St1pe

Lovely driving run through the middle of the pitch by Morata there.

It's a bit of a minor point but even though I didn't agree with some of his subs they very clearly changed either the tactics or the formation. I've been that used to seeing like for like changes it was refreshing to see.

They seemed to very purposefully target him in the air and it worked a treat. I can imagine Allardyce is rubbing his hands together at the thought of doing the same.

It's weird because he was getting slated on the match thread with people saying Rafa has found him out already but I thought he did ok. He was one of the few that seemed to close down quickly in the first half and were it not for him throwing himself at that freekick the scoreline could have been a lot worse. I thought he was subbed for tactical reasons rather than him being "found out" but I could be wrong. Unless Tiote is back I wouldn't be surprised to see him start v Sunderland.

I was more confident of winning this game before last night, which I suppose is weird as we operated more as an organised unit yesterday than we have all season. The problem is who do you even play out of those midfielders and in what position? Someone mentioned it in the match thread yesterday but we actually looked more fluid when De Jong came on the pitch but you can't exactly play him and Mitrovic in the same team or it'd be far too slow. Sissoko was absolute garbage but I still don't see him as the type of player that would be dropped. Wijnaldum was another that seemed to hide but again, I can't see him being dropped either. I know Sunderland's defence and pressing game will unlikely be as impressing as Leicester's but we didn't look like we had a clue how to break them down in the latter half of the game - even when they looked nervy. This season has been too shit as a fan. We're on the verge of either being able to build something with Rafa or a dice roll into oblivion if we go down. For once it would be nice to follow up a positive with a few good results, this weekend would be the ideal time for that.

If we'd have conceded a penalty for that I'd have booted my monitor off the desk. Never a pen for me.

Worrying. Leicester were absolutely bricking it for most of the 2nd half and we couldn't get work anything that really threatened them. The build up play was worryingly slow and Mitrovic just needs to hit some of these balls in the box rather than trying to lay everything off. We looked much better when Townsend came on but without really doing too much. Sissoko spaffed the only real good opening we had. My gut feeling is we don't have enough to survive even with Rafa coming in. I guess things will be a lot clearer one way or the other after the derby on Sunday.

That was an odd sub also.

Christ Sissoko made an absolute hash of that

Leicester's pressing has been really quite fantastic.

Typical half from us really. Encouraging phases but still manage to be behind.

Pressing was great in the first 10 minutes but we're undoing ourselves by the sheer fear we seem to have when we have to pass the ball.

Aarons injured or just not picked?

Really not keen on Sissoko keeping his place over Townsend. Perez is a welcome bonus but that back line is dreadful. I was hoping we'd have a few players back for this.

Hoping that after all of this optimism tonight isn't one of those back to reality with a bang moments. Most of the positives we've had this season have been quickly ruined. I'd love some sort of surprise win tonight.

Don't have the same elation most people are having at his sacking rather disappointed how the whole thing worked out, I really wanted it to work for him here. He absolutely had to go but I haven't had the same reaction that I did when Pards finally left. I hope he goes on and gets another decent job somewhere.

Lee Ryder putting out click bait left, right and centre with absolutely nothing new to add. Total cretin.

Clicked the thread thinking there must have been some progression. Livid. Vote to perma-ban!

I was reading in the latest Chronicle that they haven't had any direct contact with Benitez but both parties are interested or something a long those lines.... What exactly have they been doing for 3-4 days? We still seem miles away from doing anything decisive.

100% agree. It's so indecisive and weak it would be hilarious if it happened to one of our rivals.

If we are to be relegated a manager like Monk would be ideal for the rebuilding process in my opinion.

I'm trying to remind myself of that ambitious and inspiring short list of managers they leaked to the press with names like Tuchel, Galtier etc on it. This Benitez thing is probably the same sort of bull.

Sort of this. He looks broken lately and now being undermined by the club. If they fail to replace him how are the players meant to respect him? I can't believe he hasn't walked. It's fairly degrading not to.

The worst part of these Benitez rumours is that it's going to feel even worse when they decide to keep McClaren.

In this case its hard for the club to do anything really. If they would stick with him, i am sure they would have denied all the rumors in the news. If they are looking for a replacement, they can not really go out saying they will sack Steeeve if they get the right person in. Then they fail as usual getting their man and have to stick with a manager that knows he is not wanted. I do see your point. The problem is everyone knows what's going on without actually being informed by it. It's another reason why this slow approach they have to everything is completely inept.