TRon

I don't normally agree with this line of thought, but that's the second time today he's failed to collect a cross on the six yard line, this time it's cost us. Terrible stuff.

They had a couple of good chances to score I thought, just no one there to apply a finish. That said, we should have had a couple more as well, so the score is fair enough regardless of the fairly loose football.

That's the downside of keeping a winning team together. It really hamstrings us down the right.

That bit where he ran 15 yards backwards to make space to receive a throw in....you just don't see people doing that normally. Class.

Weird game, feels like our midfielders have been chasing shadows for the most part, the two wide players have been a real threat bar Murphy's finishing. Still...2-0. I'l take it.

I think we've just looked sloppy in general, even if we aren't dominating possession, we should be making it harder for them to do it.

Despite the scoreline, I don't think Eddie is going to be that happy at half time. We aren't controlling this by any means.

The midfield are struggling tbh, but Murphy and Fraser have been great out wide.

Defintiely need to keep pressing and looking for another goal, we don't look like we can keep them at bay if we sit back.

This is much better, we are closing them down better now.

You wouldn't be disappointed, he likes to press forcefully.

Same. I'll fucking never learn.

How the fuck are we 2-0 up??

Poor Murphy just can't find the space between the posts.

Great work by Wood tbf.

Looking like the old Bruce version of NUFC so far. Brighton strolling around the pitch without us getting close to them.

Howe is just riding the wave, tbf, it's good management, every player who has the shirt will be busting a gut to keep it.

Exactly. I'm not bothered about it either, although it does hint that she sees how things can change pretty quickly. From my POV, we never needed to be the richest club in the world, all things equal, if the "state ownership" of clubs came to a halt, we'd be up there as commercially attractive as most others. It's why the Saudis targeted us in the first place. All we really wanted was a level playing field, and with the likes of Abramovic and the Mansours calling the shots that was never going to happen without PIF. I hope we get a decade or so of super powered spending like those clubs had before we get the plug pulled. After that I'm happy to go head to head with anyone, PIF or not.

What's legal today could become illegal tomorrow, if circumstances changed, the govt could just bring in new emergency laws under some contingency or other. If there came a time when as a nation we needed to disasociate with PIF then it would get done. Not that I think it will happen, Saudis have a long history with the British govt, they would never go against them in the way Putin has.

Is that accounting for the money which City have ploughed in outside of the football club across the city as well? And the £1.5billion loan Abramovic is writing off?

The exodus from British football of Russian investors in the space of a few weeks does show how things can change pretty quickly. Yesterday Abramovic and Usmanov were valued investors underwriting their clubs, now they are on the run. It's got to have big repercussions for their clubs. Also how come Abramovic is so happy to write off £1.5bn which is owed to him by Chelsea? It makes me wonder how hard he worked for that money in the first place, most accounts give the suggestion that he probably came across it through links with the Russian govt anyway.

On the contrary I think Bruce knows he's a terrible manager, that's why he gets so defensive when prodded a bit. Also when you can't make your mind up what your actual preferred style or formation is, that suggests he has no confidence in any method and just throws different players and formations in the air hoping one sticks. Ditto Pardew.

I still consider Moyes and Dyche to be PFMs tbh, but there are degrees to PFMs as well. On the one hand you will have the likes of Allardyce or Pulis, who make no apologies about their route one football, then you have Moyes who is more of a football man, but would never really go all in like Howe has done. But you know they have certain basic principles around being hard to beat, and they find an effective way of getting results (to a point). For me there's another category of manager who don't really know what their philosophy is and they just blag it week to week. This is where your Bruces and Pardews fit in. Long ball one week, then when it goes tits up it's "right, I'm doing it my way!" Then when they get beat again, it's back to park the bus and hoof it high and long. This category is sometimes called the fraud category.

He's always had a great tactical awareness, no surprise to see him pinpointing the problems at West Brom.

He's more mobile than he was, but he's never going to be top class level just because he is limited there. I don't know what the stats will say, but I bet he doesn't win the ball from the opposition much compared to Joelinton or Willock, simply because they can close down players quicker. Shelvey is more a defensive tackler where he drops deep and blocks rather than push forward and dispossess the opposition. That said, it's not the worst thing as he plays deeper anyway, but you have to think Bruno will be better because he will press more aggressively.