Theregulars

Struggling to defend this.

Well this is just as poor!

This isn’t good enough…

We look pedestrian again, there’s a real lack of urgency and penetration. Not sure from here

Point away at West Ham looks like a better result the more time that passes. Good side.

Feels like the first time in months we have an actual squad of sorts available, with options to change and improve. Hopefully beginning of light at tunnel’s end.

Absolutely something of Dexter and Alan Strang about him, creepazoid.

They never should have announced he had a season left - that was the stupidest part of a stupid decision/process.

I differ on Bobby - I hadn't lost faith and felt it was a rancid decision at the time. I don't think he lost control, I think he suffered for lack of continued investment in the team so it couldn't evolve. Similar to the strange debate currently being had on Eddie Howe, shouldn't the Marseille semi-final be given a good chunk of context? A lot of our key players were missing which wasn't the case for the other team. There were players who were challenging his authority because frustration boiled over about early exit from the CL and then not being able to get back there in my view - at that point, a sensible chairman or board would have backed him and either recycled the players giving him grief or examined the situation and found another manager who would suit the playing staff. Let's be fair - did we do any better for backing Jermaine fucking Jenas and Kieron Dyer over Robson? We ended up with Souness and 2 decades of nonsense. I always thought at the time that people calling for Robson's head - and I think there were a lot, but I never thought majority of the fanbase - didn't know what they were wishing for and had short-term delusions of grandeur. Same thing happening with Howe now to some extent - he has some small flaws to work out but, to use the frame of the debate, I'd rate him as "well on the way to being elite, provided he learns from mistakes". I personally think he'll be a big name in European football for a long time.

He’s a left back who can play central midfield, no?

Hall isn't a winger and hasn't played there much / at all; he has said he doesn't yet trust him defensively; Ritchie is a winger and has had the best part of a decade being managed by Howe, so actually it makes quite a lot of sense to bring him on in circumstances where our aim (for whatever reason, I think fatigue but that's apparently not good for some people) was to keep shape and defend well - he can hold that shape and do his defensive work. I sometimes think there's a tendency to criticise the manager because it makes one feel like they have some agency or control over something that hasn't worked out as they wanted.

Needs a break. Not reliable at the minute.

Nothing - absolutely nothing - is going our way, it’s so tedious. Of course they won on penalties after that refereeing performance.

We need to see January for what it is, a chance to start again and turn the page on some of the most historically unparalleled bad luck going. Get a load of new faces in and move on.

A real pig of a season for us. No luck but always in the most agonising way.

You’d hope we put in a complaint about this performance whatever the outcome. May as well have a refbot set to default Chelsea every decision.

Referee is hall of fame one-sided here.

I can’t wait for this tedious injury nightmare to be over…

Concerned about the official, he’s not seeing obvious things. They should be at least a man down.

Another refereeing error goes against us.

Strong line up from them.

Hulk hogan ear cup @Ronaldo

He played really well at PSG….

Ah piss off man he’s been great under Eddie.

I don’t think your argument works - the lack of rotation early season has only become a problem because a severe injury crisis means he can’t now rotate. November and December were always going to be months where we needed to rotate: he hasn’t been able to. If he was able to and didn’t, you’d have a point. I think he always has stuff to learn improve, in particular on conceding on the counter and a lack of formation options, but I don’t really think what happened is caused by his views on rotation.