then him going back to par is also a massive risk for next season.

I think it is clear we are getting Amorim. I say this as: 1) Poch either doesn't have a clue what is going on with his contract/has been too grumpy when questioned about his contract. 2) Amorim was clearly the Dippers first choice before Slot. Then he went on that weird plane trip to West Ham where no is sure where he went but it doesn't appear to be to talk to West Ham. It looks highly likely Amorim is leaving this year for a new job as otherwise he wouldn't be so public in going to 'interviews' as his stock is high and Sporting aren't some sort of tinpot team. Only other club he may have done that with is Utd but I am not sure Utd's board are in a position to actually put something together yet because of the gardening leave they're on.

Not sure about that. Disaster is what is known as a depreciating asset. Fortunately for us - and him to an extent - the chaos at the club has covered up just how bad he is. If I were in charge my first point of action would be to sell him to the highest bidder, as the more he plays, the more he will be harder to shift - especially if we start playing well consistently.

Problem is, they probably see things like this: Palmer - Jackpot signing Noni - Bargain signing that is now worth more than we paid for him and on a long term low wage contract. Paez - Hype player that is getting the stats/research geeks foaming. Angelo - Always looked like a 'multi-club' dice roll for low cost. Jury still out. Omari - Get him to sign a new contract and cash in on his HG status in a year (so long as they gey him to sign.) The only real issues they've had with AMs are Sterling and Mudryk, and even Mudryk is starting to show some signs of life to an extent.

Who do you want ideally in defence? Who do you want to leave to make space? Not being difficult, but interested to see how other supporters want to balance the defence out.

Has worked out for us. Nearly went for £32m in Summer, now we have £2m loan fee and a £35m transfer that is highly likely. Tbh, he has played well for Dortmund but if the fee was £45m I don't think there would be many takers. The really annoying thing with him is that Poch in the early part of the season should've had us set up in a 343 as he could've played a WB role. How Poch didn't see that is what winds me up about him. Although, tbf, I do think IM may have been black balled to some extent due to the club wanting the FFP money.

🤣. Yeah, Palace are going to agree to taking on Sterling's £300k a week. I quite like Olise but the issue is that if we need another winger it will be a LW and he wants to play in similar positions to Cole. If we want someone from Palace, Eze looks a better fit for the squad as I actually think he has the slightly better feet; although Olise is a more explosive/physical player which means he has a higher ceiling if he can bring it all together consistently.

Good post and whilst I still think what I said is correct - that what you provided didn't strike me as the type of play I want to see from a player in the pivot/DM in terms of passing/proved what I was complaining about - I equally get I may be missing something. Tbh, I think the proof will be in the pudding over the next 18 months once we get James and Lavia fit. Imo, there is a good chance one of those players replace/disloge him from starting every game next season - if they can stay fit (James getting moved there owing to Gusto's development.) Additionally, I think once we get the squad fit (hoping this will actually happen at some point) Caicedo will end up the player we deploy in games where we will have less of the ball and Lavia/James will play when we have more of the ball.

Mount is also surprisingly on the books for this year rather than last. Mount at £55m, Hall at £28m and Maatsen at £35m gives us approximately £118m pure profit. Not sure what we need to do obviously but that strikes me as a solid amount to work around our previous spending. If we can somehow clear Lukaku, Kepa and Sterling that would surely give us some space to work with.

Silva for sure. Bremer I have questions over. The guy is 27, at that age you have to believe he is going to come in an be a JT, Dias or VvD i.e. the one that sets the standard well above what else we have. Are you confident he is going to do that, or is going to do what Trev has at 24 - after a long time out - and just be the best CB of the lot we have currently?

I agree. The process makes sense when you see Noni's progression this season. However, to be fair you could probably add Gusto and Jackson to that list. Although I know Jackson divides option, I am so impressed with the development of his hold up play this season which is about 10x better than it was in August. Honestly - I know I am getting off topic here - but I feel he (Jackson) is a bit of an Andy Cole player where he seems to miss everything then becomes incredibly effective, even if you cannot tell exactly why he is so effective. This is also coming from someone who said he was a new 'Kalou' in the Summer.

Kante could break lines with his running and his passing was underrated, even if it wasn't great. Another issue is that Kante was a very 'clean' tackler and never really went to ground to win the ball. Caicedo on the other hand tackles in a clumsy way - in which he ends up giving away silly fouls/leaving 'one' on a player too often and goes to ground too often - however to be fair to him he has actually got better with not having to go to ground to win the ball back - which is actually to do with positional play more than anything else.

It is interesting you both say this. I think there is a correlation between Cole going goal crazy and Noni being in the team. Noni essentially does the work Palmer doesn't want to do/allows Palmer to flourish. It kind of reminds me of the 80's/90's where there would always be two CF's playing - one doing the donkey work and the other taking the glory. That is not to take away from Palmer, he gets the luxury of being the 'luxury' player because he is clinical/so technical, however equally he needs someone like Noni to do the bitch work to make it work.

If Trev gets scraficed in the Summer I am going to be fuming. Guy is actually our best CB this season - bar Silva - and has shown that unique quality of having improved his game, even when injured/out, because he has studied the game when not playing.

I actually think Badiashile can become a good player. I think this season, he has been unfortunate in that he had an awful injury and then when he came back he had to play alongside Disaster. For sure, he has to start to read the game better but I always say CB's mature much later than every other position and that could still come with him. I am not saying he will become an elite CB however, but I can him being a usable one or in an ideal situation one that becomes more than usable if everything goes right. He isn't anywhere near the Disaster category - imo - where he is actually a detriment to the team when he is on the pitch.

I literally do not know what you're trying to prove with the highlights you've provided. They pretty much sum up what I am saying. Good to excellent ball winner, who generally passes sideways as he lacks incisive passing/an ability to break lines. The best individual moments are the assist against WH were the CB's are about 20m apart - seriously most players at League Two level can play-in a team mate with such a gap - and the assist to Jackson where the Villa defence have sat up hoping he hits the pass so they can step up on Jackson as he is already on the borderline of being off side. Apart from that, the balls forward/on the diagonal lack zip, which allows the opposition to readjust/the player recieving the ball has to hold position/check to recieve the ball. Then there is the fact what you've only provided highlights of his best moments in games sliced together, not much context or any balancing of things that he did that weren't so great. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes people on social media believe players are great as they only see the highlights. So, yeah, not entirely reflective of his overall game - although to be fair I have actually said he has improved recently and that he just isn't technical enough to be a top/elite player and is simply an good to excellent ball winner. I will also give him credit with his positional play as that has genuinely improved recently as before Feb he was absolutely all over the place. Btw, still waiting for you to provide that evidence of him going past five WH players. That surely is highlight worthy.

For sure he needs to do this, however equally we also need wingers that can contribute defensively. For me, Noni is the player to do that with his relative strength, desire to win the ball and the fact he has to play with Palmer who wants to play the free role. The value of moving the ball quickly is important for any player so improvement their is important as we don't want him to fall into the Willian/Sterling trap as he is never going to but Hazard with his dribbling. However, I am not so worried about his off the ball movement atm, as he is the one front the front three covering the most ground to help out defensively. For me, Noni is playing as a very important squad player atm. He isn't the go to man like Palmer, however he is doing a lot of the donkey work on the flank in order to allow Palmer a free role, help out the RB when they get isolated and bring the ball out from the back to transition from defence to counter.

I would have said it was more than that from recollection but point noted equally.

If you do a season average score comparison between Gallagher and Caicedo, Gallagher has the higher score and he is meant to be so sh*t that most of the forum wanted him sold in the summer at any cost. This is also before considering Gallagher has only just recently been put in his natural position whereas Caicedo has played in his all season.

1) Not true, that isn't what people are saying. Caicedo is a functional player, just not one with the required technical skills to be an elite player or a player to drag his team through games when the chips are down. 2) Hyperbole. West Ham lined up in a 4231 formation. Please post a video/gif of where he dribbled past five WH players. Even fecking Hazard only went past three we he scored that beautiful goal against them. 3) Evidence please.

Sorry, but a highlights clip isn't going to change my mind. I see him week in, week out down the bridge and see things that do not always come across on TV. As @robsblubotsays, he is a good ball winner but he lacks skills on the ball. Personally, I do not have him in the Disas(ter)i category yet where I am saying that he shouldn't be anywhere near the first XI ever - although he for sure should've been dropped at times this season -it is more that I just don't see him as a DM/CM that teams that want to win things need. Furthermore, I don't see how he develops that side of the game as typically with players that explode, they have the technical side then explode physically which adds another dimension to their game. Maybe Caicedo gets stronger physically and, with that, becomes almost unplayable in his recovery of the ball, however he isn't - imo - going to become a midfield of sufficient technical ability to take a team to the league title or anything like that - for sure he may be part of a team to do so, but he will be a secondary part of the starting XI rather than a main man.