yuddie

Btw if there is a nation/ethnicity that has always done well in British football it's african players. Sima this year, Aribo and Bassey going back. Even Balogun has for the most part been good for us. It's a market with a proven track record in the UK and we should be targeting it. I wouldn't mind a pre season tour in Cape Town! My old man took me a few times when I was a kid. Beautiful place.

Can one man turn around our failing academy? It's an exciting link though don't get me wrong.

By the sounds of it we get 500k if Leeds go up because of a clause in Kamara's deal, that would probably cover it.

Case in point being Katic for us. Wasn't pretty on the ball or to look at and played like it as well. Vidic for Utd being another prime example.

Palace 1 up against Villa is hardly a shock when you consider the form of both teams. If it stays like that and Spurs beat Sheff Utd then it turns out beating City would've got spurs UCL. That clubs support have a serious inferiority complex, not just with Arsenal but with the rest of the 'Big 6'. No wonder fat Ange was fuming.

Ross McCausland - the biggest reason for that for me is because he tried to make things happen when the game was in the balance just like he did vs Dundee.

I get that tbf but I also think getting our fingers burnt once and discontinuing any further work in that area of recruitment is a damning trait of this current board. That Jake Hastie deal a few years ago dealt some serious psychological damage to some of the higher ups imo, and that's borne out of the reluctance to sign young domestic talent over the last few years. A serious club would see a signing flop and think about how they can find a better player from a similar background, rather than swerving that part of Europe all together. Why look all over Europe when you can find players in Belgium with a 1 in 3 record or EFL players running down their contracts?

Allow me the indulgence to quote myself lads... I've just watched a Mofokeng comp to try and gauge what he's like, and for the life of me I can't tell if he's actually 5'3 or not? Maybe it's because he's so lean he appears a bit taller. He looks tidy enough technically though, hopefully we've moved past the left wingers who's second touch is a tackle (Sakala, Sima).

I doubt he's negotiating the fee or transfer tbh - European clubs aren't run like Hibs were when Alan Stubbs kiboshed the Scott Allan transfer. They'll have a DoF and/or chairman for that. If they're geniunely upping the price because their manager is ex Celtic then more fool them.

Saw this come up on my feed last night..league winning striker yet to hit his prime who's shit hot infront of goal - it almost seems sensible?

The rangers da's will be having kittens when they find out he's half a foot shorter than Ridvan. Good to see us linked though.

It's terrible mate. One of the reasons for Guardiola's dominance in the last 15 years is his excellent injury record at clubs and how he can keep rinsing the same 14 players season after season. Outside of cracking the vault at the Etihad Campus for his Snus Recipe or using needles we'll never replicate that. But we should be having a dozen outfield players on 2500+ minutes. That's not unrealistic. Having said that, hopefully the manager will reflect on this season and think about what he could have done better with what he had.

Coming round to that way of thinking tbh. His selections are strange and so is the setup of the team. It is worth saying though, a long injury list to first teamers can crucify a team. Case in point being liverpool in 20/21 when they lost VVD and all of their CB's for a large portion of the season. It was only until Klopp actually played the youngsters in defence in their natural positions instead of shoehorning players in that they righted themselves and went on a run, then subsequently took a quadruple to the final day of the season in 21/22. Clement should've smelt the coffee in that regard, dropping McCausland and shoehorning Sterling into RW or even at LB when he could've put his faith in Fraser was indicative of a manager desperately trying to find solutions when there's plausibility staring him in the face. Plugging away with Lundstram when freezing out Raskin until it's shit or bust at Parkhead another example. I'll back the man but this Cup final could be seminal for him, especially with the first OF being at Parkhead. Sigh.

Fair result. Was tough watching Tav get torn to shreds in that second half though - his legs have completely gone. Not like he's up against a speed merchant next week is it? McCausland played like there's a cup final place up for grabs. It is what it is, I'll think we'll win at Hampden until we don't.

Ngl, I do like that new chant.

Fucking brilliant young man!

I'm not a keeper and maybe I'm being harsh but I think Butland sells himself for their goal. There's a chance King recovers enough to force him wide and then Butland can guard his near post imo. Cracking finish mind.

It's a really strange setup from Clement. We've seemingly got loads of players who want to narrow in and head towards the penalty spot - playing diomande on the right of midfield makes that worse. 0 width. Or have I got this wrong?

If you want a reason for why slaughtering McCausland for his goal contributions is moronic, that's it. Dessers is almost offside when Ross plays that pass as well. There's sweet fa the boy can do if he's setting up 3 or 4 chances a game and the forwards are spooning those chances over the bar.

Mad how Raskin hasn't been given a chance. The difference in legwork and dynamism between him and Lundstram is pretty stark. He's started well.

Just on the face of their age in years, that lineup is 25.3 years old. That's much more like the age profile we need to be getting down to imo, maybe even a year younger than that. We were fielding teams which were getting towards 30 years old as an average at points this season, when you're finishing second that's criminal. Obviously you want the quality married with the potential of the young players and injuries have no doubt forced than lineup somewhat, but it at least looks mobile and athletic.

I'm happy with this, good to see a young side take to the park. Hopefully Fraser impresses - heck, if he does well he could make an appearance in a cup final!

Hopefully we see the second half v Dundee carried on for the full 90 today!

Late to the thread, voted for McCausland for his desire and persistence throughout especially for the first. It will be interesting to see how many MOTM he's won throughout the season.

Cordoba won the Bulgarian Defender of The Year this season. Signing the best young talent in other European leagues, it'll never catch on...