Memphis

I miss anonymous midfielders rather than just outright terrible ones.

I guess we've gone back to training without a ball. We seem clueless what to do on the very unusual occasion we touch it.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NuoarTq5TSE/0.jpg

Probably have more time to train if we weren't taking so many weird pictures of him

Robbie Earle is 51.

What's David Edgar up to these days?

This decision puts the Que? in Enrique

Not dressed like a complete idiot, so already ahead of the game compared with most of our signings.

Willing to give him a chance but don't rate him.

This pretty well says it for me.

Never really rated him. Most Spurs fans don't seem to, either.

I do think his attitude with regard to training/playing with the U21s was very professional, a rare thing from a young player these days.

I heard that McClaren called it a tremendous performance by our lot.

According to him, we've been playing tremendously and we're going down.

We'll be tremendous with McClaren in charge next year and probably be fortunate to finish top half.

Don't assume I mean that literally - I'm making a point about his ludicrous rhetoric given what we've actually seen.

I don't really understand what we're playing at with Lacazette.

That said, if Edwards is reporting there's more encouraging noises, I'm inclined to believe it. He's been reliable and generally has something of a realistic attitude towards the usual transfer bullshit we like to foist onto journalists.

We're certainly right in line to be the most tremendous team in the Championship.

Formation was a mistake even taking injuries into account.

Shelvey was much more like the player Swansea fans grew to hate.

Needed Perez from the start.

Looked every bit as useless in the middle of the pitch as we have with Colback/Anita.

Worrying result.

Happily donated.

(can I get my old name back please?)

Great hustle by Sissoko there. Shelvey would even be ashamed.

Stat on the NBC broadcast says it's been since Boxing Day 2014 since we were awarded a penalty...

For some reason, he's perpetually that young up-and-comer to me. The fact that he's 33 and has children aged 10 and 5 makes me feel ancient.

Not the biggest problem we have, but certainly a big one.

Players don't even pretend to give a shit under his tutelage.

What the fuck has golden boy Ian Cathro been up to? Or motivational genius Steve Black?

Away from home in the Premier League:

2012-13: w3 d4 l12 (scored: 21 conceded: 37)

2013-14: w7 d1 l11 (scored: 20 conceded: 31)

2014-15: w2 d7 l10 (scored: 14 conceded: 36)

2015-16: w0 d1 l2 (scored: 0 conceded: 4)

TOTAL: p60 w12 d13 l35 (scored: 55 conceded: 108)

49 points out of a possible 180 away from home in our last 3+ seasons.

We aren't good.

Big test of our ability to manage his personality. This has the potential to go very wrong - we could overcoach him to be too timid, taking his edge away and blunting his important aggression. On the other hand, we could fail to control his aggression and end up with a player that's not to be trusted on the pitch. Methinks Steve Black and the psychological team will have a real job on their hands in the time he's suspended.

That tells me he was mostly aiming for Mitrovic who was pretty isolated for long periods of the game. The nature of the fixture explains the abundance of long red arrows. I'd like to think the same diagram at home to Watford would look a lot different.

 

That's not to excuse his poor distribution mind, it's the biggest weakness in his game, but aiming for a lone target man whilst hanging on desperately for a point is fairly understandable. 

By no means is it entirely Krul's fault. But I've gone back and looked at seasons past and the pass charts are more or less the same. It's much more understandable in this game but the one last year, for example, against QPR is mind-blowing (in fairness, Riviere was the targetman, so, yikes). It's a failure to either a) improve what is an important aspect of Krul's game or b) modify the tactics/personnel so it doesn't have to be such a huge problem (or c) both).

It's an indictment on Krul's poor long passing but it's also an indictment on our team's continued inability to generate play from the back. McClaren has tried to do that a bit more this season but there is still no cohesive link between the back 5 and the midfield, leaving Krul to punt it upfield, generally inaccurately. The charts against Southampton and Swansea look very similar. We've got to find a better way to start attacks from back to front.

Van Morrison - Gloria:

"Flooooo-rian

TH-A-U-V-I-N

Flo-oo-oooooooo-rian

TH-A-U-V-I-N"