Rousseau

They are mentally weak, but I do believe we can get more out of this team -- which is based on hope rather than anything else. It's a difficult task (identifying who is mentally weak), mainly because it's quite subjective. I reckon two fans would create two different lists.

As bad a season as it's been, we're 'only' 10-15 points off them. It's went off the rails recently, but if we can just beat more of the diddy teams and at least avoid defeats against them, then we're not too far off them. Most of the dropped points were at Ibrox. I don't think we require wholesale changes.

I'm not so sure. I think a good manager would be able to get them very close, with the players they have; they do have very good players, albeit not quite world-class. It's not really about the individuals, though. One-off games don't count for much.

Nope. Not with Southgate. They have got very good players, but the whole is just not good enough.

Look at his wee face!

Is it weird that I'm excited? He's totally inexperienced. #GoingFor55

Gerrard just said on BT Sports that he's had talks, and they'll continue on Thursday. Linekar introduced him as "not a lone ranger..."

I couldn't like it fast enough...

Proves my "stand out" comment was wrong...

You're not wrong... Superb player, but all I meant was that he's not the first player I think of -- Koeman, Laudrup, Stoichkov come to mind first. It was a general point that the top managers are not often the star man. Will Messi be a top manager, or will it be someone that goes under the radar a wee bit, like Busquets? (You know I love Busquets, but for most, when you think of that Barca side, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta are always the first names on their list.)

"Stand out" was wrong, as I said, but I just meant he wasn't the first player you think of, at least I don't, looking from the outside.

There will not be much change, but I am content with the pairing.

Aye, OK. Calm down, FFS. "Stand-out" was the wrong phrase, but the point remains.

Exceptional player, and vital, but I wouldn't say he was the main man. When you think of that squad, you don't think of Guardiola. IMO.

It's interesting that in the Top Five/Six (I've lost sense of where Arsenal are...) of the EPL, those managers that did play to a high level as players, were defensive and tended to go under the radar: Guardiola was a DM, as was Conte; Pochettino was a CB; and none of them were stand-outs. Mourinho, Klopp, and Wenger barely played, if at all.

“I never realised that to be a jockey you had to be a horse first.” ~ Arrigo Sacchi

I can see the benefits -- maybe something to look for going forward -- but right now I just don't see how you can claim our DoF situation is a f*uck up. To be fair, it's not the technical aspect we're looking for, it's the implementation of the business model. We need someone with business experience to implement it for us. That's what Man City needed him for, before they snatched Barcelona's DoF. In the future, when the model is implemented, we can look at appointing someone based on their style and playing experience. Doing that now would be a mess. His role is just to make sure it's implemented and then running together. You've jumped to conclusions again, putting the cart before the horse.

No, it's not true that it's "another director with a fancy name [...] what a Ckuf up." There's a lot of Ckuf ups around, but our DoF is not one of them. There are many examples of DoF with little or no experience of playing at a high level; just like there are many examples of those that have.

So... I wonder who's in charge for the remaining games? Nicholl? Tin Tin? KEVIN THOMPSON?!

Depends if I'm given authority...

That's not true. I'll leave you to wallow.

No, just little tactical tweaks -- like launching a long ball into our left half-space/channel, as John and whoever is next to him seem to sh*te themselves at seeing it...

Maybe I misinterpreted. I did mention character from the start -- could you not have pulled me up earlier? The structure is irrelevant, though: it's 'settled' -- relatively speaking -- so the only difference is in the character of the individual. It's not the type of authority we can give. It's innate in the individual. Was I just arguing with myself?

Yes, it'll be impossible to replicate Barca football. RB Salzburg have reached the Semi-final of the Europa playing great football; it's based on pace, energy and being direct. They can play possession football, but it's not their first strategy. It's all about being quick on transitions. It's pragmatic in its own way, but still modern. I do think we need our own style, which is traditionally tough defensively, while being pacey and powerful going forward. But, I think there's a way of implementing that within a modern approach. Salzburg have based it on pure energy, but within a modern framework of transition football, intelligent spacing and player positioning etc.