Rousseau

That's just their 'winter break'. They've had their pre-season, started their league and played European qualifiers. I still think we sh*t the bed, though. To lose with a man advantage for so long is inexplicable.

Malmo played us on the 3rd and 10th of August. They started their league season on 10th April. They had played 13 match days in the league, excluding European qualifiers.

No, I don't think so. The opposite, in fact; it doesn't require top-class players. That's why many smaller sides punch above their weight. Bielsa took a Leeds team full of average Championship players into the PL top-10 (maybe just outside in the end - I can't recall); and Hasenhuttl took Leipzig from the 2.Bundesliga to 2nd in the Bundesliga playing that way; even Klopp transforms an average Liverpool side playing that way, even before they made the signings to win the league. You could argue Pochettino had Tottenham pushing above their weight implementing it. Gasperini's Atalanta are definitely punching above their weight in Serie A, consistently finishing in the top-4. It just needs a coach with the ability to implement it. Whether GvB is that coach, I don't know... I think Dave Vos is, though.

If they invested more money in their squad, they'd be pushing for Europe. They've got a top-class - if stingy - set-up and a brilliant coach.

Jack can do it, but I'm not sure teams need an enforcer now. If they press and counter-press correctly, that does the job better than assigning a single player.

GvB does like a bit more stability in the middle of the park, so I can see a double-pivot being used in a 4-2-3-1.

Yes, that's the more likely XI. (Hagi is out for ages, and Kent rarely misses out.) My XI was what I would like to see, though.

Sakala - Morelos - Lawrence Lowry - Jack - Hagi Bassey - Sands - Goldson - Tavernier McLaughlin Subs: Colak, Kent, Wright, Kamara, Arfield, Lundstram, Barisic, Souttar, Helander, King, McCrorie I'd like to see another RW brought in, though. Matondo would be picked before Lawrence.

How is everyone feeling now, after a few acquisitions? (LW) Kent / Sakala / Middleton - (ST) Morelos / Roofe / Colak - (RW) Wright / AN Other? (#10) Hagi / Lowry / Lawrence (CM) Davis / Kamara / Lundstram / Jack / Arfield (LB) Barisic / Bassey - (LCB) Helander / Souttar - (RCB) Goldson / Sands / Katic / King - (RB) Tavernier / Zukowski (GK) McLaughlin / McGregor / McCrorie I still think we need a right-winger (even with Lawrence, who can play RW and LW too). Bassey, King and Sands could be very useful in terms of their versatility.

6-3.

I've watched a couple of Youtube clips, so I'm now an expert on Matondo. Matondo reminds me of Diallo: pace, skill and trickery, can beat a man with ease, but doesn't know what to do with the ball at the end of the move. I think that's relatively easy to improve upon, though, with coaching and games.

21-year-old Welsh winger. On 30 January 2019, Matondo signed for Bundesliga club Schalke 04 for a reported fee of up to £11 million on a four-and-a-half-year deal. This is more like the profile I want to see! Whether there's any truth in the link is another matter...

Lawrence is a winger; predominantly on the left, but can play on the right, too, which is where I think he'll fill in for us. He can also play as a second-striker. He has a goal contribution (goal or assist) of about 1 in 3. He has a knack for long-range shots. He reminds me of Jordan Jones in the way he runs. He can show a bit of pace and skill, but can also look one-dimensional.

What these signings do do dodoo is strengthen areas of the pitch in which we are quite light, for next to nothing. In that regard, I'm happy. However, let me whinge! I just don't like the profile of these guys. Hopefully we sign some guys with the correct profile - and then I'll be quite content with these guys.

B-team signings are entirely different.

The profile is similarly an issue, for me; 28/29-year-olds don't represent much sell-on value, if any. It's the reverse of signing Kamara, Aribo, Bassey, Hagi, etc.