Abacus

I thought before the match that Pope would have been the better option than Ramsdale against Sunderland, as I just don't think Ramsdale controls the box well at all at corners. But admittedly I may be thinking back to the previous version of Pope. I wondered if maybe Ramsdale was kept in as a vote of confidence after the Barcelona 7-2. Arguably he didn't do that much wrong there so to drop him would make him a scapegoat unfairly, but on the other hand he never inspired much confidence in that game either and never really has that I can remember. And it was definitely bad for Sunderland's first goal. I'd absolutely not be making this permanent. I'd also briefly wondered if Vlach could do any sort of job here as a back up keeper. Never saw him enough in games to know personally, so presumably he's not trusted by the coaching staff. But on the other hand we've already paid for him and he doesn't seem to have done all that bad for Sevilla from what little I can tell. Possibly he just doesn't suit this league.

A win yesterday and we're sitting in a decent league position having had two decent domestic cup runs with some horrible draws and a relentless CL campaign with it's fair share of highlights. Whilst things are gloomy now, and we're about to face a crucial summer, I'm not prepared to throw Howe out on the back of one horrible result and what's become a lacklustre league campaign on the back of it, when there's still time to turn that around somewhat. If we don't do that, we do need a major reset. We also need to adapt tactics which initially shocked the league, but where most teams are now playing in a way that can counter it. I'd prefer to see if Howe can do that, but as it stands we don't really have the squad to adapt to a different style.

I think he needs the 3 week break as much as anyone. And then a summer to reset. Possibly his style of football doesn't work any more against the way the PL has changed to low block teams and set pieces, when everyone is pressing as well and our style doesn't work as well. We got beaten tonight and everyone could see it coming from the 15th minute and then again when they equalised. We don't have a Ben Arfa to open up the game and make it fun.

Poor game. Enjoying watching the commentators trying to make this interesting. "It can only get better" is the best effort so far.

Terrible keeping by Chelsea. Haha

In two minds as to whether to start him up front. I imagine they will be sitting back which might mean his lack of pace is less of an issue and his clever footwork could open them up. I'd feel a bit more confident in saying this if he was physically more dominant or had protection from referees when he's fouled.

I'm not sure it would due to the spending advantages much of the PL have against all but the very biggest European teams. It would also make those competitions feel a bit less special in my personal view.

Oh no, he isn't.

It would be ridiculous for the competitions if that many PL teams got into Europe.

Keep Elanga on!

Just joking their.

Loser.

Yes, I think it's mainly to keep a record of how well the officials are doing. Apparently there were 18 recorded mistakes so far this season which is the same as the whole of last season already. But also slightly better than 23-24 and 22-23, when there were more. I don't know whether refereeing is getting better or worse, objectively. Subjectively, I do think refs are relying on VAR and it's an unintended consequence of the technology, which is lowering their tolerance to make a decision. Who, after all, wants to grab a mic and explain to a whole stadium and TV cameras that they've messed up?

Howe breaks all sorts of records.

2-2, Brentford aren't all that. Actually a decent PL game there

Wafted his head about like a L'Oréal model

This is actually a cracking game, Brentford messing it up there

Also, to stick Spurs in the mire

"absolute sandwich" is quite the football phrase and what I'm ordering for lunch tomorrow

Crossbar!

Oof, come on Wolves, make this relegation scrap interesting.

I'd have probably left it too. Too late to get one of our supporters in instead. And they paid for the ticket, and apparently weren't causing bother, so. But the main thing is to clamp down on the resellers harder in the first place because it shouldn't have been a problem to start with.

To be clear, I'm not playing down the significance of it, not if you live up here. Totally agree we have to turn up. But the Barca game is all I'm thinking of at the moment. It seems impossible to win over there but ... just maybe...

Can honestly say I've not given this derby more than a minute's thought. Plus the actual Sunderland fans I've met in real life are generally sound. Can't speak for the online mob. I want to win it for the 3 points and to finish as high as we can in the league. They rightly beat us at their place, so I want us to do our own job at home to do the same in return. For me, that's about the extent of it.

Most awkward post match interview with Tudor on Sky I've seen in a long time.