Gribz

Well done The Villa, cracking goal again from Duran Duran but Martinez had a couple of worldy saves. The other thread about Man Utd's next manager - what would they give to get Uni Emery?? I mentioned A-listers who are Klopp, Pep, Anchelotti and possibly Zidane (although needs to prove himself elsewhere) but Emery cant be far off from being promoted into that bracket.

A good thing for me, I like him and at 100% when on it he is the best available player in about 3 positions on the park.

This isnt bad, I have always thought there is a player in there but it just hasnt shown often enough. He isnt a patch on his father but he is still capable of performing for the next 3 months in the SPL. I like him better than Lawrence and Dowell and fast creativity in that No.10 role is what is really lacking at the moment. I dont see Hagi getting much starts though, Phil has shown he doesnt shuffle things much at all and can be very loyal.

What a chuckle I had checking the scores this morning. Brought back down to earth with a bang. Looking at the other scores there was big wins again, 4-0s 5-0s etc. This format is like picking 9 Premier League teams, 9 from the Championship, 9 from each League 1 and 2.

There are definitely still bad apples in that dressing room and their effort is not there. Ten Hag cant be blamed for some of the useless give away passes they were doing all over the park. On the flip side Ive no idea what identity they have in any game so yes its both. It was always a 5 year job to rid all previous players, they still need rid of Rashford, McGuire, Lindelof, Fernandes etc plus Evans and Erikson are pretty much finished. But Ten Hags singings are very questionable - I dont rate the goalkeeper, Anthony has never shown near worth 80m and Mount has been one of the worst signings in premier league era and the strikers are very raw. I think Ten Hag wants the sack after the owners interviewing in the summer. He was firefighting behind the scenes in the last two seasons with multiple issues.

Jefte for me also but a shout out for Butland. The goal was a brilliant finish but bar that Lawrence did nothing else.

They spoke with him in the summer and were very open about it but there was no agreement. Tuchel likes more control than just being a coach and Ineos were bringing in the Ashworth / Wilcox set up.

If Werner could finish it would have been at least 5-0 in that game. I guess that has to be the end for Ten Hag though, he cant turn things around now especially against Porto away. Tuchel would be the only realistic option at the moment but the board obviously saw something they didnt like. Ashworth and Southgate are very close mates so he will be a possibility and I hope so because he is worse than Ten Hag - he didnt even play Palmer in the Euros. Zidane would be the only A-lister available but he doesnt fancy Manchester nor speak the language.

That was one drag to watch. Sublime goal and you could tell Butland was saving that Pen all day long but the rest was awful. It might be down to a Euro hangover. The build up play is so pedestrian and games like that are crying out for 2 up front.

A difficult watch until that finish - superbly curled in by Lawrence.

I thought it was an excellent match and with City dropping points 2 games in a row is good for the top of the league. A bit annoyed with my 2-1 City prediction as I had 1-1 down for days until yesterday morning. I dont think its a penalty though - Gordon left his foot in then passed the keeper then fell unnaturally and buckled his foot in fresh air. Ederson has every right to go for the ball. Arsenal might feel redeemed with injury time winners after last week but they cant be relying on that. Big win for Everton and Fulham keep on impressing.

Alright, lets see if further improvement this weekend. Was tempted to scrap scorelines and just go with Home win, away win, score or no score draw. There are still 6 teams looking for a first win but I cant see Southampton, Ipswich, Wolves or Leicester getting one this weekend (perhaps backing all 4 at the bookies on an accumulator is worth a fiver!). Everton v Palace who are both looking for a first win meeting at Goodison. The Everton takeover stuff may boost them but I thought Palace would be the surprise package this season as they have a top manager who went on a good winning run last season. Super Sunday - both managers need a win at Old Trafford, it could be a basketball match. Newcastle 1-2 Man City Arsenal 4-0 Leicester Brentford 0-2 West Ham Chelsea 2-1 Brighton Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace Nottingham Forest 2-2 Fulham Wolves 0-3 Liverpool Ipswich 0-2 Aston Villa Man Utd 2-2 Tottenham Bournemouth 1-0 Southampton

Its actually nice we have a Sky tv game at home for once (out with Celtic games). I think Frankie's team is very likely as I dont see Tavernier being dropped and it seems Clement likes Lawrence - I just think he is lacking a bit. Personally the team selection Id like to see: Butland Kasanwirjo Souttar Propper Jefte Barron Diomande McCausland Igamane Bajrami Dessers

Only saw the second half but it was as comfortable as could be and they didnt look like scoring even if they were still playing now. As good a result as it is the sitters were bad misses. McCausland and Bajrami - easily the best options in the wide areas and should be starting from now on. Barron is growing into that midfield role nicely but if we could get that extra bit in the No.10 role it could change everything and we could give teams a hiding - I sometimes look at our play and think that we could still go up a couple of gears.

Next 3 games between this Sunday and the following Sunday - Tottenham at home, Porto away, Aston Villa away. I dont see them winning any of them.

Wage demands could prove very difficult. He has been linked with West Ham and Wolves but neither have taken him.

Arent Man City and Girona part of the same ownership group? Both in this seasons CL.

That was 20 years ago prices and there is a huge trend of SPL players going on the cheap, its a cheaper market.

Nah not a chance. I well wanted rid of him but didnt want Lopetegui. There was a large petition against Lopetegui appointment as a lot of fans knew he is Moyes 2.0.

Got to actually give credit to Chelsea, whilst West Ham were awful Chelsea were organised, drilled and knew what they were doing. Caicado looked back to his best. Fair play to the coach for gathering a core number of maybe 16 / 17 players and sticking with them, they are going to be entertaining a bit like back in the late 90s early 2000s when they had Zola, Jimmy Floyd etc. That Man City Arsenal match had a bit of everything except great free flowing football but it was a good watch. Arsenal should have held on though, they were defensively set up superbly in the second half but let it go at the last seconds. The refereeing though is so inconsistent on so many levels. But the fact City didnt win is good for the league and hopefully they drop more points at Newcastle next week.

Hearts just collapsed since the opening day draw with us when they played quite well. Naismith is still a wee arrogant so and so though and that has probably rubbed off in the dressing room.

The Dessers v Boyd debate is quite interesting but they are miles different. Boyd couldnt really miss when he got a chance except in big games and his work rate was awful. Dessers for me is a trier and works much harder but he spoons much more chances than he scores but he is still notching goals up. I was very critical of Boyd back in the day for his overall contribution out with goals but for Dessers Im more critical of his technique I.E v Dundee Utd last week there was a chance in the first half he should have taken first time but he waiting way to long. As such Im more realistic in that Boyd was in an era where we had much better players and were financially better off, we had Prso, Darcheville, Cousin and of course Miller around those times so the standard was much higher. Dessers hasnt been helped with multiple squad changes in the players behind him and injuries to Sima and Danilo last season so he's had to carry the can the majority of time. I would be bringing in a top class sharp finisher in the mould of Defoe to work with Dessers on the training ground so he could become a bit more deadly in the box.

They are in trouble. 1 point from 5 games taken from a promoted side! Villa had the Euro hangover in the first half and for the second game in a row they have came from behind at home and left it late.

West Ham were seriously poor and the players arent playing for Lopetegui at all. Liverpool, Chelsea and Brighton all with new managers and have an identity so early days is no excuse. 5 out 8 predictions isnt a bad comeback from last week.

Lets see if last week was just an off day. Villa will be favourites in the midland derby but will they have a Euro hangover? Huge games at Leicester and Southampton. Plus big pressure on Spurs. For the biggy on Sunday I dont see Arsenal going there and attacking. Their defence has been immense but this might be the game where they have a slip up and Haaland bags another hattrick. West Ham 2-1 Chelsea Aston Villa 2-0 Wolves Fulham 1-1 Newcastle Leicester 1-0 Everton Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth Southampton 0-0 Ipswich Tottenham 2-1 Brentford Crystal Palace 2-2 Man Utd Brighton 1-1 Nottingham Forest Man City 3-1 Arsenal