ikri

It really beggars belief that anyone could have watched Wilson last season and thought Yes, that's the guy we need to lead our line next season. He looked completely finished as a footballer by the end of last season and whilst he's scored a handful of goals this season it's absolutely not surprising at all that they've failed to win games with him up front.

Bruno & Willock both desperate to score. Woltemade doing everything he could to get in the box and get his goal.

Nice win. There did seem to be more potential goodbyes than the ones that we already know about though.

I'd love to understand how we went from a team that had massive amounts of energy and could happily play at full speed well beyond 90 minutes into what we have now where everyone is knackered after 75 minutes. Also, Wissa is quite possibly the worst number 9 I can remember playing for us. Absolute waste of space.

Wouldn't be given in the Premiership but in Europe, that's a penalty all day.

And with our medical team?

I had money on us to lose & Joelinton to get booked. Glad to have lost money today. Some very nervy stuff in the 2nd half but a very nice victory.

Willock needs to come off right now. He's clearly knackered & is making sloppy mistakes.

Pope Poping

Hell of a cross from Murphy & a really well taken header

He built a team in the Championship that simply didn't concede goals. That was never going to continue into the Premiership where the smallest mistake is quickly punished. Losing the goalkeeper who was pivotal to that success pretty much guaranteed relegation even before the season started.

It's very reminiscent of the bids we apparently made for Guehi a couple of seasons back. Go in with a starting bid based on our valuation of the player but then start increasing the bids like an overexcited toddler at an auction instead of walking away as soon as the offer wasn't accepted.

Bayern have got the YTS kid in goal apparently

Wonder if Souness is available instead

Some clubs do spend significant money on pitch consultants to improve their performances and reduce injuries. Considering the injuries they've had in the last few years, it wouldn't be a surprise to find that the stadium pitch or training ground pitches were causing problems. Guardian article from a few years ago.

We played a lot better than recent weeks but the game was this season in a nutshell. Got into great positions and the forwards fumbled their shots, midfield got bypassed far too easily, the defence switched off at a key moment even though everyone could see what was about to happen and the goalkeeper did something insane.

He left our youth system before he was 15 so we wouldn't even be able to claim him as a home grown player for European registration. He'd be another player that we'd have to pay well over his worth because of his Premiership experience.

As long as the meeting isn't at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul he's probably okay.

It was another of those games where half our attacks were crosses into the box, begging for someone like Wolte to be in there to get on the end of them. Of course, we stopped doing that once he came on.

Given that he was meant to be the improved replacement for Miggy, is there anyone who wouldn't have Miggy back in the team ahead of Elanga?

Having played appalling football in the last few games, you'd think that we might try something, anything, different this week. But no. Just the same absolute drek that we've been watching for the last few games with the exact same predictable result. Howe has built up a lot of good will for turning us around in previous seasons but he's failing badly currently. If any other manager were in the dugout today we'd be baying for their blood.

Appalling 1st half performance.

Good memory. Definitely a good game to be my 1st.

He'll do well in Germany for the same reason he's done well in Europe this season - He'll be up against much worse defenders. With poor fullbacks to beat and Kane to aim for in the middle he'll tear up the league.

My first game was us at home to Ipswich in 84. It had, and possibly still has, the record for the fastest own goal scored in the top division. I remember the games being exhilarating but also occasionally terrifying. Those surges from the crowd when we scored could be a bit much when you're 6. I used to go with my dad and it was always a bit of a treat since he didn't have a lot of money spare and it was often the only time that I'd spend time with him without my sister. That's what I remember more than the actual games we went to.