Whitley mag

When did they announce there’ll be no big investment have I missed this?

We’ve been shite at home and they’ll play exactly like Everton did. It still depends which version of us turns up, but can’t say i’m going in with huge confidence. We need to cut out the individual errors and the keeper situation worries me, they’ve got some big units at set pieces. Feels big tomorrow for the whole general feel around the club.

Get the lad up front it’ll either finish him off here or be the catalyst. He’s never a fucking midfielder and if the manager can’t move away from 4-3-3, we need to know if he can lead the line.

I’d like to see him start on Sunday up front, I thought Gordon was excellent at Chelsea but would like to see him get a chance at redemption here. I think at home we’ll have plenty of possession and I’d stick Gordon on the left and Murphy on the right. He needs to be told to play between the width of 18 yard box and get in the box. He’s proven he can do it earlier in the season and think writing him off as a striker is damning of the manager and coaching staff if that’s what’s happening.

The 2nd half wasn’t a good look and was probably a real hiding that’s been long overdue. We’re shocking defensively and it slightly worries me that a centre back doesn’t seem to be on the shopping list this summer. I would be letting Schar and Trippier go this summer and bringing in younger replacements. The stats are damning in terms of goals conceded and the mackems will see set pieces as a big area for possible success on Sunday.

Not sure we’ve learned this season away from home, I see the same gaps and shit defensive shape consistently. Thought we’d turned a corner on Saturday, but even then Palmer had acres and drifted effortlessly between the lines at times. We look schoolboy defensively this season and major changes needed in the summer.

Concentrating on Wissa he’s on a 4 year contract so roughly 14 million per year on the books for PSR, not counting wages. He’s a depreciating asset on big wages, which I would imagine will make him hard to shift. Not sure how new rules impact this compared to PSR but 14 million per year is not an insignificant hit for us, especially if the player is not contributing.

Pound for pound the worst signing in the clubs history as it stands. Summer business will hurt us for a long time.

Fucking awful defensively it’s been the story of this season. Yes we’ve been plagued by individual errors but we’re all over the shop at times, some of that stuff tonight was schoolboy I don’t care how good Barcelona are. Howe needs to rethink his tactics away from home in certain games and sign a fucking midfielder who has some defensive instincts next season.

So will Chelsea lucky they got a transfer ban.

Type of game where we could get blown away, or even if we play well they have players who can create something out of nothing. Seeing Man City get stuffed last week is a good indication of how tough this will be, that’s without even considering the corrupt referee who’ll undoubtedly give them everything. Should be a great experience for everyone going very jealous today.

Different rules for cartel clubs it’s corrupt as fuck. Imagine this was us we’d be looking at much heftier punishment.

The club can fuck off trying to remove season tickets for bad language and standing, but these cunts selling their tickets, good riddance and don’t come back.

Away end was brilliant yesterday, absolute top day celebrated with a few pints down the Kings Road after. Particularly enjoyed a rousing rendition of get into them and fuck them up on repeat. Chelsea is everything we need to avoid, tourist fans and half and half scarf central.

Never going to happen but increase season ticket holder numbers, that would reduce these re-sale tickets straight away. Digital ticketing has been the death knell for PL crowds and actively makes touting easier. Even if you introduce a loyalty points system for members, the bots would still clean up unless the club can get a handle on them.

Would stick him tomorrow night instead of Elanga to be honest.

Exactly how I feel about the situation. This summer will tell us all we need to know on whether lessons have been learned. The squad needs such a dramatic overhaul that we simply have to adapt our approach and target younger players from European leagues.

Same old lip service from the club. They couldn’t give a fuck about away fans in the home end, they are actively encouraging it by opening up extra corporate seats without any restriction for the Derby. The membership scheme in its current guise is a disgrace, coupled with ticket price rises it’s the death knell for SJP. I have no doubt the place will be littered with football tourists on Tuesday night. The club is going down the pan and at risk of losing all identity.

What’s the craic with the 2 areas of cat 3 seating in the Leazes End? The same seats in the Gallowgate are cat 2 and worse seats in level 7 cat 2. Be a bit miffed if I was in the equivalent Gallowgate seats paying more.

There’s no footballer here it’s just 100 mph headless chicken stuff. He’s got no football IQ and lacks the basic fundamentals, must rank as one of our worst pound for pound signings ever.

Dear me don’t think this is the SJP i grew up in anymore.

Kees Smit or Ayyoub Bouaddi would both be young and exciting signings to move us forward this summer.

Price increases feel unnecessary and club executives under pressure to continue year on year growth. They need to deliver on sponsorship and infrastructure projects, instead they hit fans again. If these increases keep match day tickets frozen for members it would be somewhat justified, as members bored the brunt of substantial increases last year. I doubt it though and think we’ll see more increases on match day tickets, which I think are reaching the limit now for our area. I suspect we’ll start to see empty seats soon as has happened at the Etihad. We don’t have London wages and we don’t have tourist support of Liverpool and Man U to fill empty seats regularly. In favour of smaller family enclosure long overdue and jury out on this red section of match day sales. This season has shown that for some games re-sale tickets on the day haven’t sold, can’t imagine they risk leaving 500 seats back on a Wednesday night for Bournemouth in January at £60 quid a pop. They simply won’t sell and match going habits have changed unfortunately. I suspect match day sales simply means they’ve emptied the red section of any season ticket holders for the purpose of renewals.

Seconded

We are 5th in the PL net spend over the last 5 years. One things for sure PIF won’t have been expecting a bottom half finish after spending a quarter of a billion in the summer. If the worst happens and it’s 4 defeats at home on the spin tomorrow, the league table is really starting to look unpalatable. If he wins the FA Cup and finishes 12th I’m sure we’ll all be delighted, however I find that highly unlikely with the current state of this team. I see a lot of people dismissing the importance of tomorrow night, but these results and performances can’t continue indefinitely. He needs momentum and some feel good factor to return, winning a big game like tomorrow would bring that it can’t be written off.