Magpie Mover

I think he'll get to the end of the season and rightly so, however to get another season results will have to pick up and more importantly we need to become a much better football team not wedded to 433 and a lot more to us than intensity is our identity.

Well Brentford out ran us today that i do know.

I'm sure there will be some reactionary posts in here including those suggesting that Eddie should be sacked, this is not one of them. I have always thought that we were a poorly coached team under Eddie in that we pass poorly, aren't comfortable in possession, have no discernable patterns of play, cant break down the low block etc. We aren't Manchester City. We have been for periods a very physical athletic team who have been able to over power opponents when everyone was at the top of their game and physically fit and we had Isak to make the difference. We have recruited physical athletic players with limited technical ability, Elanga, Gordon, Ramsey among many others. Either the players can't play this way anymore or dont want to. It doesn't leave Eddie with lots of options because the players we have bought haven't shown they have the ability to play a different way and so far haven't been asked to. We do have technically good players, Ramsdale, Hall, Thiaw, Schaar, Tonali, Bruno, Barnes and Wolt, but we dont ask them to keep the ball and often don't play to their strengths. Not sure what the conclusion is or the answer, but we currently look bad enough to get relegated so something has to change.

Well Howe bought virtually all of the squad and for a lot of money so if they aren't very good that's on him

The one common denominator in the team being so poor and so many players playing terribly is Howe and Tindall who honestly don't look as if they have a fucking clue what they are doing.

That's a penalty

They look better than us, quicker and more physical, that's not what we were all expecting at the beginning of the season.

He's a unicorn of a footballer irrespective of whether he's a number 9 or more of a number 10 and it's going to be Eddie's biggest challenge (apart from teaching Pope to kick the ball) to make it work both for Woltemade and the team. The fact I don't think we've seen him have a shot never mind a decent one illustrates how so far we haven't worked out how to get him in space and a threat with his feet in a dangerous position. I think he will need to play with Wissa to get the most of him but playing with two forwards will probably give us huge problems in other parts of the pitch.

Sunderland are all over them, be amazed if they dont win this. Who said they weren't bothered about them coming up?

Pope's kicking rather disapproves the theory that Eddie is the messiah and improves all our players. Turning water into wine would be easier than getting Pope to kick the ball competently.

The big question I think is how far can we go with a big athletic high pressing monster of a team, but with a distinct lack of top technical players. Is there a limit to what the type of team we are can achieve? We saw with a top technical team in Barcelona that it didn't matter how physical we were, how aggressive, how much we were in the faces, they were just so much technically better than most of our players. We don't have or play with a defensive midfielder, we don't have an attacking midfielder, no number 10, we don't have technical wingers, is that going to stop us getting to the next level?

Tonali is going to have to work his balls off with Ramsey and Willock as partners

It's important if you are an attacker, looking at Gordon's G/A is a perfect example of how under performing he is apart from the odd game. Someone playing in Anderson's position not so much. If we still had him and he'd developed as he has for Forest and England he'd be the deepest lying of our midfield three and the most defensive.

I think if we had a fit LB, Sven would be on the bench with Burn starting.

No. Not many of our players do.

Anyhow back to Will. He just might be more effective currently than Nick as CF. Not that he's a better player it's just we have no idea how to get Nick involved further up the pitch at the moment. Playing Wissa and Wolte together might help but that will leave us short in midfield unless Wissa replaces a winger.

Man U doing slightly better than us against Brighton

Yup. They are going to be a problem.

Have you seen Gordon's G/A over the last 20 odd games in the premier league?

Every game I've seen he's had nothing to work with.

The thing is Benfica are shit whereas Fulham without being great are quick and physical and Gordon doesn't have the skill set to make the difference

Nicks a good player but he really doesn't suit the way we play. Eddie needs to find a way to get him more involved and higher up the pitch.

He's technically on par with Elanga. It's so frustrating to watch

Must be the 60th minute here comes the subs

That's deserved. Physically we are being dominated. This is what happens when you dont rotate.