Memphis

It's so obvious that the game is up for so many of these frauds. They have been found out but there are no other options right now. We have to buy enough players to be able to put out 8 or 9 players who give a fuck, will work hard, and have at least some skill. 11 would be great but probably unrealistic. Right now I'd say Tripper, Wilson, (maybe) this new version of Joelinton, qualify. The rest are lacking in one or more of those areas. We have so much work to do to even be mediocre. Five signings, minimum, and ideally even more or we are truly done.

The squad stinks. Rotten to the core. ASM included. Get a new manager in and somehow they get worse. Need at least 5 more in or we are completely fucked.

Seems good

I don't care how it happened, it happened.

Darlow was inexcusably bad. Has been awful all season but this was the worst goalkeeping performance I can remember in a long time. Truly cost us any chance at winning.

I have no idea what to make of an ownership group that communicates with us. No frame of reference at all.

https://theathletic.com/1938983/2020/07/26/eddie-howe-bournemouth-relegation-premier-league/ This July 2020 piece from Oliver Kay in The Athletic has eased my mind a lot, it's very good indeed. Paints Howe as the type of manager who would thrive in this type of club and atmosphere, imo. (I pasted much of it below, for those who do not wish to read it for whatever reasons, don't click)

I think spending three weeks to find the right person, only to have it publicly end in said person pulling out with a flourish while much of the observing media/clubs cackled at our club is shambolic, yes. It doesn't mean that it's entirely Staveley et al's fault, but it is a pretty shabby situation. I don't think that's hyperbolic. And if a forensic search of the world's top managers ends in us hiring Eddie Howe after three weeks of stasis and dropped points, well, that's not exactly an amazing outcome.

Howe would be fine. I can't pretend to be excited given the shambolic search but I think he'd be fine. I would expect that he would help us crawl rather than walk, and he certainly wouldn't be the man to take us to the upper echelon.

No getting around the fact that this is embarrassing. No excuses. It's unacceptable to run the club like this - the new owners would have known that the first thing to do once in charge is replace the manager. That can't have been a surprise. So the manner in which they're approaching it is shocking, really. And the ham-fisted leaking on information to make it appear as if they're in control and "deliberating" over "proposed visions" and all is equally embarrassing. If you had a vision, you would have outlined it from the start and then tried to hire people to make it a reality. Whatever we are doing isn't that. I hope it all works out in the end, it likely will considering the money we have access to. But our new owners have made an awful start of it.

If a leak involving Eddie Howe has cost us Unai Emery, we are being run by a bunch of amateurs. And I guess we may well be. But this all feels very strange and manufactured. If Emery was prepared to accept the job, I can't imagine there would be a scenario where he would turn it down because of something like this. He would have known what kind of situation he was getting into. Again - if our people fucked this up... that's pretty ominous for our ability to get things done.

That was absolutely awful. I get the idea behind trying to make us hard to break down, but holy shit you've got to at least TRY to go forward every once in a while. The amount of times Hayden or Ritchie would get a ball and pass backwards or sideways was incredible. Darlow is not up to it, looked scared to death all match long. We need an injection of belief and confidence from a new manager more than anything else. And about 10 new players. I watched Brighton today and they were phenomenal at Anfield. Looked miles beyond anything we've shown for years. We are in deep trouble.

This is true of so many of our players

That was pretty dire but it was understandably and logically dire, rather than just hapless and hopeless, so that’s an improvement.

Though it’s not a joy to watch, I think our football is at least organized and there is a clear tactical plan that is being followed. That’s a credit to Jones. Already miles ahead of Bruce there. But this half is a clear wake up call about the shocking level of play and talent we currently have. PIF will have no doubts as to the scale of the upgrades needed.

This is grim stuff, understandably grim to some degree, but grim nevertheless. Players do look committed but also lacking composure and thought. Bruce Ball has left them in an awful state physically and mentally.

We certainly look more organized but the price we’ve paid for that organization is that we’re treating Crystal Palace like vintage Barcelona. 11 behind the ball, carrying no threat other than an occasional counter attack, not a treat to watch, that’s for sure.

Looked awful. Were awful. Players couldn't appear to give a shit in the second half. Fans either. Time to wake the fuck up and get to building a club that's not a rotting pile.

LOLOLOLOL fucking Shelvey you are hopeless

Annoying as fuck how the media act as if we're unreasonable for wanting Bruce out, like we just liked Rafa more because he's more handsome and better-dressed (though he is). Rafa is infinitely better as a manager. The team played so much better with him in charge. Fans tend to enjoy watching a team that's in shape and plays with a plan. It's not that hard to figure out.

Probably need a few days off after this performance, eh Steve?

This match should go at the front of Rafa Benitez' CV. Look what happened to the same players 18 months after he left. Look like a League One side.

I will say it's the perfect way to mark Bruce's 1000th match as a manager. Team disappointing its fans and playing like they've never met. That's Bruce.