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GDK

Stay. But there simply has to be an improvement tactically and for us to show some fight in what remains of the season. If not we need to find someone else to do the next rebuild.

GDK

If nothing else the quality of our "unused subs" looks to have improved since the last home match against them!

GDK

Just reading Norwich boss Wagner heaping praise on "warrior" Ashley Barnes last night. They seem a different team when he is playing.

GDK

We all know that character and leadership are vital for a relegation scrap. In not addressing this I can only think that VK thought we would have far too much quality to be anywhere near the bottom three...or that it genuinely wouldn't matter if we got relegated this season. Both scenarios are naive...

GDK

Barnes is a Clarets legend and had confirmed that long before Sunday. But even at his age and with his experience, the lack of goals was bound to affect his confidence. He's seemed to snatch at opportunities this season and his usually excellent control has deserted him at times. Maybe he just neede...

GDK

It seems we're down to just Cork, Jay and Brownhill from the "old guard" as first team regulars. All three are superb at this level, and fair play to VK for recognising this early and building his new team around them.

GDK

All the "old" players are having to adapt to the new tactics and new positions. I'd argue Roberts' role has changed the most, and is probably the most difficult to do well. It is so different from being a standard right fullback, he will be having to think far more about positioning as it won't be i...

GDK

Think we need to be careful not to get carried away after a couple of good performances against weaker teams. Tonight and Norwich will be a real test.

GDK

Very early days but Bastien reminds me a bit of Arfield, which obviously is a decent complement. He seems technically good, fairly mobile and athletic, and keen to keep the ball moving quickly. It took us a while to find Arfield's role in our team, with him never really being strong enough to be one...

GDK

I agree Barnes has never really been as effective when played as a lone forward, working best alongside eg Wood or Vokes. Jay did seem to tire yesterday, but ideally we could have brought Barnes on to play alongside him to help manage the last 30 mins as the ball had already started to come back too...

GDK

Wow, what a horrible thread about someone who has played a huge part in our success over the last 8 years or so. I'm sure he'd agree it wasn't his best afternoon but the problems that led to us throwing the points away started long before he came on. How come we are allowed to be more patient with t...

GDK

For me the most important thing would be to keep Brownhill as I suspect we'll be receiving offers

GDK

The first few games are obviously huge for us, starting with Huddersfield. A good start and Cornet, Brownhill, McNeil and Taylor might be persuaded to stay with us for a promotion push. It's impossible to predict the full XI really but my team would certainly include Taylor and Lowton as fullbacks, ...

GDK

I presume people are leaving out Brownhill because they think he is leaving? But this wouldn't explain the omission of Cork, who most felt was underused in the Premier League last season... I'll be pleasantly surprised if our new midfielders are already an improvement on those two, but somehow doubt...

GDK

I'm sure most fans are more realistic than the extremes of opinion we see on here. I'll be happy if we stay clear of relegation and show signs of the new team moulding together. If VK achieves more than this in his first season as a championship manager, despite the total rebuild he is having to ove...

GDK

I'm worried our season ended when Tarks went off injured. If that was anything other than precautionary then yes, we're depending on a Leeds or Everton collapse.

GDK

I didn't think we were overrun in midfield yesterday and actually thought Stephens did ok. But we will be overrun against Man U and Liverpool. Brownhill needs to come back in, probably for Lennon (who also played reasonably well to be fair) and allow Roberts to be our main attacking threat on the ri...

GDK

Condolences Baron Garcia, excellent tribute. It really resonates with me as I lost my Dad last April, another life-long passionate claret. He died at a similar age. A few days later we spanked Wolves 4-0, and it certainly felt like he had a hand in that. I really hope we get something similar for yo...

GDK

He's been immense and I'd love him to stay long term. But it seems to go against the business plan of the new regime to break the bank with a new contract, or let him leave for free next year. I don't think anyone benefits by keeping him here for one final season. What we can't do is faff around and...

GDK

That's sad news, RIP THJ.

I never met him but have fond memories of the old email group and enjoyed his contributions.

GDK

Barnes' last minute winner V Palace is always near the top of these polls for me

GDK

I don't have Sky and have just booked it to watch via the NowTV app. I had similar problems on the main sky website but it seems to work ok on this site:

https://sports.skyboxoffice.com/events

Lets hope it's better value than the Chelsea game was.

GDK

This downturn in form always happens eventually when either Mee or Tarkowski are out for any length of time. And thankfully things usually improve when they are both back in the side. Sean has been irritating with some of his comments recently but I do agree with him about the injuries. Add a fully ...

GDK

A proper pre-season is clearly so vital for how we want to play. It's all very similar to the way we started the season two years ago. The international break is coming at a good time. We need Mee back and to keep Tarks. Keep those two fit and the squad is good enough to stay up even without another...

GDK

SD is not daft. He knows mouthing off in the media is not going to make MG change his mind on contract negotiations. These press conference comments seem likely to be a joint decision between chairman and manager to start to prepare us for the inevitable in the close season. Sadly we can't afford to...

GDK

Let's not overcomplicate it with thoughts about fluid attacking football, we just need to get our best players back into the right positions in a 4-4-2 and work harder than the opposition, particularly against the likes of West Ham. Wood and Barnes back together up front.Taylor must come back in, an...

GDK

VAR got most things wrong yesterday but it did get those two decisions correct.

Still want it scrapped immediately though, we may as well just flip a coin for each VAR call.

GDK

It's a shambles. I'd be interested to know if fans were ever formally asked if they wanted VAR to be introduced in the Premier League. And if fans were involved in deciding how it should be used. And if fans are now being asked for feedback on how it is performing.

I suspect I know the answers.

GDK

I think Everton will be well aware by now that they bought the wrong one. We're lucky nobody else seems to realise how good he is.

GDK

The only concern with Dwight is that he tends to fade a bit in the second half of most games, though this is inevitable with the amount of running he is doing. But we now have Brady, Lennon or JBG to replace him when he tires so it isn't really a concern at all.

GDK

It seems odd that there are so few comments about this excellent result. Cheltenham will be decent in League 2 this season, it sounds a really encouraging performance.

It won't have done the trialists chances any harm, whoever they all are.

GDK

Simple really - momentum and confidence. We had both against Spurs due to the previous 7 results. The following tired performance at Newcastle was really poor, and we were comfortably beaten by one of the weaker sides in the division who exposed our frailties again. Confidence evapourated, mainly in...

GDK

I think people are massively underestimating the value of training week in, week out with the same players, coaches and manager. Sure the likes of Spain and Portugal have a few players better than ours, but can they genuinely achieve the same level of organisation and framework that we have develope...

GDK

Kevin Long's performance was again a positive. Not sure if it was a foul or not for their goal, but if not it was probably his only defensive lapse of the game. Obviously it will be nice when Tarkowski is back but Kev has really stepped up well when we've needed him. As mentioned above, there were p...

GDK

The only sub I'd have considered was Vokes for a tiring Hendrick, after we scored. This would however have made no difference to the events leading up to their equaliser. Tactics were fine. This is a really tough league this year with decent sides in the relegation scrap, and to think we should be w...

GDK

No problem at all in it being used on this trial basis, so long as the results of the trial are acted on appropriately. And at the moment it is fairly conclusive that the system is some way off being fit for purpose.

GDK

Too many unknowns here, not least whether Heaton can ever fully return to his usual top level after this horrible injury for a keeper. And might he be more prone to shoulder injuries from now on as a result of his surgery? We'll need a reliable back up. But I agree, strange it seems Pope hasn't real...

GDK

I suspect this would be happening even without the injuries. I know you can't reduce football to statistics but to some extent we're just seeing a regression to the mean. We were never genuinely playing well enough to be clearly the 7th best team in the league. But overall we're certainly too good t...

GDK

Hendrick's best game for a while today. He was part of a centre midfield 3 that worked really well together, and overall I'd say they looked a better unit today than Matic, Pogba and Mata. Which is fairly high praise. Top notch "number 10s" who work as hard as Jeff, have a similar physical presence ...

GDK

I don't live locally so don't know what stories in the local press this refers to, but it seems ridiculous that Sean is having to field questions about criticism of Arfield? I hope he plays tomorrow, he was unlucky to lose his place and, as SD suggests, he usually looks very much at home at this lev...

GDK

The same Wood that wasn't fit enough for the bench last week? It's a big ask for him to come straight back in as a lone striker against a side as good as Arsenal can be. I'd save him for the last half hour if we need him. Must admit I never thought I'd be saying our £18m striker is handy option to h...

GDK

So people would drop a forward after his man of the match performance that included a superb goal? I'm confident Sean has more sense.

GDK

Squad list suggests Anderson is nearly 24. If at this age he's not good enough to be a 4th choice centre back who will hopefully only rarely be needed to sit on the bench, he needs to be moved on.

You can see why it would be tricky to sign someone else for that role though.

GDK

I'm still a bit unsure how Walters will fit in. It's difficult to see him starting much up front but he's far too good a player to sit on the bench all season. If you move him to your wide midfielder section we instantly look a lot stronger. If we're signing Wells (and not losing anyone else) we bas...

GDK

If we have to sell Barnes to make way for Dwight Gayle, Nahki Wells or this Waris chap then forget them. We're fine as we are up front, and Barnes has bullied plenty of Premier League centre backs to show he can still have a huge role for us this season. Please lets not spoil a great transfer window...

GDK

A consistent, lightning quick, hard working winger with a wand of a right foot would be great. Not sure I can name a single player that fits these criteria, and certainly none that we could have a hope of signing. Sean will be well aware we need another option off the bench though. JBG has a lot of ...

GDK

We lost yesterday because we didn't put any of our many chances away. Tarkowski looked solid and confident for the vast majority of the game and looks at least as good as Keane did after this many games of his Premier League career. He looks a threat in the opposition box too. Whether he'll follow t...

GDK

Like most Clarets I've been a big fan of Andre in his time here. However, Vokes and Barnes both look more comfortable at this level now, and Walters is far more proven than Gray. At worst we're getting £10m+ for a player who doesn't want to be here and doesn't really fit the system we're going to be...

GDK

I don't think Andre's first touch is anything like as bad as some people claim, but it isn't yet good enough for him to play up front on his own. Vokes improved as the season went on and could now do that job, probably with Walters playing just behind him. Gray and Barnes would be perfect to come of...

GDK

This would be a cracking signing and a real statement of intent. People talk a lot about us lacking pace but the more glaring difference between us and the top half of the Premier League has always been with ball retention. Cork was clearly class act as an inexperienced kid with us previously, and n...

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