BlackandWhite

Not being complacent here but why is Forrest away classed as tough game? They are 18th in the league and have the 2nd highest against total in this division with 30. Well they've only lost just as many home league games as we have for starters (vs cardiff and norwich) so it's as tough place to win as ours this season. I still fancy us to beat them but it's not going to be easy and I recon it'll be tight. It's their away form that's been beyond shocking think they've only won once away all season. They've won 2 out their last 10 games. Hey I didnt say they are going to beat us Just that it'd be a tough game, which it will be. I'd bet on a win for us but a draw wouldnt be all that surpirsing if they manage it. Anyway this is a balckburn thread I'm suspending any debating of mine on this until the Forest match thread opens up so it's not off topic.

Not being complacent here but why is Forrest away classed as tough game? They are 18th in the league and have the 2nd highest against total in this division with 30. Well they've only lost just as many home league games as we have for starters (vs cardiff and norwich) so it's as tough place to win as ours this season. I still fancy us to beat them but it's not going to be easy and I recon it'll be tight. It's their away form that's been beyond shocking think they've only won once away all season.

The last thing we can do is get complacent. One shock defeat can upset the apple cart and a tough game vs forest coming up we need to keep the great form up. Therefore I expect no fringe players to play Saturday Rafa knows better than to take opposition for granted. The players played like they took Wolves for granted and were beaten easily. If I were Rafa I wouldnt be letting them forget that game until there's a P beside our name and it's highlighted in a green as it's a great example of what happens when the foot's taken off the gas.

No doubt Rafa has a 'league XI' and 'EFL Cup' XI lined up and in his mind. Have a feeling we'll see Mitro, Hayden, Atsu and few others start at Hull but remain on the bench Saturday and possibly vs Forest, too. We'll see what the great leader does.

Reading their forum I cant acually help but feel sorry for their fans. To have owners who are actually worst than Mike Ashley is unthinkable. It must suck beyond belief to support that club at the moment.

It's so dumb. Look at Villa with their 39.5 million net spend. Doing fantasic aren't they? Some people are just really stupid no other word for them.

I understand your refusal to be optimistic given how things have gone in the past but it would take a monumental f*** up from here. Even if we only win 14 games for the rest of the season it will still leave us with over 80 points which most likely be good enough for promotion when you consider we'd at least get a few draws with that and the average points total to secure 2nd is around 85 points. I will never vote 10 as nothing is guarenteed in football it is the most unpredictable sport in the world. But I would vote 9 as we are extremely likely to go up now, it's hard to be pessimistic about our chances now.

McCormack only done so well at Fulham because the team was built around him. Now he's at a team not built around him and he can't even get into it at the moment. Only scored twice in 11 appearences as well. Gayle is so much better and doesnt need to be the centre of the team to do well.

Has he ever said he prefers to play up top? I don't think that is his best position and I can't say I remember him playing there regularly or being 'lethal' up front? Didn't he have a good spell there during one of Pardew's winning runs, where he scored a few? I can't actually remember, TBH. But I genuinely didn't think he had played as a striker too often for us. He has played on the left, behind the striker and as a front man and he has looked good at different times in all of those positions. Hasn't really managed to make any of those positions his own, though and he seems inconsistent. He played there for Tenerife didnt he and got player of the year in Spain's second division. He's come on as a sub a few times for us and played there and stared there. Played there vs Spurs last season and won us the match. Can also remember he coming off the bench and winning us a game vs Liverpool playing there in his debut season. A match vs Man city comes to mind too played there on his league debut and I can remeber him coming so close to scoring. In fact he played there a more often than not two seasons ago I can remember and he had an okay first season lookng at it getting 7 goals. Steve McClown rarely played him in that position last season though but the few times he did he played decent like when he won us the Spurs game. So I think it is he's best position but his luck is out because he wont be playing there this season with Rafa's system and Gayle and Mitro being on top form.

Didn't Peterborough go down with 53 points one season. So it's still possible ;D Edit: Quick google shows it was 54 :frantic:

We must remember he wasnt playing his favorite position either yesterday. His best position is as a striker but when you have Gayle and Mitro on top form there's no chance of playing there. I dont think he's good enough as a CAM but we know on a good day he can be lethal up front.

We'll always have these arguements so long as some laws are left open to the referee's own personal interpretation. Just like denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and other laws left to the opinion of the referee some will decide it is and some will decide it's not. The ref, correctly in my opinion, decided there was no deliberate handball for the incident. But other refs would see it was deleberiate handball as he blocks the cross comin into the box. The laws dont give a clear definition of what is deleberate handball it only gives a few pointers and suggestions to help the referee judge. If it said "a handball is when the ball hits a hand or arm" it'd be black and white and leeds would have had a peno. But it's not all black and white like that at all.

Must be awkward talking about play off and potential promotion rivals in a positive light on live tv.

Two teams who are an embarrassment to the english game and it's the pricks down the road who are the shinier of two turds.

If this happened I could personally find myself with severe rib injuries from excess laughing as I have a sibling who for some mad reason decided to support these cunts. I have been waiting years for something to laugh back at him at.

Bullet header. The lad is class and will only get better. Easy to forget he's just 22.

Austria are absolutely awful. Played to Ireland's strenghts with long ball after long ball and cross after cross. Duffy looked like Beckenbauer in that game because they just kept playing to his strengths. Not to take anything away from an amazing victory for Ireland of course 10 points from 12 is excellent especially when already played two of the most challenging games away to Serbia and Austria.

Nothing new. As soon as any of their players hit good form all of sudden he's a global superstar worth as much as any player in the world. Boring.

Even with one of our best players out of the team for around a month I'd still trust Rafa's guidance, ability to organize the team and his expert tactical knowledge to see us through and stay on course for promotion. The best manager's do well with even the shitist of players (like Colback and Dummet). Bobby Robson had bloody Bramble at CB but didn't stop him guiding us to the champions league last 16 (or second group stage as it was back then )

Seen a few people talking about him being a defensive minded coach I wouldn't put it that way. Tony Pulis is a defenive minded coach, Rafa is a perfctionist he looks to get everything from every part of the pitch and that starts with the defence but he always demands we be very good going foward and not just sit back and wait for a lucky opportunity. Our GD alone shows that he is not just defence orientated.

He's been surprisingly good so far. Very dodgy CB when at Villa who was too prone to stupid errors like conceding a silly free kick, penalty or scoring an OG. Rafa looks to have helped him eliminate the sloppy mistakes from his game and he's looking a much better defender for it. Long may his great form continue.

They look like they've got some very tough fixtures after Hull but these fuckers have become specialist at pulling points out of nowhere from tough looking fixtures especially when survival is involved. You just cant confidently say they'll lose X, Y and Z or they'll win X, Y and Z because the only thing that's predicable about these shower of cunts is that they always find a way somehow of squirming their way out relegation.

Alright thanks. Yeah thought not even he, no matter how braindead, could be that ridiculous. Though if you were to pick anyone not to put it pass it'd be him.

Any truth that McClean is not playing because of what Leicester done to the pitch I doubt that's why and that anyone would be that ridiculous, he's probably just injured, but it'd be hillarious and embarrasing if it were true imagine being that thick.

What do you know, Wijnaldum does exist, could of fooled me.