Andy

Which is why we got relegated. Jannmaat was decent early on but when things got really difficult later that season his attacking outlet consisted of blindly floating balls into the box. Aye but surely the ones who were no outlet at all should be more hated? Blindly floating balls into the box never happened like. Janmaat was defending shite near the end but was still decent going forward They both had hearts smaller than peas man.

Not quite a red for me, but it's one of those clichéd "orange" cards tbh. Most refs would show yellow, the odd spanner would show red due to the aggression.

He's not the only one to blame, but he certainly has to take some of the blame for such staggering laziness having just came on the pitch. The attack should've been stopped earlier but if Kenedy gets back it probably isn't a goal.

Absolutely no way you can blame your second striker for losing the ball in the attacking third for a goal like that. Aye maybe he should've took it to the corner, but our midfield and defence were absolutely catastrophic in how they dealt with the counter attack, there's absolutely no way their player should've ran as far as he did unchallenged, it was absolutely atrocious. Kenedy's tracking back was lazy as fuck too, something I haven't seen mentioned - for a player that had just came on the pitch the lack of effort he made to get back to help Ritchie when we were clearly stretched was appalling.

It's also how you end up in a position where £10m is spent on someone like Murphy and rather than it being viewed as a pittance for a young, British player, it's viewed as a waste of a lot of money and we're in a position where some of our fans are thinking like Ashley, completely divorced from the reality of modern day football spending. If he ever played Murphy I would feel differently. This was someone he wanted. Who was our most expensive signing that summer. This isn’t about agreeing with Mike Ashley. Don’t be so fucking stupid. This is about taking the rose tinted glasses off for a moment and actually seeing that Rafa has done a decent job but not amazing, certainly not in the transfer market with what he’s had to spend. The state of the team this year is on him. The same bunch played far better last year. One of the most clueless series of posts I've ever seen on here, fair play.

A player like this is far more effective in Rafa's system than immobile players like Mitrovic, Rondon and Joselu. He offers similar movement and link-up play to Gayle, whose presence improved our performances last season even if he wasn't scoring.

7. Worst attacking team I've seen in my lifetime I think, can't see organisation keeping us up again.

While he had a couple of games where he looked like he could be a real player, he had more games where he didn't really offer much at all, and it seems like his heart isn't particularly in it. Not fussed really

I didn't think he looked shagged at all. Went on a couple of good runs in the second half before he picked up a knock.

His mere presence played a big part in the goal. If their keeper knows Gayle is up front he deals with that cross far more calmly imo.

We were excellent at times that season like. Whether it was down to Pardew or the players is a different debate, but it was objectively our best season in the past decade and even the most anti-Pardew fan has to give him at least a little credit for us finishing 5th. Most people on this forum were full of praise for him during that season, it's easy to forget that given the proceeding events.

Seems like that bust up with Lascelles has completely reinvented him - perhaps highlighting the difference it makes having a captain who is willing to call out underperformers.

Really poor second half, midfield absolutely lost control of the game.

I'm no fan of him, but the penalty was absolutely soft as fuck and his blocks at the end saved the point.

Closer to home for him, and maybe the media perception of Rafa being a defensive manager and Pardew (allegedly) being an attack-minded coach holds some sway for a goalscorer fighting for his international place as well. Hard to blame any player for being tentative on joining NUFC atm though tbh, whatever his actual reasons.

Thought Diame played fine tbh, broke the play up quite well.

Should definitely have brought Murphy on like. Playing with confidence and in good form yet leaves him on the bench when we need a goal to win it, pretty baffling that.

I'd sell him tomorrow for £10m or whatever on the assumption that Rafa got that money and wages to replace him immediately. A) I can't think of a better midfielder that you'd get for £10m in the current market. B) it's a massive assumption that the money would even be reinvested at all.

Don't understand the opinions that we should get rid of him like. We aren't exactly spoiled for quality in midfield and I'd have Shelvey in the team (despite his limitations) ahead of pretty much everyone except Merino, purely on the basis that he actually looks for a pass in front of him and doesn't just play it safe. The likes of Colback, Saivet and Diame should be out the door first.

Benitez should've done a Pardew and just threw the game to keep our players fit IMO. Who wants to try to win a cup anyway? What's that got to do with my post? Lascelles going off is really shit and in hindsight, I'd rather he was not injured? Battering Luton in the first half was significantly overshadowed by the injury... Read more like you were being facetious and suggesting that battering them was irrelevant (since we obviously won't outscore any Premier League team) and that he should have played a weakened team, thus avoiding injury to first teamers. If that wasn't your angle I apologize. If it was, I think you're an idiot.

Benitez should've done a Pardew and just threw the game to keep our players fit IMO. Who wants to try to win a cup anyway?

It's sad that the criteria for playing a winger in modern football is how well he defends.

Clark was running over before Lejeune even stumbled tbf, he would've been out of position regardless.

Had to go across . Didn't at all. Absolutely terrible awareness of what was going on behind him.

having said that, it isn't unfair to say he doesn't help himself with team selections and substitutions sometimes like