Gallowgate Toon

He's always looking for Isak early in this role, even if it's only half on - it's fantastic.

I think it easy to see why he's having a lot more joy in this role. It's less frenetic, less congested, he can be more considered in how he approaches the game. I still think he can have a real part to play as a wider CM in the 3 but it's easy to forget he's adjusting to our league still. He and Bruno had some nice positional interchanges today. I really hope that continues.

Huge chance to build momentum from now. Yes, they were shite, but we saw proper leading performances there from our important players. Games come thick and fast here, we can really build up quickly.

Loves a shimmy.

Covers ground so efficiently and keeps it quick & simple most of the time, but it was also nice to see him opening up his passing range on occasion too. Fantastic.

Watching him play for another PL team would honestly be sickening for me.

Looks like we were tenuously linked to Dibling again yesterday. He looks a real talent but he was apparently homesick for Southampton while at Chelsea so I'm not sure we're a goer

Busy period of footy coming up so it's imperative that we protect Isak by using Osula more.

It's well past time to go but it must be absolutely soul-destroying to witness your body giving in like this.

Caught the first half - really enjoyed it. Some very good performances but the best was Mills who is absolutely rapid (and very skillful). Was amazed to find out later that he's only 15

I'm all for rotation, we have good capacity for it in certain positions, it just seemed to me like we rotated out the midfielder who seemingly needed it the least. I was actually pretty happy to see Barnes start and he was a good threat - just a shame he made that one crucial error.

Tonali rotated out was a very weird move, especially against a side you know will break at pace. He's had a year off, played far less this season than Bruno/Joelinton (who looks like he's struggling physically at the moment), and we had a week's break after the game. Maybe Tonali had a knock but we were happy to get him on for 30 so he must be decently fit at the very least.

Howe has evidently made mistakes this season, some big & very irritating, but the drop in general standards points to something deeper imo. The club has stated its #1 aim but it feels to me that we have very little idea about how to get there, and the man we brought in to help shape/evolve that has gotten off to about as bad a start as you can get. Whether he was right or wrong, Mitchell talking to the press about players being overpaid for was fucking stupid. Even worse, I'm not sure the hierarchy have any further answers other than Mitchell + maybe a new stadium? There are legitimate complaints about tactics & selections, but we aren't doing the basics consistently well which to me suggests we are currently driven more by individual motivation rather than team motivation - we used to be exceptional at the gritty stuff, a cause worth sacrificing yourself for. We look tired, we have players who look like they know they have a public price and/or that their time with us will soon be up. We have the feel of a squad that knows its reward for doing well is likely going to mean losing a key player(s) anyway without confidence in the man in charge of replacing them. It basically feels like we're not really working towards anything right now, proper rudderless, going-through-the-motions stuff. Another chance at cup glory (ha!) may offer something different... Changing manager could see an upturn in results short-term, but we'd still be left with the some big problems that'd soon rear their head again imo, and we'd have lost a fantastic ambassador for the club along the way. The club's leadership over the last 18 months has been very poor and, worryingly, has gotten worse over that period. They're lucky fans haven't started kicking up more of a fuss, and they're even luckier that Howe has largely spearheaded the public-facing stuff admirably in the face of plenty of adversity.

He simply needs a level of protection, especially at this stage of his career. It wasn't there enough today. Joelinton has been disappointing defensively in the last 2 away games, appears he may be playing through something.

He's definitely skating on thin ice now, unfortunately. He has been let down in big moments this season imo but he's been poor with game management for half of this season to date.