Amir_9

You know what, the FA cup is a sexier trophy to win to end the trophy drought anyway. More of the squad back for that one too. Onwards and upwards. (Still gutted for tonight though).

I hope you are right on the money and he has my support with the hope this is the biggest and last bad blip in his form here because if there is anyone who deserves the best with this club, it is most definitely him. Regardless of my concerned comment about his age or him needing more competition rather than a guaranteed start until his very last day here.

There is no argument against that his signing is one of this club's finest value for money as well as most impactful to date in terms of player quality and character and leadership he's brought into the squad. His goals when he first arrived played a massive part in taking us off the foot of the table. All of this is considered and not forgotten. Even his assists to date are not forgotten. The lad at his peak for us is a cut above. The Everton, Spurs and Chelsea games have shown that he is entering a phase that shows he is capable of glaring errors and the disappointing thing is the quick succession these have happened (and sometimes more than once in a game). I really hope a bit of competition and a rest would do him the world of good. I say "I hope" and not "I am certain" because the reality is for the assumption I made earlier about it possibly being the start of showing signs of age related decline, nobody really knows what the definite case here is except himself and Howe. Even the ones assuming its purely physical/mental fatigue (which I am sure plays a part but I don't know if you can fully attribute it to it).

I cannot recall a single contribution from him or even remember his name being called much It is quite insane he is still here never mind playing games.

Never said he wasn't a class act. I hope to be proven wrong and this dip in form is due to personal circumstances or fatigue (be it mental or physical) but at the same time I would not be surprised if its a start of an age related decline. Does not mean I do not think he is an absolute top top class player who has done so much for us so far. I have commented on him being elite this season more than once if you look at my post history.

This is such a typical response to be honest, the first part of my comment clearly shows I rate him and what he's done for us thus far, he is elite, but you can't look at the level of mistakes he's made recently as well as his age and not think by start of next season him being 34 its time to have him as a squad player rather than a guaranteed starter.

Let's get one thing clear - he is an elite player that has played his part in our transformation and been at the forefront of it to get it to this very point However I am not sure he has much left in the tank to be able to bring that level of performance consistently and the decline is starting to show. I think it would be in our best benefit to start phasing him out slowly by end of the season and have him as a squad member rather than a guaranteed starter.

Just watching that reply, just chest it and hoof it man. Fucking hell Tripps

Love him to bits but he is showing serious signs of decline with these school boy errors

If this is all true and its inevitable he's leaving then surely there has to be someone as good or potentially better waiting to get a chance at somewhere like here Feel we have benefited from Ashworth in a positive manner for the most part but if Man United twerking has honey-baited him then see you and hope you fail there. Never said I wasn't petty.

Love his composure and actively trying to keep the movement going forwards. With regards to footballing terms very intelligent and composed for his age.

Lovely jubbly second half

Lol well that's shut us all up

Almiron wtih a stinker this game

There's no way they are even arguing that. That's a fucking Karate Kung Fu move.

Bruno could really do with working on his shooting outside the box

Fucking hell Dubravka what the fuck was that

Just rewatched highlights and remembered his performance again Peak.

Mate, I genuinely thought the takeover was off because they wanted to "save face" rather than be made to look silly having to plead for something as it's kind of part of the culture imo. A year later it went through. I somehow don't expect the operation of our club is in fully "KSA govt" type and there are some other influences and protocols behind decision making at play. It's too early to say in their tenure but the signs so far have been good.

We were still in it until the final 45 mins of the final game of that beast of a group so I have to go with my more rational side than emotional side on the aftermath of this one. Considering we jumped from beating relegation rather comfortably straight to qualifying for champions league and then literally were such thin margins from second place (considering the bullshit and bad luck), again, in that fucker of a group, is top drawer progress no matter how you look at it.

Man have we fucking missed Willock so so bad this year.

These have been class lately, a narrow win is one I would gladly take.

If we were to be ruthless I can see us letting all the 3 sub GKs go and sign someone to really give Pope a fight for that number 1 spot. Don't think Karius or most definitely not fucking Gillespie would have made much of a difference during these run of games with Pope injured unfortunately. Dubs was very good when he first arrived (with the occasional unreal performance here and there) and I feel the minute Pope came in and took his spot that more or less finished him mentally and physically here. Him wanting a loan move rather than fighting for number one spot should tell you what his motivations and attitude really was like at the club by this point and him returning I don't know if he was mentally upto it anymore.

Hope you're happy ya big fucking Italian betting cuck Better be fucking decent next year. edit: sarcasm obviously

Their keeper pulled an absolute miracle of a save against Bruno and Tomori with the last ditch defending as well. Don't forget they hit the post more than once in the second half as well. They are not poor and to be honest you can argue sucker punched their way through to a deserved win based on that second half.