Apart from Bennett coming in I'm not sure the starting XI can be significantly improved

Rudd hasn't looked great recently, but Ruddy has been poor for a while now so not sure if his return would change a lot.

Pinto has been woeful defensively, but then the other three options aren't much better. For ?2.2M he was a cheap punt, but really we need true quality that's ready now for that position. I like Naismith a lot, but honestly think that money would have been better spent on genuine quality in one of the full back positions.

Which brings me to Olsson, who played well in possession going forward, but his error at the end possibly shows why Neil doesn't play him and why we need a new left back (one natural LB in the squad isn't enough anyway). Brady will probably go back in at LB, but ideally we need him on the left wing.

Maybe the return of the Tettey/GON partnership would help, but Tettey has stuffed that up for the next two games. Mulumbu showed tonight why he isn't up to the CDM role.

Mbokani is the finisher we need in the box, but lacks the all round game that Jerome has everywhere else on the pitch. I think we look a better team with Jerome playing, but that means we have to rely on others to finish chances created. Bamford is an unknown quantity at this level, but hopefully he has the combined qualities of both the aforementioned to a reasonable level.

Again, having a relatively weak squad with a lack of investment in comparison to others is really our main downfall. Things like GON's red card and the sickness bug shouldn't affect a premier league squad to this degree, but unfortunately they seem to have done so.

Posted By: Common Sense Police, Feb 2, 22:55:57