Kid Icarus

He lacks them. There are people who you disagree with but still understand football to a certain level and can cite examples etc. He genuinely doesn't know anything, his level of knowledge on us and our history is embarrassing.

He definitely has good sources in and around the club (source: I work with him) but how reliable they can ever be is another matter.

Yeah

It wasn't about you specifically and it doesn't need to be about one person in-particular to make a point about a wider group of fans who are playing Choose Your Own Adventure. It seemingly doesn't matter that our poor finishing in otherwise very good performances against Everton, Brighton, West Ham (up to a point) should have seen us run away with it before they could lay a glove on us, it's that we need to focus on the result, or when it went tits up. Then when we get results eg Bournemouth, Wolves, Palace (up to a point) then it's that the performance wasn't good enough, papering over the cracks, should be beating x. Obviously there's the opposite to this where you only choose the positives, but we're only just into December ffs. Myopic is projection on that front, I'm personally just not at a point of reviewing our season with 6 months left. I've seen enough over the years to see that time will make a fool of anyone doing that, regardless of how hopeless or in-the-bag a team has it. We're neither. Despite our good/bad dynamic when it comes to results and performances, we're still only 4 points off 3rd and there have been good performances and good results. Yet I'm supposed to sit here on the 1st of December and be up in arms, focus on the negatives, and describe things using the same adjectives I did during the Ashley-era (and undermining everything else I have to say) Why should I? Because that's what being realistic is and if I don't I'm myopic or playing Devil’s advocate? Nonsense, there's nothing wrong with not knowing what will happen, football is unbelievably chaotic, it's the same every season. What I do know though, is what this team is capable of and I know what Howe's capable of. I'm not going to throw away the probability that we'll finish the season well just based on where we are right now, which again, isn't even bad. To me it's obvious what people are playing at when they talk about mid-table or 10th despite that also being 4 points off 3rd in a packed field of other misfiring teams. Performances do need to improve, results do need to improve but I'm much more of the opinion that we need minor changes (mainly improved finishing) than thinking because some performances or results have been below par, that everything needs a fine-tooth comb running through it, x, y, or z is unacceptable, and that huge changes are needed.

Aye but there are tons more factors involved than away performances. Just with us alone never mind other teams, and with other things to pin the blame on never mind just Howe.

Really don't get how you can watch football your whole life and still be so short-sighted to think everything that will happen by May is written by the end of November like. Happens season after season.

3rd game of the season, but don't worry there were still plenty of concerns being raised.

As I say, it's nothing like it, they're not remotely alike imo. But each to their own.

It's really not, but each to their own

I think this thread is already well into Choose Your Own Adventure mode tbh, so it can probably mean whatever you want it to mean.

Agree to disagree then. Don't think 5 like it is now, but we could and should have been 2, 3 or 4 imo.

4 points off 3rd but must....call it...mid...table (in November)

This match is only in the first half. I'm talking like-for-like

This is what we did to West Ham minus the finishing.

We're also a win away from most of these posters not posting.

Never been how football works though is it? They've beaten Spurs, drawn with Man United, and Liverpool only beat them 1-0 at home. Our record there is poor, a 0-0, 1-0 loss or 1-1 is par.

No one's making that argument. The performance was poor, albeit we played most of it without a striker. The result, with historical context, is decent.

One man's reduction is another man's evidence.

See, when we play badly and win or draw, it's about the performance. When we play well and lose, it's about the result. That was a poor performance and a decent result, so naturally we're all going to talk about the performance rather than the result.

I never back us at Palace like. Our record there has always been poor.

Absolutely furious that we came away with the exact result 90% of the people in the predictions thread predicted.

Put it this way, I'm thankful that Rod's on my side on this one.

That thread Edit: fs it's age restricted. Just pretend that I timestamped it at 2:52

It's probably the right decision but I hate it