Tomo

I'm actually less worried about United watching that, they look worse than us last season at the back.

Still worried about Bale going back there?

Well yes, if that's how you truly feel. You may get a bit of "grief" for it but if you stick to your guns when on winning/unbeaten runs that will only strengthen your position, think of it similar to how i didn't budge on James when he had a bit of a sticky spell and the "we sold the wrong fullback" narrative gained traction.

And I and others have addressed you on this numerous times, it wasn't about comparing them, it was about pointing out that a lot of the problems last season (and the first few games of this) were more personal than structural (for example I recall you on many occasions stated the defense would never improve under Lampard regardless of who we had in it, wrong!) and their early spells at City/Liverpool had similar issues (no one was saying Lampard would bring a 100 point title win or even a standard one, more was the point that if he couldn't he could at the very least leave a solid team/structure for one that could). But to play your game let's ignore those two examples and give one's of managers with no real track record who got time and the club's were rewarded. Klopp himself at Dortmund, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, Pochettino at Spurs and Sarri at Napoli, all had so so starts to life at those clubs and all (scaled for club resources) ended up having great peaks. Also if the "proven track record" thing really is you're true feelings towards it all, then why weren't you demanding Jose's return or Wenger's appointment after Sarri left (as they was by far the two most decorated active manager's available), infact, why did you want Jose sacked in 2015?

Did you take a break throughout Conte's last six months?

Anyone else struggling to motivate themselves for this one? As much as we banter Moyes for his United failure his WHU side are starting to resemble his best Everton teams and they were cunts to play against. Even on form i'd be wary of this one, on recent form it's got a frustrating night written all over it!

I remember he got a bit of a slaughtering after the United cup game! Although that said while i certainly wouldn't start Livramento i wouldn't be against putting him as a wildcard #2 if James is out for a while if Lampard or especially Jody feel he's ready, this time last year the exact same situation arrised with RJ injury and we drafted in Lamptey in a certain fixtures we have coming up.

And Livramento!

I know it's unlikely to work out like this as these teams are down for the bottom for a reason but if Fulham hold on, then Brighton and Burnley both win Arsenal are two points off the drop.

Apparently he would have settled for 2 if he knew Thiago Silva was coming!

Pretty much his only big blunder in the squad building/recruitment side of things.

If someone is that adamant Lampard isn't the man then if anything publicly sticking to their guns even during winning/unbeaten runs will only strengthen their position. The general mood of this place literally went from one extreme to the other from Sevilla/Leeds to Everton/Wolves.

While I don't disagree with some of the concerns about Lampard it's really strange how they only get mentioned after poor results.

I went to Copenhagen early September and barring mask's on public transport and rules with bars (had to have a stamp to get in after 11) everything felt normal. Is that still the case?

Not true, the first one was Pellegrini.

The same type of metrics that pointed to Arsenal's collapse even when their results were okay, hence why I saw through the Arteta hype when you and others on here were talking about him like he was god because he won two trophies (really one but for some bizzare reason a charity game is being counted) and worked under Pep. I said corresponding fixtures. That's the fairest way to look at it and we are up on that. You're right it was a weaker group and ofcourse I have to take that into account given my argument on the league start but our points total we accumulated has only been beaten by us once before. Also look at the way we dealt with the fixtures Vs a tough Spanish team and compare it to last season (especially the away game), clear show of advanced maturity and lesson's learned by both our squad and tactically from Lampard.

No one is saying blindly "trust the process", you should look at a few factors and then make your decision from there. For me I look at these things whenever a manager struggles initially to decide whether I back him or not. 1. Is the football sustainable? Yes and the underlying performance metrics back that up. 2. What are his team's selections like? In other words is he playing the players that are/have potential to be a part of our next title winning team and dropping the deadwood that forced us into a transition in the first place? Yes. 3. Recruitment, are most of the players brought in good signings that have improved us? Yes. 4. Is there season by season progression? Again yes, up on the same fixtures last season, improved performance in the CL group compared to last year and most importantly we look better at both ends. I'll be the first to call him out if he stalls on as much as one of those things but in my opinion those are the four things to look at in the building phases and as of this minute he's passing all four (compared to Arteta who's failing on them all).

Small problem, no one really "celebrated" it, we were happy to achieve it as the majority thought it was out of reach. Infact you were adamant we had absolutely no chance so you should be the happiest person on here.

Roy got Fulham to a Europa League final and a 7th place finish, many assumed he'd do well at a top club they were wrong.

It doesn't always work like that in practice as David Moyes and Roy Hodgson showed.

I am 100% sure it wouldn't have been based on last night.

Yeah but if he made an exception for Ferguson (was that really down to fear of being played at his own game or more the fact that he usually beat him? As Rafa pointed out once he had a pretty strong relationship with Mou himself until THAT semi final, remember them both looking cosy in the Anfield tunnel?) shouldn't the same be made for a player who delivered for him one of his most successful spells as a manager? (The spell that cemented his status as a world class manager no less). I mean given how he demanded blanket respect from us because of the three titles it's beyond hypocritical of him to turn on Frank.

D, W, W, D

On another note, rumours have it he's about to be managed by Big Sam.

Okay then, so why do you think Mourinho has suddenly become so bitter about Lampard but Ancelotti has still managed to maintain a strong relationship with him?