Yorkie

All black away kit? Aye alright!!

Unfortunately Chelsea will always be winners I think, depending on your definition (they did win the CWC just a few months ago too). Easily the team in English football most deserving of comeuppance but furthest away from ever getting it, imo. They're forever bathing in shit and coming out smelling of Dior.

All wrong except Guy. Good stuff.

All guesses: Lewis Guy Lad called Donaldson. Or Doninger? Both? There was a cup game under Hughton where a load of academy lads played and we lost; I'm picturing one of these names on the teamsheet. Gary Caldwell Callum Roberts John Karelse Lionel Perez

We'll only get no one if we fail to get a deal done imo, but I think we'll be in the market for sure. Why wouldn't we be? Howe has basically said as much; it's just that precisely who/what we target will be dependent on the state of the squad (i.e. injuries). With that in mind I wouldn't expect any recruitment to be instant. That Ake link seems extremely plausible for starters.

Well we've had 13 fresh Nos in the last 24 hours!

Seeing as it apparently isn't obvious, people don't get banned for being in the minority on issues like the manager. People get banned for routinely making the place miserable to read, either through misery itself or by being deliberately antagonistic (you ticked both boxes fwiw).

Favourite Match: / Liverpool cup final / Benfica / Man Utd (4-1) Favourite Goal: / Burn v Liverpool / Tricky to separate a variety: Miley vs Bromley, Gordon vs Arsenal (h), Murphy vs Palace, Barnes' second vs Man Utd, either of Barnes' vs Benfica, Miley vs Fulham. Favourite Moment: / Seeing the engraving being applied to the trophy / Standing on my own on the terrace at Rosie's, a couple hours after FT of the final, nattering to two older gents about the majesty of what was occurring / Won't name names but some of the most emotional embraces with fellow forumers in the moments after that whistle went Favourite Player: / Burn / Bruno / Schär / Also lots of love in-particular for Barnes, Trippier, Joelinton Any other favourite memories: Parade and Town Moor

Interesting that there were no additions to the yes column yesterday for the first day in a few days.

Seems plausible given the fact he can do the Burn thing playing CB and LB, and Howe has worked with him before.

there was just a lot of embracing, generally initiated by Wissa, who was absolutely buzzing. Seems absolutely thrilled to be here, like.

Good God, man.

Obviously started like a house on fire and bundled in two goals. We surrender the initiative as we often do, essentially failing to weather the storm from Burnley as they tried to recover from their awful start. Neither team really had control of the first half thereafter and it was uncomfortable viewing, with us giving away possession cheaply - with one occasion in particular nearly leading to an equaliser. We had a couple of big chances too though. Second half, we lost possession almost immediately from kick off and it's all Burnley until like 65 minutes, after which the game dies down a bit. They definitely have the better of it but again we squander a massive chance on the break. We get lucky in this spell because we can't keep the ball for shit. No changes are made and Howe claims he did that for character-building purposes. The game peters out a bit and we snatch a third out of nowhere thanks to them self-destructing, mirroring the very beginning. Dubravka is serenaded by the away end. Wissa tries to get with Eddie on the touchline and he's not exactly having none of it. Three points in the bag, thank you very much.

Nine in January.

Think it was more that he was buzzing with the win but the second question from the in-house media guy was "why were we rubbish" and he understandably couldn't be fucking arsed with that. I don't think he actually believes he's clueless. He says towards the end that it's "all about our evolution as a team." He sees a team that's changing, not one that's 'a bit shit.'

Yeah interesting. I feel like he's pulled the curtain back a wee bit in recent times (relatively speaking, as he always keeps his cards so close to his chest). Maybe it's a symptom of being under more pressure than he ever has been whilst in the job. Not that he wasn't composed. Just the insight into why he didn't make any changes (the stuff about character building) isn't necessarily what I'd expect him to usually share.

@Interpolic thought you might like this, mate.

Thought he was our worst player as well. He was absolutely brilliant when he came on for twenty minutes against Fulham so maybe it's as simple as fatigue.

That's harsh on Bruno like. He's had far more good games than bad and regularly delivered in massive moments. The collective isn't operating that well, granted. The point about finishing is absolutely true obvs.

Enjoyed his little exchange with Ramsey out on the left which almost forced a chance. Was willing Ramsey to stick it away but was good defending tbf. Thought there was a bit of sublime and a bit of ridiculous in that cameo. He needs to practise that pass across the defensive line on the break; there'll be opportunities to make that pass a lot if he's being brought on against teams chasing games.

just not true. You rode your luck a bit. Not a lot, but a bit. A draw wouldn't have been unfair, but I wouldn't go into battle to say you didn't deserve to win.

That's fair but I still think it's true that the pressure mounts with every missed chance, whoever you are. Mind you we actually out-performed our xG for a change tonight.

Having seen a bit of them recently, their performance at home to Man Utd was absolutely dripping with WOAT vibes, but they were gutsy at Arsenal and also tonight, from what I saw. Feels like they might be easier to beat at Molineux.

For those late joining, please explain this.

It is, like. Of course there'll be spells in games where the tactical choice is to dig in, but the reason why we're continuously on the back-foot is because of our lack of control.