Happinesstan

Rafa [love him] having palpatations.

Yes but those errors were not unforced.

Just need Longstaff to have one chalked from his own half, now.

Probably been the most vocal in my dislike of his continued selection, but Howe's continued belief in him is beginning to pay dividends. He's so much more than a player we look to, to score. He's actually pivotal to how we play. It's a big responsibilty for a youngster and he's rising to the ask.

My point is every player is vital to the club and deserves our support whateverI think it explains Longstaff's relative anonymity. You always have a "3rd" midfielder and when you're dominating it's the more defensive midfielder that becomes "spare", but it requires the 10 to make it so. I think this is the first game Willock had made it happen. I've been critical of Willock's continued selection but he's undoubtedly benefitted from it. It's taken him 8 games, it took Murphy two.

Cometh the hour...

How the fuck do VAR look at that and think "yeah that needs to be punished"

Eh? He's not even facing the direction of the ball.

The confidence is the biggest key. Once every player was afraid of the ball and every fan could relate. It's a world of difference.

I forgot he was playing. I think this speaks volumes for the set-up. As long as he remains focussed because we'll probably not dominate for the full 90.

I expected him to hit the post, tbf.

We were always going to call on him at some point. I don't get why so-called supporters wouldn't support him.

We do score some good goals.

Gerrin!

The rules state that if the attacker makes an attempt to play the ball. Toney made every effort to not play it. So yes. I guess.

I think Brentford have been robbed.

Unlucky Miggy.

Brilliant!

That's the small picture. The bigger picture is keeping our best players available for as many games as possible. I think we can beat Brentford without him. Also despite a start that shows promising signs that he could be a valuable element of the group, he's really only dazzled in one game, Man City. He should be ready to burst, let's keep that for next week, when the difference will be required a little more.

I do think, given the circumstances last week, that it would have been fair to bring Joelinton in instead of Longstaff, but respect to Howe for being loyal to his squad.

It's not utter shite but they can keep it in the US for all I care. It;s made for TV and I'm happy with it like that. Football's going that way, of course.

he's ignoring my point that we're not solely reliant on Maxi. Have we missed him more than we missed Wilson and Bruno? We undoubtedly missed all 3 but did okay with two of them returning. Your point was that he MUST start. I disagree, and his ignorance doesn't support your case.

Where we stand in October's table means very little to me, tbh.

Have you forgotten we were also without Wilson and Bruno.

Completely disagree. We are no longer dependent on his magic just to survive. We're 7th having missed him for half our games. We can afford to give him a full and proper recovery like we have every other casualty.