Gallowgate Toon

A real shame how this season has gone for him. Ultimately, he & Ramsdale have played a hand in a range of mistakes this season. He's a fantastic bloke but it's not good enough.

Pace FC ready to pounce.

His movement and finish for the first is top class. Little drop in to drag the defender out and then burst into the space.

Striker or AM, he simply needs movement & pace around him. I hope Howe isn't writing him off as a striker yet - I think this new role makes sense for the rest of the season but I reckon a solid preseason into him will see a good improvement in his game as a lone ST.

The power on that strike was unbelievable.

He was so much quicker with his passing. Much better.

He's making less daft mistakes on the ball which is a big help but the biggest difference is that his movement is looking so much better.

Not sure of the context of Howe's comments but last night wasn't too different to how we played the press against Everton, City, Chelsea or PSG, all of which this lad started in he'll be back. I'd be far more concerned if I was Wissa. I actually thought Gordon played in a very similar fashion to Woltemade. He floated around in different spaces rather than playing as a typical striker, but he was supported by 2 fluid wingers who made decisive runs and also had 2 midfielders bombing on with intent and speed. Gordon's pressing pace is obviously very good though.

Looking far more confident. Go on, lad!

Suits that role well in away games from an off the ball stance. Excellent assist too.

He's had a pretty good couple of weeks with the PSG masterclass and a really impressive display tonight. He has very good technique, just needs to be build intelligence and confidence.

So chuffed for him tonight

Well in, ladz!

Agree with this overall but that's too much pressure on just the striker working out, ultimately Big Nick is a few goals off where I expected him to be at this stage of the campaign - a league return of 10 at this stage would've been seen as quite good imo. The entire forward line other than Barnes have been poor/very poor/pathetic in the final third (even Barnes has underperformed his xg (greatest apologies to all reading)). Midfield haven't been much better with Bruno doing an incredible amount of heavy lifting in terms of output. There will be a combination of factors (tactical, psychological etc.) but: - Murphy - 2 goals - Gordon - 3 (2 pens) - Wissa - 1 goal - Elanga - 0 goals - Joelinton - 2 goals - Tonali - 0 goals - Ramsey - 0 goals 8 Premier Legue goals between 7 players who must have about 120+ combined PL appearances between them this season. Absolutely tragic.

Both. We've come out of the previous 2 summers with massive issues.

Eddie Howe has been the absolute best thing about the takeover, for me. Nothing gives me any hope that if he leaves that they'd make a good decision at all - we've been a shit show off the field for some time. He's a great person & ambassador, and we've seen how good we could be with decent infrastructure around him. I believe he can evolve but he needs to be given space to do that. Last summer can't happen again - get shit done quickly, don't fuck about chasing players who don't want to join, and give him some proper time off. It's been a gruelling couple of years and I think we're seeing a natural plateau/end. I think a number of players know their jig is up while others want out. A cup/CL run would be a fitting swansong.

Thought he had a really positive first 15/20 in that role - found good gaps, some nice passes, won his duels. Then the shooting opportunities happened and he seemed to wilt after the reaction. For me, our best team performances this season have been with Woltemade in the side and he's an asset with far more upside than Wissa. He should be starting ahead of him as the 'primary' forward, even if it's not a perfect fit. Generally, Wissa needs to earn his place anyway. He looks half-arsed/fit.

His lack of attacking output this season has been canny shocking. While his covering can still be excellent, he's become very bog standard in possession. He had those lovely quick little first-time passes last year but they've seemingly gone.

Aye, his pace is well gone but we've/he's not adapted at all. Outside of him looking pretty rubbish defensively, he just slows the game down in key moments far too much for my liking.

I am starting to think he's a bit wasted at left back. He could be a sensational midfielder imo.

He did look pretty gassed after about 30, from my view, and it looked like a clear gap was emerging as he wasn't covering defensively. Bright going forward though.

I've given him shit for tactics recently but I thought he made proactive changes today and he is genuinely hamstrung by the full back options. Players need to win their duels, as a bare minimum. We've conceded a lot at home recently. Feels like quite a few are either soft as fuck, don't like defending, or CBA. I imagine he feels pretty sad & frustrated watching us this season. We look very far away from what characterised us for years.

His work off the ball is the biggest disappointment. I was expecting a bit of a menace - some pace and persistence, but he's been absolutely shocking at it. His pressing is slow & soft and he appears to have no stamina. He's just been an absolute nothing player for us, so far.

Got to say, he does look pretty bad at the minute - neither a good athlete nor a good footballer. He must be better than this.

Didn't expect anything really, glad we kept plugging away and got a goal. Really happy for Elanga, quality bit of play. I was glad Howe tried some different shape options. Might as well try something else in that sort of situation imo.