Southsider

Not this time. We needed this

If it's "pay as you play" and Clement's in favour, then ok. If not, then it's ludicrous IMO

Some good jokes on this thread... Anyway, IMO the only way for him to stay would be a "pay as you play" type contract. Even then, it creates uncertainty as to what the squad resources are, so would Clement even consider it? He's 31, so I would imagine he'll want a more regular contract anyway, so he won't be staying, IMO

I would have thought making us play a game postponed through no fault of ours a few days before a crucial game against opponents who have a full week to prepare lacks sporting integrity. The club should be making clear to the authorities that they will be very vocal about it, if they go ahead with the third

I would only offer him a contract if he scored 4 goals every game

That's a bit weird. He's on record saying his heroes are Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, so would be a bit surprising if he wants to play for Ghana

Were we still in the Europa, I'd be concerned, but to be honest this is a plus. Half the team looked gubbed on Thursday so this was a potential banana skin, especially on a heavy pitch. Yes it's annoying that we can't go straight back to the top, but it's the position at the end of the season that counts

Exactly. Lundstram started really badly on Thursday and looked shattered at the end. I'd seriously consider using Raskin and having Lundstram on the bench. Doubt we can do much about Tavernier with Sterling injured. He is a pretty fit guy and played well on Thursday though. Our biggest problem remains the fact our CF options are Roofe or Dessers, unless we play Silva there and start Matondo on the left

5 goals in 11 games is a ratio of 0.45. That's almost identical to Morelos' record in the league. It's not realistic to think midfielders will get that. 3 would be good

Back from the game Not a terrible performance, but the brutal truth is that we lack the cutting edge required at this level. A front three of Wright, Dessers and Silva is nothing like good enough. I think Clement has done wonders with very little, but if we want to improve, he will need to be backed in the summer. What I did like to see is that our pressing game continues to develop. Benfica did struggle against it at the back at times. I think this will be crucial in the two (maybe three) games we still have to play against the other lot as they don't handle it well

Agreed. I like Silva, but as a wide player, he's basically an inside forward and it leaves the FB with a lot to do. I thought Yilmaz played pretty well tonight, tbh. Not his best, but the opposition were excellent coming forward.

Just back from the game and v surprised to see this comment. Thought Lundstram had a nightmare in the first half, tbh. Worst I have seen him play in a while. Improved in the second half, but nowhere near MOTM for me Agree Souttar had a v good game

Yes "Doubt we have practiced penalties" No penalties "I don't doubt we have practiced penalties" Penalties "I don't doubt we haven't practiced penalties" No penalties

He's not that effective out wide and we have Silva, Matondo, Lawrence and (probably) Wright and McCausland available, so I would say central, possibly as a sub

Does seem a bit unlikely Sterling will play but we don't know the true situation. That said, I'd rather we tried to make sure he's fit for the title run in, rather than risk him exacerbating the injury on Thursday

Agreed, although I don't think it's "preferably" right sided. It's an absolute essential

When he scored the winner against Betis. I can't really believe that having watched both players, you can't spot the fact that Roofe is a better finisher than Dessers. Problem is he's hardly ever fit, which may have had a bit of an effect on his stats

When available, Roofe is our most clinical striker Obviously "when available" is doing some heavy lifting there

We did, but we needed to use him further up the pitch and now he's injured

Not at all, in fact I think getting the three we did get was good work. What I meant was I don't agree he'll view the defence as his number one priority

Totally reasonable, and this would be helped enormously if, instead of having to buy "squad" players, we could bring through some youth players good enough to step in during an injury crisis. Look at Liverpool atm

Can't really agree with that. We have nobody at RW and seriously short at CF.

There's no reason that we can't sign players of Silva's quality. But we need to sign them before they go to a team in one of the big leagues like the EPL. Not afterwards Players like Diomande and Cortes are our future, not trying to sign Silva

I think it's realistic if we win the league, but prob not otherwise