You’re being hyperbolic again - surely the definition of a player of PL quality is not whether they could be sold to an elite club - that definition excludes more than half of the players currently playing in the league, which doesn’t make any sense. How many of the Everton or Bournemouth squads I shared would meet that definition? Probably less than us!

To suggest players like Mitchell, Ayew and Richards aren’t PL quality is silly. I’d also include Mateta, Edouard and Hughes.

Ward, Clyne, Tomkins and Schlupp are all at the wrong end of their careers but all have hundreds of appearances at this level. The rest are kids we are seeking to develop to this level, as is normal.

Like I said initially, there are some big holes in this squad and the recruitment has not been good enough, but it’s still nowhere near as bad as people like to suggest - it stands up in comparison to pretty much everyone in the bottom half, and arguably our best 5 or 6 players are as good as anyone’s outside the top clubs.

Well sadly, I think you are trying to minimize the problems we are facing, Our EPL survival this year is in serious jeopardy because of prevarication by SP and the board over investment in the right players to make us competitive. As a result the whole team balance is wrong but I would accept Ayew should be included because of his tireless efforts, week in and week out. If we go down, the good players we now have, will all go to other EPL clubs and we will struggle to get out of the championship and could even slide further down the football pyramid as we have done in the past and as many clubs before have also gone because of owners not facing up to the shortcomings in quality in their teams. Sorry I respect your view but I do not agree that the situation is not bad, it is!

I will refrain from watching it if it is on the television.
I really have no desire to subject myself to yet another drab and uninspired performance, causing a look of instant gaseous nausea to fall on my face.

Edited by Willo (05 Jan 2024 3.20pm)

Eze is a worry at the moment. When he has the ball i just want to see him running at his man, yet just often slows things down and makes a simple pass. He is the only one in that midfield who can do anything creative so i'd rather see him try and fail than not try. He still did good things yesterday but it was too infrequent for my liking.

As for his booking it was correct and completely unacceptable. What was he thinking. He needs to be careful as he is getting a reputation for going down too easily.

Not with Everton playing Villa the day before!

Terrible thinking. This is the FA cup and we should be trying to get as far as we can in this competition. Won’t affect our league position which is in jeopardy whether we stay in the cup or not. Us old timers should be wanting a winning Wembley appearance before we leave this earth. Get a grip, as bad as last night was Everton are beatable and we should go for it. Arsenal will most probably beat us whatever happens in the Everton replay.