TheBrownBottle

It’s not just not the biggest game in our history, it’s not the biggest game this season

The lack of a footballing brain is what makes him unfixable by Howe. That fucking sideways pass straight to Man City just before HT 😬

In the age of PSR I don’t.

Agreed - you have to look at a player and think ‘how likely are they to repeat that form’. In Almiron’s case the answer was obvious - never.

It’s a valid factor, and also an excuse when you run players into the ground when you’re eight goals ahead against shit opposition. I’ve never went for the ‘he didn’t get his first choices’ line, tbh. Tell me a manager who does get to sign everyone they want. There’s only perhaps a dozen - at most - clubs in Europe who’d be more attractive and / or can pay more. I’m pretty sure that the drop-off shouldn’t be as drastic as we’ve seen - I’m confident that if a player has a choice between us and Brentford or Bournemouth they’d go with us.

Were absolutely flim-flam at the back and in midfield - so easy to play through, especially after scoring. We defend like a bunch of strangers at times.

The tie was completely over and you’re guessing at his rationale. It was an absurdity to play that side given the fixtures that were coming - and this isn’t hindsight.

It wasn’t good, but the post being responded to was hardly the way to welcome a new person to a community either

SCR / FFP is precisely why he shouldn’t have clung onto the likes of Joelinton. We don’t sell when players are at peak value.

Likewise - an absolutely ludicrous starting line-up? And then the subs were fucking ridiculous.

We weren’t playing well before the fixture pile-up. This is just the latest excuse for us being a bit shit - and it’s a more convincing one than earlier in the season, but the exhaustion would have more validity if we’d racked up the points when we’d played the same number of games as the teams we were facing. I can remember that the line back in November time is that we would ‘click’ soon, that this happens with Howe’s sides. We’re in March and now it’s down to fixture congestion.

He isn’t ruthless at all - it should be the biggest criticism of him. He clings onto players too long.

That’s the fifth time this calendar year we’ve conceded three goals in a home match. We even conceded two to Carrier Bag. Go on then, I’ll do the comparison - that’s more than Pardew managed in a full season and the equal of what Bruce managed in a full season. The team will be tired from fixture congestion, no doubt about that - but there’s plenty of other issues going on.

Agreed - he played a full strength side at home to Bradford and then complains about fixture pile-ups. No lessons learned from last time out - and if that lesson can’t be learned, then I trust the ownership is happy that we need to avoid European football to have a good season.

It does, which is absolutely why he won’t make it here in his proper position - but the poor sod just looks lost there.

I’m starting to feel really sorry for the lad at this point. I don’t think he’ll make it in England either way, but fucking hell playing in midfield to be badly exposed is pretty shit

These argument would a lot more water if we were flying until the fixture pile-up. We’ve looked poor for quite some time - and we spent a lot of money on bolstering the squad in the summer.

We did exactly this in 1950/51, and got a fine for it - we sacked off a chance of the title for a fresh team in the FA Cup Final. That’s all I’ve got mind.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep

He’s played a strong XI - he’s tried to win the game I think

Joelinton is desperate for a red

Performance I can. Besides, the pressure has been ramped onto more difficult fixtures because of a season of non-performances in winnable matches. We’re in the doldrums in the league due to our performances against everyone else.

He won’t have that worry much longer.

It definitely is

We’ve now conceded three goals in home matches more times in a season than in any other since the PL breakaway. There’s still a couple of months to go.