Gallowgate Toon

Isak was barely involved. That's the kind of game where you're expecting him to drop into some kind of false 9 role a lot if the ball over the top isn't on to help us get a better foothold in the match.

Felt like we played better going forward in this fixture last season.

Might want to re-check that. And even if that were true, he's not playing the same position as he was against Leicester at home 21/22.

Only Rodri beat Bruno for passes under pressure last season, and his progressive passes stats for the last year are 90th percentile. He's an extremely effective starter of moves.

It feels a bit like people are used to him now, tbh. He's old news. He still plays very similarly to when he first arrived but we're used to it - his stats are actually better. He had some class games to close out last season which seem to never get mentioned. Brighton, Man U, Spurs etc.

Should've been off about 10 mins earlier for TINOOO imo.

Only caught the second. Infuriating decision making in the final third in key moments.

All the growing confidence just makes me feel like we're going to get battered.

It is and players don't do a very good job of covering their tracks. Know a couple of lower league lads who just do it from their partner's account and think they're golden

He's a streaky player. Going off his history, he's as likely to have a cold streak from now as he is to continue his late season form.

I don't think Howe will have pinned Hall down to a left back slot yet. He's an option there, of course, but he's also got a lot to learn defensively, by accounts.

Aye, he's very much proven to be a solid PL centre back. He was excellent at times under Rafa when it came to doing the basics.

Their fanbase gets shite for the atmosphere etc. but I find from their online presence that they have far fewer arrogant knobs than the other 'big' clubs.

I imagine Hall will be a bit like a defensive version of Anderson for us this season - played in multiple positions to suit circumstance/opposition to help his development. We know Howe loves a settled defence so I feel Burn stays as first choice as long as the unit looks strong.

Chelsea maybe realise it's good to keep our lot satisfied so they can keep selling their inevitable cast offs for decent coin to SA while it's a hot project.

Was Cucu the smokescreen? If so, canny funny they're continuing to leverage Baldwards' desperation to be relevant.

A young player who can play well in multiple positions sounds right up Howe's street.

Surely there won't be any changes for this if everyone's fit? Almiron and Gordon are the perfect wingers for this type of match to keep things tight & competitive. Barnes-y to come on and snatch a point at the death.

The usual suspects will be absolutely frothing at this. It seems a bit tinpot and risking a small crowd is dumb.

The latter. His family stayed up here even after he moved on from us and now he's doing some kind of role at Gateshead. Pretty sure he lives on Beverley Terrace in Cullercoats.

I wonder if we've earmarked any of the youngsters we've bought recently for the senior squad the first half of the season. I think we've brought in a couple of 18/19 year olds who you'd think could be on the cusp of seeing even a bit of first team squad action if the conditions were right.

Surprised more players don't live near the coast. Have seen the Longstaffs & Anderson knocking about before as you'd expect and Rob Elliott is a regular around Tynemouth Front Street.

I feel like Sandro is mocking us by doing a pleb tour and sending pics to his mates

But what does he actually do? I caught him on 3 occasions last season + this weekend and he was barely involved each time. Looking at his numbers last season, he passed the ball a bit but not very effectively when not in his own half, he doesn't make that many tackles or interceptions per game nor is his success rate fantastic, and he's not an offensive threat in any capacity. His defensive output was worse than Bruno G's who is one of the least defensively-minded defensive midfielders around.

As a sidenote, I know Brummie has raved about him before but I just don't see it with Kamara as a midfielder. He's decent & tidy but just doesn't stand out when I watch him. Feels like he'd have been great ~5/10 years ago in the world of pure defensive mids.