2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Why was he subbed off? More cramp?

Not sure. Perhaps just some fresh legs to see out the game.

2 hours ago, forbzy said:

Not sure. Perhaps just some fresh legs to see out the game.

Agree. I also wondered if a little experience and leadership from Tosin was the reason.

Saying that, Josh has all the attributes to get to the very top. He’s immense - height, speed, strength (and more to come as he fills out a little), great on the ball, reads the game, good technique. Trying not to get carried away, but he may quickly be our best defender. Levi was probably our best CB by end of last season, and Josh could compete with any of the rest today. Id pick him over Fofana and Tosin, and probably even Trev.

Edited October 19, 2025Oct 19 by PhilH930

Excellent today, it's a real shame we don't get to see him playing alongside Levi for a decent amount of games, they could become a real cb partnership for years to come. Great teams are built in great CB partnerships, this could easily be ours.

36 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Why was he subbed off? More cramp?

12 hours ago, forbzy said:

Not sure. Perhaps just some fresh legs to see out the game.

Was right about where Wood was brought on, no?

5 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Was right about where Wood was brought on, no?

Wood on a little earlier but swapping in Tosin was probably sensible.

Really pleased for him.

Turning into a real good player at this level.

295M spent on central defenders under these owners and our 3 best in the squad (Colwill, Chalobah, Josh) all came from the academy and the next in line was free from Fulham.

9 hours ago, GarnachoCheese said:

295M spent on central defenders under these owners and our 3 best in the squad (Colwill, Chalobah, Josh) all came from the academy and the next in line was free from Fulham.

It's the amount spent on wingers that really makes me laugh ... especially when the best one is training on his own in the bomb squad LOL

Let's hope the club don't f**k up the potential pairing of Acheampong/Colwill in the pursuit of "pure profit" and buying more centre backs to "trade". Those two could be our centre back partnership for a decade.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

It's the amount spent on wingers that really makes me laugh ... especially when the best one is training on his own in the bomb squad LOL

Let's hope the club don't f**k up the potential pairing of Acheampong/Colwill in the pursuit of "pure profit" and buying more centre backs to "trade". Those two could be our centre back partnership for a decade.

Just had to check and we’ve spent over half a billion on wingers pmsl

55 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Just had to check and we’ve spent over half a billion on wingers pmsl

And not one could hold a candle to Semenyo (well Estevao maybe in time and I'm not sure if you are including Palmer in your 500m) but anyway!

He's going to have some shocking mistakes as he learns, got away with some really poor decisions on the weekend, BUT, aboslutely props to him stepping up, looks a really decent prospect, has recovery pace and is decent on the ball at feet, can pass, and isnt afraid to step up into midfield to win the ball. Think him and Chalobs need some work together but as others have said, 3 of the 4 in our backline are cobham grads... which again suggests we should be utilising the academy over signing players and saving us 200 million a season. Enjoying his breakthrough season for us and shows again, the club need to look within for solutions to the injury crisis and Maresca needs to also trust the academy.

Should be the first CB name on the team sheet for the rest of the season.

Some future partnership with him and Levi for the next decade coming up if we don’t f**k this up and everyone knows defence wins championships.

the only defender who wants to defend.

Why was he taken off

33 minutes ago, Andy2461 said:

Why was he taken off

I believe it’s because he looked calm & capable and Maresca likes his defenders to be shaky with a guaranteed mistake in them.

38 minutes ago, Andy2461 said:

Why was he taken off

I think because Maresca is a very reactive manager, and like Forest, saw Sunderland were playing it direct so he decided to take off our best CB for Tosin.

The whole possession notion is a facade. Maresca is actually a very pragmatic manager in nature.

3 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I think because Maresca is a very reactive manager, and like Forest, saw Sunderland were playing it direct so he decided to take off our best CB for Tosin.

The whole possession notion is a facade. Maresca is actually a very pragmatic manager in nature.

Pragmatic as in he wants to loose? Because taking off his best defender does not look very pragmatic to me.

What are people's thoughts on whether his best long-term position is at RB or CB?

Obviously CB is the position he's playing right now as that's where the current gap is within our squad; however, he played RB throughout his time in the youth teams.

12 minutes ago, Fatty_Speeding said:

What are people's thoughts on whether his best long-term position is at RB or CB?

Obviously CB is the position he's playing right now as that's where the current gap is within our squad; however, he played RB throughout his time in the youth teams.

CB IMO because of his rangy frame. Even Lee Carsley has been playing him as a CB, and Madrid were rumoured to be interested in playing him as one.

35 minutes ago, RMH said:

Pragmatic as in he wants to loose? Because taking off his best defender does not look very pragmatic to me.

Pragmatic as in overly cautious and unwilling to take risks.

Possession based football gives the impression it’s a progressive way of playing, but in Maresca’s case he wants the team to keep the ball because he’s scared sh*tless of what the opposition does with it.

14 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Pragmatic as in overly cautious and unwilling to take risks.

Possession based football gives the impression it’s a progressive way of playing, but in Maresca’s case he wants the team to keep the ball because he’s scared sh*tless of what the opposition does with it.

100% bang on, he reacts to what the opposition are doing to us, not what can we do to the opposition as he wants to control the whole game. his first instinct is to "not lose", which is a ridiculous premise for a top flight manager.

On 27/10/2025 at 04:34, Sconnie Blue said:

Pragmatic as in overly cautious and unwilling to take risks.

Possession based football gives the impression it’s a progressive way of playing, but in Maresca’s case he wants the team to keep the ball because he’s scared sh*tless of what the opposition does with it.

You can even see it in the possession that we keep. Our defenders aren't watching for runs, they are waiting for the opposition to press them then they react. That is so different to say, prime Barcelona tiki-taka, where Xavi or Iniesta would often come deep to receive the ball and slide rule the ball into the on-rushing wide attacker.

Has the bald idiot explained his genius move of taking off our best defender late in the game yet?

21 minutes ago, dkw said:

Has the bald idiot explained his genius move of taking off our best defender late in the game yet?

Yeah, it was an inverted substitute

Acheampong looks like he has been doing the work of 4 defenders so far this season. The others should be embarrassed with their performances.