Gallowgate Toon

At the point where we just need to cut ties, tbh. He's clearly not suited to this league and, while I think he'll be better at PL level, his attitude just isn't there.

On Rafa, this. Gayle was clearly struggling to cope with their defenders after about 10 minutes and we didn't have enough in midfield to pass through them. Mitro should've been on 20 minutes earlier, at the very least; Rafa needs to sort that situation out fast. He doesn't seem to be able to trust him to throw him in earlier, might as well sell him if that's the case. Atsu should be starting ahead of either winger now (personally, think that's been clear for weeks). Colback was absolute shite and Diame hid. Most worrying was our lack of commitment off the ball, saw numerous occasions where we just absolutely left runners - somewhat reminiscent of the last few years. He's got some work to do on transfers, like. No use talking about PL players, we've got a job to do here still and we need some in to get the balance right for the next 4 months. Pissed off but I'm not going to panic and overreact, we'll still win this league. Rafa will get it right. Pretty annoying when people are only chirping when we're doing poorly, btw.

He needs to decide what he's going to do with Mitrovic, like. This bringing him on for 10 minutes when he's clearly needed for longer isn't good for anyone.

Pathetic. Not even been tracking runs for simple plays. Totally deserved. Time to change.

Front 5 need to be doing more for the back 5. We're trying to work openings but there's not been enough movement to give the defenders the passing options. Colback has been pathetic - completely anonymous in every department of the game, laughable compared to Hayden being everywhere. Diame can't just rely on moments either, I felt like I saw him hiding a little too much when we were trying to work possession. Gouffran is offering nothing. Need Atsu to come on relatively early in the half to create some more space. Would also like to see Mitro on for Colback (with Diame droppping back). They're pretty much playing a flat 4-4-2, we can easily go toe-to-toe.

Far too slack. Also not being helped by the complete lack of presence and movement in the middle of the pitch. Colback and Diame have to be doing a lot, lot more.

I'm pretty sure I read that RB's teams almost always perform better in the second half of the season, too. I'd hope we'd get fewer defeats second half of the season, but also there has to be more draws coming. 1 draw so far is a bizarre statistic. We'll probably suffer another 3 or so losses. 8 losses, 2 draws and 36 wins would be hilarious.

I'm pretty sure I read that RB's teams almost always perform better in the second half of the season, too.

Did they actually create anything in the second half, bar that one proper chance? Sounded like the only other moments came from a potshot and a corner. Seems like another game we've won without having to get out of second gear.

We're not. They've had once chance the whole half.

f*** off man. Such a negative t*** these days. In my mind, Rafa is taking us up and getting us into Europe within two seasons. Minimum. Which of Man City, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea or Arsenal are you expecting us to be finishing ahead of in two years? To be fair, we did finish 5th in our second season back after promotion, last time. Leicester are obviously a huge exception and not the rule, but they've taught us that the top bracket of clubs aren't as infallible as the media would have you believe.

That wasn't Swansea's set up when they finished 8th, iirc.

I think Gayle has scored as many goals as Wigan?

Why does a team that's the top scorers in the division, averaging 2 goals a game, need to play 2 strikers? Why did KK sign Shearer when we had Ferdinand... It's about improving and developing further and two up front would suit our play better and yield us better returns on our dominance and possession. I'm not at all convinced it'd help improve us. We've played some absolutely cracking football this season, someone even put up a YT with all of our attacking moves and we're worlds apart from anything since Bobby. But we're also solid, I think Rafa knows we're not individually excellent at the defensive side of the game and has planned accordingly (with next year in mind). How many games are you basing our possessiong game on, btw? Didn't you see Brentford, Norwich, Ipswich etc.? We've absolutely cut some teams apart, but we're not always going to play like that. Rafa, I think, knew Forest were decent on the counter with their wing backs so opted for something to work holes in their back 5. That seems to be his thing for away games, controlling the tempo above all else, and it's worked an absolute charm.

Not sure if he was singing but he definitely was in a casino and club in Nottingham last night.

Even against Blackburn we had some excellent chances, despite not playing well. Just not buying that we're making it hard for ourselves. We've lost 2 in our last 16 league games or something daft like that? Only one of those has been a draw too. Rafa has a long-term plan, I'd rather he stuck to that.

Why does a team that's the top scorers in the division, averaging 2 goals a game, need to play 2 strikers?

This just isn't true. We've cut a lot of teams to pieces.

We've absolutely torn some teams to shreds with fantastic attacking football. I think Rafa has different plans for different matches, sometimes he wants us to probe and sometimes he wants us to pile in. We've had numerous games with 20+ shots and a plethora of great chances. Wouldn't be at all surprised if it's some kind of preparation for promotion.

Love his tackling. Absolutely booms in but is usually dead clean with it.

Not concerned at all. We're playing well still, no dodgy ref and that game's ours. Brighton will overtake us before our next match, I think, but they won't keep their form up. Then we've got the Jan window, and Rafa's teams apparently always come into their own in the second half of the season.

Yeah, fuck off.

Darlow, man

ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

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