(Hoola)Han Solo

Do you not think a better balance was needed though? There’s nothing wrong with signing players for the future but I don’t think we signed enough players with experience of English football. There were several players that had to hit the ground running immediately for us to stand a chance.

At least two specialist defensive midfielders need to be signed in the summer on a permanent basis. Next season is vital in building a dynamic and fully functioning midfield for the long term. And players can be added to it to improve when needed. Most teams in the Premier League play at least one holding midfielder, if not two, and the fact we chose not to was suicide.

Webber, and McNally before him, are human shields for the board. Whilst SW should obviously shoulder some of the blame, it’s of course decisions above him that have a say also.

The Lambert season was an anomaly. We used the momentum from the previous season, identified the positions to strengthen and got the new signings in very early. I went to several away games that season and thought we had a chance in all of them, even against the big boys (indeed, I saw us beat Spurs). In the games we lost, it was because we were bettered on the day, and not from a lack of fight or desire, which has been a huge issue this season. The whole squad had huge belief beyond their talents. Without doubt my favourite season of the last twenty years. This is the sort of culture and attitude I want at the club.

He’s not that important to us for him to earn a serious new contract offer. If he was a player that would have a big impact in the limited appearances he made, I’d agree. A decent player but easily replaceable.

To be fair, Daniel Farke instilled a siege mentality into us that first Premier League season, with the win against Manchester City the peak. He was dressing it up as a fairytale and the whole club was as one. I felt nothing like that at the start of this season. I thought Farke almost started this season beat, as though the previous experience of the PL had broken him. We had a difficult start to the season but I didn’t feel much confidence exuding from him and his squad in the opening weeks. It was almost as they’d already accepted defeats early in the season, and I think that attitude has followed us for most of the season.

As a club we need to get out of this habit of saying “Well, X club has now been relegated”, as though it is some sort of excuse for these pitiful seasons. Yes, teams like Sheffield United, and maybe Brentford next year, go down, but they have at least one competitive season in which they stay up. Another excuse is the higher spending power of the rest of the league. Whilst this is patently a big issue and a problem in modern football, we must use our disadvantage as a motivating factor and have the determination to buck the trend. We sort of have a chip on our shoulder and ready made excuse. Brentford for me epitomise a no fear attitude and act as though they deserve to be here. They will probably get relegated at some point but at least they looked like a proper Premier League team in the meantime.

Btw, would you have suggested we sign Sargent in the summer before it emerged we were in for him? Honest answer please. Hindsight innit.

The Lewis Grabban one was half joking, but I’m convinced he’d have put that one away above. And it wouldn’t have cost us ten million quid for the privilege. Unfortunately Lizard is getting all hurty and lashing out because I don’t rate Josh Sargent. I don’t. I think the money could have been better spent. If Thirsty thinks Joshua has been a worthwhile signing so far then I’m thinking he knows eff all about football.

There was no suggestion Josh Sargent would he any use in the Premier League either, but I see you glossing over that. Btw, glad to see you worked out the quote thing mate 👍🏻

Are you too thick to use the quote function? Piroe at Swansea, Adebayo at Luton and Weimann at Bristol City to name but three. My argument is I think we could’ve bought a player from the Championship for less than we did Sargent who could have scored more than two league goals this season. However, I’m not sure you’re the brightest individual 😢

Sargent has scored TWO Premier League goals this season. If you don’t think another player could have beaten that at a snippet of the price then I completely disagree. Even someone like Lewis Grabban would have been more of a threat, and at a lower cost. Southampton paid that for Armstrong because they thought he would score the goals. It hasn’t worked. I think there are players in that league that are better than some of ours that wouldn’t have cost the earth.

It would be nice to be known as a club who plays half decent PL football instead of being inextricably linked to celebrity cook DS, her famous ‘let’s be avin you’ moment and the lazy cooking puns we get heaped upon us.

Gets into good positions and is a danger from dead ball situations. Has a through ball in him. Should’ve done a lot better with his chances yesterday. Like a lot of our players probably just below PL standard but could be very useful next year.

That argument is completely flawed because it suggests Armstrong is the only decent Championship striker.

There’s some good bits but let me highlight something that isn’t particularly relevant to the ownership debate.

That would be my counter-argument to anyone who thinks otherwise. Not every potential buyer is an immoral and dodgy organisation, despite what we are constantly reminded of.

Completely agree with all of that. But there will be others that are so steadfast in the support of the Smith/Wyn-Jones regime that any opposing views just get condescendingly dismissed. There’s starting to develop a real split in the fan base over this issue. Probably more so for a decade or more.

Sorry, you lost me when you said he got Villa promoted ‘by accident’. Are you on drugs or just incredibly thick?

Whilst I don’t condone verbal abuse like that, these fans have a right to protest.

At this stage I’m not bothered if a new owner has no more wealth than the current majority shareholders. What I am getting increasingly frustrated at is the apparent acceptance from them, in public (interviews etc), of relegation and indifference to actually being in this league. They should be angry and upset at this season but I’m not sure they are. We know we are not a big club but I don’t want to see the majority shareholders basically alluding to the fact that we should be pleased to just be here and if we get relegated then it’s one of those things. The tone comes from the top, and the tone I’m getting is one of very little drive, enthusiasm and belief that we can compete in this division.

We were in the game til the first goal but the second goal took all the fight out of us. Should’ve been 1-0 up at this stage. Pukki has to put that chance away.

I think the Webber regime has been too concerned with buying players with potential resell value rather than experienced players who might have given us a better chance of actually staying in the Premier League. A limitation of the model maybe. I know 10 million isn’t a lot these days, but are there seriously no players we could have got from the EFL , for a fraction of the price, that would’ve been equal to, or better than Sargent?

Some things just come to a natural end, just like McNally before him. A new verve is needed next season.

If he is only 90% here and has ambitions to go mountain climbing, then let him do so and bring in someone with real ambition, drive and commitment to progress us. Almost sounds as though he’s doing us a favour. No one is bigger than Norwich City, and especially a sporting director who completely fu.cked our summer recruitment.