Stottie

Joelinton goes for power, its saved, and he gets slagged in commentary. Ronaldo does it, its straight at the keeper again and they can't praise him highly enough.

If there was any doubt about Woodman's role in the first....

Pisses all over their goal tbh.

Epic celebration by ASM! One for the ages. Credit to beg Joe, very laxadasical but in that moment it worked at least. But if Lascelles is going to do that, it doesn't matter. No complaints about the decision, it was a pen all the way. Another poor performance, and I expect we'll get pasted the first time we play someone good.

But he is capable of running and scored two against Norwich about three weeks ago thanks to some running. Joelinton can't even do that.

Going back five-six minutes, but Gayle and not Joelinton I reckon we're two up off that pass from Maxi.

Problems at full back/wing back strike again. Oh and I've seen them given.

I've only seen it once, but was that Schar with the ball in? It made the goal.

He got a partial let-off last week because the key turning point was the ludicrous penalty, but this week we had the same toothless final thirty minutes. We also conceded from set pieces, which is classic poor training. We scored a lot of set pieces in his first season, remember all the goals from defenders, which was to his credit and contrasted with Rafa, but they have long since dried up. If this sounds like clutching at straws to give him credit, yes it is, and even then he still comes out badly. He should be nowhere near the club.

We're doing long throws too, from their box back to the halfway line.

Much of this self-inflicted, but 25 left to see if we can come up with more than the 25 of complete ferk-all that ended last week's game.

Great finish. Top drawer. After a highly unimpressive slice into the stands from Lascelles though. Put it out 10 yards higher up the pitch and that doesn't happen.

Big Al and Sir Les reckon the penalty was a joke. I have to say I agree. As fine margins deciding games go, a free penalty is quite a big one. Maybe VAR is not allowed to over-rule Martin Atkinson. His performance also included not booking a player because he was pretending he had cramp. None of the above means we weren't shit second half, because we were. This was the perfect kind of opponent for us, positive enough to come to win but shit at the back and easy to get at, so it's a relatively easy three points missed. Weaker teams will come to St. James and force us to take the initiative, and we know how we struggle with that.

I don't get the penalty but that fourth was way way too easy. Like the Brighton games last year.

Schar and not Krafth and that's 3-1. We've played well. They had a good 15 minutes but on the whole, we were pretty good. We also hit the bar and that Clark header wasn't far away. 11 attempts from us, more than a games' worth last year, and the dizzy heights of 44% possession.

ferk, great goal!

Woodman gets a free ride on his debut, but a keeper should be making an effort to stop anything on target. Even if it means pushing out straight to a forward.

England's Declan Rice completely owned there by ASM.

I don't understand why Arsenal don't rate him. Do they have a tasty sell-on clause or buyback option? Normally "top six" clubs sell past-it players on big wages to clubs our level, not their prospects. There is too much about him to dismiss it all as simply a hot streak. You could halve his goal production, down to xG/shots per game averages, and it would still be a great contribution from midfield.

Bet that's a pen if it's not Robertson.

Rondon's been mentioned several times in the thread, and the season numbers ended up very similar. All comps Rondon 33 appearances, 12 goals 7 assists in 2,616 minutes Wilson 28 appearances 12 goals, 5 assists in 2,203 minutes PL only Rondon 32 appearances 11 goals, 7 assists in 2,608 minutes Wilson 26 appearances 12 goals, 5 assists in 2,085 minutes As another parallel, though both led the attack magnificently, neither was out-and-out most goal getter. Top scorer in 18/19 was Ayoze, and in the second half of this season it's been Willock. Both Rondon and WIlson also came from relegated clubs.

I hate Ashley, but he got market price or more for Sissoko and Gini. Gini was good but very inconsistent when we sold him. Did he ever score in an away game? Sissoko was a degree of revenge on Spurs for all of the good players they poached from us for buttons. Based on the prices of those two when we had just been relegated, ASM will not be given away. If he goes, we would likely hold out for decent money. Joelinton has proved money can be easily frittered away on prospects, and any big fee for ASM could easily be pissed away too. Some wheeler dealery speculation could be made about how to get Willock, e.g., selling Almiron, but with Covid-19 it's hard to know what money each club has to spend. This also assumes a sudden burst of ambition we have seen little of over 14 years.

Just for anyone who said we defended terribly, but Understat said the expected goals of Man CIty was 1.48. Ours was 2.18, because pens are about 0.7 each. I'm not a big fan of xG but I think it demonstrates something in terms of actual efforts there. People who defend badly against Man City are waltzed around before Sterling or someone taps it in in acres at the far post. That didn't happen once. They scored with a deflection, a crazy highlight-reel spin flick, and then two completely lethal "name your favourite moocher" (Micky Quinn for me) finishes, the first off a what looked like a just-whack-it-in cross. The keep ball was embarrassing and the commentator should be smacked for suggesting even "Newcastle fans would be giving it oles", but on the whole it wasn't too bad. I love Dubs, but this was one of the games where nobs would give him stick because there weren't many shots and they all went in. Normally it would take nine or ten good efforts on goal to put four past him. Just in case anyone thinks I'm defending Bruce, it was still Man City B without KDB etc., and some of their replacements were very generous, giving away pens and faiiling to save a Krafth header that looked very central. The poor defending in the game was mostly by them.

Hat-trick of the season, this.

Beg Jow buries it like Shearer!