TheBrownBottle

Lost ITK points on that front when the rest of us were claiming the patently obvious

I still think Trippier is the best RB I've seen in B&W by a margin, and I'm happy to say that the club was all the better for him signing - he was a genuine catalyst and his quality was ridiculously obvious. He's let himself (and the club) down badly over the last year or so. That doesn't change my view that he's this generation's Brian Kilcline and one of the most important signings in our history - I just wish he'd went to Bayern in January and he'd left us with pretty much nothing but fond memories (even with the Nov-Dec 2023 ricks that happened every game). I think both positions are supportable - great signing and a class player for most of his time here, but has let us down at the end though not enough to poison my general vibe about him. But he needs to go in Jan.

5th might be enough for CL

I think you're right, but it becomes predictable if he never uses the overlap option

His bizarre and unnecessary backwards header on the halfway line ultimately led to Liverpool's third.

Yeah, me too. And I thought Gordon had a really good game, but he doesn't always seem to be aware of the overlap.

Steve Bruce's permanent signings who are still at the club: Joelinton Wilson Krafth Gillespie Lewis Willock Gillespie was very much a back-up, and Lewis has been a disaster. The others though - I think they're pretty decent. Krafth is a decent back up for 5m; Wilson without his injuries is an excellent CF; Willock and Joelinton are arguably first choice when fit. Bruce is a terrible manager, but I'm not convinced that his track record on signings was abysmal. Benitez's were arguably worse - and in the squad yesterday, they were Schar (a quality CB), Murphy, Dubravka, and Almiron. Doesn't sound like that much of a handicap - I think most PL sides would take our bench (Dubravka, Targett, Kelly, Longstaff, Willock, Barnes, Almiron, Wilson, Osula - I reckon most of those would comfortably get a game for a fair chunk of PL clubs). Which players has Howe signed from the lower leagues and turned into PL players for us? Are there any?

I'm happy if we're challening for the European Cup and league title shortly - Isak is 25 and so we'd need to be doing that this season or within the next season or so. Not seeing it myself tbh.

34 isn't young in football terms - it is very much in the 'veteran in twilight days of career' period.

The lad isn’t staying if we’re not challenging tbf. And I wouldn’t blame him.

Joelinton definitely. Pope, Wilson and Trippier were already internationals. The irony is that I don't think Livramento has been worth his cap this season.

I suspect you might be right, but they should look at their agents in that case. There were plenty of us who knew what the rules would mean - they weren't hidden. I was scratching my head in 2020 / 2021 with the talk of spending insane sums.

I'm tiring of reading that the squad is shite and that it is a miracle that Howe gets a tune out of them. There are six players in the squad who have been capped by England in the last year or so. We've two Brazilian internationals and an Italian international in midfield. Isak is probably the second-best centre forward in the country. And there is plenty of talent besides that. Howe is a good manager - but the current squad has not been as good as the sum of its parts this season. The idea that no-one could have done better is laughable tbh.

Loves playing uphill does the Ice Man. Why would he want it to be easy?

My favourite comment on there was the one claiming that the 'mags he knows' all want to sell Isak because he's not good enough. Said mackem understands that Isak is actually very good, though thankfully he'll be leaving those unappreciative gravy-stained hordes soon enough

I think the problems are far greater than simply missing a few chances. The performances have been poor generally. I'm not counting Liverpool - the players self-motivate for games like that. Every club in the PL ups their game for games like this - and the vast majority don't have the talent we have at our disposal. Next four games will be far more instructive as to whether or not a corner is turned. We've been average to dogshit in far more games this season than we've been good. Having watched pretty much all of our games I can't go with a narrative that we've been unlucky - we haven't.

Got you - like Hitler being 'TIme Man of the Year 1938', which wasn't because he was a little Lebowski urban achiever

Fair enough - it isn't to me and would have taken less time to explain than to have a back-and-forth. I still don't know if you're referring to Gordon re chances missed or the team generally.

A 4-3-3 requires players to drop into positions to offer cover when a player moves out of position - so if Hall pushes up, you'd expect the LCM and / or LW to drop a little deeper and / or wider temporarily to cover; Gordon not only doesn't, but he doesn't ever seem to actively use Hall's overlapping runs. It is a problem even if he is under instruction - Hall is often isolated (like last night when that side was clearly targeted second half).

Sure, just not clear if you're singling out Gordon or suggesting a general malaise. I'm honestly not having a go, just not sure what you're saying

Fucking hell Honestly, the things people complain about. 'Stop being supportive. What are you; supporters?' And the brass neck to have a go at supporters who are actively doing something to improve the match atmosphere. Words fail.

Not sure what you mean - 'the season of Gordon' suggests that he's been performing?

You can't do that in a 4-3-3. The LCM and LW need to offer some protection to the FB, especially one like Hall who is useful further forward.

Murphy is a PL footballer like. He’s not a top 7/8 footballer, but he’s a solid squad player for us and wouldn’t look at all out of place in a bottom six side.

Agreed mate