ExiledGeordie

Might get a good few minutes v Fulham

You’d like to think with Wilson and Hopkinson now in post these types of situations will be dealt with far better.

Until (and this is hard to see when) we have a wage structure that can compete with the top clubs (and by definition an ability to spend in align with top clubs to maintain CL qualifications) we will always be at risk of losing top players. Thats just a the reality of it.

Not to say he’s definitely off but I feel there’s a significant chance he goes unfortunately. Wages and potential tilt at a title holds massive sway. (Tonali also one who I think could be away)

Pardew always had us playing the occasion not the match, got it completely wrong. I think Howe will have them finely tuned for this and hopefully we’ll be able to make our superior football ability count. They are athletic and physical and we’ll need to stand up to that and they don’t give up which mean it could get interesting if it’s very tight and they have a knack for snatching last minute goals. I just don’t think we should let this fixture define our season and nor should it if we were to lose. That said to win tomorrow, go above them and start a solid run of results would be immense.

Unfortunately wages usually hold sway

Each to their own, it’s just very short signed and short termism in my book. If we hoy him away what do we do then??? There may well come a time when he’s moved on, maybe even end of the season but I think some perspective is needed.

So if he loses Sunday despite winning a trophy last season, getting us into CL twice and saving us from near certain relegation you’re done with him 😂

I work with a fair few of them, ofcourse it’s massive. Will it hurt if we lose ofcourse it will but I won’t be tearing strips off myself and calling for the managers head. I’m not necessarily saying you will either I just fear there’ll be a massive overreaction if we lose. It’s a derby anything can happen (red cards etc) and they’ve been in good form recently. I bizarrely feel quite confident about Sunday 😂

This is my worry, far too many fans throwing every single toy out of the pram if we lose on Sunday. We might actually win but yes it’d be very disappointing if we lost, but you move on and the season can still be a success. Sunday I think is a redline for many though, if Howe loses it, they’ll be calling for his head.

They’ll be so desperate to win I hope it counts against them. They’ll be well set up for this no doubt and it’ll be a difficult atmosphere but I look at our players and the quality we have we can cause them a lot of problems going forward. My main worry is Ramsdale and balls coming into the box because they’ll have seen use recently and know that’s a weakness. They’ll be firing in bombs at every opportunity. Elanga winner on the break would be class!

It’s pretty clear we need a new goal keeper who will probably be signed next summer.

Thats well summed up

We were crying out for changes, I don’t see why Wissa, Elanga couldn’t have come on, their pace would’ve pushed them back. He’s get this frustrating tendency to sit back, invite teams on and then watch as we concede, it’s very odd and extremely frustrating. Is it that he doesn’t trust players? 🤷🏽‍♂️

He seems to be very cautious in the last 10 mins in terms of making changes. That coupled with our inability to finish teams off heaps pressure on us and we seem to lose our heads when it’s close. My hope is that Wissa will help finish teams off but we need to stop being a soft touch at the end of games.

No it’s not 😂 Show a bit of fight ffs. It’s a very tough fixture but we have players who can absolutely cause them all sorts of problems.

Yes I think a fit Wissa will help us finish teams off better

I think we still lack lethal goal scorers to finish teams off and there’s the Achilles heel of us getting edgy at the end of matches when we haven’t killed teams off. Plus Eddie could probably be a bit more proactive rather than reactive.

It doesn’t make sense, stick Wissa and Elanga on with some pace and it pegs them back a bit. But we sit back inviting them on and then concede…. again

Subs too late AFTER the goal

He’s got this conservative sitting back and trying to hold a lead thing but it never fucking works

Exactly this, bring Wissa and Elanga on for some pace to push them back

This is our issue, make the changes, push them back,

We’re not technically good enough to throughout the side either.

Our midfield passengers so far