Gallowgate Toon

Well in the hunt for European contention and a winnable cup fixture coming up, I think he's done pretty decently this season considering the context. I am frustrated with his use of Burn, like. Yes, he did stuff well tonight when it came to scrappy defending (and he did improve as the game went on) but he's such a an obvious weak link while our midfield is down on personnel and it creates pressure on other players imo. The set piece point is a fair one to a degree but Burn is also part of the problem when it comes to conceding set pieces

Back 5 works well when we're sitting deep and protecting, we've never used it for other scenarios. It's hard to say if it's a good fit for the likes of Bournemouth at home.

Big, big result. Bruno

Just can't see a genuine midfield 2 working with our lack of legs there unless the plan is to sit narrower/deeper and counter. None of the front 3 are comfortable dropping in to that area if we're overloaded and our CBs seem allergic to aggressively pressing up as a unit, they seem to have picked up a bad habit of dropping off a lot.

Just can't see us encouraging that much mass turnover in one go. Creates a lot of risk considering FFP too, margin for error is so much tighter and we've seemingly built real team spirit. The outcasts will rightly go but I think we'll only see a couple of the next tier leave, depending on how much we can fetch per. Feels nailed on the Miggy will, followed by 1 or maybe 2 of Lascelles/Wilson/Targett. I reckon 4 or maybe 5 genuine first team squad players in, some straight into first XI contention but others more development/rotation to grow into the campaign.

I bet we're absolutely delighted for City to fight battles for us

Gordon being out probably cements Burn starting. Tino is too useful as a flexible bench option when we're light on wingers.

Genuinely convinced this is for advertising purposes

Our numbers prior to the injuries taking hold were really good, weren't they? At decent strength, every team will have games or small runs of crap performances.

Assuming Gordon is back and Willock makes the bench, I'd start the same team as Luton apart from Tino for Burn - it feels pretty likely Elanga starts RW.

They play 3-4-3 don't they? Or 3-4-2-1?

Barnes had 2 decent chances after his goal and then the Bruno cross too but Luton shithoused excellently to take the sting out. We were through another time too but the ball bounced and Murphy headed it to nobody iirc. I think Luton played a massively risky strategy all game, tbh. We had players free nigh on 1v1 quite a few times in the game but the passes didn't arrive or the final ball was poor (mainly first half). Refreshing though after years of promoted teams sitting deep and countering.

I get that he's not the sexiest winger about in terms of being pua dribbly but some of his finishing and ball-striking is ludicrously good. Delighted he's back.

Really depends on the tactics for Forest, tbf. If the plan is to sit deeper and work counters, Burn is fine. If we're going to try and dominate and pen them in, he should be taken out of the firing line for it because they're a big counter threat.

Miley is definitely getting better off the ball but it will be a slow burn. 7 tackles yesterday iirc against some really physical players.

Interesting comments from Howe on BBC Newcastle, talked about how the team personnel isn't the same (basically, midfield) so we may need to adapt to regain defensive control. Forest will happily give us possession next week and look to counter.

Fucking maddening what he did there. He knew there was a big gap if he missed it and he looked to half-arse it rather than ensuring if it wasn't ball then he had to take the man. Does have credit in the bank after scoring 2 tidy goals though

He's improved a lot. Still not a first choice these days but very serviceable.

Bruno is combative. He puts in very similar defensive numbers to Joe. Today didn't feel like a DM problem to me, what Joelinton is absolutely class at is winning the ball in the opponent's half which helps to pin teams in and resort to pumping long more often. They managed to get it to Barkley from GKs well and he was able to slip by a fair bit. Miley gets flak for off the ball work but Longstaff feels like a non-entity in this regard at the moment.

And recover faster too.

I think he's pretty great for defensive ones. Improved his attacking this year as well.

Great goals, tbf. Wonder is he's playing through something. Feel like he never makes tackles these days or doesn't really commit to them. Swear he used to do the odd cruncher at least.

Someone, at some point, said he didn't have a left foot. Or at least it was a swinger at best. That was a beautifully controlled strike.

He's doing what is probably technically correct in that he's giving them some distance to have a go and use his body to block them, as if he gets too tight he's absolutely done for considering his agility, but it feels like against Forest and today they could just knock it past with a 5-yard headstart and he's done in seconds. I feel like last year he'd become a lot more tactical as games went on against tricky players but he seems to just do the same thing now despite it not working.

He's so much better on the right. Did put in some fantastic deliveries. Nowhere near enough guile on the left though.