St1pe

Would have preferred Hall and Livra back in but you can’t argue too much with that 11 I guess. 

Anyone whinging if we lose this with the squad we have available needs shooting. 
 

Hoping for at least a draw. 

6 hours ago, madras said:

At 19 Steve Howey was a Centre forward, Rob Lee was a winger, Andy Carroll was a left back and most of this board were virgins.

Andy Carroll was a left back? 

I haven’t been paying too close attention but is Antony quitely having a bit of a redemption arc? He seems to be contributing a lot more now (I know he gave away the pen before someone mentions it). 

17 minutes ago, Andy84 said:

Despite injuries team looks fairly well balanced. Still think this may be a tough ask tonight 

Came to post this. I might be massively wrong here and at first glance it looks worrying but there’s potential good balance to that side. 
 

Huge games for Hall and Anderson. 

Hate this waiting game trying to figure out who’s crocked now. Then trying to decide who we can afford to lose. It’s like we’re playing this season on hard mode. 

Weird

Almost run out of words for this injury crisis. 
 

How many cbs do we realistically need to buy this summer? It could be a career ended for Lascelles. 

Baffled by the drama surrounding our second pen - particularly by West Ham fans. Players putting their bodies in the way to get kicked to win a penalty has always been that way. Is it a soft way to concede a pen? Absolutely. It’s really shit defending. Did Gordon buy it? 100%. You can’t boot a player in the box, not touch the ball and expect it not to be given. It’s literally always been this way. 
 

I actually like that West Ham side. If they had a more progressive manager they’d do alright. 

As good as an 11 we could have hoped for. I think we’ll get it done.

Gordon masterclass 

After last night I think Mainoo has done enough to earn a start - there’s literally no one else. Gallagher keeps fluffing chances. Phillips is out of form.  Unless there’s some sort of rotation in the advanced positions possible between Bellingham and Foden I don’t see any other options. It’s clearly Rice, Bellingham plus another and Mainoo seems clear of the rest. 

8 minutes ago, Ben said:

#for discussion#

 

What would people think if Howe was asked to replace Southgate after the Euros ? 

It’s too late for a change now in my opinion. 
 

Despite the gaining hate for him I think Southgate has earned a shot at this tournament. 
 

I think he’ll give us another year at least if we can show we’re progressive enough in the summer window. 

1 hour ago, SUPERTOON said:

Henderson isn’t a holding midfielder is he ?

Nah, but he plays that type of siting role in Southgate’s system. Him

and Rice rarely venture forward too far. I can’t think of too many other English players that play that role well. 

For all I hate that Henderson pick I can’t think of any holding type centre midfielders that’s desperately unlucky not to be included. Im

sure there’ll be some but I can’t think of any?

Would play him in that right wing position for the rest of the season. He’s limited, he’s a squad player but I guarantee he gets more g/a contributions than Almiron who’s currently stealing a living here. 

It feels like we’ve had momentum killers pretty much all season and have never really got started for a whole host of reasons - proper mid-table obscurity season. 
 

I totally get why people are frustrated but don’t see any solution with changing manager. As a fan base I think to a certain extent we’ve got to bite the bullet and accept this season is a write off and back them as much as possible. 
 

With a summer window and a less injuries we’ll be right back up there. 

57 minutes ago, toon25 said:

Alnwick was absolutely shite

Worst keeper I’ve ever seen play for us I think. 

I still don’t think he’s got too many options to rotate so not sure where people are coming from.

Tino is the only one that should arguably be starting 

Looking at that lineup I think we’ll get a good win. Hopefully the crowd is up for it too. 

17 minutes ago, captainhaircut said:

Burn v Neto should be fun. 

Burn struggles against wingers that are all pace and direct running. Neto is a top player but he doesn’t directly worry me in the same way Elanga did v Burn. 

This season is such bullshit man 

I know the alternative is Murphy but baffled Almiron keeps getting a start at the minute. 

1 minute ago, Ronson333 said:

It really should be Laschelles in the back five over Burn.

Yeah I agree. Lascelles with Botman and Schar either side of him is similar to the role he played under Rafa with two ball playing cbs. 

Just seen those Ratcliffe quotes. Brilliant. Rattled. Pay the money then you prick.