Yorkie

The right hand side is a bloody disaster ATM. Have they met?

Pig sick of Woltemade. Weak as piss.

We're just not in the game.

Ergh, not enjoying this like. Get on the ball, lads.

Would've backed Murphy today like, absolutely, so that's a big vote of confidence in Elanga from the manager. Hopefully he rises to it.

just having a nice browse and suddenly I'm catching shade. The internet is full of cunts, as a great man once said.

I'm feeling more expectant than I expected to be, tonight. They're doing well and they'll be up for it, but they're a new team and they've not experienced a fixture of this magnitude (from their point of view). On the other hand, our team is seasoned and should be in a position to consider this relative small fry compared to some of the occasions we've experienced over the last three years. Let them fall into the trap of overhyping it; just play our game, get a result, and get out of there like it's any other opponent. Will be mightily disappointed in us if we allow ourselves to lose the mental battle.

Was waiting to see what the authentic blue one would drop to, cos the 'fan version' is horseshit, having tried both on at the club shop. £70 though, still nah. Never mind.

Eze should be going into the book for that imo. Really careless.

Not for the title imo. Cups, definitely.

Wouldn't remove Gordon from LW when he's coming into form like. Unlucky for Barnes but he's on the bench at the weekend for me. Tony Gord and Juice... and the Wissa stuff is mind games and he's straight in at CF.

Wait what? The blue one's a banger, providing it's not orange shorts/socks.

~32:30 Nice trip down memory lane and an insight into how it all ended. Doesn't admit it but he knew Pards was waiting in the wings.

For me there's some frustration in finally sharing a division with them again when we're having a bit of a dip. I'm glad we faced them in 23/24 and had that opportunity to demonstrate the gulf.

We got away with it in the San Siro but the home leg was a pure smash and grab from their point of view.

Random thought but I bet that away end was absolute bedlam for Miley's goal. Would've been such an amazing moment if we could look back on it as a winner. We were unlucky last night. Thought it at the time but that save from Thiaw's header really was pivotal. Ah well. Still in our hands and qualification to the next stage, at the very least, seems odds on at this point. Fair play to the lads.

Tbh one of the biggest reasons for that ghastly run of defeats against them was because Pardew clearly overhyped the occasion and we went into each one bricking it. You need to respect the fixture but I think the manager's job is to make it as close to a typical league game as possible.

That sounds amazing. Let's all do this.

Thought he was barely a 6 out of ten tonight. He got sold on the dummy for the equaliser which was forgivable imo, but it was how sloppy he was in possession. Usual off-the-ball tenacity of course.

We were only one goal in front weren't we. I'm saying once we crack the code of routinely getting to two in front, this peril of late equalisers won't even exist. I'm not saying we shouldn't do better at seeing games out when we haven't extended the lead. I just believe the solution to it is in scoring more.

Congrats on winning the Melt of the Night Award.

My argument is that if we go 3-1 up tonight and against Spurs then we probably don't even concede a second.

We're obviously far from perfect this season and, presently, we are the worst of his teams at least since the start of 22/23. But I'll offer a glass-half-full take and say I think there's a lot to be optimistic about when you look at our games up to now. It's objectively a very good thing that we're so capable of finding the lead anywhere. If we can learn how to capitalise on a lead (looking at our new number 9 here, and hopefully Elanga continuing to improve), then we'll be onto a very good thing. I'll say till I'm blue in the face that the biggest reason (not the only) for these late equalisers is the lack of goals, not the lack of defensive solidity.

It isn't at all. Anyone throwing out the previous criticisms about deliberately sitting back and clinging on is talking shit tbh. We had plenty of the game at their end at 2-1, and it was only the post and an outstanding save which kept us at 2. It doesn't mean we're not still clearly incapable of digging in when it comes to it, which is frustrating.