Vieira said he didn't learn anything from the Chelsea game and to be honest neither did we. Last season Roy almost seemed to concede before kick-off against the bigger teams and we went down faster than a lubed-up Titanic to some pretty embarrassing scores and performances. If you take that into account Saturday wasn't so bad and we didn't rollover, plus at least Vieira actually did something to try and change things (switching to a back three).

Last season we looked so slow at times it felt as if we were transforming into a walking football team, especially at the back. Guehi and Andersen look like going a long way to addressing that, while Gallagher is a genuine box-to-box midfielder with the ability to press for 90 minutes. Eze was getting better and better as the games went by at the end of last season while in Olise we have a player who has huge potential and could add yet another layer of creativity. I've gotten this far and I haven't even mentioned Wilf who in pre-season looked really hungry again.

So yes, we do still need at the very least a couple more players, but I think the Chelsea game has just shaken some people. Vieira has built a very good coaching team around him and we still have a core of experienced players to complement the youth. It may not come instantly, but against the smaller teams I think our quality will start to shine providing we avoid any catastrophic injury lists.

Relegation battle? In my opinion, no. I'm going to go with slowly improving performances and finishing about the same area of the table as normal. I do think we will need to be patient though, which of course is unlikely on a football forum!!

Matt Woosnam seemed to suggest Olise will be ready after International break and Eze could well be back before Christmas. Ferguson possibly earlier!

Edited by Spiderman (19 Aug 2021 5.29pm)

Sounds to me like this Matt fella's a bit of a know-all. Be good if he's right though.

Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

Lets hope Brentford fancy their chances because that will suit us just fine. We play better on the counter so I predict a Wilf goal plus if Benteke gets the service a 2 nil win.
Think positive 1 big vocal support 2 team out to make amends for Chelski 3 new starters in Andersen, Gallagher, Benteke and maybe Rak-Sakyi 4 Brentford ain't that good and unlike Arsenal we don't take any team for granted.

I cant believe people think our squad is poorer, we have added, Anderson, Guehi, Gallagher, Olise so far, the young player are improving all the time,
We lost Cahill. Dann, Sakho, McCarthy, Hennessey, PVA, Townsend and Wickham, All not good enough. for the premiership, also retained Wilf, i think the glass is half full not half empty

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

Could we be in a relegation battle? Of course we could. Just like every other season. It’s an occupational hazard faced by the majority of teams in this league at the start of every season. Will we? Too early to say for me. We have the players to avoid it, but do we have the manager? Then there’s injuries and the fickle finger of fate to add to the mix.