Very very early days yet but the three promoted sides doing differently. Burnley at the moment are in the dreaded drop zone with only 4 points from 6 games and have had 4 losses. Leeds who are on 8 points so far have also been really unlucky by having a freak own goal in the 95th minute against Fulham which we actually deserved to take at least one point from that. Also robbed again last week when we had a victory snatched in the 94th minute, so 3 points knicked and would have seen us on 11 points, which would have seen us in joint 5/6/7th place. So besides a trouncing to Arsenal Leeds have competed very well except for up top. Sunderland however seem to be doing really well as they sit 5th in the table on 11 points having 3 wins already. So do we compare the transfer windows of Leeds and Sunderland where the black cats outspent Leeds by circa £40m, or do we account for this in the tactics of the coaches. I am no big fan of Farke but so far he is doing what I hoped he would do and show us that given the tools he would be able to compete at Premier League level. I believe he got the top keeper he wanted and he got the defence and midfield he wanted, which has allowed him to demonstrate what he can do defensively. However I think he was shafted in the forwards stakes as the club took gambles on forwards who have a history of injuries. A huge gamble which could turn out to be a jackpot or relegation and I also believe investors are not too happy with what happened in the window. Sunderland have a coach who has a reputation in France but unheard of here until last season. He has been backed substantially and they went out for some players who Leeds were interested in and Sunderland won those players, why? How? Have Sunderland got a better project, have they still got cash to spend in January, do the players fancy Reggie over Dan?. Not even 10 games gone yet so very very early days. I really hope all three promoted clubs survive. It must also be said that we could be having a freak season like the one we had when Leicester won the league. They won because Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City all had crap seasons at the same time. This time we are seeing WHU, Wolves, Man Utd, Newcastle, Villa, Forest and Brentford all below us. So is it down to the better coach or the better squad? Solomon or Okafor Struijk or Bijol Would we have been better selling Piroe For me Solomon was a loan and we knew his wages so could have saved £18m. Bijol is better than Struijk and if we had sold Piroe who we will hardly use we could have had Okafor cash and Piroe cash to get that top forward
It could also be down to the effects starting to kick in with several clubs. Villa had to offload some young talent to comply and look where they are and many other clubs seem to be in a tight position. Fulham only managed one substantial signing. I was initially critical of it but let's face it, if some form of per didn't exist some clubs would be in a position to spend 100's of millions. I think if we can hang on for another few seasons we might find ourselves in a strong position especially with the greatly increased ground capacity
I expect Man Utd, Villa and Newcastle to be nowhere near the bottom in just a couple of month. Villa and Newcastle look like they’re just starting to get going now. We both played them at exactly the right time. Probably West Ham as well as they’ve picked themselves up a very decent manager in Nuno. Wolves will be down there all season. Forest could be imploding and they might just be in the thick of the relegation battle. Burnley aren’t as bad as being made out, but I get the feeling with them, at some point their heads will drop if they don’t start picking up wins soon and then they’ll probably fall away. Brentford are my surprise team. I thought under Andrews they’d not get 30 points and would be heading down. Every time I’ve seen them they look solid and very well organised.
think it’s too early to say who’s business was best Doc or whose manager has done best. It looks like both have done well, but too few games, different opposition… good luck, bad luck. Let’s see how it looks at Christmas. I’d like Leeds obviously and Sunderland to stay up, don’t give a hoot about Burnley.
Strange for me as I'm a underdog supporter always want the lesser team to win. but now we are in there I want them all to get beat. As on the other 2 going up no offence to them but I want them to have stinker season's it's all about us and only us. No easy games it's about keeping some consistency as a few defeats will drop you straight down the table and its hard to get a run and chase with the quality about. We all know the usual suspects who will be with us around the bottom and I don't say that with disrespect to our club just being a realist. Sunderland have started well but it's a long season and don't they lose a few players with the African cup thingy me jig. Burnley are going to be in a relegation battle and looks like Wolves,West Ham will, but things can change very quickly. With our squad I'm fairly happy apart from the Arsenal game but these are going to challenge for the title and the champions league. we have competed with everyone else so far which is the main thing. Only thing I worry about is injuries to key players but you can say that to everyone.
Fulham look pretty ****. 6 points from very fortunate own goals so far this season but they look very ordinary.
Just watched the highlights of our U21s against WBA 2-2 draw but we conceded from 2 corners which suggests our tactics on set pieces is pretty pants
