Gallowgate Toon

Ah man, absolutely fantastic. I absolutely adore him as a representative of our club. He's an incredible character.

Doue is a lovely, lovely footballer.

That's a tough, tough tie to negotiate. Excellent win with the weekend's context.

While axis of Joe is my preference for the final, I'd start Barnes ahead of Tino tonight just to see how it works + get more sharpness into Barnes who could be a vital role player on the weekend.

Me. Getting paranoid now

If we have a fit & firing Isak then we'll always have a chance. We've got to believe!

Devastated for the lad himself as he's had such a good season overall & is maturing into such an impressive footballer. I'm quite relaxed about this for the final in that I think we'll put Tino on Salah and I think, 1v1, that's just about our best bet there if everyone is available. Obviously, that assumes we suffer no further injuries The impact on the season outside of the final is more worrying though. Hall's talent on the ball is so critical for us.

While Gordon has usually given TAA a torrid time, I'd genuinely fancy Joelinton LW to do the same thing while probably being more effective at helping to lock down the supply line to Salah on that side.

My main concern for Howe is that I think expectations will be high as we WILL have a busy summer, but my feeling is that we'll be bringing more development talent in rather than ready-made players to immediately kick us on. We've got some big gaps to fill with a still-limited budget.

This one is going to sting for a few days. I just hate how soft we particularly are against these sides at the minute. They should be coming here knowing that at the very least they're going to be in for an awful time. If we aren't winning a game then they'll be struggling to get a sniff and that they'll have to work really fucking hard to eke those chances out. Getting outshot & out-tackled repeatedly at home just isn't good enough. This is one of the balances that the hierarchy needs to figure out going forward. We need better technical footballers, yes, but we need proper mentality to go along with it still.

I thought his monstrous athleticism would see us win that ET. He had some good flashes but he has absolutely no confidence in & around the box.

He will eke another streak out of the team to close the season and finish top 6 imo, but major upgrades are needed in the summer. We need 4 first teamers and better squad competition on top of that.

Meh. Axis of Joe for the final.

Just not good enough on all fronts. Once again, Brighton weren't even good. The team should be embarrassed, seething. Teams regularly come to our house now and outfight us. It's just not good enough.

Defending for the first goal was so poor. We had about 6 players in the box to their 3 but we just decided to leave Szob free on the penalty spot for some reason.

I don't think we'll be playing a midfield 2 in the final, tbf, unless we have injuries. I felt a bit for Tonali & Bruno - it asked a lot of them. Felt like Howe wanted to try something a bit different with the shape.

Isak still travelled so seems like it was a late fitness test. Suggests it's only minor.

Major credit to him. He always tries to be accountable and make things happen.

Their full backs are the main chink in their armour, imo. I don't think tonight's shape really helped us target them.

Well controlled in many aspects but also just meek & boring. Liverpool are evidently a good side but they're not great. Still feel buoyant enough for the final IF we keep everyone fit.

I honestly don't mind him telling us to shut up shop and hit breaks when 4-1 up. When we're at it, we're a fantastic sit & counter side, but it feels like we have taken that to mean we coast with our work off the ball a few times this season which is the crucial bit. That's the part where we lose control most rather than possession play, imo. Losing second balls in key areas & territory when our forward options aren't up for scrapping. Bournemouth & Fulham outdid us here massively. This squad is still very much learning how to develop an elite mentality.

Very important win but it's been increasingly evident this season that there's a mentality issue in the side. We aren't good enough technically to see games out at half pace.

I just don't think Forest is the game for Willock. They'll sit back so he won't be able to do his main thing without that space, unless we open the game up intentionally. Miley shows the signs of being a decent all-rounder who has good consistency in possession. Willock can be unbelievable in tight spaces but he can also be really clumsy. They'd target him for their press.

I'd start him against Forest, if there's no Joelinton. Only alternative may be if Botman is back that we go 3-4-3 with Bruno/Tonali as a 2.

He's still a very good footballer technically, but his physical limitations are there for all to see (and have been for some time). We have to use him just right until the summer. Tino needs to develop mentally - competition is the best thing to drive that. Doesn't help when his CB partner is also very, very slow.