Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man

You're there or thereabouts for most of them, although I disagree on three or four. This would be mine, using 6 for average (which no doubt means everyone will moan that my marks are too low): Krul 7: One of our top performers and has kept a lot of scorelines respectable. Leads by example. Aarons 6: Has showed the promise that he has and looks dangerous going forward but has been caught out defensively a few times. Byram 6.5: Considering he was brought in as a backup, he has taken his chance well. Zimmermann 5.5: Phenomenal against Everton on his return from injury but hasn't yet fully convinced me that he can make it as a regular Premier League player. Hanley 5: Has had the odd good game, but is no more than a backup at this level. Godfrey 6: Similar to Aarons in that he has shown promise but has made a few errors through inexperience. Lewis 5.5: Started off OK but lost confidence and then his place in the team. I have faith that he'll come good though. Tettey 6: He's still the best defensive midfielder we have and has acquitted himself as well as he can. Trybull 5: A couple of good games but more bad than good. Isn't up to it at this level I fear. Not destructive enough out of possession and not creative enough with it. Leitner 5.5: He's neat and tidy and passes the ball well but lacks substance. Amadou 5.5: Jeckyl and Hyde. Has put in some fantastic performances but some shockers too. Needs to work on his consistency but hasn't been given a run in his natural position. Vrancic 6: Not a lot to go on but he's done OK. A slightly more useful version of Leitner. McLean 5.5: Looked better as a number ten and always works hard but like many others here, probably doesn't quite have enough to hold down a regular place in a Premier League team. Stiepermann 4.5: Simply hasn't made the step up. Buendia 7: Started off brightly, had a massive dip from mid-September until early December but has come back strongly and looks the part when on song. Cantwell 8: Probably the best of the bunch in terms of what he has produced relative to expectations. Stepped up in a way that nobody expected to and I'm absolutely chuffed for him. Hernandez 6: Has shown that he has a part to play with his direct running that worries opponents but hasn't been consistent enough. Pukki 7.5: Continued his form from last season into this. Excellent off the ball and a fantastic finisher. Drmic 5: Injured a lot but has offered precious little when called upon. Farke 5: His work developing players on the training pitch is his specialty, but his ability to organise a defence, his game management and poor use of substitutions has counted against him too often. I'm still a big fan but his stock has fallen slightly I feel.

I understand the feeling. I didn't celebrate Cantwell's goal against Palace because it looked offside to me. It isn't enough to make a quick glance at the assistant any more.

Offsides are not checked because they're matter of fact decisions that are easier to decide in the office with all the lines and everything. On-field decisions that are clearly correct don't need to be checked, and rightly so. We're already complaining that VAR is too slow, so why would we want them to check even more than they need to? The VAR told him to check the video. The VAR did not tell him to change his decision: that was the referee alone. As has been pointed out in this thread already, we've been asking for the refs to use the pitchside monitors for a while, and now it's finally happening some people still aren't happy. I believe it already is. Most competitions have a zone around the screen where only the ref can enter, and I imagine the Premier League is applying it as well.

I agree that it's being run badly; that's why it needs to be improved. The referee overturned his own decision. He was under no obligation after seeing the video. Surely it's better that referee is deciding himself rather than the man sitting in a office somewhere? This is the first of many improvements that need to be made.

It is. I'm on the fence about the challenge. On the one hand, it was just mistimed and he didn't mean to injure the opponent, and it may have been a result of fatigue and ring rust. But on the other hand, it was a silly challenge to make in the first place, a clear red card, and he put us in a difficult situation by leaving us a man light.

I agree completely with that. Using this Napoli-Fiorentina one as an example, it was clearly not a 'clear and obvious' error, which is why it took so long for the VAR to call the ref over and why the ref didn't give it. That's what needs to be improved- the application of VAR. The footballing authorities have been working on VAR for years so to completely scrap it because there are problems at the start would be bonkers, in my opinion. I'm sure JK Rowling wasn't happy with her first draft of Harry Potter, but she didn't bin it, she tweaked it until it was right. It's the same with VAR. They just need to sort the offsides, eliminate the delays and stop checking/overturning things aren't 'clear and obvious' errors.

Not necessarily. As I'm reading this, I'm watching an incident in the Napoli-Fiorentina game where the VAR, after checking a handball claim for at least two minutes, called the ref over to check the monitor and the ref decided within 10-15 seconds to not give it (rightly so, in my opinion). So it doesn't always get overturned when the ref checks the monitor. I didn't see the game today so I don't know how the delays were, or indeed how long they felt during the game, but ultimately they got the decisions all right today and so we can't complain too much. Obviously the length of time is frustrating at times, but getting the decisions right is ultimately the most important thing.

I'm worried about it now. And if I'm not mistaken, isn't there an obligation to buy if certain clauses are met? Although I'm guessing that maybe the reason he isn't playing is to ensure those clauses aren't activated.

I heard a stat after the Villa away game that said we've played five games against teams that were in the relegation zone at kick off and we've lost the lot, which is a worrying trend. Hopefully we can buck that today because we bloody well need to.

Did he actually say that about Amadou? If he did then I suppose he's half correct, because he's put in three excellent performances and two of those were at centre back (Man City and Bournemouth) but he's also had three nightmares against Villa, Palace and Burnley. I'd be worried if Farke sees Amadou as a reliable option at centre back for a Premier League club.

I'm sure we all have a lot of time for him. He clearly wasn't the most gifted footballer, but he made the most out of what he had with hard work, determination and fight.

They're not allowed if they earnt it in this transfer window.

It's Mbwana Samatta.

Exactly. He didn't make the grade in the Premier League a few years back when he was at his peak, following four excellent seasons in the Championship (91 in 179). His Championship goalscoring record has been on the decline in the past three years (17 goals in 98 games) so I can't see how he'd make the step up all of a sudden. He's the new Dani Pacheco or Harrison Reed: a half-decent loan spell and he's the solution to every problem for the next two years.

League leaders RB Leipzig to pick up where they left off and beat Union Berlin at home. Odds are around 2/7. For the Norwich game, over 4.5 goals, which can be found at 9/2.