GrahamTaylor5

I think the one saving grace for us is this year there are a few sinking ships just above us. The luck that Leeds seem to have is probably going to help us out immensely. Despite the fact we have only won 1 game, we are still only 3 points from safety and I don't think the games in hand will change that. I don't want us to have to rely on others but it seems to have gone our way. We have a good run of games after Manchester United and I think Howe will manage to get something from them.

Games like this just show how bad our squad really is. I still don't think we cannot stay up. I'm starting to accept how many new players we need. I did think Howe could do it with the current lot but even my optimistic outlook has taken a battering. How Clark can continue to make the mistakes when he has a golden second chance but Lascelles is next to him so who can blame him? Today was painful even if it was against Manchester City.

I did mean Norwich but seeing some of the posts other relatively new posters have shared recently, I should probably just clarify my view.

He has had 1 poor game under Howe.

It is painful to keep accepting poor results and say that it is alright. Realistically, we could have come away tonight on the back of a thumping but we played well. Fact is we do not have the quality to match a team like Liverpool. I still cannot get over Clark. Once we get through the next two games we should be fine. Any signing will be a bonus. I think Howe is getting a good tune out of them. I feel sorry for Lewis but Ritchie played well. It says a lot about where we have been to be able to find the joy in a 3-1 loss.

Got to love Lascelles

I agree with your point about the sub for a red card but it is not always the case. If Fraser, Willock etc had been sent off the chances of a change would be reduced further. I was also thinking about the timing of a change, which I know would effect every team the same way. Having to make a sub on 10 minutes alongside the loss of a player is vastly different to if it happened later in the game. We had to change a system and set up from what was an attack minded approach to a soaking the pressure approach. The incident and substitution later in the game would have at least taken off a player with less legs. We may not have threatened but neither did they as they didn't get close enough. We had to play more conservative as the press of the Norwich players meant the energy required to be more forward thinking wouldn't have been sustainable to match for 80 minutes with 1 fewer players. I agree 14 games without a win tells a story but it doesn't reflect all the dimensions of what we have been through in the last three games or the fact that we have managed to finally shift Bruce. I only got to watch on the TV but there are so many positives to take away from it. I don't think it is great but I think we are so far removed from the Tottenham game that I feel we will pick up points. I also think Howe will drill the player to a level that will reduce the errors and we won't always be punished. We were lucky with the Fab mistake at the end. Howe has only really had a few weeks of face to face work with the players. I also felt we could get a goal against Arsenal. I think Arsenal were the better team and deserved the win but we were so much improved.

The difference with Norwich is they are now pressing far more than they have before. This, when we went a player down is going to make a big difference. We also didn't just play 80 mins with 1 less player, we had to sub off Fraser to cover it. This limited our ability to make changes when fatigue was setting in.

We are not in a must win situation. We are still in the earlier part of the season. History does not reflect the situation we are in. Teams without a win in 14 would not have kept a manager like Bruce for the time we did or, if they had, wouldn't have appointed a manager like Howe alongside the potential we have to invest in January. Players will come even if it is a relegation battle as they can always leave. Townshend joined us then left in the summer and the prospects look brighter now. We are not far off Watford and we are playing better. If Darlow had not stuffed up, then we win. Had Howe not had covid, even if we lost to Arsenal, the extra week of him training the players makes the difference. If Clark doesn't take the man out, then we would win. The lack of wins are down to errors that can be sorted. We have the time to turn things around and there are plenty of teams above us who are in a mess. I think we need to see that although wins matter and we do need to win sooner rather than later, we have the tools and we now have the professional who can use them. A lack of direction in any place leads to issues that take a while to turn around. The last three games have been unrecognisable apart from the little errors. We have been punished by every single one of them. I see this as a short term problem even without the January window coming up. Howe can work with the people making errors and reduce these. Benefit is that he can also bring in improvements.

This was all down to Clark. I can take the lack of luck with covid and being outdone by Arsenal but this is beyond a joke. I would have fancied Dubs 1 on 1 and even if we went down, we would have 80 mins to make up at home. What can we expect Howe to do with stupidity like this? We didn't just lose a player, we also lost a sub in the process. There are still positives but individual errors and that level of stupidity is infuriating.

Game not over but Clark has to have a long hard look at himself. Good to know Fernández is still alive. Would have been better to find out under better circumstances.

I know there is a running joke that Fernández is the mole, but is there actually a reason as to why he hasn't been playing or has he just disappeared?

I don't think people would be up in arms if Ashley had appointed him. We have had 2 games under him. 1 game we drew, without him able to attend in person, due to a few poor individual errors. The next game we lost, as was expected. What has not been factored in is the impact of Howe also not being at the training ground each day. Before he tested positive a lot was made of the impact he was having in each training session. I cannot believe that anyone who has seen a game before Brentford and then watch the last two games could still think we are in the same level of trouble. Yes, we are in trouble but we are in a far better place. If Bruce could fluke some wins with the way we were playing then we are definitely able to manage some now.