Absolutely terrible again today and we seem to be getting worse and worse. Eustace again got his selection totally wrong and after scoring an undeserved equaliser, the game management was non existent. It is a good job that our home form is perfect because our away form is shocking. Gueye again appears more and more of a donkey with each passing game. Hedges anonymous, Dolan is just not good enough and Weimann is too old to be flogged every game. The slow defence was ripped apart too often and Carter should never play at RB again. Pears in the main had routine saves to make but did well and was our best player, he had one typical spill but made up for it by improvising. The subs improved things but it seems like Eustace has his favourites and will keep sticking with them. Rankin Costello improved us at right back, Cozier Duberry again improved us and Ohashi improved us. Cantwell didnt seem to fancy it and Sigurdsson didnt do much. A great start has turned into a ok/decent one with Eustace making strange decisions and leaving us with a lot to figure out. Has the recruitment really been as good as everyone assumed?

Crap so far. Eustace has got his starting 11 wrong again and we seem to be getting worse. JRC should be at RB, Carter is being humiliated again there and our slow defence in general is having rings run around them. Our stodgy and ineffective attack has done little bar be caught offside.

I know he clearly doesnt. But my opinion doesnt align with that.

As I expected. Stodgy on paper with flair and the ability to take people on sat on the bench. Plus a centre back at right back and JRC on the bench. Hopefully we can grind out a win.

The line up could be anything it feels. Hes probably more likely to stodge it up with players like Hedges and JRC wide and Dolan central as he is pragmatic. But I hope to see the team built around Cantwell and also the directness of Cozier Duberry out wide. Hopefully we wont have Carter at RB either.

How can you possibly put all of your eggs in the basket of someone yet to even prove himself at Premier League level? Neither warrants a regular England spot.

Carter looked exactly like a centre back playing at right back. He had a torrid evening with Wright constantly getting past him. Cantwell out wide hinders him going forward and hes never going to be someone to graft and protect his full back. Get him in the middle and play around him.

Meslier's mistake was similar to Pears v Sheffield Wednesday in that it was a total freak goal. Dreadful mistakes but in isolation can just be written off. The issue with Pears has always been the quantity of mistakes. Had he not made so many throughout last season then anyone can make that mistake.

There just seems to be a total absence of English left backs of a reasonable standard. Either Hall or Davis would have to prove themselves at Premier League level before we can think of giving them a run in the England team.

The difficulty is, you are comparing Championship football with playing against kids.

I thought against Blackpool in his only senior game (bar a couple of minutes at turf moor) he wasnt really tested defensively, he showed real athleticism and pace but technically struggled and his final ball was lacking. Not doubting he has something about him but we have a player who is proven as a very effective Championship right back sat on the bench collecting dust.

I think many people have also suggested to drop Ohashi too for Gueye.

I dont know. My point was not a criticism of roverandout, just me commenting on how weak we are in that position. Hall struggles to get a regular game, Davis is not the best defensively and unproven at the top level. Wont make a difference against crap sides in pointless games. Impacted us in the summer and will going forward in big games.

He might be promising but he isnt a regular at Newcastle. And Davis has only just started playing at Premier League level and has huge defensive question marks.

The fact that those 2 are even in the reckoning shows how light we are in that position The whole squad is imbalanced as we know. Totaly devoid of any left backs. We have 3 of the very best attacking midfielders but all of them need to play central to get the best of them, just off the striker. 3 into 1 doesnt go.

I think the point is not specific to one manager. The Solanke call up is fairly immaterial anyway, he probably wont play with Kane and Watkins ahead of him. Im sure we will comfortably beat both poor sides in these glorified friendlies in a very long 2 weeks before we can get back to proper football. Why is Kyle Walker back in the squad, he will be 36 by the next World Cup.

We do but there is an imbalance to those options. Most want to play as a number 10 and there is an absence of pace. You seem to think that Dolan will score 10 goals playing there, not much suggestion or evidence of that. Cantwell like many of our options is better centrally, but has the most quality. Cant see the logic in sticking him wide where we wont provide the full back with much if any protection, when he is by far our best player at the taking the ball in tight spaces, and on the assumptiom that Dolan can score loads of goals there. Dolan isnt as good as Cantwell.

Portsmouth look like out of the 3 promoted teams, they are the ones who arent up to the standard of the Championship. Yet to win and their side doesnt look on paper like one with anywhere near enough quality, with the loss of Colby Bishop an added blow. Oxford and Derby have been competitive and whilst I wouldnt rule out either being dragged in to a real scrap, they look a level up from Pompey.

Over the course of a season pending an unlikely and unexpected improvement, he wont score an impressive amount of goals. He had a particularly bad season last season which was heavily impacted by repeated injuries which have also affected his Stoke career. I think had he left on the back of any other season, the comments towards him wouldnt have been nearly as strong. Tended to score 8 or 9 so was never prolific but did chip in a bit, had other useful attributes but also frustrating parts of his game, he levels out at a bottom half Championship standard striker if he stays fit. The question for us is how much if at all the new guys are an upgrade. Theyve been available so far barring a stupid suspension for Gueye, so thats already a big plus. Gueye hasnt shown any signs of scoring us a goal yet, Ohashi has scored 4 brilliant goals but doesnt offer anything else.

I dont have too much of a grievance on the assumption that Osmajic gets a sufficient ban. There is precedent with Suarez so assuming a similar punishment is handed out then thats fine. Such a case is more complex than a usual violent conduct red card so will have to be considered more carefuklly, Preston have accepted the punishment and assuming he is punished adequately, ultimately it makes little odds whether that punishment starts now or a couple of games after. Say he misses 10 games, he still misses 10 games. Its just a coincedence that he happened to score tonight but say the punishment started immediately and he scored 2 in his first game back, its the same issue.

I think there are 2 arguments, whether he merits a place in the side and whether if he does play that he starts in the number 10 role. No one stands out on the left because we have a lack of natural wide options and you could probably argue that none of our attackers would choose their best position as starting on the left. As a number 10, you have Cantwell who is the best of those options so to include Dolan means either dropping Cantwell who is a better player or moving him on the left where his work rate chasing back isnt as good and where going forward he isnt as comfortable.

Khadra was quick whereas Dolan isnt and he also has never shown any crossing ability. He is probably better from the left cutting in or central but he isnt good enough to warrant selection over Cantwell. Nothing to do with doom and gloom, that tends to be a standard comeback when nothing else constructive can be offered up. My point was that both Szmodics and Dack had the ability to anticipate chances. Szmodics wasnt in a creative side last season but his movement and his intelligence meant that he got into great positions and his finishing was very good. I have seen no signs that Dolan shares similar traits and his goal output/threat hasnt improved since moving in the middle. Cantwell on the other hand has quality on the ball and should play centrally where he is capable of picking the ball up on the turn in tight areas and making things happen. More league goals than Gueye!

Szmodics and Dack used to regularly get chances even in poor teams like Szmodics last season because he could anticipate chances. Dolan doesnt do that, its not just about having chances put on a plate, he lacks the intelligence and movement to find goalscoring opportunities. I fail to see why you have any confidence in Dolan being able to score regularly.

Many more years of disappointment await.

Cantwell spent much of the game wide, Eustace got his tactics wrong. He doesnt track back as much as others, he isnt the quickest but you want your technical players in the centre at the heart of things. On the ball, Dolan hasnt got anywhere near the same quality. You mention him getting goals from there, none since the opening day suggests the move hasnt really done that. Hedges isnt a particularly good crosser, but even considering this stuff around the number 10. Why would you pick Dolan over Cantwell if the rest of your argument is to play around Gueye? Exactly. This idea that he cannot possibly be a right back under Eustace is totally unfounded. He is so much better when he has space in front of him. Ive mentioned Brett Emerton before, he isnt otherwise similar but Emerton also struggled when having to attack players from a position higher up. He also is a better one on one defender than Brittain.