Leicester Ram

If you ever say that again, I will have no choice but to find you and kick your ass.

Would have been nice to get him back playing well but this is probably best. I don’t think he’s at the stage where he’s a plug and play type in the upper championship. Like him a lot but he was woeful against Leeds. He’ll go back to flying with Aberdeen then we’ll be able to properly integrate him into the first team in the summer.

Antonio Brown definitely hit by the Madden curse this year, really interesting if you want to have a look at it. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/is-the-madden-cover-curse-still-a-thing-a-look-back-at-20-years-of-nfl-stars-offers-a-verdict/ Didnt make the play-offs, missed week 17 and looks like he’s getting traded after falling out with the entire organisation. I think that counts. Think he’ll end up on the 49ers, they took Richard Sherman in under similar(ish) circumstances and it turned out well for them. Definitely got cap room to blow too. Free agency looks interesting this year too, not the best if you need help on offense but actually loads of edge rushers that are going to get paid. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001011078/article/top-25-nfl-free-agents-of-2019-defenders-dominate-rankings

He’s a short term solution for our LB back up that’s been forced by injury, so I think he’s fine. I think chucking Max Lowe right back into the middle of a championship play-off race when he’s been progressing so well and having a good time at Aberdeen might have ended up being counter-productive. Might not have even played regularly if Malone stays fit. With Davies out, Pearce gone and no guarantee we’ll get an experienced CB in this window, this is probably one of the times where signing an experienced player is worth it. Will help out the young defence too. As much as I love the idea of having two Academy players starting as our full backs, we may have to wait for next season.

Keogh on penalties from now on, yeah

Marcus Peters talks way too much trash for someone who’s been so average this season. I honestly don’t know what he expects he’s going to do with Michael Thomas when he can’t even keep up with the Cowboys receivers... Something to look out for next weekend.

Eagles really have been fantastic the last few years. Not sure what the contract situations are like with their core (Jenkins, Cox etc) outside of the QB’s but hope this isn’t their last shot at the play/offs. Howie Roseman/Doug Pederson will be around for years though, so I expect they’ll be perennial contenders for a while. I love watching them and Alshon in particular has been a fantasy hero for me two years in a row, so shame to see them go out to an interception like that. Still, gotta love the Saints. Any better trio in the NFL than Brees, Kamara and Thomas? Hope they win it now, would be cool to see Brees ride off into the sunset with another Lombardi.

I’m a Cards fan so obviously biased but... Kingsbury’s seen as a risky choice but we just fired Steve Wilks who was seen as one of the safest choices going? I honestly think after the season we’ve just had, this was the way to go. 32nd in points, 32nd in first downs, 32nd in pass yards, 32nd in rush yards, 32nd in scoring percentage, 32nd in time of possession Clearly need a creative mind on offense after this years debacle, so Kliff adresses our biggest need and suits the way the league is trending. What’s the point in hiring a defensive HC right now? If you have a successful OC, they’ll get poached for a HC job within a year. That Kyler comment is something made off the cuff in an interview months ago, there’s not a cat in hells chance we get rid of Rosen. It makes for a good story on but it’s complete nonsense. Rosen’s been in a horrible situation but we’ve just hired a HC who’s perfect for him. Look at the jump that Goff had in his second year, I doubt we’ll get that level of improvement but we desperately need to get the best out of him. This is the best way to ensure we’ll have someone working with him for more than just a year. He’s already on his third OC, he needs the stability of an offensive coach that’s going to give him a system to grow into. Also, it’s an exciting appointment. The organisation the last few years has been stale, I’d rather we swing for the fences on an appointment than go with someone like Caldwell or Gase. Not like we missed out on some guaranteed winner, if it fails spectacularly then we’re no worse off than we are now. The one worry is I’m not sure what kind of supporting staff he’s going to bring, he doesn’t have the relationships in the league that a Shanahan/McVay has. I’m worried about that but there’s plenty of decent DC’s around as well as a talented enough defense already in house. Particularly if you add Nick Bosa to it.

Bit of a tough one to call. Going to be hard to be hard to replace him with quality in January when we’re looking at exclusively loans. However, while I like Nuge but I think he’s genuinely cost us points this season. Is he still reliable? Off the top of my head, he’s missed a sitter at Boro (A) just before they equalised, missed a header from a couple yards out against Bristol (H) and then messed up that brilliant chance against Boro (H) in the last ten minutes. That was the worst one, running onto it with time and the keeper at his mercy. It’s harsh to say he’s cost us points but he’s supposed to be the veteran striker. If there’s one player you should be counting on to finish those chances it’s David Nugent and if he doesn’t have that finishing ability anymore then it’s hard to argue it’s worth having him around. He’s realistically coming on for the last 20 minutes when we need a goal and, right now, I’m not really convinced if the chance falls to him that he’s going to take it. Unfortunately, I think the best time to get rid of him probably was the summer. I wouldn’t be too happy about him leaving right now because he might be able to rediscover some form. You’d hardly be surprised if he was average for the rest of the season and then bagged us a crucial winner in the play-off’s.

I agree Bryson’s been average but FWIW I think it’s a good idea to have a player out there that the fans will never turn on. Clearly in the final year of this cycle of the midfield. By the summer Johnson, Butterfield, Bryson, Thorne and Ledley will all be gone. It’s a lot of the wage bill that’s going to be cleaned up. Whether you think Butterfield clueless or Bryson’s overrated or Johnson’s a clogged etc, I think we’ve all got to be in agreement that we’re desperate for a fresh start in midfield. Not been good enough for a while now.

Shame that, couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke.

Good start for the Chargers but I’m not sure they’ll be able to stop this run all day. You’d expect them to start this brightly, they’ve played them recently and know what to expect. But if they don’t use this first few possessions to gain a two score lead or so, I think this will be really tight for the rest of the day. Might come down to some special teams plays...usually not a good thing for the bolts.

Loads of great moments and performances today but I think Tomori deserves a massive shoutout. I’m a massive Fikayo fan but today’s goal has pushed me over the edge, sending him my underwear in the post now. There are so many new players who are playing so well for us this year but I just think Tomori typifies what’s so good about this team. He brings such an amazing energy to every game, he’s the sort of player that you can tell has the potential to be a real winner. He’s really passionate, energetic and so confident for his age. It was perfectly captured in his goal today. He has the confidence to trust his ability and just smash it at goal then goes mental with his celebration getting our away fans up for it after an awful start. Not to mention he’s a smart defender, fantastic on the ball and knows how to use his athleticism to help out other players. You can tell he’s inexperienced but he makes up for it, gets caught out of position today and gets himself a goal a few minutes later. The accepted wisdom in the Championship is that experienced old heads who’ve been there before get you promotion but you need players with Tomori’s mentality to get you over the top. He has everything that we lacked last season. All the lads were fantastic today but I just think Tomori’s a blinding talent.

Can’t believe this was only around 18 months ago. He got Renato Sanches on loan from Bayern (who was horrible) and Derby twitter acted like he’d won the FA Cup or something. Fair to say now that we probably wouldn’t have been better off if we’d stuck with Clement...

A direct dig at Conor Sammon’s first touch?