midds

That's another good way to do it too I did the whole league as it gives an idea as to how tightly bunched some of the clubs are and shows the points differences between positions. It's just data tbh and can and will be interpreted differently by different people. And even then people will also use the games themselves (the fabled 'eye test') they've seen to form their opinions with a bit of luck.

Absolutely, it's never going to be a perfect comparison as the fixtures will all be different. It's just there to look at and draw inferences from

Snipped the top 10 of the PL after 13 games (from us), other teams may have played a different number. I'm just presenting it and each season will have different fixture lists etc but each one shows where we were after having played 13 of the other 19 teams in the division: 22/23 23/24 24/25 Take from that what you will and there are still 26 more fixtures to play for it to improve or decline. We don't get to make the decisions but the people who do will be looking

Exactly this

Didn't manage to see the game but the stats, xG and the opinions I've read tell the story quite well. Sounds like another game where we created virtually nothing and somehow spawned a point out of it and were only 2 minutes away from getting all 3 points. It's just not sustainable in the medium and long terms, playing well and being unlucky suggest it'll turn and the points will come eventually if good performances are maintained. Playing poorly, creating/converting very few chances and dropping points is much harder to put a shine on. Howe's going to have to pull this around pretty quickly and the club looks like it's hit the wall in the last 12 months both on and off the park. All momentum that was there has gone, the intensity has gone, the threat we offer is often minimal and our play looks stale and predictable. He needs to find answers quickly or he'll be sacked whether we agree with it or not.

I'm just saying that the whole "let's ban this state owner club despite breaking no rules and not taking the piss" shtick probably won't amount to much. I will happily admit I'd love to see us push things as far as possible and even break the rules and then challenge them. But we've done nothing untoward and they're still papping their whackers at the mere thought of a successful Newcastle United. Bit embarrassing tbph

Correct decision, the giant fucking galoot

I think the fact that the club has behaved itself financially will go strongly in it's favour. There were daft rumours about lashing out hundreds of millions on an annual basis - never happened. Signing ridiculous sponsorship deals - never happened. Signing loads of players from Saudi clubs for less than they're worth - never happened. Breaking FFP rules and taking the points hit - never happened. They've done it by the book and played fair (a bit too fair imo) but haven't taken the piss. Can't see any way this goes through, too many allies and no grounds to chuck them out, they've done nothing wrong whatsoever with the ownership pov

Exactly, all teams do it and it's all fine too. You can't complain about it if we're one of the worst around for doing it. Tams kill the game now, we used to be really good at it but we've lost that edge but West Ham pulled it off and fair play to them, no complaints, even the ref was ok (barring the pen we should have had). We got what we deserved tbh. Fuck all

The future prospects of any manager are always pinned to his players and the results they get, that's just how it works. In the last few years Howe has received an unbelievable amount of praise for how he and his team have performed, he's been the manager and the team have looked good and got the results and he's been the golden boy and rightly so. I don't think you can just switch that around and give his (currently underperforming) players all of the stick and he walks away without valid criticism, you can't have it both ways. If the players and team are playing poorly but he gets no criticism but if the players and team are playing well then he gets the praise too? I love Eddie and wat him to stay and build big things here but he's not immune from criticism, no manager is. Tonight was a disaster, a total shitshow and he's the bloke in charge. People can, and have, had a pop at Isak and Gordon for their performances but if they're fair game then so is the bloke in charge. He got it wrong tonight and made it worse and worse imo. He's not infallible and he's got to take the lion's share of the responsibility

Doesn't surprise me at all tbh. Once the likes of Netflix go direct debit then people don't even feel it, it's just always there and it's not significantly expensive enough to cancel once they're invested. Most would look at it as a saving and bin Sky and TNT, they're the ones that should be looking over their shoulders really. If it happens then they're bang in trouble and the price-gouging will stop immediately. Good news all round

Not simply the loss that's concerning it was the manner of it. Yet again the whole thing turned into a mess and it's happening a bit too often to pass it off as just another one of those days. His players/forwards let him down and chances should have been taken but the shape was completely off, play was sloppy, basics were poor, defending was disorganised and by the end of the game they looked clueless. Their goals came at bad times for us but it's up to the manager to get the focus back and change things to have a positive impact. The changes tonight made it worse and worse. I'm back to fearing for him again after than, that was a horrendous day at the office for him

Ended the game looking utterly defeated, disorganised, deflated and disinterested. That was a fucking shambles, I'll give credit when it's due but that was shit tonight. Sloppy and had zero focus or intensity. We got exactly what we deserved, that was wank

Absolutely fucking gash this. The whole game has been a festering heap of pigshit

Kelly doing his best Konate impression tonight, he's been awful

12 minutes too late Eddie. And now the mountain is twice as high

Don't take your chances then you don't deserve to win. We've been sloppy as fuck in all areas and West Ham have done us twice now, fair play. It's shit but it's our own fault

You know what I love? Adverts

Willock and Longstaff off, Barnes and Tonali on. Joelinton back into CM, Barnes left and Gordon right. I'll go 58th minute unless we get one back

Delivery into the box is consistently dreadful like. Just an aimless punt into a vague area and cross your fingers someone is nearby

This is the exact game that highlights Longstaff's limitations. We need something different in there tonight and he's currently sitting on the bench. The Arsenal game was perfect for him but tonight is the opposite, we need to change it up as this isn't working. He's not been the only one who's been sloppy mind

Ok so when do we switch Joelinton and Gordon around and get back to what beat Arsenal?

Scruffy cunt looks like he's been sleeping in the woods for a month

Is that? Is that? Is that some....genuinely good options I see on the bench?

Got no idea why you can't mute the commentators and just have the live stadium audio like you could during lockdown 1. Was bliss just switching the fuckers off and listening to the actual sound of the game (the fact there was no crowd was a bit eerie but still preferable than listening to that cunt drone on like he does now. Drury was fucking unbearable yesterday and got muted eventually but then there's no feedback at all from the game and you end up missing things if it's silence. He's under the mistaken belief that there's a correlation between his enthusiasm and the entertainment it provides. All I need a commentator to do is to let me know who's got the ball and the occasional stat in there if it's relevant, the game itself is the entertainment. The fucker wants to hijack the whole experience and dominate everything with his fucking drivel, making it all about how fucking great he sounds. He's supposed to be like the cutlery in a restaurant, necessary but very much in the background. I despise the prospect within a second of hearing the cunt's voice