I think your observations are indeed spot on, the trouble with Zaha
is you do not know which one is going to turn up. These days the sulking version seems to appear much more frequently than the skilful player and that results in him ''throwing the toys out of the pram'' if he thinks the referee are not protecting him. He should be. as a Senior Pro in the team, the leader and giving encouragement and advice but instead he over dribbles runs in to trouble and then throws his arm up in the air in despair. I think that whatever happens at the end of his contract the team would be better off without him in the long run as these days he cannot really walk the talk!

I have a box of those in my attic. Must dig them out for a laugh. Methinks whatever else they are they definitely won’t be woke!

I've just watched the press conference and Roy is clearly delighted to be back and he said he has never really considered himself retired.
He was asked if the next games went well whether he would consider staying next season.
As you would expect he batted this away and said he saw the upcoming games as a project in itself and wasn't looking beyond this.

Nonetheless, if it goes very well there could be a clamour for him to stay on.
Put it this way; with his enthusiasm and zest for the game I don't think he'll be in a rush to leave if it does go well.

One point that Roy made at the press conference struck me as slightly strange.
He was asked to compare the situation when he left the club to the current situation now.
He sought to differentiate the situations by referring to the amount of the players out of contract last time around (highlighting their concern about finding a new employer) from the situation now.
My understanding is that we have half a dozen players out of contract this summer too so some of the concerns surely remain although there is at least a little more choice this time around.

Given squads of 25 and 4-5 year contracts it is usual for a club to have half a dozen contracts coming to the end each season (if the contracts haven't been extended).

By my reckoning, we have ELEVEN contracts coming to an end this summer as follows:

Butland
Matthews

Ward
Clyne
Ferguson
Tomkins

McArthur
Milivojevic
Schlupp
Zaha

Ayew

Two of them have been injury crocks virtually all season and like the two keepers out on loan are unlikely to be retained next year IMO.

Of the other seven I think Clyne or Ward might be offered one year extensions along with Schlupp and Ayew.

We know there's an offer on the table for Wilf.

I would be surprised if Tomkins is retained and not sure about Luka.

If the two keepers aren't replaced given Whitworth can act as 3rd keeper behind Guaita and Johnstone, and, if I'm right about who will be offered extensions (and accept them, of course), it leaves us needing to replace:
- the two crocks (Ferguson and McArthur)
- Ward or Clyne
- Tomkins
- possibly Luka
- and probably Zaha.

Of course, if all Eleven go we will be up the proverbial etc.

Edited by doombear (30 Mar 2023 8.16pm)

I was really pleasantly surprised by the mentality shown by Roy in his approach to the game. It was the polar opposite to what I expected and whilst I was very down in the dumps around PV leaving and Roy coming in - I have to eat some humble pie here and say that the club may have got it right in the short term.

I’m not basing that on a euphoric end to a HUGE match, but the turnaround from a team that has created a premier league record for NO shots on target (in 3 games) to our magnificent first half performance. Roy, Ray and Paddy have done really well to get the squad to buy into their message. The aggressive “front foot” approach was exactly what was required for this game and hope this continues going forward.

I’m delighted to be proved wrong on this occasion. COYP!