I'd sooner lose the first three games and sign the best combination of players we can afford/attract. Remember how long the Kanchelskis saga dragged on for? Absolutely ages. Glad we stuck with it and didn't go for our back-up option.
The goal was much more down to Branthwaite getting lost on the left than it was down to Patterson, it meant O'brien had to shift to LCB and Patterson to RCB positions.
Two worst rules for me now are the handball interpretation when the old ball to hand rule was fine. When you have defenders defending with arms behind their backs you know the rule is a joke. The second rule is the sliding tackle being penalized...
Imagine one of their Super Sunday hypefests with Salah and Fernandes for example suspended for retrospective diving offences. They couldn't allow that possibility now could they?