Lush Vlad

Feel like this needs to get rolled out in every thread ATM.

I thought the mackem abuse had died down! Banned or did he just decide to leave?

Fakem

Nah. It’s just if you dare criticise a player he rates. He likes to have a go at the wider fanbase as a whole for some reason. Hounded out FFS

Was just about to post similar. How dense do you have to be to think that FFS?!

You put 2+2 together and get 5. I’d rather listen to what Shelvey actually said and how it played out. I’m sure managers would often want to keep players. But can also see the bigger picture. An injury riddled, immobile Shelvey on big money for another year and barely playing or suiting the system. Not going to be hard to convince Howe that he needs to be moved on.

Considering how guarded modern day pros are, all the media training they have and how they all tend to sound like monotone robots. I found it quite interesting and engaging, TBF.

It was never implied that Howe said he was happy to give him a year. Sounded to me like he pied him off and made Ashworth out to be the bad guy and the bearer of bad news. Like they wouldn’t have had that discussion at a higher level already.

His touch and passing can still be wayward, yes. He isn’t a typical centre mid. But the hybrid role he plays works for us and considering Howe doesn’t look like changing any time soon. I think we look a lot better with the 4-3-3 when Big Joe plays. Look at who is usually our only option when we play over a press. Who is basically the only player in our squad capable of holding the ball up back to goal and who is usually the only option on our frankly piss poor throw in routines….. It’s JOEEEELINTON. The song needs work. But you get my point. I also think his passing in general has been a lot better since his return from injury. Especially in transitions when the game opens up. That was often my biggest gripe with him in those situations. Too many touches, a crap pass that would often come too late or too early and overhit. So any promising attacks and counters would break down. I’ve not even mentioned his off the ball work and aerial dominance. Which is invaluable for us.

Keeper should be doing better on the Garnacho goal IMO.

He was more than 5cm behind Pope.

Outstanding reference

1-1. The team sort of picks itself. Just whether Howe starts with Woltemade or Wissa. I wouldn’t mind seeing Ramsey get another start. But I think it will be the usual midfield 3.

Benfica have something similar but across most of Portugal. Was listening to their academy guy or sporting director or whoever he was on the radio. He was quite brazen saying they just hoover up all the top talent from a really young age and have shitloads of players in the academy. Doesn’t feel quite right. But we need to try and attempt to get younger and cheaper recruits in. With a pathway to the first team. Along with the local lads we’ve already brought through recently.

1:20 and the one near the end on the counter. The belief you need to have in your own ability to do that. Let the other player go beyond you and use their momentum to your advantage. Get that wrong and they’re clean through. Elite talent. If he stays fit and playing regularly. We’ll do very well to keep hold of him.

Yeah, Hall pied him and then went back and sort of pushed him. Pep seemed stunned but was also laughing. Strange man is Pep.

He certainly looks half a yard slower and I'd imagine it's this hamstring niggle that is playing on his mind. You're always a bit nervy about fully opening up when you have a tight hammy or are coming back from an injury. Hope it's another one of these injuries that can be managed and he won't be missing for a long time. As he is very unique in what he brings out wide and he is perfect for certain games and situations.

Just the 2 goals, clean sheet and take them to pens mate. Nee bother.

Yeah, I've been apoplectic about some of our so called performances this season. Whether it's been the shoddy defending, how passive we are, how we create fuck all, how many sitters we've missed, late goals. You name it, we've seen plenty of shite. Last night was not a game where you can say the tactics were wrong or the players didn't put it on the line. We were understandably a bit leggy from early on and the subs killed it for them. Technicians from 1 to 11 and they can just pass you to death. But everyone was still in there fighting to the end. To the point where I can't really fault any of them. Even though there were plenty of individual mistakes. I did half want us to take more risks and throw caution to the wind a bit more. But the first goal was always going to be crucial, as cliched as that is. A draw was a perfectly acceptable result for them and they played that way. We had to balance not overdoing it with fatigued players and getting carved open to go 1 or 2 down. Whilst also knowing in reality, we needed to be heading into the second leg with a lead. Cagey old game with some very fine margins and on another day we go in at 1-0 at HT or at least get it back to 1-1 in the second half. But it is what it is and I'm proud of them TBH. This is nothing like the mackems, Brentford and West Ham games.

Disagree. It's all hypothetical. But say Mbeumo, Ekitike/Joao Pedro and Trafford all came here last summer. They are very different to the players they would have been replacing and the ones we actually ended up signing. Plus they are different to our usual profile of player that we go after. We were heavily linked or put bids in for plenty of players that wouldn't be considered the usual profile. We even signed one in Woltemade. The fact that other clubs are still a bigger draw and can pay more wages and offer more attractive financial packages, has cost us. I'm not saying they're all blameless. As so far, we have one hit (Thiaw), one very promising (Woltemade), a couple where the jury's out (Wissa and Ramsey) one looking like a massive flop.... We've overpaid by varying degrees on a lot of those. The tactics thing is overplayed. We still do look to press and play aggressively when we can. The squad just isn't there yet and the competing on multiple fronts has limited us. Plus it does look like we are trying to exert more control over games. But it is failing for multiple reasons, most of which have already been mentioned by us both.

Was it Wenger who mentioned two lines? So you can be offside leaning forward, but you still have say your hips or leg inline with the defender and that would be onside? I quite like that idea. But it would also then just mean potentially even more line drawing and taking even longer with decisions. Although most of them would be pretty easy to call straight away and it wouldn't need to be analysed in such minute detail every week. As I'd imagine ones where your foot is onside by 2mm but the rest of your body is off would be few and far between.

I know he can't always beat the fullback down the outside and he'd end up totally fucked if he tried it pretty much all the while. But I really wish he would at least attempt it more often. Only tried it 2-3 times last night, got Nunes booked and won a foul in a dangerous area, then in the second half. I think there was another early on where he half beat him and then came back on himself. Nearly got by him but it was good defending in the end. He's our best player at just knocking it down the line and getting after it. But he constantly wants to slow down play and start drifting inside, often looking for passes into congest areas. His left foot crossing isn't bad, either.

Where we sit in the Leazes. It is a mixture of mutes and then rows and rows that just yap all game, occasionally switching their focus to the game to boo the ref or give Elanga some shit. I can't imagine this experience is unique to NUFC and its fans. But it does seem to be getting worse. The entitlement and moaning, especially. I mean fuck me, for most of our lives all we have been able to do is piss and moan about how shit we are. Through most of my match going life, we had 14 straight years of actively looking to go out of cups and with the ultimate goal of just remaining in the PL. I could understand it back then, even if it got tiresome listening to people boot off about it for 90 minutes. But nowadays, in comparison. There is very little to moan about. Yet so many just sit there in silence waiting to be entertained. Or arguably worse, just talking about everything other than the game and not even looking at the pitch. Then whip their head round to moan and groan when we concede, miss a chance, misplace a pass etc. Apart from Ipswich away, which was a proper old school away end. The ones I've managed to get to under Howe have mainly been shit and all.

Is there an element of teams wising up a bit to how he plays? Defenders seem to a few yards off, show him the line but cut the angle so there's not a lot of room and he just dwells on the ball and never really looks sore on what to do. He gets on the ball a lot when he is totally stationary with not a lot of options around him. So he needs to take some blame for that and the system he is in isn't really ideal, either. As it's not his game at all, but it's basically all we ever get from him. That take on stat is pretty damning and I'm not sure what it was like at Forest. But you'd regularly see him doing players for pace. Whether that was in behind, beating them down the line or drifting infield with the ball. I've barely seen him try and take his man on here, even when he has had space to attack. Which is sort of a catch 22 for him, as the crowd are willing him to do it. But his confidence seems to be at rock bottom and if he loses it. He's then just waiting for all the moans and groans to start up again. He's much quicker than Murphy and has shown parts of his game are far superior to him. Yet he never seems to find space the way Murphy does. Maybe with more minutes and Miley behind him, who is very good and composed on the ball. He might get a bit more joy and get on the ball with more space and room to attack. Miley found Murphy with ease a good few times last night.