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Postecoglou Secure - For Now

As of 9am this morning, the club had no plans to sack Ange Postecoglou but the volatile situation of the club and its proprietor Evangelos Marinakis means that things can change quickly.

Supporters expressed their opinions on the previous day, demanding the exit of the coach who took over from an East Midlands hero and it is challenging to reverse the sentiment once that occurs.

The Australian is Marinakis’ man, the owner having selected him well ahead of the previous manager was dismissed. All involved with the club expected a time of adjustment but to be winless in six matches and suffering defeats at home to opposing teams were not anticipated outcomes when he joined recently.

The Australian was always going to alter the approach but he has his tactical philosophy, which is very different to his predecessor, so there is an understanding that these things take time. Patience, however, is not a trait often seen at the club. The upcoming league fixtures are against tough opponents, so things are not going to get easier for the manager.

Alisson Out for Liverpool

The Liverpool manager has been speaking:

“The goalkeeper is absent from the team this weekend and he won’t travel to his national team for the international duty. The forward is going to train again today, we will assess where he is. The same can be said for Frederico [Chiesa]. It depends on how quickly they heal.

“I will be surprised if he the keeper will be there for the first game after the national team pause. From there on progress may be a bit quicker or a bit slower. It’s hard to predict. I’m not medically trained so I cannot tell you if it is the identical issue.”

The backup keeper will play in place of Alisson.

“I think we’ve observed against the Saints how well he’s adjusted. We were aware we were signing a high-quality shot-stopper. When he made his debut that’s a way of seeing he’s adjusted really well to our club. It’s not a surprise because he’s a skilled player. Now he can perform the role we’ve needed to accomplish so many occasions in the past covering for Alisson, like we’ve handled previously.”

Weekend Matches

• Friday
• Bournemouth v Fulham (8pm)
• Saturday
• Whites face Spurs
• Arsenal v West Ham
• United meet Sunderland
• Blues clash with Reds
• Sunday
• Villa play Burnley
• Newcastle v Nottingham Forest
• Wolves battle Seagulls
• Everton v Crystal Palace
• Brentford v Manchester City

Continental Action

The evening went well for the other English clubs in continental competitions. And a bad night for the teams from Scotland.

Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run as Muñoz gets continental campaign to strong beginning.

European tournament roundup: Aston Villa star secures Villa win as Rangers and Celtic lose.

Supporters' Response at Forest's Stadium

Events were close to extraordinary on a sobering evening, many local fans chanting: “Your job is at risk.” Then the same fans twisted the knife, singing the title of his former coach the ex-manager, with several turning towards the owner watching on with his own large personal screen in the directors’ box. This made for a dismal spectacle.

Weekend Lookahead

Unbeaten in the Premier League since their initial match, the Cherries early momentum has been stalled by back-to-back ties: at their stadium to the Magpies and at Elland Road last week. Fulham travel to the Vitality on Friday, offering Andoni Iraola’s side a good opportunity of recapturing winning ways and climbing the table. After a hectic off-season, Iraola has aimed for consistency in his lineup choices.

Trailing 2-1 at Leeds, the coach made a triple change to reintroduce three regular players – David Brooks, Alex Scott and Marcus Tavernier – to his XI and was compensated with a late leveller. Bournemouth have also maintained defensive stability, conceding just once in several matches between the away games to Liverpool and Leeds. The defender, often featuring in an otherwise brand-new back five, has been key to the team’s continuity. The centre-back received accolades from the boss for his performances and danger at dead-ball situations – as evidenced by his headed assist for Eli Junior Kroupi’s equaliser at Elland Road.