Dr Jinx

Wanted to cool down a bit before posting about result. Overall we were better side, that counts for nothing though, Brighton were better than us and we beat them. Football is strange. What I’ve learnt from Chelsea and tonight. Dan Burn tires a bit and is prone to a howler when he’s knackered, against Chelsea he just switched off and tonight he sort of lunged in on Iwobi way outside the box and was out of position and slow to get back. Although certain players on the pitch will recognise danger and cover for teammates, the rest of our defence is still really poor and will crumble when exposed (Burn getting tired) Both games have also started to go against us as soon as ASM comes onto the pitch. I think on reflection that’s probably always been the case but he’s been our only outlet up until recently so we’ve kinda had to overlook this. Although I love him, he’ll never be a player to take us to that top level unless he changes parts to his game. But am also sympathetic in that he’s not an effective substitute. He’s like a boxer, working out a flaw to exploit.. 15/20 mins is not enough time. Losing the ball cheaply not far from our own box is fucking rank though.. if he doesn’t recognise that’s what lost us the game and to want to address that, then we have a big problem.

Yep.. the protester looked like someone and the penny just dropped.

Love the way Bruno can change direction, his balance is just superb and that ball midway through the half.. absolutely classy! Think Willock has been poor tbh, if he was reaching the boil a few games ago he’s dropped off a bit. Both Fraser and Almiron have also been poor.. it’s crying out for Maxi. If he’s fit he should come on early, he takes a little while to warm into games so last 15 mins probably isn’t enough.

The edge of their pitch is an injury waiting to happen, for both sides.

I’d say the assurances amount to whatever the PL would have had to pay out in compensation. As if after 2 years or whatever they just had a eureka moment and came up with wording that made everyone happy…

An in form Willock is probably more effective but no doubt that Merino was a Rolls Royce of a player. Injury fucked him a bit and I’ll never know why Rafa didn’t fight more to keep him.

Might be back for the Norwich game

King Salman is far more conservative and resistant to change, MBS since essentially taking over sees the bigger picture. They have stacks of cash, an oil supply which will eventually run out and a reputation like they are from the stone age. And they are, or more like they have been. Modernisation won't happen overnight, certainly not quick enough for some journalists who are still sore about nufc being in the money now. The thing is, if they were to relax all the traditional rules too quickly, there would be chaos, it would make the regime seem weak etc. Hence 81 executions the other day. I'm sure the point has already been made, but where were the same journos when the United States have executed 12 people so far this year and will go on to 43 people for the year, so are they human rights activists or are they using anything they can to write bad press about the club. China execute so many people they don't even record the numbers - nobody was asking Everton this when they came in. I'm not trying to justify anything, I think capital punishment is abhorrent but the hypocrisy runs deep when it comes to the agenda against our club.

You same fuckers were also saying the same thing months ago when I said Joelinton would be better as a midfielder ?

I didn't say i'd keep Wilson out for him, what i mean is when Wilson comes back in, let him play on the right side of the front 3. We're stronger with Wood in the team

I was watching him yesterday and he is absolutely integral to the high press, barking orders at Almiron and Murphy on when to move. Watch him next time and you'll see what am talking about. Don't think any of our players were amazing yesterday, we were up against very good opposition and we matched them for 99% of the match. Chris Wood is sacrificing himself for the team, he's got the right attitude and his work rate is second to none in this side. I would not take him out of the side even when Wilson returns.

It’s all well and good trying to cover for someone who won’t do the things his teammates are doing if he is doing good things up the pitch, but we didn’t see that yesterday. Again I’m not overreacting, he has good games and then bad ones. Yesterday, not so good. ASM finding consistency has been the running theme ever since he signed, but for the games where he finds his rhythm, there’s nobody better in the PL imo. The natural thing is to look for a scapegoat when we lose, but we’re looking in wrong place, it was Dan Burn who lost his concentration that lost us the game after all and nobody is criticising him (rightly so)

We did really well today. Result leaves a bad taste in the mouth. First they should be a man down, that changes the game.. second the penalty that never was. Let’s not be surprised here.. how often has that happened this season against the top 4 sides? Disappointed we didn’t keep concentration to at least pick up a point. First real mistake Dan Burn has made so not going to go overboard about it. I think what I will find comfort in is that the current European and World Champions were celebrating that win like they’d just beaten Man City. That shows how far we’ve come as a club.

When I saw the team sheet I didn’t expect that performance, but that is why Eddie Howe is who he is. Every player has improved under him and he obviously has confidence in the squad players that we didn’t. Still a lot to happen in this match but we can win this just as much as we can lose. Impressive.

Looking at the table, you’d pick out Leeds, only a point above Everton and played 3 more games. However, Bamford is back for them for the run in. I think they’ll pick up enough points, just. Everton are just so bad at the back, it’s easy to imagine any team they play going after them. If they lose to us at home they’ll be in massive trouble. Norwich and Watford look done, as do Burnley really but they do have it in them to pick up points, more so than the other two and Everton.

I was 27, old enough to have seen the good times thankfully and I remember being so hopeful when the deal happened. We’d slipped into that mid table nothingness after SBR was fired. That had left a bad taste and what followed was a club that was losing touch with its fanbase. We’d hired Sam Allardyce which was supposed to be a great appointment.. he did do well at Bolton after all. I think in hindsight we’d have been more suss to Mike Ashley much earlier if it hadn’t been for having Chris Mort there who was very likeable. Life events.. a failed 8 year relationship, several jobs and holidays before finally settling down 6 years ago. Bought a house and have a 4 year old lad now and looking forward to bringing him to the games in a year or so. I would say when Ashley took over I lived for the weekends and extracted as much fun as I possibly could from those hours.. I barely drink anymore now ?

His companies have quite literally provided the steel used for Russian tanks. He’s supplying the war but still wants to play the patron here and have his kids go to school here. By stating this I’m in no way condoning Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, but I’m not going to pretend to know all that much about the history of that conflict. Similar to Ukraine and Russia to be honest but where it does concern the rest of Europe and the UK is where this war is going. This will affect all of us, it’s started already. World War 1 and 2 didn’t just kick off overnight and this one will be no different. We can’t be seen to be allowing Russian oligarchs free movement and unrestricted business dealings while they are a cog in a lead up to a world war. Newcastle could well be in the chopping block at some point if those Middle East nations take the wrong side. But for me I don’t care about that, they’ve done something I worried would never happen which was getting rid of Mike Ashley. Our future is going to be golden no matter what happens going forward. Chelsea will be ok but right now the party is over for them. If they don’t get someone shrewd to run the club, at worst they’ll slip to a Leicester City level.. their youth setup is too good even if the senior players decide to bail.

Would be surprised if he didn’t win it this month too. What an appointment!

This is a free hit and absolutely zero pressure on us. Pressure is on them from the turmoil around them. We've gone to West Ham who are flying and arguably had the better there, gone to Southampton who have been solid at home and won. We’re in good shape mentally. We’ll either find out that we’re competitive against all but the very best teams in the league or we’ll get spanked and realise we’re still a bit off there yet. Chelsea are comfortably leading that second tier of clubs.

To think we were (and we were..) less than enthusiastic when this deal got announced ? what do we know eh Class player and class signing.

Amazing! What a run we’ve been on. That team has real grit now.

Just goes to show how good Joelinton has been when a player regarded as one of the best in Europe at retrieving the ball, and making progressive plays is seen as a downgrade ? He’s not though, and he’ll be fine.

I wouldn’t change things, we will have more control of the ball than we did against Brighton where it was obvious Bruno should have been in instead of Shelvey. However, Chelsea will be a different matter and that’s when we should bring him in. I also think Murphy has done well, if ASM isn’t 100%, just bring him on at 70 mins.. if we have a lead to defend, he will scare the shit out of anyone on the break.

I like him and more importantly, the other players seem to love him, he's missed a few chances, tends to be when he's got too much time to think about what he's going to do which is not something I've ever seen coached out of players. If he's happy to be a squad player here we should keep him, what we don't want is players coming in who are going to bring negativity about not being involved all the time.

What are Everton going to bring that we didn’t already brush aside a few weeks back?