Gallowgate Toon

I like Brentford but thought they were pretty shit tonight outside the first 5 minutes. They'll fall back a bit, especially once Toney gets banned.

Think we're decently likely to see Almiron-Isak-Gordon start against Wolves. I just can't see Howe moving away from 4-3-3 as it's such a balanced shape for us. I think he'd rather try different personnel as a starting point and change formation in-game if needed. Personally, I'd give Almiron a rest.

As much as Wilson has been doing my head in recently, I do think we should try and keep him in the team and try Isak in & around him for the next couple of games. They're the 2 goalscorers we have in the squad who display natural movement in & around the box and can free up space for one another. I actually think we get really good numbers forward but have few players who make proper runs when we're in the final third. Whether Isak plays as a wide forward or #10, either are decent options & changeable in-game depending on how things are going.

Well deserved. For me, he's undoubtedly our most important & best player - someone we can't replace, who regularly does the work of 2 midfielders, and holds a lot of what we do going forward & back even on off days.

Wouldn't drop Tripps. They'll likely sit deep on us so having quality on the ball from defensive areas could be important. After City, Howe talked about having options to rotate tactically now but I'd be surprised if he started Maxi. I feel like it's one of those games he's that not suited to starting - capable of the unpredictable, yes, but prone to losing the ball against teams that sit back, double on him, and hit the break. I think it'll be 4-3-3 to start with a front 3 between Wilson/Isak/Gordon/Almiron.

Hoping he might take some inspiration from Klopp about how to get goalscorers on the pitch together. Nunez as a fluid wide forward has been very effective recently.

MOTD lot were praising him. I wouldn't go that far but watching back he played a part in our good moments in the first half. Really impressive acceleration for the mishit opening, like. He's shown a nice first touch in short time here too.

Tbh, our lot should take some heart from Liverpool's performance and general uptick. They looked hopeless about 5 weeks ago and were on their own barren run in front of goal.

Kinda surprising that football fans who've watched football presumably for many years make such definitive statements. There's a long, long way to go yet. NUFC Twitter is going to be tragic this week.

Gakpo has nicely settled in after a crap start. Really nice footballer.

Wow

The thing that's so annoying about the Wilson situation is how much rope he seems to have. If any other player had played as poorly as he has for months, I can't seriously imagine they'd be still starting XI. Isak has 2 starts, 1 in a largely 10-man performance, and it's straight back on the bench. After all the focus on creating competition in the squad, it's infuriating. I don't think it'd have massively changed today's outcome but if we'd have scored or looked more fluid then we'd go into next Sunday with more confidence.

Bit of a mixed bag from him but he does have a decent eye for an inside pass - another one today led to the Longstaff chance. I'd play him on the right against Wolves.

I think it's quite likely to be a 'defensive' choice as Wilson generally leads the press well which is likely viewed as important to us against top teams in terms of keeping balance while still creating chances. It was a weird comment from Howe about Isak not being quite there yet. He said a few weeks ago that he looked 'electric' in training.

Think we'll see incremental changes as we look to keep our generally good midfield platform intact.

There's still a lot left to play for, like. 1 or 2 results and then everything shifts again. With some tweaks, we can push on again as we still do a lot well.

Isak's played most of his career as a striker and he scored lots of goals at Sociedad in the 6-yard box from crosses and skirmishes. Yes, he's not an entire replica of Wilson, but he doesn't need to be either. Bottom line is we've not given him a fair run while we're desperate for goals.

It's also a little bit of a worry if he's going to manage us in Europe. We're definitely not going to be able to play the same team every game so he needs to be able to rotate successfully.

Again, we're largely very well coached and had a good platform in the game which makes some of the selection decisions up top even more annoying.

It's getting to the point where I actually don't like him which isn't even his fault. Should've become bench fodder 6 games ago, even just to give him a kick up the arse. Was an advocate for 4-2-3-1 against Wolves but I think I'd rather see him benched.

Should be really disappointed with himself today, imo. I thought the Gordon for ASM switch was fine and worth a shot, would've preferred it to be Miggy than ASM but City are so good at home and will pin you back. Watching Wilson fanny about for 60 minutes getting ragdolled and missing easy chances just isn't good enough though. 1 in 14 ffs. Didn't even press very well today either.

We've done decently there, some good spells of play. Hope we make some changes early on in the half, this current lot aren't scoring and it's important we make subs before a second goes in.

Nah, Isak is a great counter striker where you can punt the ball to the wider areas and he can do damage. Worked very well against Liverpool. Wilson presses well and contests headers better. Let's see how it goes.

It's weird because it also goes against Howe's entire ethos of having competition & playing those who've earned it. What's the point if you're going to persevere with an ageing, injury prone striker who has been out of form for months. Bizarre.

Wilson Got to say, I'm getting a bit concerned about it, like. Isak gets shunted to the bench asap, Wilson has endless opportunities.