Tomo

@Jason @OneMoSalah Just to add a bit of further context to my point, Inter are apparently very close to signing Ashley Young

Conte played games with the club in the second season to the point he practically threw away the Man City game, absolutely no way would he have given Bakayoko and Morata the chances they got if they weren't his signings. If they were forced on him he would have played Hazard as false 9 and Christensen/Luiz as CDM to "send a message". Even if Alexis started okay for his standards to even be interested after his level at United was diabolical. Another example is Naingolan, a player he was allegedly angry we couldn't get over the line he ditches the minute he actually gets to coach him. Yes we probably would have done better if we got all his first choice targets but that's like saying Fergie would have won even more titles and CLs if he got Maldini and Ronaldinho when he tried, it's very rare for a club to pull off every single number one target (especially when you're fighting or trying to get them off more financial able clubs and more appealing managers like we were) and if Baka was his way of improvising then.....

Conte has many strengths as a manager but the market isn't one of them, the fact he actually brought Alexis to Inter despite his clear decline to a lower league standard player for a whole two years prior says it all, "backing him properly" would have likely lead to us being the one's stuck with him. As far as not giving Conte further reign on transfers go, that's up there with the near catastrophic fuck up of replacing Drogba with Adriano in the thank fuck that didn't happen stakes.

He would have likely scored more goals but still held us back and as soon as Sarri came in he would have been firmly on borrowed time.

I thought he was going to bomb in Serie A so fair play to him for going there and ressurecting his career a bit. Martinez brings to the table the qualities he doesn't have and their partnership works well due to it. Still delighted he never returned here though.

Simeone's record with forward/flair players is genuinely horrendous, so many have bombed hard under him. Don't know whether it's because he's weak at coaching attack or his eye for attacking/flair players is crap (or both) but his list of attacking signings and how they've done is criminal.

All of those apart from Falcao contributed to a respectable level for us, especially the former and latter.

When I look at coaches in the present day like Emery, Jose and to an extent Ancelotti it makes me laugh how people want someone with a "proven track record" above anything else. I would say upcoming managers like Lampard and Arteta are much more suited to big jobs these days than they are.

The transfers he wants? I'm sure he was gagging to sign Wiljnaldium when Kante and Pogba were avalible. I'm sure he wanted to stick with Karius and Mignolet for two years. They only "back him" when he has money for sales, he was denied the defender and keeper he needed for years until he got the money in a sale, was given no money last summer and now is made to sign a cheap winger while his rivals are looking at Sancho. The Liverpool board are nothing special and we saw that in all its glory under Kenny and Brendan, they lucked out on a manager that could even make Mike Ashley look good.

They are "run well" because they unfortunately have a manager who's excellent in every aspect. Without him the owners were guiding Liverpool to systematic mid table finishes signing did after dud.

So he has to start unconditionally no matter what form he's in or you're going to kick off and call whoever his manager is every name under the sun? Got it!

Two months of continuous starts = nothing according to you. I think it's very clear you have an agenda.

On the contrary I would say Tammy's emergence gives us more scope for a left field gamble, thanks to him we ain't in the 2014 boat of absolutely having to get the next striker signing right. If we're getting a new improved Gabigol like the stats suggest then it could be a masterstroke and furthermore, at £20m he will only have to be competent to be attract a profitable resale price.

I'm opening myself up here but I feel Cole on had two very top season's with us and Azpi is far above him if we're judging on season by season consistency . First season he was pretty wack (all be it recovering from an injury that kept him out most of his last season at Arsenal) and the second under Avram solid but unspectacular. It was under Scolari we saw him recover form and become the version we saw at Arsenal and then we got absolute prime Ash for two season's. Then after that he was still solid enough defensively (until about 2013 when he declined in that aspect also) but became non existent as an attacking threat which hindered us big time down that side.

When he was on form he started every single game for two months. He's now gone off the boil a bit so is having his game time more managed. It's the best way to handle young players, Conte continued to throw Christensen out there after he lost form and it's still mentally affecting him to this day.

It was a pretty good run for his standards but we still conceded 4 goals down his side and looked vulnerable down there throughout. I personally believe if he was deputising a prime Ash we'd be praying hard Ash never got injured, the desperation to see Alonso replaced has turned him into something he's not. Hopefully the new LB can give us what we are hoping for (permanently making Marcos 2nd choice at best) and more.

The reverse fixture

There's a reason he doesn't. The hype around him "deserving a chance" winds me up.

He's been getting better since the Bournemouth game.

If we're going to base things on goal stats, his record is similar to Damien Duff's before we got him.

Coming a little naturally demotivated at Palace because he's done what he can there and now wants the step up (partly his own fault for signing a new deal). Similar happened to VVD before he left Saints. And no, I'm not saying he will come here and have a similar ascendency, just that you're being very harsh writing him off based on his first bit of bad form for quite a while.

I didn't watch him before his injury so can't tell about that but it's ultimately irrelevant even if he was as good as prime Ash before the injury, it's clear as night follows day that whoever he was before his unfortunate injury is long gone. I was prepared to wait until he got a consistent run in the team and now he's been first choice for nearly a year and done next to nothing. I still think even in a four Alonso is a better option Vs teams that sit deep, for example him in the box instead of Emerson against Bournemouth we win 1-0 just like we did Vs Newcastle. I don't want him to be first choice ever again (I even felt that about him as a wingback) but I'd feel he would contribute a lot more as a squad player than what Emerson would.

I wouldn't. For all Alonso's frustrations he atleast gives us a screamer one game in five, low bar but it is what it is. Emerson apart from a cross in Baku and a decent half in a game we lost 4-0 I'm struggling to think of anything stand out he's done.

Think you're being vastly unfair on him, while I'd agree 70m is too much is isn't "bang fucking average". His performances and stats at Palace are similar to Damien Duff's at Blackburn and he didn't do too badly with the step up.

Fixed