St1pe

Sounds like an elaborate Ashley scheme to get out of giving Rafa funds On a serious note.. fuck sake!!!

Loved the game last night - I hung around for a longer than normal at the end just to take in the good vibes before we're back to the harder struggle of the Premier League. Watching Rafa strut around the pitch shaking everyone's hand and the crowd loving him was an incredible experience. I thought the atmosphere was weird last night though. It was incredibly subdued in the build up and then after they scored two thirds of the stadium moaned at every slow or backwards pass - I was pleased we scored late after loads of people pissed off on 40 minutes or so. That corner does a brilliant job getting behind the team and trying to create an atmosphere - I wonder if it would be worth trying to expand that section by relocating people wanting to make noise? There must be loads of people wanting to get over to that side of the ground. Chuffed that we strolled to the win! I thought Perez had a very good second half, it was good to see him commiting players again. We've massively missed those driving runs from Hayden too.

I thought his overall game was good last night but the same problem was there - he doesn't look like scoring. I'd keep him for next season, there's a player in there somewhere but he can't be who we're relying on to keep us up.

100% loved it. The past few weeks have been a struggle and it's been disappointing missing out on the title - I know it's still vaguely possible - but overall I've enjoyed going into every game hoping for a win and being one of the best teams in the league. I've enjoyed the amount of games too.

Might be looking into this too much but this could be a massive game for both Atsu and Mitrovic as to whether they've got a future here. They've both been given another big chance that they hadn't really taken earlier in the season.

Quite like it!

Going. Hopefully we have one of those games where everything just clicks. 2-0 Ritchie Mitro

Would never happen: he'd cost too much, his wages are too high and it goes against everything Mike Ashley had ever done - part of me would absolutely love it though ???

Moses has to be the worst for diving in the Premier League? Also Murphy just awful talking about the incident.

Saw this story shared on Facebook. There's still a lot of people defending him - surprisingly a lot of women. All with tons of likes too. What an absolute weird little creep he is in that video too. I wonder how much money those lads made from that?

Good for him! It's easy to forget the big performances in the biggest games he's put in like the Brighton games and Huddersfield away - especially with some people re-writing history about how he's apparently been shit all season. Some of it in the match threads has been RTG standard. He's been shite lately but I think he'll come good with time. He's got the attributes but just needs to calm down and stick to the basics. Given the absolute shell of men we've had at centre back in recent years I think the lad deserves a bit of time . I'd rather he wasn't captain next season though. Someone like Ritchie would be better suited and Lascelles can just focus on being a defender. He stood up when we needed someone to though and not in a Steven Taylor pashun sort of way before anyone makes the comparison.

We've got to play Mitrovic in this one. 4 goals in two games this season against Preston. For all I was borderline suicidal after the results yesterday I think we'll get a good win here and settle a few nerves.

The injuries to Gayle and Clark have hit us massively. We have a squad big enough to deal with it but no one has taken their opportunities. It's going to feel like a long wait until that Preston game.

The thought of dropping into the playoffs is terrifying.

It was a turgid struggle for a long time before those games too. It wasn't.

Things have been absolutely joyless since those Brighton and Huddersfield wins. Everything has just been a pure turgid struggle.

Would you want Rafa to take another shot at promotion on the basis of the last few weeks? He isn't getting anywhere near the potential out of our players. Jesus Christ

Oh man

Not keen on that lineup. I like Lascelles but he shouldn't have kept his place over Mbemba if one was going to be taken out. Perez has done more than a Diame has for weeks and Mitrovic had his best game since Preston then is dropped? The only positives are two wingers and the fact that whenever I've really got gripes with the first 11 we win comfortably ?

Agree with both. It's also his first full season. I think it also shows how important of a signing Clark has been. We wouldn't have conceded that goal last night - there's no way he'd have let someone be out of position like that in that stage of the game. Not unless I've got rose-tinted glasses on in the wake of that game.

Still incredibly disappointed about this today. It's hard to fault the performance and the effort of the players and I know promotion is the goal but we've completely thrown this title away. Looking back on some of the games like QPR, both Blackburn games, Bristol and Villa away we have completely dropped a bollock. There is very little difference between us and Brighton despite everyone now saying the opposite - we've had opportunities against teams we should have killed off yet took our foot of the gas. I think if we'd have won last night I could see us winning our remaining games and Brighton losing to Villa on the fina day. The gap is too big now and there's no pressure on them. I just hope Huddersfield's and Leeds's late goals don't make us flap into a nervy fight for second.

Desperate for a win tonight. I get the impression there's a meltdown bubbling away under the surface with some ready made scapegoats in that starting lineup. 2-0 win - not a wet bed in sight!

I think it'll be a standard ugly routine home win. Or at least I hope we win. Mitrovic redemption today ?

A timely return to form from Mitrovic would be perfect like. If Gayle is out I'd start him for the rest of the season to see if he's capable of playing well in Rafa's system. In all likelihood we should still go up so giving him a run of games will be a good indicator of whether he's going to be worth keeping or selling in the summer.

This place always seems over the top after a defeat but it's hard to draw any positives on that. We were all over the place at the back, the effort seemed lacking and if Shelvey, Ritchie or Gayle don't pull us through something in attack no one else seems to really step up. Two woeful performances against Sheff Wed, three if you count the cup game from last year. Their fans must think we're absolute shite. Especially considering Huddersfield lost we've wasted a very good opportunity there. What a weekend for Chris Hughton and Brighton. Huuge game v Leeds now to try and bounce back.