Ashley17

Considering he came with the reputation of being a bit of an arsehole he's grown up fast and, well, isn't an arsehole.

So? So it's hardly worth getting excited about such a pedestrian performance. We were not good by any means. 3-0 flattered us but I was pleased to see us execute a game plan and show some discipline. It seemed to me that Rafa realised they were going to have the ball a lot, as they always do, so rather than run around kicking them getting dragged out of shape we invited them on and pressed them well. We gave nothing away all day, everybody stuck to their task and he picked a team that best suited his tactics rather than trying to get say Shelvey to cover the ground. Lascelles was exceptional and Townsend wasn't far behind, showed good work ethic which I hadn't really seen from him before. It wasn't a vintage performance by any means but I imagine we'll set up exactly the same on Tuesday. I'd say we were very compact and agree that Lascelles and Townsend did well but, let's not forget how much possession and how many chances they had before we got the second. This could, and possible should, have been very different. I think Mitrovic should have been on 10 minutes sooner just to try and stem the flow, the ball kept coming back at us a lot in the second half but when you're 19th in the league you're not going to win a game without giving up a couple of chances.

So? So it's hardly worth getting excited about such a pedestrian performance. We were not good by any means. 3-0 flattered us but I was pleased to see us execute a game plan and show some discipline. It seemed to me that Rafa realised they were going to have the ball a lot, as they always do, so rather than run around kicking them getting dragged out of shape we invited them on and pressed them well. We gave nothing away all day, everybody stuck to their task and he picked a team that best suited his tactics rather than trying to get say Shelvey to cover the ground. Lascelles was exceptional and Townsend wasn't far behind, showed good work ethic which I hadn't really seen from him before. It wasn't a vintage performance by any means but I imagine we'll set up exactly the same on Tuesday.

Hopefully he's too injured to get raped by Montero again next week

We're at pretty much a 9.9. Anybody clinging on to the last few remaining threads can at least point out that if the mackems lose tomorrow we're no worse off after this weekend, with 2 home games to come. We won't beat Swansea though, and that will be the final nail, though I suspect a Norwich win in the early kick off next Saturday would do the same job.

Shelvey was in the bar at Aintree on Thursday night, left at 11.30pm Captain

Depends really, I mean in the upcoming gameweek 34 you can probably afford at least one -4 presuming the player you are bringing in isn't a total dog egg and has 2 games. I try and avoid doing it for defenders as you're looking at a net gain of 2 points if they keep a clean sheet, which is pretty hard to predict anyway

What a load of shit as well. Rafa might be the only one in that dressing room who thinks we can stay up

They will be strong contenders for promotion, as will Sunderland- large PL clubs with similar budgets. All have been a shambles in the PL this season and before, however my point was just to show there is greater competition from "big clubs" with big budgets than when were there before. Villa are a shambles, but so are we. I'm not sure how Sunderland will cope next season either. Fat Sam is a lot better at neutralising big teams than beating poor ones. Will the likes of Defoe or any of their international brigade want to hang around? I would imagine Defoe will look for a move back south as he did in August, if Bournemouth come in for him again he'll be away. Sam will probably prefer that though so he can revert to type with a big fucker up there.

If you look at who is top of the Championship, the importance of having a tightly knit team is there for all to see. I don't mean any disrespect to Burnley, but they've had their current team together for a few years now, built on a very small budget for the most part and have yo-yo's a bit, but there's no reason we can't go into it with a team of similar ability. Goalkeeper - Tom Heaton is a very good keeper, I'd say on a par with Krul. I don't think Krul will leave due to his injury, but Darlow should be more than capable at this level. Freddie Woodman seems to have a lot of potential but I wouldn't want to rely on him just yet. Right back - Burnley have Matt Lowton there. Janmaat is as good as gone so, fair enough, we'd need to find a right back from somewhere unless Mbabu can stay fit and sign a contract Left back - Stephen fucking Ward. Dummett or Haidara, who I think will both stay, are better than this idiot. Centre halves - Ben Mee & Michael Keane - decent enough, I rate Keane in particular. Lascelles will stay and is probably on a par with Mee, I guess we'll be stuck with Colo who might get by in the Championship, or even Dummett who is a better centre half than a full back. Tayor might get an extension on reduced terms, again he'll be ok at this level. Mbemba will probably find a new club. Wingers - George Boyd & Scott Arfield, bang average. Sammy will be back, probably, so that's something to look forward to. Aarons will probably go as he's out of contract, Townsend might stay for a bit but he's probably still got enough of a reputation to nick a move elsewhere. Gouffran will still be here, but fortunately Obertan won't be. Thauvin is due back but we'll probably just loan him out forever. Depending on shape Perez might still be around to play wide. Summary - Townsend, Sammy, Gouffran...all average to poor but probably better than Boyd & Arfield. Centre mids - Barton & Dave Jones. Colback, for all he is shite, is every bit as good as Dave Jones. There I said it. Henri Saivet shoud also be able to get a game now, it's ludicrous he hasn't played more already. Otherwise, Anita will still be around, and there's a chance Shelvey will stay, it might help us that there isn't an International tournament at the end of next season. Not that he'd be anywhere near the squad based on recent games. Still, should have enough there. Obviously Tiote will leave to fulfill his dream of getting subbed at half time in China, and Wijnaldum is probably already packed. I won't even mention Sissoko. Forwards - Andre Gray and Sam Vokes. Gray is obviously worth his weight in gold, he knows how to score goals. Could Adam Armstrong do that for us? His League one form would suggest he can. For Vokes, well ideally Mitrovic will stay but if he doesn't, Riviere will be wanted by nobody so we'd be stuck with him. De Jong will probably go back to Holland on loan and Cisse will fuck off to whoever pays him more from the more money less effort leagues. There's also Ivan Toney, who has also scored a few at league one level and might be useful. Add Perez into the mix, if he stays, and we should be ok for goals. With Perez just signing a new deal I doubt he'll get offered better terms elsewhere, he hasn't exactly played well in many games this season. There's aldo the handful of other youths who can make up the numbers, Gilliead, Barlaser, Roberts, Satka, Gillesphey, the fictional Curtis Good, plus the inevitable loans. Assume we spent maybe 25% of any sale money on the positions we are lacking in, it might not be a total disaster. I'd rather not have to go through a cleansing of our twats every 7 years but it's amazing how many we accrue. Of course the most important point would be appointing someone to make it happen. If Rafa goes, I think it has to be Moyes, if Villa are able to attract him then we should be able to. It depends how much Ashley really has changed his mind on the structure, the appointment of Rafa seems to suggest a change of tact but he might revert to type if we go down. GK - Krul/Darlow (Elliot out for a while yet) RB - Mbabu/New LB - Dummett/Haidara CB - Lascelles/Dummett CB - Colo/Taylor CM - Shelvey/Colback CM - Saivet/Anita Wingers - Townsend/Sammy/Perez/Gouffran Forwards - Mitro/Perez/Armstrong/Toney/Riviere

We're pretty much gone, had we drawn yesterday I think we could have done it with the "winnable" games, but now we need to pick up 4 wins in 7 to have any chance. Even then it's probably not enough.

lol bonar

Saw him before the derby heading towards the players entrance, so he's definitely alive

They scored right on half time anyway, so there should have been more time added on. It was a dick move blowing for half time

Here's how I see it going, now obviously this mightb e quite simplistic and not take into account the politics of teams resting players before cup games or whatever, but humour me. Week 32: Newcastle & Norwich scrap to a 1-1 draw, a result that satisfies nobody. Sunderland beat West Brom whilst Palace and Swansea lose at West Ham and Stoke respectively. Week 33: Newcastle get their annual bumming at Southampton. Swansea lose at home to Chelsea, whilst Palace end their winless run by edging out Norwich. Leicester beat Sunderland to keep it interesting Week 34: The weekend starts with Norwich and Sunderland drawing at Carrow Road. Newcastle beat at increasingly edgy Swansea for Rafa's first win, whilst Palace lose at Arsenal. The midweek games see Newcastle play out a tragic 0-0 with Man City, but Palace lose to Man Utd. It means the table is Palace (36), Swansea (36), Sunderland (30), Norwich (30), Newcastle (30), Villa (fucked), though Sunderland have a game in hand. Week 35: Newcastle lose at Anfield, whilst Norwich beat Watford. The weekend is saved as Palace lose to Everton, Arsenal beat Sunderland and Leicester beat Swansea Week 36: Liverpool win at Swansea and Newcastle beat Palace (!). It's a great weekend as Sunderland lose at Stoke and Norwich are beaten at Arsenal. Week 37: Newcastle win at already relegated Villa. Norwich are beaten by Man Utd and Sunderland lose at home to Chelsea. West Ham beat Swansea and Palace draw at home to Stoke. Sunderland have to beat Everton in their game in hand to avoid being relegated, let's say they do just as a worst case scenario So the table going into the last game - Palace (37), Swansea (36), Newcastle (36), mackems (33), Norwich (33), Villa (fucked) Week 38: Everton beat Norwich, Norwich are relegated Southampton beat Palace, nobody cares Swansea lose to Man City. mackems go to Watford, we host Tottenham. You'd expect us to lose if Spurs have anything to play for, mackems would probably win especially if Watford have the cup final around the corner. Which would mean we're going down on goal difference. TLDR; still loads of big matches ahead, divn't worry

Whenever he ends up at right back it's normally when we're chasing the game and not actually doing any defending. Can't remember him starting there too many times to say if he's any better or worse than Janmaat

There was a few times today he dribbled past 2 or 3 with remarkable ease, something I hadn't really noticed him do before. So many midfielders and none of them fit the system we play

Were probably surprised that we actually got a goal, the goal came out of nowhere imo. Yedlin's foul throw caused it (in a round about sort of way)

You'd have to be pretty deluded to not expect there to be some twists between now and the end of the season. Look after ourselves and just get as many points as we can - we've got to believe that with a competent manager we have a chance in most of our remaining games.

when do they play norwich? 2 games time (after us)

Norwich's next 3 are us, Palace and the mackems. 6 pointers all over the place

West Ham away next, wonder if Parish will sack him over the International break? They play Norwich at home after that which is looking like it might be pretty important

Oh fuck

Just did a predictor to the end of the season for us, Swansea, Norwich, the mackems and Palace. Refused to predict the derby just to see how pivotal it might be, I had us and the mackems on 35 with 1 to play, Swansea 36 and Palace 38. Had us beating Palace, Swansea & Villa away and drawing at Norwich and Southampton. Losses to Liverpool, Spurs & Man City. Swansea have Villa this weekend then a pretty tricky run, whilst Palace's upcoming games are ridiculous. Of course anything could happen but it ended up being pretty tight for the last 2 spots between the 5 teams I mentioned and that was without anything massively shocking being predicted.

According to all sources...the streets to place to go. Tonight for the first time around about half past 10, IT'S RAINING BEN