[BaggieSteve]

To be fair to McAuley, I think he was pretty annoyed with the ref missing the obvious boot on him from Walker and as a result he was ready to go shoulder to shoulder and put Walker into the stand, but when Walker held off he was unbalanced.

At the end of the day he shouldn't be playing on the left of a back 3 because he's too old to be getting dragged into wide areas, but he'd still be ideal at the centre of a 3. It's unfair to say he's 'no longer up to it' because he's made a mistake playing out of position. He remains the best aerial defender in the league in both boxes and is the main reason why we rarely ever concede from a set play.

Olsson on the other hand must be replaced. He's been a great servant but his legs have gone, timing has gone and he really shouldn't even be in the mix as a squad player anymore. The fact McAuley is playing in the wider position of a 3 is due to the fact Olsson is in the team. In what other circumstances could a 37 year old centre half be deemed to have more legs?

Pulis always sets up the side to defend first against the top sides and when you get a 0-0 it's a masterclass, when they score early it's terrible...

But the reality is, Foster aside, each and every player was terrible today. Fletcher and Yacob were too slow and kept missing the easy outball. Mozza and Chadli were particularly shocking - they both had some reasonable opportunities but fluffed their lines time and time again. Rondon was isolated, but couldn't trap a bag of sand when it did go forward to him. HRK, despite his wonder strike at Southampton, really doesn't offer any threat as a sub and seems to be the type of 'forward' who will only ever score wonder goals because his main attribute is just 'putting himself about'. Dawson and Brunt were as bad as I've seen them play at full back in the first half.

This game shows us exactly how big the gap is getting between the top 6 and the rest. We can compete with most sides, but with a couple of injuries we're miles off the top sides.

We desperately need a centre half to replace Olsson and a real left back who we trust. Fletcher and Yacob are generally solid defensively, but we need more mobility in that role. That was made blatently obvious today. Assuming Saido is gone, you can't expect to do anything with just HRK and Rondon. When you weigh up the squad at our disposal, we've been punching well above our weight this season and maybe this brings us back to reality...

Slick, I think you're spot on, we are punching way above our weight but, we are struggling in key areas. Without Evans, I think GMac struggles because he doesn't, as you say, have a quicker set of legs next to him. GMac has been absolutely outstanding for us but we have to face the reality that, at 37, he will having increasingly poorer days. I would definite still play him but I feel we need to replace him with a younger model. However, again like you, I think midfield and attack are real concerns; with the exception of the excellent Phillips there is no pace and precious little creativity, we so need a dynamic player whose first thought is to run with the ball but from the centre of the pitch, not on the wing - I can't see how we need another winger. I accept this probably means replacing Fletcher but so be it. Upfront is also an issue, I think. Despite his wonder finish at Southampton, HRK is, at best, a substitute striker. Rondon is a handful but he's no natural finisher so, if you put those two together, they probably won't score more than 12 goals between them in a season, not enough for your strikers. We desperately need another natural finisher (Berahino, anyone?). So, for me, please go and buy a central defender to replace Olson, a dynamic midfielder to replace Fletcher and one, maybe two, strikers. Oh, and stop xxxx about penny pinching and pay what is needed; Albion missing out on alleged targets is now going beyond a joke.